Was the Book of Mormon really written by racial bigots? (Mitt Romney's church)?

Question

Please do not give opinion without references to back them up! Thanks!

"…they were white and delightsome, but the Lord God caused a skin of blackness to come upon them that they might not be enticing to my people" (2 Nephi 5:21).

“The negroes are not equal with other races…”Mormon Doctrine, 1958 ed.pgs.476-477;1966 ed.pgs. 526-527)

[The DARK Race] ...became a dark, and loathsome, and a filthy people, full of idleness and all manner of abominations. (*Book of Mormon*,1 Ne.12:23)

[The White Race]...a white and a delightsome people" (Book of Mormon - 2 Nephi 30:6 1830 Edition).

Brigham Young's view of inter-racial relations carries a DEATH PENALTY!
In a sermon given on March 8, 1863, Brigham Young stated, "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, 10:110).

Answer 1

No the Book of Mormon was not written by racial bigots, but it is a bit ironic how you criticize others of bigotry while dishing out your own hatred towards another group of people.

While pleading with the Lord for forgiveness, David prayed:

Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me and I shall be whiter than snow. (Psalms 51:7)

Answer 2

This is the actual full quote in the sermon given by Brigham Young.

“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...If the Government of the United States, in Congress assembled, had the right to pass an anti-polygamy bill, they had also the right to pass a law that slaves should not be abused as they have been; they had also a right to make a law that negroes should be used like human beings, and not worse than dumb brutes. For their abuse of that race, the whites will be cursed, unless they repent”.

Answer 3

Romney's no longer the richest Mormon. a greater suitable guess for that massive distinction could be John Huntsman, Sr. Romney would not have extremely unusual effect interior the LDS church. The "maximum" place of work he ever held grew to become into stake president. at present the LDS church has approximately 2800 stakes, and their presidents are reassigned each and every 5-10 years; there are possibly nicely over 30,000 former stake presidents who could be friends to Romney in words of their resume of provider. the pinnacle of the LDS church is Thomas S. Monson. Marion G. Romney grew to become into Mitt Romney's 2d cousin, no longer his uncle. Marion G. Romney died in 1988.

Answer 4

Your quotes do not reflect the complete history and meaning. For example, you quote from "Mormon Doctrine" and indicate only part of the sentence. What's the rest of the sentence?

President Spencer W. Kimball taught: "We do wish that there would be no racial prejudice. Racial prejudice is of the devil. There is no place for it in the gospel of Jesus Christ. (The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, pp. 236).

You have obviously read parts of the Book of Mormon. You may claim to understand our teachings and beliefs but you don't. We are not "racial bigots."

There may be racists that are Mormons but there are also racists that are Catholics, Jews and Atheists! That's the person, not the religion!

Fine, you hate us. What I wonder is what horrible things have we done to you for you to shell out so much hate and half truths!

Answer 5

No, it wasn't.

Most Book of Mormon scholars believe that the phrase about darkness was metaphorical and have shown examples of this usage in ancient near-East writings, including the Bible. In any case, the references are not used to apply to blacks or other ethnic groups, nor is it meant to imply that skin color is a measure of righteousness or acceptability before God.

Racist attitudes and assumptions have long permeated the cultures of the world, and these attitudes can easily stay with a person once they are in the Church. But racist attitudes are incompatible with the teachings of Christ. For example, six years before the 1978 revelation that extended the right to hold the Priesthood to all worthy males, President Spencer W. Kimball reiterated the teachings of the Church and of the Gospel:

"Intolerance by Church members is despicable. A special problem exists with respect to blacks because they may not now [1972] receive the priesthood. Some members of the Church would justify their own un-Christian discrimination against blacks because of that rule with respect to the priesthood, but while this restriction has been imposed by the Lord, it is not for us to add burdens upon the shoulders of our black brethren. They who have received Christ in faith through authoritative baptism are heirs to the celestial kingdom along with men of all other races. And those who remain faithful to the end may expect that God may finally grant them all blessings they have merited through their righteousness. Such matters are in the Lord's hands. It is for us to extend our love to all." (From a 1972 address reprinted in The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, Deseret Book, 1982.)

The Latter-day Saints I knew in 1978 were thrilled when the priesthood right was opened to all worthy males. When I lived in Atlanta, where there are quite a few African-American Latter-day Saints, I heard many white members express their joy at finally being able to serve in the priesthood with their African-American brethren and to attend the temple with them. There may be some members with strongly racist views, but I believe that they represent a tiny minority of the LDS people. Of course, bigoted attitudes can be subtle, pervasive, and hard to detect, making it impossible to certify that anyone is 100% free of prejudiced ideas. It's so easy to make assumptions about others based on their culture, their height, their skin color, their nationality, etc. I cannot claim that any Latter-day Saint is perfectly just and reasonable in all attitudes and assumptions, but I sense that most sincerely accept and respect those of different races. Problems common to humanity, including racism, may occur among the members, but the Church vigorously teaches that we are all brothers and sisters, children of one God.

Answer 6

Most churches have a past history of discrimination (Catholics discriminated against Jews and Muslims in the middle ages, southern Protestants discriminated against African Americans in the 18th and 19th centuries, some Muslims have discriminated against "infidels" in recent years, etc). Unfortunately, in the past (before I was born), Mormons taught some of the same things about blacks that Southern Protestants taught (Curse of Cain/Ham, etc) and so did not allow blacks to hold leadership positions in the church. Unlike Southern Protestants, however, Mormons never segragated their congregations and always taught that blacks could go to heaven.

However, all that changed decades ago. Modern Mormonism is very much opposed to discrimination of any kind. Ironically, many who discriminate against us (professional anti-Mormons) hypocritically accuse us of being discriminators!

The Mormon Church is not a racist church. I'm Mormon, and my wife is black. We were married in a Mormon temple, where the officiator told us that God approved of our marriage. My wife is treated well at church, as are the other African American members of our congregation. I've had a black bishop in several different Mormon congregations of which I've been a member.

Many anti-Mormons, however, intentionally misrepresent Mormon teachings in an attempt to discredit Mormonism. I've written about this type of discrimination on my site at http://www.allaboutmormons.com/brief_critique_anti-mormon_propaganda.php . Pay careful attention to the video at http://www.allaboutmormons.com/ENG_Video62.php .

To learn more about racial diversity in the Mormon church, visit http://www.allaboutmormons.com/racial_diversity_mormon_church.php .

Also, to see videos of black Mormons, visit these sites:

http://www.allaboutmormons.com/ENG_Video44.php
http://www.allaboutmormons.com/ENG_Video76.php
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6VOBVDcSec
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8V0oh2lNA0

Answer 7

Have you read the Book of Mormon from cover to cover? It describes the Gospel of Jesus Christ and testifies of the divinity of Christ. A person can get closer to God by reading its pages than by any other book.

A bold statement, I know, but you can find that out for yourself if you ask God about it. God would know if it is his book or not. Why not ask him?

Answer 8

When I was in high school, my parents forced me to study Latin. It turned out to be a good thing, because my teacher was a truly gifted intellectual and scholar. As strict as a Paris Island drill instructor, mind you.

A very religious Christian girl in my class remarked that she considered the Romans to be evil people, because of how they owned slaves and conquered people and threw Christians in with lions and all that. I still remember the teacher's words. She said, 'IT'S NOT FAIR TO JUDGE PEOPLE FROM HISTORY BY THE STANDARDS WE APPLY TODAY."

If Brigham Young were alive today, and he advocated killing inter-racial couples, he would be laughed off the stage. In his day, he was JUST REFLECTING THE CURRENT ATTITUDE TOWARDS BLACK PEOPLE.

Mercifully, our attitudes to people of other races has changed into something closer to what God wishes in the first place for them to be.

Saying that people ought not to be Mormon because of the references you have quoted is like saying people ought not to be Christians because of the Crusades.

One more thing. The Book of Leviticus, so beloved of homophobes, contains instructions for the proper treatment of slaves. Does that mean that it's OK for Christians to own slaves? After all, the Bible says so.

Answer 9

A persons religious beliefs say a lot about the person. If I feel the LDS religion is false and one of their members wants to lead my country I would naturally hold that against them. I am not taking orders from anyone who I feel cant even investigate their own church and know it isnt true. If he cant even take care of himself , I wont trust him to take care of me. There is overwhelming evidence out there that the church is a colossal fraud. They have committed so many crimes such as the Mountain Meadows Massacre and so forth that I am appalled that they are even still around. In the early Temple ceremonies, oaths were taken by the Priesthood to avenge the blood of Joseph Smith on this nation. Now one of them wants to be President? I think not !

Answer 10

Everyone was a racial bigot until a few years ago when we were "enlightened". Of course, you will be able to say exactly the same thing no matter how far in the future you go. Racism and bigotry are judged by contemporary standards... it was a different time then, and things will be different in the future. And the generations that went before will always be considered less enlightened, whether or not that it is true.