...Excerpted from the book, "The Book of Mormon; Key to Conversion" by Glenn L. Pearson; Copyright Bookcraft Inc. 1963.
-It is claimed by the author that this and most of the other dialogues in this book are based on true experiences.

***Believe it or not the actual title of this excerpt in the book is, "A Dialogue On The Negro Problem".

(I did take the liberty to change the "golden contact" name that was used from "Jim")

Contact LeBron: I could never join a church that discriminates against the Negroes.

Elder: I take it, LeBron, that you have reference to our refusal to ordain Negroes to the Priesthood.

LeBron: That's right.

Elder: Do you believe, then, that we do have a Priesthood that came from God?

LeBron: What do you mean?

Elder: If we don't have the Priesthood, we can't be accused of depriving the Negroes of something. In fact, they are better off for not being deceived like the rest of us. On the other hand, if we do have the Priesthood, it came from God. In that case, God is running this Church and you had better get in line with it. God certainly has a right to give His Priesthood to whomsoever He will.

LeBron: Suppose I don't believe you have the Priesthood?

Elder: You see, that's the problem, LeBron. We know we have the Priesthood; because we know our revelations came from God. It is up to you to find out if we are telling the truth about modern revelation. Your problem is not to decide whether or not we should ordain Negroes: it is whether or not God has told us not to ordain Negroes. Do you want to know how to find out whether or not we have revelation?

LeBron: Yes.

Elder: Here is a book called the Book of Mormon. Let me tell you about it.

###

& that my friends is how it was done back in the pre-1978 days!

Or so it seems to me...

Black people in white shirts? Something just doesn't seem right.

I propose that "Prejudice" may function as a survival trait.

I propose that "Prejudice" is a form of "Caution".

I was led to this supposition by a headline this morning: "Mask protestors now wearing 'useless' masks."

In the story I read, the opponent to masking-up against covid-19 reported that he wore a paintball mask, which clearly did nothing to prevent exhalation of 100% of his 'droplets' and that no one called him on it, neither fellow-shoppers nor store employees, which PROVED that the mask rule was designed to foster compliance, not health and safety.

Those of us who simply progress from Fact 1 to Fact 2, i.e., unmasked exhalations pass along the virus so wear a mask, apparently have no problem with masks, seem to be in tune with survival.

As to "Prejudice", obviously it has to be taught. I was never taught skin color prejudice. My parents never even hinted at it, much less taught it. And maybe I wasn't paying attention when my ward leaders tried to teach it, if they even did.

I did learn the gospel instruction regarding the 'why' of Black skin, but it was just an intellectual concept, not a survival concept.

I believe that 'skin color prejudice' could now be considered a hinderment to survival, both to individuals as well as society. And it sure does look like the mormon church has learned this lesson, as one compares pre-1978 rhetoric to the current themes being expressed.

I trace my inspiration for this post to Chubby Checkers, and the Twist, one of only three dances I was ever any good at: the Twist, the Mashed Potatoes and the Bristol Stomp. A sordid list, but I believe this will be enough to get me into some lower tier of the Celestial Ballroom & Hookah Lounge.

To a youth it seemed normal Follow a prophet he can not lead you astray. So it seemed logical back then. Jesus was running the Church His prophets told us so. We were taught that to. The big guys meet with Jesus in the temple We were taught that then. Who knew we were following Satan when we called ourselves Mormons back then. We were following the prophet. We had no idea that Any of this was wrong. I would like my tithing back since I was being taught incorrectly.

If you read Dusty Rusty’s twitter account just follow Jesus.Hey Dusty I did that back then Please explain to me how I got things wrong? Did Jesus lie to his prophets seers and revelators back then? How do I know what you are saying is correct? You have some explaining to do.