...Latter-day Saint scripture and teachings affirm that God loves all of His children and makes salvation available to all. God created the many diverse races and ethnicities and esteems them all equally...

...for much of its history—from the mid-1800s until 1978—the Church did not ordain men of black African descent to its priesthood or allow black men or women to participate in temple endowment or sealing ordinances.

In 1852, President Brigham Young publicly announced that men of black African descent could no longer be ordained to the priesthood, though thereafter blacks continued to join the Church through baptism and receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost. Following the death of Brigham Young, subsequent Church presidents restricted blacks from receiving the temple endowment or being married in the temple. Over time, Church leaders and members advanced many theories to explain the priesthood and temple restrictions...

The curse of Cain was often put forward as justification for the priesthood and temple restrictions. Around the turn of the century, another explanation gained currency: blacks were said to have been less than fully valiant in the premortal battle against Lucifer and, as a consequence, were restricted from priesthood and temple blessings.13

Resources

13. Apostle Joseph Fielding Smith, for example, wrote in 1907 that the belief was “quite general” among Mormons that “the Negro race has been cursed for taking a neutral position in that great contest.” Yet this belief, he admitted, “is not the official position of the Church, [and is] merely the opinion of men.” Joseph Fielding Smith to Alfred M. Nelson, Jan. 31, 1907, Church History Library, Salt Lake City.

“As usual my favorite purveyor of religious bigotry, smears, innuendo, distortion, fabrication.”

OK, Teppe, for the hundredth time, please identify:

any bigotry
any smears
any innuendo
any distortion
any fabrication.

Frankly, you can’t show it. It isn’t there.

In contrast...

YOUR post is entirely bigotry, smears, innuendo, distortion and fabrication.

Got Freud?

“As usual my favorite purveyor of religious bigotry, smears, innuendo, distortion, fabrication.”

OK, Teppe, for the hundredth time, please identify:

any bigotry
any smears
any innuendo
any distortion
any fabrication.

Frankly, you can’t show it. It isn’t there.

In contrast...

YOUR post is entirely bigotry, smears, innuendo, distortion and fabrication.

Got Freud?

In post #4, I cited this Mormon blogger as writing:

...there are huge implications in this admission of wrong that now need to be tackled; 1) Those we had thought were talking to God, had in fact made a God of their culture, their politics, their privilege, their race. They were wrong. What else have they been wrong about? 2) Given that they were wrong and it has taken the Brethren this long to admit it, what do we accept now as doctrine that might be repudiated in a few years time?

This hammer hits the nail square on its head.

Note this paragraph from yesterday's Salt Lake City Trib on this story:

"Mormons believe that their leaders are in regular communication with God, so if you say Young could make a serious error, he says, "it brings into question ALL of the prophet’s inspiration."

Source: Mormon church traces black priesthood ban to Brigham Young

EVERYTHING Brigham Young has uttered -- if it wasn's suspect enough with his teachings that...
...Adam is God...
...Blood atonement...
...etc...
...is FURTHER brought into disrepute and distrust.

Furthermore, it thereby brings EVERYTHING that a church body does that elevates the name "Brigham Young" (i.e. BYU) into the same level of disrepute and distrust!

Binger, you've said on a previous thread that you were a missionary in the Scandinavian countries -- not Norway -- about 1961...when this Lds "apostle" -- Alvin Rulon Dyer -- gave this racist talk to Lds missionaries at that time in Norway.

Content of the "talk" linked below.

Have you ever heard of this talk?

Alvin R. Dyer - For What Purpose

Dyer wasn't some low muckety-muck. Not only was he an "apostle" -- but he was one of the three highest-ranked hierarchists in the Mormon hierarchy from 1968-1970:

Source: Alvin R. Dyer

Why, after spewing such open racism in 1961, did Dyer advance into the upper echelon of the Mormon Church?

On the other hand, Joseph Fielding Smith also made a lot of racist statements...and he moved into the top "prophet" spot in 1970-1972.

Seems that just as John Taylor "dug in" defending polygamy in the 1880s, only to be replaced, so, too Mormondom had its protect-the-status-quo General Authorities at least 1968-1972.

Islam sucks, I guess I’m on your list now.

Yup. (We all know how laotzu tosses all his giraffe images on the thousands of threads where Islam is portrayed negatively...and accuses all those FR posters of "religion bashing"...)

Oh, wait.

I have that wrong.

Laotzu doesn't do that, does he?

Well...

...Never mind...

Well, ya know what they say: "Some religions are more equal than others."

(There. There's a quote you can add to your FREEPER home page, Laotzu)

I'm sorry that it's hard to discern that I've "thrown in" with the FI's. Been with them for some time, especially after they followed the advice of the mormons themselves in challenging my previous beliefs as a mormon. I appreciate their diligence.

It's funny that a handful of ex mormons and Christians generate such visceral responses from folks who deign to actually investigate what is being posted. They so predictably go straight to the liberal bible, Alinsky's Rules for Radicals.

What I don’t understand about the mormons and their supporters complaining about us “confronting” you is that your own “prophets” and “apostles” issued the challenges. Dared any to challenge them on doctrine. Why then, aren’t the mormons of today accepting those challenges? Are the words of their “prophets” to be ignored?

Joseph Smith - "Wherefore, confound your enemies; call upon them to meet you both in public and in private" Doctrine and Covenants 71:7 (1831)

• Orson Pratt - "convince us of our errors of doctrine, if we have any, by reason, by logical arguments, or by the word of God, and we will be ever grateful for the information" The Seer, p. 15 (1854)

• George A. Smith - "If a faith will not bear to be investigated; if its preachers and professors are afraid to have it examined, their foundation must be very weak." Journal of Discourses, vol. 14, p. 216 (1871)

• Brigham Young - "I have had many revelations; I have seen and heard for myself, and know these things are true, and nobody on earth can disprove them. ... I say to the whole world, receive the truth, no matter who presents it to you. Take up the Bible, compare the religion of the Latter-day Saints with it, and see if it will stand the test." Journal of Discourses, vol. 16, p. 46 (1873)

• Brigham Young - "I am here to give this people, called Latter-day Saints, counsel to direct them in the path of life. ... If there is an Elder here, or any member of this Church, called the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, who can bring up the first idea, the first sentence that I have delivered to the people as counsel that is wrong, I really wish they would do it; but they cannot do it, for the simple reason that I have never given counsel that is wrong; this is the reason." Journal of Discourses, vol. 16, p. 161 (1873)

• Wilford Woodruff - "I am willing to exchange all the errors and false notions I have for one truth, and should consider that I had made a good bargain. We are not afraid of light and truth. Our religion embraces every truth in heaven, earth or hell; it embraces all truth" Journal of Discourses, vol. 18, p. 117 (1875)

It appears so. So remember boys and girls, when a mormon or one of their enablers whines about being challenged, all you need to do is remember the words of their very own "prophets". But especially those of George Smith.

I think he also gave it in a mission conference in Copenhagen at about that same time. They brought the entire mission into Copenhagen for a 7:00 am meeting and sent us all out to a neighborhood out on Amager to gang up on an entire section of town and challenge every person we saw to be baptized that same day.

That guy was one hard ass. At the end of the day they made every one of us stand up and say why we did or didn’t succeed. I have never forgotten how he would challenge each missionary in an almost violent way. One guy broke down and Dyer called him a cry baby or something like that. A 19 year old kid.

Four of us rebellious guys traded off our companions that night and went downtown Copenhagen to the Giraffe Bar. Those were the days!

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