Enroll in the new Apologetics class firing up this summer at BYU!
You, too, will be able to CONFOUND any who would oppose you; just like the Scriptures say!
Posted on 03/06/2012 5:44:27 AM PST by Colofornian
Mitt Romney, despite a seemingly lackluster appeal to the Republican base, is steadily marching toward the GOP nomination. A relatively private man, Romney has suffered for appearing awkward in public. But the businessman turned politician is learning to be transparent: he has finally released his tax returns, made attempts to clarify a myriad number of changed policy positions, and has even held his own in debates -- fine tuning well-rehearsed attacks on President Obama ahead of their likely general election fight.
Yet there is one subject Romney has consistently avoided -- for good reason -- and that is the sordid history of racial insensitivity in the Mormon Church
theGrio: Black Mormons weigh Romney-Obama match-up
The issue garnered attention this week after the Washington Post published an article, "The Genesis of a Church's Stand on Race". In the article, Randy Bott, a well-regarded religious professor at Brigham Young University, which is owned by the Church of Latter-day Saints, sought to justify the church's previous exclusion of blacks to the priesthood, as well as the disturbing teachings -- and explicitly racist texts of the Book of Mormon.
"God has always been discriminatory," Bott said.
The professor compared prejudiced policies to a young child asking for keys to a father's car and conflated this with the Mormon ban on blacks.
"What is discrimination?" Bott asked. "I think that is keeping something from somebody that would be a benefit for them, right? But what if it wouldn't have been a benefit to them?" Professor Bott tried to explain that though blacks were not allowed into the priesthood before 1978, this meant that they were spared from being sent to the lower rung of hell.
It's a stretch - and a wholly insufficient answer for most reasonable minds - but Bott's comments actually reflected mainstream Mormon opinion for at least 150 years.
Founded in 1830, the Latter Day Saint (LDS) movement was started by Joseph Smith, who claimed to have received a revelation from which he penned the Book of Mormon. LDS theology claimed that people of the black African Diaspora were cursed. Today, Mormons still teach that a war in heaven took place when Jesus and Lucifer, both considered sons of God, disagreed on whether or not humans should be given free will.
According to Smith, Jesus believed that only a select few could be saved, while Lucifer believed that everyone should be given a chance at salvation. Smith's revelation purports that the spirits who sided with Lucifer ended up being born as darker-skinned people, cursed by God, and were undeserving of the priesthood.
Though Smith may have been unduly influenced by the slave-owning society in which he lived -- more than any actual spiritual awakening -- the official doctrine of the LDS Church still views his writings as divinely inspired. And despite the ban being lifted in 1978 -- more than a decade following the 1964 Civil Rights Act -- the Church has never disavowed the scripture or Joseph Smith and Brigham Young's teachings, which are fraught with racial bias.
Further complicating the matter are the dubious circumstances under which Mormon leaders eventually saw the light. In early 1978, the U.S. Department of Justice threatened to revoke the LDS tax-exempt status if it continued to discriminate on the basis of race. It was then that the Mormon "living prophet" declared his new revelation -- thereby protecting millions, if not billions, in potential tax liabilities.
In response to Ricard Bott's claims, the Church of Latter-day Saints issued an official statement yesterday condemning racism, "including any and all past racism by individuals both inside and outside the church."
This represented the most forceful statement the Church has made on the subject to date, but if the story gains more traction -- or if Bott defends his stance -- this will undoubtedly prove to be a mitigating factor for Mitt Romney, forcing him to speak about the racial politics of his faith.
Romney has claimed that he was so moved when the church finally allowed blacks into the priesthood that he broke into tears. Yet he was a full grown man in his 30s and there is no evidence whatsoever that he previously objected to or campaigned against the blatantly racist policies.
There are LURKERS who have NEVER seen what I’ve posted before: it’s for them.
Now THAT’S funny !
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.
Author: Brigham Young
Source: Journal Of Discourses
Volume: 10
Page: 110
You see some classes of the human family that are black, uncouth, uncomely, disagreeable and low in their habits, wild, and seemingly deprived of nearly all the blessings of the intelligence that is generally bestowed upon mankind. The first man that committed the odious crime of killing one of his brethren will be cursed the longest of any one of the children of Adam. Cain slew his brother. Cain might have been killed, and that would have put a termination to that line of human beings. This was not to be, and the Lord put a mark upon him, which is the flat nose and black skin.
Author: Brigham Young
Source: Journal Of Discourses
Volume: 7
Page: 291
It was well understood by the early elders of the Church that the mark which was placed on Cain and which his posterity inherited was the black skin. The Book of Moses informs us that Cain and his descendants were black.
Author: Joseph Fielding Smith
Source: Way To Perfection
Page: 107
The Lord said, I will not kill Cain, but I will put a mark upon him, and that mark will be seen upon the face of every negro upon the face of the earth; and it is the decree of God that that mark shall remain upon the seed of Cain until the seed of Abel shall be redeemed, and Cain shall not receive the Priesthood, until the time of that redemption. Any man having one drop of the seed of Cain in him cannot receive the Priesthood; but the day will come when all that race will be redeemed and possess all the blessings which we now have.
Author: Joseph Fielding Smith
Source: Way To Perfection
Page: 106
Why is it in this Church we do not grant the priesthood to the Negroes? It is alleged that the Prophet Joseph said—and I have no reason to dispute it—that it is because of some act committed by them before they came into this life. It is alleged that they were neutral, standing neither for Christ nor the devil. But, I am convinced it is because of some things they did before they came into this life that they have been denied the privilege. The races of today are very largely reaping the consequence of a previous life.
Author: Melvin Joseph Ballard
Source: Sermons and Missionary Services
Page: 248
The negroes are not equal with other races where the receipt of certain spiritual blessings are concerned, particularly the priesthood and the temple blessings that flow therefrom...
Author: Bruce R. McConkie
Source: Mormon Doctrine
Page: 527
Not only was Cain called upon to suffer, but because of his wickedness he became the father of an inferior race. A curse was placed upon him and that curse has been continued through his lineage and must do so while time endures. Millions of souls have come into this world cursed with a black skin and have been denied the privilege of Priesthood and the fulness of the blessings of the Gospel. These are the descendants of Cain. Moreover, they have been made to feel their inferiority and have been separated from the rest of mankind from the beginning.
Author: Joseph Fielding Smith
Source: Way To Perfection
Page: 101
As a result of his rebellion, Cain was cursed and told that “the earth” would not thereafter yield him its abundance as previously. In addition he became the first mortal to be cursed as a son of perdition. As a result of his mortal birth he is assured of a tangible body of flesh and bones in eternity, a fact which will enable him to rule over Satan. The Lord placed on Cain a mark of a dark skin, and he became the ancestor of the black race.
Author: Bruce R. McConkie
Source: Mormon Doctrine
Page: 102
Now, my brothers and sisters, I would like you to understand that long before we were born into this earth we were tested and tried in our pre-existence, and the fact that of the thousands of children born today, a certain proportion of them went to the Hottentots of South Africa; thousands went to the Chinese mothers; thousands went to Negro mothers; thousands to beautiful white Latter-day Saint mothers: You cannot tell me that the entire group was just designated, marked, to go where they did, that they were men and women of equal opportunities. There are no infant spirits born. They had a being ages before they came into this life.
Author: Melvin Joseph Ballard
Source: Sermons and Missionary Services
Page: 247
Why are so many of the inhabitants of the earth cursed with a sin of blackness? It comes in consequence of their fathers rejecting the power of the Holy Priesthood, and the law of God. They will go down to death. And when all the rest of the children have received their blessings in the Holy Priesthood, then that curse will be removed from the seed of Cain, and they will then come up and possess the priesthood, and receive all the blessings which we now are entitled to. The volition of the creature is free; this is a law of their existence, and the Lord cannot violate his own law; were he to do that, he would cease to be God.
Author: Brigham Young
Source: Journal Of Discourses
Volume: 11
Page: 272
And ANTI-Christians like yourself.
And you ARE one of them; right?
And, quite accurate.
I'll bet some of them out there have NEVER heard what a NOAHIDE is.
Get some help.
Enroll in the new Apologetics class firing up this summer at BYU!
You, too, will be able to CONFOUND any who would oppose you; just like the Scriptures say!
The Mormans may be nutty. But you have yet to prove the case about your religious beliefs.
Elsie, it called an obsession...
To whom?
MORMONism is 'called' a HERESY.
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To: Nabber
I find this bigotry fascinating and sad. This forum has a cult calling another
religion a cult. The anti-Mormon posts are not about religion - - they're about EGO. 31 posted on Thursday, March 08, 2012 7:49:46 AM by Loud Mime (When conceit and anger are part of your religion, it's a political movement, not a religion.)
To: Elsie
Get some help. 47 posted on Thursday, March 08, 2012 11:29:52 PM by Loud Mime (When conceit and anger are part of your religion, it's a political movement, not a religion.)
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I just havs an EGGO.
It’s the Pink I.
all of my relatives refer to me as that crazy person that lives up there.
I had a case once.
Once I left the light on my case on.
A man dies and goes to heaven. St. Peter meets him at the pearly gates.
St. Peter says, “Here’s how it works. You need 100 points to make it into heaven. You tell me all the good things you’ve done, and I give you a certain number of points for each item, depending on how good it was. When you reach 100 points, you get in.”
“Okay” the man says, “I attended church every Sunday”
“That’s good, says St. Peter, “ that’s worth two points”
“Two points?” he says. “Well, I gave 10% of all my earnings to the church”
“Well, let’s see,” answers Peter, “that’s worth another 2 points. Did you do anything else?”
“Two points? Golly. How about this: I started a soup kitchen in my city and worked in a shelter for homeless veterans.”
“Fantastic, that’s certainly worth a point, “ he says.
“hmmm...,” the man says, “I was married to the same woman for 50 years and never cheated on her, even in my heart.”
“That’s wonderful,” says St. Peter, “that’s worth three points!”
“THREE POINTS!!” the man cries, “At this rate the only way I get into heaven is by the grace of God!”
“Come on in!”
On Sunday morning, the preacher brings in 4 covered jars with one live worm in each. In one he poured whiskey, in one he poured liquid chocolate, in the third one he poured cigarette smoke and in the fourth one he threw in dirt. Result was nothing unusual. Worms in first three jars died. He then looked at the congregation and said, “I don’t have to tell much. I believe you have learnt a clear lesson”. Then he pointed at a little girl and asked,”Sweetheart, can you tell what have you learnt?”. Without any hesitation she said,”If you drink, smoke and eat chocolate you’ll never have worms”.
Three Pastors in the south were having lunch in a diner.
One said “Ya know, since summer started I’ve been having trouble with bats in my loft and attic at church.
I’ve tried everything—noise, spray, cats—nothing seems to scare them away.
Another said “Yea, me too. I’ve got hundreds living in my belfry and in the narthex attic.
I’ve even had the place fumigated, and they won’t go away.”
The third said, “I baptized all mine, and made them members of the church...
Haven’t seen one back since!!!”
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