“Seems like they’re in a pickle. If Mormons rely on Joseph Smith’s authority as a prophet to legitimize their reorganization of the church and reinterpretation of Scripture, they cannot very well disavow that authority when it comes to racist verses. Either he was rely enough to break off from the rest of Christianity to follow only him, or he wasn’t. If he wasn’t reliable when it came to the racist parts, why should anyone think he was reliable enough to follow off into the hinterlands on matters of salvation?”
Excellent point!
The usual workaround for that type of thing is that his work was for an imperfect people in an earlier time.
Joseph Smith never was a races.
1836
Elijah Abel Ordained an Elder
In March, Elijah Abel is given the priesthood and ordained to the office of Elder. This is reportedly done by Joseph Smith himself.
Joseph Smith Slavery Editorial
In the April issue of the Messenger and Advocate, Joseph Smith writes that the methods of the abolitionists are not helping the cause of the slaves.
Elijah Abel Listed in the Messenger and Advocate
In the June issue of the Messenger and Advocate, the elders in Kirtland Ohio are listed. Elijah Abel is listed as an Elder.
Elijah Abel Ordained a Seventy
In December Elijah is ordained a Seventy by Zebedee Coltrin. He also becomes a “duly licensed minister of the Gospel” for missionary work in Ohio. (Minutes of the Seventies Journal, December 20, 1836)
Nondiscriminatory Rules Published for Governing the Temple in Kirtland
The rules provided for “old or young, rich or poor, male or female, bond or free, black or white, believer or unbeliever…” (History of the Church 2: 368-69
Letter of the Prophet to John C. Bennett–On Bennett’s Correspondence Anent Slavery.
EDITOR’S OFFICE, NAUVOO, ILLINOIS, March 7, 1842
March 1842, Joseph Smith writes the following in a letter on the subject of slavery, “I have just been perusing your correspondence with Doctor Dyer, on the subject of American slavery, and the students of the Quincy Mission Institute, and it makes my blood boil within me to reflect upon the injustice, cruelty, and oppression of the rulers of the people. When will these things cease to be, and the Constitution and the laws again bear rule? I fear for my beloved country mob violence, injustice and cruelty appear to be the darling attributes of Missouri, and no man taketh it to heart! O tempora! O mores! What think you should be done?”
Your friend,
JOSEPH SMITH
[History of the Church, 4:544]
Note: O tempora! O mores! is a Latin phrase meaning Alas for the times and the manners.
Once, as the Mayor of Nauvoo, Illinois he was told of a black man in Nauvoo named Anthony who had sold liquor on Sunday; which was a violation of the Nauvoo City Code. Mormon writer Mary Frost Adams tells us what happened:
“While he was acting as mayor of the city, a colored man named Anthony was arrested for selling liquor on Sunday, contrary to law. He pleaded that the reason he had done so was that he might raise the money to purchase the liberty of a dear child held as a slave in a Southern State. He had been able to purchase the liberty of himself and his wife and now wished to bring his little child to their new home. Joseph said, ‘I am sorry, Anthony, but the law must be observed and we will have to impose a fine.’ The next day Brother Joseph presented Anthony with a fine horse, directing him to sell it, and use the money obtained for the purchase of the child.” (Young Woman’s Journal, p.538)
(THE FOLLOWING IS NOT DOCUMENTED) The horse was Joseph’s prized white stallion, and was worth about $500; a huge sum at the time. With the money from the sale, Anthony was able to purchase his child out of slavery.
http://www.blacklds.org/quotes#boil
Why did Joseph Smith decided to be a candidate in the 1844 presidential election? It is hard to believe that he thought he could win the election, but he was not a frivolous candidate.
Joseph Smith said on February 8, 1844:
I would not have suffered my name to have been used by my friends on anywise as President of the United States, or candidade for that office, if I and my friend could have had the privilege of enjoying our religious and civil rights as American citizens…But this as a people we have been denied from the beginning. Persecution has rolled upon our heads from time to time…. because of our religion; and no portion of the government as yet stepped forward for our relief. And in view of these things, I feel it to be my right and privilege to obtain what influence and power I can, lawfully, in the United States, for the protection of injured innocence.
Clearly, Joseph Smith was trying to gain as much influence as possible to protect his people, even if he probably knew that he could not become president. In fact, he even speculated that he could be killed because of his campaign.
Joseph Smith‘s platform was contained in a pamphlet titled General Smith’s Views of the Powers and Policy of the Government of the United States.
Among other interesting ideas, he proposed the abolition of slavery by the year 1850. His solution to the problem was to
pay every man a reasonable price for his slaves out of the surplus revenue arising from the sale of public land, and from the deduction of pay from members of Congress. Break off the shackles from the poor black man, and hire them to labor like other human beings
Was this solution economically impractical? According to Dr. Garr
…the way that ultimately the United States settled the slavery issue was through civil war – a conflict that cost more than fifteen billion dollars and more than 600,000 lives….a conflict that left the South in economic ruin and implanted bitterness and hatred in the hearts of millions…In retrospect, it would seem that Joseph Smith’s solution to the slavery was more sensible than Civil War.
Joseph Smith was killed on June 27, 1844 and obviously he never became president. The American people could not find a better solution to slavery and it went through a terrible Civil War.
I can’t avoid thinking how different could have been U.S. history if the American people has listened to Joseph Smith’s counsel.
http://giuseppemartinengo.com/166/why-did-joseph-smith-run-for-president-in-1844