LDS Mormon Racism

[Kiwi Christian]

"Negroes in this life are denied the priesthood; under no circumstances can they hold this delegation of authority from the Almighty. The gospel message of salvation is not carried affirmatively to them... Negroes are not equal with other races where the receipt of certain spiritual blessings are concerned..." note: it was taught that even "one drop of Negro blood" would prevent a person from holding the priesthood or marrying in the temple. - Later Apostle Bruce R. McConkie, 1954

"those assigned to a dishonorable body on this earth came through the accursed lineage of Canaan through Ham's wife who was a descendent of the first murderer Cain,..." - That Ye May Not Be Deceived, pg. 6-7.

"And after the flood we are told that the curse that had been pronounced upon Cain was continued through Hams' wife, as he had married a wife of that seed. And why did it pass through the flood? Because it was necessary that the devil should have a representative upon the earth as well as God." - John Taylor (third prophet and President) Journal of Discourses, Vol. 22, pg. 304.

"God has commanded Israel not to intermarry.To go against this commandment of God would be in sin. Those who willfully sin with their eyes open to this wrong will not be surprised to find that they will be separated from the presence of God in the world to come.

This is spiritual death.... The reason that one would lose his blessings by marrying a Negro is due to the restriction placed upon them. 'No person having the least particle of Negro blood can hold the Priesthood.'

(Peterson is quoting 2nd prophet Brigham Young here.)

It does not matter if they are one-sixth Negro or one-hundred and sixth, the curse of no Priesthood is the same.

If an individual who is entitled to the Priesthood marries a Negro, the Lord has decreed that only spirits who are not eligible for the Priesthood will come to that marriage as children.
To intermarry with a Negro is to forfeit a 'Nation of Priesthood holders.'" - Race Problems -- As They Affect The Church, Address by APOSTLE Mark E. Petersen at the Convention of Teachers of Religion on the College Level, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah, August 27, 1954.

"For instance, the descendants of Cain cannot cast off their skin of blackness, at once, and immediately, although every soul of them should repent,... Cain and his posterity must wear the mark which God put upon them; and his white friends may wash the race of Cain with fuller's soap every day, they cannot wash away God's mark;...." - Mormon Publication: Millennial Star, Vol. 14, pg. 418.


"Shall I tell you the law of God in regard to the African race? If the white man who belongs to the chosen seed mixes his blood with the seed of Cain, the penalty, under the law of God, is death on the spot. This will ALWAYS be so." Journal of Discourses, Volume 10, page 110.


" . . . after the flood we are told that the curse that had been pronounced upon Cain was continued through Ham's wife, as he had married a wife of that seed. And why did it pass through the flood? Because it was necessary that the devil should have a representation a upon a the earth as well as God;.... " Journal of Discourses, Volume 22, page 304.

 

[Jane_Doe]

And various Christian denominations even used the Bible to justify slavery, forbid undesirable races from even entering the church, and many other horrible things. People are sinners.

But we already knew that...

 

[withwonderingawe]

Bruce R. McConkie
"....I have said the same things, and people write me letters and say, “You said such and such, and how is it now that we do such and such?” And all I can say to that is that it is time disbelieving people repented and got in line and believed in a living, modern prophet. Forget everything that I have said, or what President Brigham Young or President George Q. Cannon or whomsoever has said in days past that is contrary to the present revelation. We spoke with a limited understanding and without the light and knowledge that now has come into the world.

We get our truth and our light line upon line and precept upon precept. We have now had added a new flood of intelligence and light on this particular subject, and it erases all the darkness and all the views and all the thoughts of the past. They don’t matter any more.

It doesn’t make a particle of difference what anybody ever said about the Negro matter before the first day of June of this year, 1978. It is a new day and a new arrangement, and the Lord has now given the revelation that sheds light out into the world on this subject. As to any slivers of light or any particles of darkness of the past, we forget about them. We now do what meridian Israel did when the Lord said the gospel should go to the Gentiles. We forget all the statements that limited the gospel to the house of Israel, and we start going to the Gentiles...."

 

[Kiwi Christian]

Bruce R. McConkie
"....I have said the same things, and people write me letters and say, “You said such and such, and how is it now that we do such and such?” And all I can say to that is that it is time disbelieving people repented and got in line and believed in a living, modern prophet. Forget everything that I have said, or what President Brigham Young or President George Q. Cannon or whomsoever has said in days past that is contrary to the present revelation. We spoke with a limited understanding and without the light and knowledge that now has come into the world.

We get our truth and our light line upon line and precept upon precept. We have now had added a new flood of intelligence and light on this particular subject, and it erases all the darkness and all the views and all the thoughts of the past. They don’t matter any more.

It doesn’t make a particle of difference what anybody ever said about the Negro matter before the first day of June of this year, 1978. It is a new day and a new arrangement, and the Lord has now given the revelation that sheds light out into the world on this subject. As to any slivers of light or any particles of darkness of the past, we forget about them. We now do what meridian Israel did when the Lord said the gospel should go to the Gentiles. We forget all the statements that limited the gospel to the house of Israel, and we start going to the Gentiles...."

But, it was apparently a revelation from God, an ETERNAL law.

 

[withwonderingawe]

But, it was apparently a revelation from God, an ETERNAL law.

Ninth Article of Faith
9 We believe all that God has revealed, all that He does now reveal, and we believe that He will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the Kingdom of God.

The church is the bride of Christ and she's getting herself ready for her groom, but she is still missing a few jewels and her veil isn't on straight.

 

[Rescued One]

"Negroes in this life are denied the priesthood; under no circumstances can they hold this delegation of authority from the Almighty. The gospel message of salvation is not carried affirmatively to them... Negroes are not equal with other races where the receipt of certain spiritual blessings are concerned..." note: it was taught that even "one drop of Negro blood" would prevent a person from holding the priesthood or marrying in the temple. - Later Apostle Bruce R. McConkie, 1954

"those assigned to a dishonorable body on this earth came through the accursed lineage of Canaan through Ham's wife who was a descendent of the first murderer Cain,..." - That Ye May Not Be Deceived, pg. 6-7.

"And after the flood we are told that the curse that had been pronounced upon Cain was continued through Hams' wife, as he had married a wife of that seed. And why did it pass through the flood? Because it was necessary that the devil should have a representative upon the earth as well as God." - John Taylor (third prophet and President) Journal of Discourses, Vol. 22, pg. 304.

"God has commanded Israel not to intermarry.To go against this commandment of God would be in sin. Those who willfully sin with their eyes open to this wrong will not be surprised to find that they will be separated from the presence of God in the world to come.

This is spiritual death.... The reason that one would lose his blessings by marrying a Negro is due to the restriction placed upon them. 'No person having the least particle of Negro blood can hold the Priesthood.'

(Peterson is quoting 2nd prophet Brigham Young here.)

It does not matter if they are one-sixth Negro or one-hundred and sixth, the curse of no Priesthood is the same.

If an individual who is entitled to the Priesthood marries a Negro, the Lord has decreed that only spirits who are not eligible for the Priesthood will come to that marriage as children.
To intermarry with a Negro is to forfeit a 'Nation of Priesthood holders.'" - Race Problems -- As They Affect The Church, Address by APOSTLE Mark E. Petersen at the Convention of Teachers of Religion on the College Level, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah, August 27, 1954.

"For instance, the descendants of Cain cannot cast off their skin of blackness, at once, and immediately, although every soul of them should repent,... Cain and his posterity must wear the mark which God put upon them; and his white friends may wash the race of Cain with fuller's soap every day, they cannot wash away God's mark;...." - Mormon Publication: Millennial Star, Vol. 14, pg. 418.


"Shall I tell you the law of God in regard to the African race? If the white man who belongs to the chosen seed mixes his blood with the seed of Cain, the penalty, under the law of God, is death on the spot. This will ALWAYS be so." Journal of Discourses, Volume 10, page 110.


" . . . after the flood we are told that the curse that had been pronounced upon Cain was continued through Ham's wife, as he had married a wife of that seed. And why did it pass through the flood? Because it was necessary that the devil should have a representation a upon a the earth as well as God;.... " Journal of Discourses, Volume 22, page 304.

For starters, many of them lied and later generations believed the lies.

The Book of Mormon is racist.

2 Nephi 5:21
21 And he had caused the cursing to come upon them, yea, even a sore cursing, because of their iniquity. For behold, they had hardened their hearts against him, that they had become like unto a flint; wherefore, as they were white, and exceedingly fair and delightsome, that they might not be enticing unto my people the Lord God did cause a skin of blackness to come upon them.

3 Nephi 2
13 And it came to pass that before this thirteenth year had passed away the Nephites were threatened with utter destruction because of this war, which had become exceedingly sore.

14 And it came to pass that those Lamanites who had united with the Nephites were numbered among the Nephites;

15 And their curse was taken from them, and their skin became white like unto the Nephites;

16 And their young men and their daughters became exceedingly fair, and they were numbered among the Nephites, and were called Nephites. And thus ended the thirteenth year.

 

[Ironhold]

For starters, many of them lied and later generations believed the lies.

The Book of Mormon is racist.

You do realize that "white" is a synonym for "pure" and "black" a synonym for "impure", right?

 

[dzheremi]

The defense of racism by the excuse of "Look what others have said and done!" has always struck me as weird, as it's an inescapable fact of history that certain denominations did endorse slavery (the Southern Baptists, for instance), yet it's even more an inescapable theological and anthropological fact that as Christians our model is not what other people are doing, but what God has done.

To that end, St. Gregory of Nyssa (c. 335-395), one of the Cappadocian fathers, has a few questions for those Christians who support slavery:

‘I got me slave-girls and slaves.’ For what price, tell me? What did you find in existence worth as much as this human nature? What price did you put on rationality? How many obols did you reckon the equivalent of the likeness of God? How many staters did you get for selling that being shaped by God?

God said, Let us make man in our own image and likeness. If he is in the likeness of God, and rules the whole earth, and has been granted authority over everything on earth from God, who is his buyer, tell me? Who is his seller?

To God alone belongs this power; or, rather, not even to God himself. For his gracious gifts, it says, are irrevocable. God would not therefore reduce the human race to slavery, since he himself, when we had been enslaved to sin, spontaneously recalled us to freedom.

But if God does not enslave what is free, who is he that sets his own power above God’s?​

(Source: Homilies on Ecclesiastes, Hall and Moriarty, trans., De Gruyter, 1993, p. 74)

If a bishop from the late 4th century, when slavery was very much still a thing in his part of the world, can so pointedly not conform to the attitudes of his time and place, then what possible excuse can a group like the Mormons possibly have, especially as they were founded so much closer to the modern day and at a time when the abolitionist movement -- itself deeply rooted in Christianity (see below) -- had already been in existence for a hundred years? Many preachers of the First Great Awakening (c. 1730-1755) preached that slavery was immoral, and by the Second Great Awakening (c. 1790-1840), which is the religious environment into which Mormonism was born, there were famous leaders like Rev. Charles Finney (1792-1875) of the Presbyterians who, together with other Evangelical leaders, openly called for the complete abolition of slavery, in addition to other stances considered by some other Christians of other persuasions to be 'radical' or at least controversial, such as equal education for men and women of all races.

(Collection box for the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, 1850)

To me it's weird that Mormonism was founded at a time and place where slavery was already illegal (New York in 1830; NY had abolished slavery two years before), then moved to another place where slavery was also already illegal (Ohio, where slavery had been illegal since the adoption of the state's constitution in 1802, a position which was compromised by living right next to the slave state of Kentucky). It was only when he got to Nauvoo in 1839 that the Mormons could be said to be living in a slave state, and that would only be the case until 1848, as it was that year that the state constitution was adopted, which specifically outlawed slavery.

By the time of Brigham Young's death in 1877, slavery had been illegal in the United States for almost a dozen years. Yet it would take another 101 years for the Latter Day Saint religion to rid itself of its own racist policies towards its black members, supposedly based on "God's" will...until it wasn't anymore.

Of course, it should be said not so much in Mormonism's defense but to be true to the reality of life down to this day that the ending of slavery -- in a way the most 'obvious' and blatant form of racial discrimination we can point to -- does not in itself signal the end of racism. People are racist, and all religions are made up of people, so to whatever extent we find racism in our selves and our own congregations, it is the duty of every God-loving person to stand against it. I have had to do so in my own parish in the past when (unbelievably, given the fact that they themselves are immigrants!) Coptic people have made anti-immigrant statements based on racial and cultural stereotypes to me. And there are also examples of racism, for instance, in the Desert Fathers (see the treatment of St. Moses the Black by his fellow monks in certain sayings), but crucially those attitudes when they do appear are never praised or held up in any way as coming from God. In fact, in St. Moses' case, the particular instance I have in mind (which I can't quote because I am away from my books and I haven't been able to find it online) ends with the monks, who refuse to take council from St. Moses on account of his skin color, being shamed and stunned to silence on that account when St. Moses is revealed to be a man of prayer and asceticism that puts their own deficiencies under sharp magnification. And so it should be. No man who calls himself better than any other has within him the irenic spirit of Christianity, as vainglory and pride (especially over something so stupid as being a different color, when none of us have any control over that to begin with) are the antithesis of the holy and perfect religion given to us by the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

[Ironhold]

Black History Timeline - Blacklds.org

The above is an apologetics website that looks at the issue of the church and race.

What they point out, something few people outside of the church seem to be aware of, is the church's efforts at racial integration during the 1830s and 1840s, including an effort to integrate the priesthood.

Might want to take a bit and read what they've noted there.

 

[Tallguy88]

If the best that you can do is nitpick the historic bad practices of the religion, you aren't going to convert anybody. People don't stop being Catholic because of the Crusades, for example. That's not the Church today, and people today aren't going to abandon the God they believe in because of the bad actions and beliefs of people that died long before they were born.

 

[NYCGuy]

And various Christian denominations even used the Bible to justify slavery, forbid undesirable races from even entering the church, and many other horrible things. People are sinners.

But we already knew that...

So your response is..."you too!"?

 

[withwonderingawe]

For starters, many of them lied and later generations believed the lies.

The Book of Mormon is racist.

2 Nephi 5:21
21 And he had caused the cursing to come upon them, yea, even a sore cursing, because of their iniquity. For behold, they had hardened their hearts against him, that they had become like unto a flint; wherefore, as they were white, and exceedingly fair and delightsome, that they might not be enticing unto my people the Lord God did cause a skin of blackness to come upon them.

3 Nephi 2
13 And it came to pass that before this thirteenth year had passed away the Nephites were threatened with utter destruction because of this war, which had become exceedingly sore.

14 And it came to pass that those Lamanites who had united with the Nephites were numbered among the Nephites;

15 And their curse was taken from them, and their skin became white like unto the Nephites;

16 And their young men and their daughters became exceedingly fair, and they were numbered among the Nephites, and were called Nephites. And thus ended the thirteenth year.

Ya know for someone who claims to have been Mormon you sure have forgotten a lot or are just bent on miss-representing. Why did you omit verse 20 and remember when this was written there were no verses. So lets put this the way it should read.

*Wherefore, the word of the Lord was fulfilled which he spake unto me, saying that: Inasmuch as they will not hearken unto thy words they shall be cut off from the presence of the Lord. And behold, they were cut off from his presence. And he had caused the cursing to come upon them, yea, even a sore cursing, because of their iniquity. For behold, they had hardened their hearts against him, that they had become like unto a flint;

The cursing was to be cut off from the presences of the Lord, similar to what happened to Cain.

"Cain said unto the Lord, My punishment is greater than I can bear. Behold, thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the earth; and from thy face shall I be hid;.... And Cain went out from the presence of the Lord..." Gen 4

And then Cain was given a mark, doesn't say what the mark was but if anything you could say Joseph plagiarized the Bible story line in order to write a story about racism.

*wherefore, as they were white, and exceedingly fair and delightsome, that they might not be enticing unto my people the Lord God did cause a skin of blackness to come upon them.
And thus saith the Lord God: I will cause that they shall be loathsome unto thy people, save they shall repent of their iniquities.

Now the Lord didn't say I want you to hate them because they have dark skin but he knew the hearts of men and that they would find them loathsome. The Book of Mormon prophets including Mormon writing 1000 years later have a certain amount of racism in them, they do see the dark skin as a curse but the Lord didn't say that, it's in their own hearts. (Now keep in mind the line "save they shall repent of their iniquities")

In 2 Nephi 26, Nephi teaches the people,
"...and he inviteth them all to come unto him and partake of his goodness; and he denieth none that come unto him, black and white, bond and free, male and female; and he remembereth the heathen; and all are alike unto God, both Jew and Gentile."

However I think it's one thing to have a working knowledge of how God sees things but quite another to change your own heart to be inline with God's love.

Nephi's brother Jacob said to the white Nephites

5 Behold, the Lamanites your brethren, whom ye hate because of their filthiness and the cursing which hath come upon their skins, are more righteous than you; for they have not forgotten the commandment of the Lord, which was given unto our father—that they should have save it were one wife, and concubines they should have none, and there should not be whoredoms committed among them.
6 And now, this commandment they observe to keep; wherefore, because of this observance, in keeping this commandment, the Lord God will not destroy them, but will be merciful unto them; and one day they shall become a blessed people.

Now we learn here is the people really saw it as a cursing rather than what happens with dna, Laman and Lemuel had intermarried with the existing people and left over Jaradites, can't blame them for not knowing anything about dna. We also learn that Jacob still sees them as his brothers and that God loves them and promises to be merciful to them for their obedience.

Jacob then gives a piece of very important Mormon Doctrine

".....and their hatred towards you is because of the iniquity of their fathers; wherefore, how much better are you than they, in the sight of your great Creator?
O my brethren, I fear that unless ye shall repent of your sins that their skins will be whiter than yours, when ye shall be brought with them before the throne of God. (see Dan 11:35 & 12:10, Rev 3:4)

9 Wherefore, a commandment I give unto you, which is the word of God, that ye revile no more against them because of the darkness of their skins; neither shall ye revile against them because of their filthiness(sinfulness); but ye shall remember your own filthiness, and remember that their filthiness came because of their fathers.
10 Wherefore, ye shall remember your children, how that ye have grieved their hearts because of the example that ye have set before them; and also, remember that ye may, because of your filthiness, bring your children unto destruction, and their sins be heaped upon your heads at the last day.

The sins of the dark skinned Lamanites will be heaped upon the heads of Laman and Lemual because they were such bad examples and taught their children to rebel. If you have the luxury of having the Gospel and you reject it and teach your children to do the same their sins will be forgiven but then placed upon your head.

Now to Phebe's last out of context quote and remember the Lord had said
"Inasmuch as they will not hearken unto thy words they shall be cut off from the presence of the Lord"

that is the actual curse and he also said;

"I will cause that they shall be loathsome unto thy people, save they shall repent of their iniquities."

Here's 3 Nephi 3
14 And it came to pass that those Lamanites who had united with the Nephites were numbered among the Nephites;
15 And their curse was taken from them, and their skin became white like unto the Nephites;
16 And their young men and their daughters became exceedingly fair, and they were numbered among the Nephites, and were called Nephites. And thus ended the thirteenth year.


A very large group of Lamanites had been converted to the Gospel and had moved into the lands of the Nephites. The curse of being cut off from the presences of the Lord was removed and the outcome was that the loathsome-ness in the hearts of these righteous Nephites had disappeared or that the Nephite people no longer considered them loathsome even with their dark skin. They had intermarried with enough generations that they had become light skinned. I'm an example of that very thing, Grandma was born in Mexico with a brown skinned mother and a white father, Grandma married a redhead and my mother married my fair blue eyed father. No one would know we are just two generation away Mexico.

In 4 Nephi these two groups of people all come to bow their knee to Christ and live in peace
3 And they had all things common among them; therefore there were not rich and poor, bond and free, but they were all made free, and partakers of the heavenly gift.
15 And it came to pass that there was no contention in the land, because of the love of God which did dwell in the hearts of the people....... and surely there could not be a happier people among all the people who had been created by the hand of God.
17 There were no robbers, nor murderers, neither were there Lamanites, nor any manner of -ites; but they were in one, the children of Christ, and heirs to the kingdom of God.
18 And how blessed were they! For the Lord did bless them in all their doings;

The message of the Book of Mormon is that if you truly love God you will see all of mankind as your bothers and sisters. You will not judge anyone by the color of skin, a truly God like society is not broken apart by color or riches.

 

[Rescued One]

Ya know for someone who claims to have been Mormon you sure have forgotten a lot or are just bent on miss-representing. Why did you omit verse 20 and remember when this was written there were no verses. So lets put this the way it should read.

Please don't be rude (you usually aren't). I didn't misrepresent, but it certainly appears that Mormons misrepresent their own religion all the time. The curse was a dark skin.

I KNOW what Mormons taught and believed! I was there before African Americans could hold the Priesthood. Without the Priesthood, the African Americans could not receive eternal life.

Shall I tell you the law of God in regard to the African Race?
If the White man who belongs to the chosen seed mixes his blood with the seed of Cain, the penalty, under the law of God, is death on the spot.
- Prophet Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, v. 10, p. 110


"I saw a striking contrast in the progress of the Indian people today...
The day of the Lamanites is nigh.
For years they have been growing delightsome, and they are now becoming white and delightsome, as they were promised.
In this picture of the twenty Lamanite missionaries, fifteen of the twenty were as light as Anglos, five were darker but equally delightsome
The children in the home placement program in Utah are often lighter than their brothers and sisters in the hogans on the reservation.
"At one meeting a father and mother and their sixteen-year-old daughter were present, the little member girl--sixteen--sitting between the dark father and mother, and it was evident she was several shades lighter than her parents--on the same reservation, in the same hogan, subject to the same sun and wind and weather...
These young members of the Church are changing to whiteness and to delightsomeness."
Spencer W. Kimball, General Conference, October, 1960, quoted in Mormon Publication: Improvement Era, December 1960, pp. 922-923.

It wasn't about DNA.

 

[Rescued One]

If the best that you can do is nitpick the historic bad practices of the religion, you aren't going to convert anybody. People don't stop being Catholic because of the Crusades, for example. That's not the Church today, and people today aren't going to abandon the God they believe in because of the bad actions and beliefs of people that died long before they were born.

The practice existed for all the years that I was Mormon and I'm not even dead.

 

[Tallguy88]

The practice existed for all the years that I was Mormon and I'm not even dead.

Ok. But most of the quotes from the OP are 75 years old or older.

 

[Rescued One]

Ok. But most of the quotes from the OP are 75 years old or older.

Ninety-year-olds are alive. A church that claims to have had living prophets to guide them obviously didn't if they were taught such evil teachings. African Americans were denied the priesthood (necessary for eternal life) until 1978.

 

[Tallguy88]

Ninety-year-olds are alive. A church that claims to have had living prophets to guide them obviously didn't if they were taught such evil teachings. African Americans were denied the priesthood (necessary for eternal life) until 1978.

Does time matter? If so, then we can pretty much let it go. If it doesn't, then a lot more denominations are guilty of the same and much worse. Those so called prophets were a product of their times. Times changed.

 

[withwonderingawe]

Without the Priesthood, the African Americans could not receive eternal life.

but we believe they can receive it vicariously and 'the last shall be first and the first shall be last', that was what I was taught in my Mormon seminary, a righteous black men sealed to his wife would get into the Celestial Kingdom before I would.

 

[withwonderingawe]

Ok. But most of the quotes from the OP are 75 years old or older.

The truth is we don't know why the priesthood was withheld but I have my opinion based on a very lose story line which weaves in and out of the Bible with a lot of additions.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is the restitution of all things spoken by the prophets from the time of Adam, so we have to go back that far. At that time the priesthood was passed father to son, all of his sons. Cain had the priesthood, he preformed sacrifices until he sinned and then he lost it so he could not pass it on to his children. Same to with Ham, he had the right to the priesthood but then he sinned and was not given it. Shem /Melchizedek was the son who received the birthright. His own grandsons turned to idolatry and it wasn't until Abraham came along that he blessed him, that's what was going on in Gen 14. With Israel in captivity for 400 years they lost the priesthood but there was another (sounds like star wars) Jethro was a descendant of Midian a son from Abraham's third wife. He was known as Reuel or friend of El. He only had daughters and so would have blessed his elder daughter's husband with priesthood. It is Moses who consecrate Aaron and his sons. This is passed on down through Aaron's family and the Levite tribe until John the Baptist. He is the last of the priest which receive it as a birthright.

Jesus received his priesthood from his Father through oath; "(For those priests were made without an oath; but this with an oath by him that said unto him, The Lord sware and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec"

He then ordained his apostles and they ordained Elders throughout the Church. But because of apostasy this Melchisedec order was lost and taken from the earth for 2000 years. So for all of the history of the Priesthood only a small handful of men have ever held the priesthood, Cain and his descendants were not separated out for special treatment.

When the priesthood was restored it had to go back to the way it was at the time of Adam, all men had to receive it and Joseph Smith ordained several Black men to the priesthood. In short Joseph had a plan to free the slaves but he was murdered and his message rejected so the blacks remained slaves for 25 years and the United States was under condemnation for it's slavery.

The real problem is that to hold the priesthood one must have self-determination. You are required to honor it by making covenants and accepting positions in the church when called upon. Although the priesthood is considered a blessing it is also a burden. The Lord can not bless you with an eternal marriage if your wife can be sold away, you can not be asked to be a Bishop if you are chained to the wall. There is also the point that 'where much is given much is expected', a priesthood holder will receive a harsher judgement if they rebel that someone who does not.

Now here is the question, did Brigham Young decided on his own to take the priesthood away from the blacks or was he directed by the Lord to do it until the black race was truly free and have self determination?

The problem is he never said and he did have a bigoted side to him. If the Lord had directed him to he should have presented that to the Quorum of the 12 apostles to make the change and he didn't. He just seems to have arbitrarily without any council or direction from the Lord made the decision.

On the other hand I can see the Lord doing it not wanting to add any more burdens to a black man than he already had, life was tough enough.

Within the Church because there wasn't any clear answer many different myths arose trying to explain why they couldn't hold the priesthood. All of those myths have been rejected and I think the church is settling on the answer that we sinned, we as church members like the people in the Book of Mormon were bigots and we are now since 1978 opening our hearts to a great understanding of God's love.

" "...and he inviteth them all to come unto him and partake of his goodness; and he denieth none that come unto him, black and white, bond and free, male and female; and he remembereth the heathen; and all are alike unto God, both Jew and Gentile." 2 Nephi 26

 

[fatboys]

The truth is we don't know why the priesthood was withheld but I have my opinion based on a very lose story line which weaves in and out of the Bible with a lot of additions.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is the restitution of all things spoken by the prophets from the time of Adam, so we have to go back that far. At that time the priesthood was passed father to son, all of his sons. Cain had the priesthood, he preformed sacrifices until he sinned and then he lost it so he could not pass it on to his children. Same to with Ham, he had the right to the priesthood but then he sinned and was not given it. Shem /Melchizedek was the son who received the birthright. His own grandsons turned to idolatry and it wasn't until Abraham came along that he blessed him, that's what was going on in Gen 14. With Israel in captivity for 400 years they lost the priesthood but there was another (sounds like star wars) Jethro was a descendant of Midian a son from Abraham's third wife. He was known as Reuel or friend of El. He only had daughters and so would have blessed his elder daughter's husband with priesthood. It is Moses who consecrate Aaron and his sons. This is passed on down through Aaron's family and the Levite tribe until John the Baptist. He is the last of the priest which receive it as a birthright.

Jesus received his priesthood from his Father through oath; "(For those priests were made without an oath; but this with an oath by him that said unto him, The Lord sware and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec"

He then ordained his apostles and they ordained Elders throughout the Church. But because of apostasy this Melchisedec order was lost and taken from the earth for 2000 years. So for all of the history of the Priesthood only a small handful of men have ever held the priesthood, Cain and his descendants were not separated out for special treatment.

When the priesthood was restored it had to go back to the way it was at the time of Adam, all men had to receive it and Joseph Smith ordained several Black men to the priesthood. In short Joseph had a plan to free the slaves but he was murdered and his message rejected so the blacks remained slaves for 25 years and the United States was under condemnation for it's slavery.

The real problem is that to hold the priesthood one must have self-determination. You are required to honor it by making covenants and accepting positions in the church when called upon. Although the priesthood is considered a blessing it is also a burden. The Lord can not bless you with an eternal marriage if your wife can be sold away, you can not be asked to be a Bishop if you are chained to the wall. There is also the point that 'where much is given much is expected', a priesthood holder will receive a harsher judgement if they rebel that someone who does not.

Now here is the question, did Brigham Young decided on his own to take the priesthood away from the blacks or was he directed by the Lord to do it until the black race was truly free and have self determination?

The problem is he never said and he did have a bigoted side to him. If the Lord had directed him to he should have presented that to the Quorum of the 12 apostles to make the change and he didn't. He just seems to have arbitrarily without any council or direction from the Lord made the decision.

On the other hand I can see the Lord doing it not wanting to add any more burdens to a black man than he already had, life was tough enough.

Within the Church because there wasn't any clear answer many different myths arose trying to explain why they couldn't hold the priesthood. All of those myths have been rejected and I think the church is settling on the answer that we sinned, we as church members like the people in the Book of Mormon were bigots and we are now since 1978 opening our hearts to a great understanding of God's love.

" "...and he inviteth them all to come unto him and partake of his goodness; and he denieth none that come unto him, black and white, bond and free, male and female; and he remembereth the heathen; and all are alike unto God, both Jew and Gentile." 2 Nephi 26

That was beautiful. Well done.