Why do Mormons believe that black people are black?

Question

I have heard that many mormons believe that blacks do not have souls or that they are marked with black skin to identify them as evil.

Is this true? Where does this philosophy come from?

So they changed their belief because of what the general public thought? That doesn't sound right.

Answer 1

It's believed that blacks are descended from Cain (Adam and Eve's son), who (according to the Bible) was given a "mark" because of the fact he killed his brother Abel. Mormon doctrine says this "mark" was an increase of skiin pigmentation (and other accompanying ethnic features - hair, facial features, etc.). Why God placed this mark on Cain is not specified (especially considering the Old Testament punishment system of an eye for an eye; for some reason, God wanted Cain to remain alive, and the "mark" that was the darker skin was a way to ensure both that everyone would immediately recognize Cain and know to say away from him and a reminder that no one should seek retribution against him for Abel's murder), thought there are several theories, both inside and outside the Mormon Church.

(Among the more well-known theories in the Mormon Church is that another part of Mormon doctrine is that in the pre-existance we were given a choice to follow a plan presented by Jesus Christ or a plan presented by Satan. Those who followed Christ's plan kept what was called the "first estate" and allowed to enter the "second estate" - mortality. Those who followed Satan were cast out with him in a war in heaven - the one referred to in the book of Revelation. Those who are descendents of Cain were those who were essentially the fence-sitters in that war; while they technically kept the first estate by not following Satan, there had to be some sort of punishment for their not immediately joining God's side in the war.)

And no, Mormons do not believe that blacks don't have souls or that they are marked with black skin because they're evil. Ususally, such rumors crop up by people who don't take the time to understand Mormon Church doctrine, and make assumptions on rumors they're heard. (There are, in fact, many black members of the Mormon Church, in full and good standing.)

Answer 2

Thanks for your question. There is a lot of false ideas out there. I am a Mormon. People of every race are welcome in the church and able to have any leadership position etc available. There is no segregation or differnence between people of different race, ethnicity, culture, income, etc. We are taught that everybody on earth are sons and daughters of Heavenly Father and have divine potential only through Jesus Christ. We are also taught that we should never judge anybody for any reason. In fact in the 1800's Mormon's were very against slavery of any kind. A large group of them moved to Missouri. At the time Missouri was the swing state between the north and south pro/anti slavery debate. People were so upset that Mormons were so anti slavery that they began to kill them and the govenor even issued an extermination order that made it legal to kill any Mormon, man woman or child. Due to this and other persecuation the majority of Mormon's were forced to flee and ended up settling in Utah. Since statisticly there is less diversity in the west you don't see a lot of people of different races here, but the majority of mormons are actually in different countries like Africa, South america and Asia. In those areas there are obviously few whites due to demographics. Thanks for your interst.

Answer 3

mormons believe that all people of all races are the chilldren of God and have the same opportunity to learn of Him and His Son Jesus through this life and because of Christ, through resurrection in the next. That includes blacks. They believe that people all have souls the same, no matter what the race, creed, or nationality. And that all people are prone to good and evil the same.

These distorted ideas probably come from the early days of the lds church, when some speculated that darker skin may have been the mark spoken of being put on Cain and his decendants (in the bible), but they did not believe that any child is responsible for the sins of his father - that would include Cain.

To my knowledge it was never a teaching of the lds church, but it may have been a view held by some of the members - and as any lds member will tell you, they are free to speak of any subject....

Answer 4

This "philosophy" comes from those who hate our church.

Maybe SOME Mormons might believe this, I can't speak for all of us. But, it's NOT taught by our church leaders.

IMHO, God made them black because he likes diversity.

Answer 5

In the 50s to late 70s, there were several outspoken apostles of the mormon church who regularly demonized civil rights, communism, equal rights and more recently feminism and homosexuality. They based most of their venom on various references to the mark of Cain was blackness of skin, specifically Moses 7:22 in the Pearl of Great Price, then expounded on it as to why this was so.

Bruce R McConkie, Joseph Fielding Smith, and Ezra Taft Benson were the most extreme critics of the '*****' second only to Brigham Young, but now the church merely refers to these rantings as 'opinions' and not doctrine. They have not apologized for it yet, altho the Book of Moses and Abrahams "source" is nothing more than an Egyptian funerary prayer of a priest.

However, the soul issue is not addressed, but blacks were called the "Agents of Satan" by these noble and inspired men and believed by millions of the faithful.

Answer 6

The Mormons believe we all lived in Heaven with Heavenly Father, several Heavenly Mothers, and 20 Billion Heavenly Siblings before we were born here on Earth. Then there was a war. The good guys won and were born White. The bad guys lost and became demons. Those who were neutral or did not fight bravely were born with non-white skin. The bravest of the brave were born to Mormon families.

We all know that Romney must have been a "Valliant Warrior" in the "War in Heaven" during the "Pre-Existence". How else could he have been born "White and Delightsome" to an LDS family here on Earth? Heck, he was probably one of the Commanding Generals . Now , America needs a President with valuable military experience like that to get us through our war in Iraq. Could you please ask "The One and Only True Prophet", Gordon Hinkley, to please release those valuable records to the public? We need to know what battles he fought in. How many medals he won. How many of the "Less Valliant Soldiers" he recommended being born with black skin when they got their chance to be born on Earth. Was Al Sharpton one of THEM ? How about Jesse Jackson? Mormons, this is your chance to show the world the light of the everlasting gospel. Dont miss out. We have General Romney running for president of the USA and we need you badly right now!

Answer 7

They believe that mark given to Cain for killing his brother was black skin (see Genesis 4:14-15).

In addition, in the Book of Mormon, when the Nephites turned their backs on God, they were given dark skin as punishment (2 Nephi 5:21 -22).

Answer 8

Do a search for the Curse of Ham and you will find that many Protestants in the 1800s believed it.

I am Mormon and I believe people with dark skin got it through their parents' DNA.

Answer 9

This is absolutely not true. We encourage all people to come to Christ, regardless of race. It is true that blacks were not allowed to hold the Priesthood until 1978, but the reasoning has never been fully explained. Some prominent leaders have taught that blacks were the seed of Cain, and thus cursed, but it has never been accepted as church doctrine. We believe all people are children of God. Kudos to Shorty for the link to www.blacklds.org. It's a great site.

Answer 10

I believe it comes from the bible. Theres a story that reads into it. A baby was cursed with black skin and it spread into a whole region. I'm not sure. I don't believe in it. People are people. Who are we to judge others?