Hey Mormons: Why were people born Black or with dark skin?

Question

I heard your "Church" teaches that there was a thing called "The Pre-existence" were all humans lived prior to being born on Earth. Then there was a great "War in heaven" and all the bad guys were cursed to be born on Earth with dark skin and all the good guys were born "White and Delightsome". I guess thats why your "Church" wouldnt let African Americans hold the priesthood until the 1970's when segregation became politically incorrect. I know that cant be the real reason somebody was born African American so can you please explain this to me?

Answer 1

I've heard that too, although I am not Mormon. I do think their church teaches that though.

Answer 2

It wasn't during the pre-existence that the skin changed, it was Cain and Able, and the tower of Bable that the languages were changed, and the skin color was also changed at that time. Read the scriptures!!!!!

African Americans weren't allowed to hold the priesthood for reasons other then just race. According to the book of Abraham, the descendants of Cain were to be denied the priesthood of God (Abr. 1:23-26). Some Latter-day Saints theorized that blacks would be restricted throughout mortality. As early as 1852, however, Brigham Young said that the "time will come when they will have the privilege of all we have the privilege of and more" (Brigham Young Papers, Church Archives, Feb. 5, 1852), and increasingly in the 1960s, Presidents of the Church taught that denial of entry to the priesthood was a current commandment of God, but would not prevent blacks from eventually possessing all eternal blessings. On June 9, 1978, President Spencer W. Kimball announced the revelation that all worthy males could hold the priesthood.

It was something that the Lord appointed before we even were re-organized. Read Moses 5 for the whole story on Cain and Abel.

Here is a page you should read. It tells more in depth about this and the church.

Answer 3

ACTUALLY, the theory was, that there were the good guys, the bad guys, and those that were good but not as valiant. It is the third group that SUPPOSEDLY, according to some, were born black, of Afrian descent. The bad guys were never born into mortality.

HOWEVER, as I said, this is a THEORY. In reality, we do not know why blacks f African descent were denied the priesthood for so long. God never told us. There ae many theories, but nothing official.

OTOH, it's really a genetics thing. See, when a man with black skin and a woman with black skin "get together", they produce a child with black skin. Usually.

Answer 4

Haha.... There was a great war in heaven and those that rebelled against Heavenly Father and followed satan were DENIED a BODY meaning they could not be black nor white nor indian nor red or blue or whatever else. Maybe people who are colored on Earth were smarter then people who are now white on Earth, I say this because black people are and have gone through harder times due to their skin color. The more challenges you face, the wiser you become, and if you stay faithful, then how great is your faith? A LOT greater then some person who never went through any trials, or was persecuted because of their skin. Who do you think is worse in the eyes of God, the privledged white person who enslaved a man because of his color? The privledged white person whose ancestors came to America and were never enslaved and had the oppportunity and many years to prosper in this land, who do not give anything to starving children in Africa? Or the black person who went through so many trials and heart aches because of their physical body which was the greatest gift that God gave them, who goes to church every day and loves their God no matter what? Or the poor starving family in Africa who has been ripped of their land by English settlers who stole all their gold and other resources? If anything white people are cursed.

Answer 5

The THEORY as Mormon_4 put it comes from a Book called "Mormon Doctrine" which, despite it's name, is actually not officially endorsed by the church because it has so much of the author's opinion in it that aren't official doctrines - this is one of those opinion things.

Personally, if you ask me why they are born with dark skin, I will tell you about DNA and inheriting traits from parents - pretty simple biology.