Posted by:
Jim Huston
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Date: November 01, 2011 09:04PM
Cain first to be cursed Black
Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, 2nd ed., p. 109
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. (Moses 5; Gen. 4; Teachings, p. 169.)
Inferior race
President Joseph Fielding Smith The Way to Perfection, p. 101
"[Because of Cain's] wickedness he became the father of an in¬ferior 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... they have been made to feel their inferiority and have been separated from the rest of mankind from the beginning."
The curse of Cain
John Lund The Church and the Negro p. 109
"The curse of no priesthood for Cain was totally different from the curse of no Priesthood for the Negroes, who are descendants of Cain. Negroes are kept from holding the Priesthood because of something they did before they came to earth; Cain was damned because of something he did while on earth.
Brigham Young Journal of Discourses, Vol.11, Pg.272
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. He has placed life and death before his children, and it is for them to choose. If they choose life, they receive the blessings of life; if they chose death, they must abide the penalty. This is a law which has always existed from all eternity, and will continue to exist throughout all the eternities to come.
Cursed as to the Priesthood
Apostle Mark Petersen "Race Problems - As They Affect The Church," address by Mark Peter¬sen at the Convention of Teachers of Religion on the College Level, BYU, August 27, 1954
"Think of the Negro, cursed as to the priesthood.... who, in the pre-existence lived the type of life which justified the Lord sending him to the earth in the lineage of Cain with a black skin....
The mark of Cain
Brigham Young Journal of Discourses 2:142 - 143
We have this illustrated in the account of Cain and Abel. Cain conversed with his God every day, and knew all about the plan of creating this earth, for his father told him. But, for the want of humility, and through jealousy, and an anxiety to possess the kingdom, and to have the whole of it under his own control, and not allow any body else the right to say one word, what did he do? He killed his brother. The Lord put a mark on him; and there are some of his children in this room. When all the other children of Adam have had the privilege of receiving the Priesthood, and of coming into the kingdom of God, and of being redeemed from the four quarters of the earth, and have received their resurrection from the dead, then it will be time enough to remove the curse from Cain and his posterity. He deprived his brother of the privilege of pursuing his journey through life, and of extending his kingdom by multiplying upon the earth; and because he did this, he is the last to share the joys of the kingdom of God.
Wilford Woodruff Collected Discourses (CD), Vol.1,
What was that mark? It was a mark of blackness. That mark rested upon Cain and descended upon his posterity from that time until the present. Today there are millions of the descendants of Cain, through the linage of Ham, in the world, and that mark of darkness still rests upon them. Though nearly six thousand years have passed and gone, this mark is visible to the whole human family. Yet the fool and the infidel say there is no God, and they ridicule the Bible.
Milton R. Hunter, Conference Report, April 1952
Yet Cain continued to love Satan more than God. He entered into a secret covenant with Satan to murder his brother Abel for gain. "And he gloried, [so the scripture says], in his wickedness." (Ibid., 5:31.) And after this terrible crime had been committed, Cain received his "wages from him whom he listeth to obey." He was cursed by the Lord with a dark skin. He lost the Holy Priesthood. He lost his eternal soul, becoming a son of perdition. Thus, he was turned over to Satan-his master. God, our Eternal Father, is very much concerned about you and me and every one of his children here upon this earth regarding their keeping his commandments.
Negroes Descendants of Cain
Milton R. Hunter, Pearl of Great Price Commentary, p. 141
Joseph Smith identified the negroes as the descendants of Cain. In Nauvoo in 1842 a group of the brethren were discussing the question as to whether the negroes or the Indians had received the greater ill-treatment from the whites. The Prophet said: "The Indians have greater cause to complain of the treatment of the whites, than the negroes, or sons of Cain."12 Therefore it is due to the teachings of the Pearl of Great Price and the Prophet Joseph Smith and the other early leaders of the Church that the negro today is barred from the Priesthood. Negroes may be baptized into the Church but they have not the right of the Priesthood. President Brigham Young, Wilford Woodruff, George A. Smith, and others of the early church leaders held out the hope that eventually the descendants of Cain who had lived righteous lives in mortality would receive the blessings of the Priesthood.
B. H. Roberts, A Comprehensive History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, vol. 2, p. 128
Of the latter the fact of the large influence (if not identity) of Egyptian religious ideas in Chaldea in the days of Abraham is established; the descent of the black race (Negro) from Cain, the first murderer; the preservation of that race through the flood by the wife of Ham-"Egyptus," which in the Chaldean signifies "Egypt," which signifies that which is forbidden"-the descendants of "Egyptus" were cursed as pertaining to the priesthood-that is, they were barred from holding that divine power;
Dark Skinned People are Descendents of Cain
God, Pearl of Great Price, Moses 7:22
And Enoch also beheld the residue of the people which were the sons of Adam; and they were a mixture of all the seed of Adam save it was the seed of Cain, for the seed of Cain were black, and had not place among them.
Joseph Fielding Smith, Answers to Gospel Questions, vol. 2, p. 175
The next question: "Was Cain cursed with a black skin?" Technically the black skin was not the curse, but the mark of the curse. The scriptures do not say that Cain was made black, but we read that his descendants were. (Moses 7:22.)
We may well suppose that Cain was also black and that this was the mark the Lord placed upon him. (Genesis 4:15.)
Intermarraige condemns postarity
Harold B. Lee, Decisions for Successful Living, p. 168
To impress the grave consequences and the seriousness of intermarriage as between those of different races and particularly with reference to intermarriage with the seed of Cain, President Brigham Young made this remark in an address before the legislature: ". . . 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. . . ." (Wilford Woodruff, page 351.) Surely no one of you who is an heir to a body of more favored lineage would knowingly intermarry with a race that would condemn your posterity to penalties that have been placed upon the seed of Cain by the judgments of God.
Cain was cursed 6000 years ago
Wilford Woodruff, General Conference, April 1889
What was that mark? It was a mark of blackness. That mark rested upon Cain and descended upon his posterity from that time until the present. Today there are millions of the descendants of Cain, through the lineage of Ham, in the world, and that mark of darkness still rests upon them. Though nearly six thousand years have passed and gone, this mark is visible to the whole human family. Yet the fool and the infidel say there is no God, and they ridicule the Bible.
Inferior/less valiant
Less valiant
Apostle Bruce McConkie Mormon Doctrine (1958), p. 476
"...those who were less valiant in pre-existence and who there¬by had certain spiritual restrictions imposed upon them during mortality are known to us as the Negroes."
George F. Richards, Conference Report, April 1939
The negro is an unfortunate man. He has been given a black skin. But that is as nothing compared with that greater handicap that he is not permitted to receive the Priesthood and the ordinances of the temple, necessary to prepare men and women to enter into and enjoy a fulness of glory in the celestial kingdom. What is the reason for this condition, we ask, and I find it to my satisfaction to think that as spirit children of our Eternal Father they were not valiant in the fight. We are told that Michael and his angels fought, and we understand that we stood with Christ our Lord, on the platform, "Father, thy will be done, and the glory be thine forever." I cannot conceive our Father consigning his children to a condition such as that of the negro race, if they had been valiant in the spirit world in that war in heaven.
Unworthy
The Contributor, Vol. 6, p. 297, as quoted in Youth and the Church, p. 167
"In the pre-existence the Negroes `through their indifference or lack of integrity to righteousness, rendered themselves unworthy of the Priesthood and its powers, and hence it is withheld from them to this day.' "
One drop of blood
Apostle Mark Petersen Race Problems - As They Affect the Church
We who teach in the Church certainly must have our feet on the ground and not be led astray by the philosophies of men.... It ap¬pears that the negro seeks absorption with the white race. He will not be satisfied until he achieves it by intermarriage. That is his objective and we must face it.... Who placed the Negroes orig¬inally in darkest Africa? Was it some man, or was it God?.... The Lord segregated the people both as to blood and place of resi¬dence.... He forbade intermarriage with them under threat of ex¬tension of the curse (2 Nephi 5:21).... If there is one drop of negro blood in my children... they receive the curse. We are willing that the Negro have the highest kind of education. I would be willing to let every negro drive a cadillac if they could afford it.... But let them enjoy these things among themselves.... what God hath separated, let not man bring together again.
Inferior race
Joseph Fielding Smith The Way to Perfection, p.101
" 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 fullness 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.
Bruce R. McConkie Mormon Doctrine, p.527, 1966 ed
"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..."
Servant of servants in heaven
JD, Vol.2, Pg.184, Brigham Young, February 18, 1855
The seed of Ham, which is the seed of Cain descending through Ham, will, according to the curse put upon him, serve his brethren, and be a "servant of servants" to his fellow-creatures, until God removes the curse; and no power can hinder it. These are my views upon slavery. I will here say a little more upon this point. The conduct of the whites towards the slaves will, in many cases, send both slave and master to hell. This statement comprises much in a few words. The blacks should be used like servants, and not like brutes, but they must serve. It is their privilege to live so as to enjoy many of the blessings which attend obedience to the first principles of the Gospel, though they are not entitled to the Priesthood.
The Negro Baboon
Amasa M. Lyman Journal of Discourses Vol.3, Pg.173
At the end of that time he would be wishing for the society of the negro baboon, or anything at all like the human form. He would hunger and thirst for an association with his fellow being; he would find himself wretched without it, and he would exclaim like Nebuchadnezzar in the bitterness of his soul, "God is great and good."
Cursed with flat nose and black skin
Brigham Young JD, Vol.7, Pg.290 - Pg.291
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. Trace mankind down to after the flood, and then another curse is pronounced upon the same race--that they should be the "servant of servants;" and they will be, until that curse is removed; and the Abolitionists cannot help it, nor in the least alter that decree. How long is that race to endure the dreadful curse that is upon them? That curse will remain upon them, and they never can hold the Priesthood or share in it until all the other descendants of Adam have received the promises and enjoyed the blessings of the Priesthood and the keys thereof. Until the last ones of the residue of Adam's children are brought up to that favourable position, the children of Cain cannot receive the first ordinances of the Priesthood. They were the first that were cursed, and they will be the last from whom the curse will be removed. When the residue of the family of Adam come up and receive their blessings, then the curse will be removed from the seed of Cain, and they will receive blessings in like proportion.
Black skin, black heart
Times and Seasons, Vol.6, Pg.857
History and common observation show that these predictions have been fulfilled to the letter. The descendants of Ham, besides a black skin which has ever been a curse that has followed an apostate of the holy priesthood, as well as a black heart, have been servants to both Shem and Japheth, and the abolitionists are trying to make void the curse of God, but it will require more power than man possesses to counteract the decrees of eternal wisdom.
Satan’s representatives
John Taylor Journal of Discourses, Vol.22, Pg.304
And after the flood we are told that the curse that had been pronounced upon Cain was continued through Ham's wife, as he had married a wife of that seed. And why did it pass through the flood? Because it was necessary that the devil should have a representation upon the earth as well as God; and that man should be a free agent to act for himself, and that all men might have the opportunity of receiving or rejecting the truth, and be governed by it or not according to their wishes and abide the result; and that those who would be able to maintain correct principles under all circumstances, might be able to associate with the Gods in the eternal worlds. It is the same eternal programme. God knew it and Adam knew it.
John Taylor Journal of Discourses Vol.23, Pg.336
He needed the devil and a great many of those who do his bidding just to keep men straight, that we may learn to place our dependence upon God, and trust in Him, and to observe his laws and keep his commandments. When he destroyed the inhabitants of the antediluvian world, he suffered a descendant of Cain to come through the flood in order that he might be properly represented upon the earth.
Negroes are Communists
Ezra Taft Benson, Conference Report, October 1967
Such timely counsel could help save our country from Communism, as the same masters of deceit are showing the same false solicitude for the unfortunate in the name of civil rights. Now there is nothing wrong with civil rights; it is what's being done in the name of civil rights that is alarming. There is no doubt that the so-called civil rights movement as it exists today is used as a Communist program for revolution in America just as agrarian reform was used by the Communists to take over China and Cuba. This shocking statement can be confirmed by an objective study of Communist literature and activities and by knowledgeable Negroes and others who have worked within the Communist movement.
Black covering emblematical of eternal darkness
Joseph Fielding Smith, The Way to Perfection, p. 102
Then we will say: Blessed be the name of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, who has blessed us with the blessings of his glorious kingdom, where through our faithfulness we may dwell in eternal truth and light. In the spirit of sympathy, mercy and faith, we will also hope that blessings may eventually be given to our negro brethren, for they are our brethren-children of God-notwithstanding their black covering emblematical of eternal darkness.
Best people born white
Orson Pratt, Journal of Discourses, vol. 1, p. 63
I have already told you that the spirits of men and women, all had a previous existence, thousands of years ago, in the heavens, in the presence of God; and I have already told you that among them are many spirits that are more noble, more intelligent than others, that were called the great and mighty ones, reserved until the dispensation of the fulness of times, to come forth upon the face of the earth, through a noble parentage that shall train their young and tender minds in the truths of eternity, that they may grow up in the Lord, and be strong in the power of His might, be clothed upon with His glory, be filled with exceeding great faith; that the visions of eternity may be opened to their minds; that they may be Prophets, Priests, and Kings to the Most High God. Do you believe, says one, that they are reserved until the last dispensation, for such a noble purpose? Yes; and among the Saints is the most likely place for these spirits to take their tabernacles, through a just and righteous parentage. They are to be sent to that people that are the most righteous of any other people upon the earth; there to be trained up properly, according to their nobility and intelligence, and according to the laws which the Lord ordained before they were born. This is the reason why the Lord is sending them here, brethren and sisters; they are appointed to come and take their bodies here, that in their generations they may be raised up among the righteous. The Lord has not kept them in store for five or six thousand years past, and kept them waiting for their bodies all this time to send them among the Hottentots, the African negroes, the idolatrous Hindoos, or any other of the fallen nations that dwell upon the face of this earth. They are not kept in reserve in order to come forth to receive such a degraded parentage upon the earth; no, the Lord is not such a being; His justice, goodness, and mercy will be magnified towards those who were chosen before they were born; and they long to come, and they will come among the Saints of the living God; this would be their highest pleasure and joy, to know that they could have the privilege of being born of such noble parentage.
Blacks Born Disadvantaged
Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation, vol. 1, p. 61
There is a reason why one man is born black and with other disadvantages, while another is born white with great advantages. The reason is that we once had an estate before we came here, and were obedient, more or less, to the laws that were given us there. Those who were faithful in all things there received greater blessings here, and those who were not faithful received less.
Negroes restricted because of premortal attitude
Joseph Fielding Smith, The Way to Perfection, p. 43
That the negro race, for instance, have been placed under restrictions because of their attitude in the world of spirits, few will doubt. It cannot be looked upon as just that they should be deprived of the power of the Priesthood without it being a punishment for some act, or acts, performed before they were born.
There is nothing Godlike in them
John Taylor, Journal of Discourses, vol. 8, p. 6
Some of us are learning to swear almost as good as some of the Gentiles. Some of us are learning to get drunk almost as good as they can. I do not think that will benefit us very much. Some of us are learning to cheat and defraud our neighbors, and some are learning to steal. There is nothing smart about all this. A negro, a Hottentot, or an Indian can do that. There is nothing in these practices that bespeaks an intelligent mind, or that would recommend a person the estimation of a good man, angels, or God. There is nothing Godlike in them.
Priesthood
Will not receive the Priesthood
"President McKay was asked by a news reporter at the dedica¬tion of the Oakland Temple [Tuesday, Nov. 17, 1964], `When will the Negroes receive the Priesthood?' He responded to the question over a national television network saying, `Not in my lifetime, young man, nor yours.
Priesthood conferred by race
George Albert Smith Journal of Discourses Vol.3, Pg.30
For the last hundred years, philanthropists, who were ignorant of the order of God--of the irrevocable decrees of the Almighty--have exerted themselves vigorously to thwart the purposes of the Almighty, in trying to remove the curse of servitude from the descendants of Canaan; but their endeavors are vain and useless; it is labor lost, and answers no end, only so far as it serves to multiply the difficulties and perplexities which are rising in this generation, to bring about the great destruction of corruption and wickedness from the earth; in this way it all indirectly has designed they shall hold that position, it is worse than useless for any man or set of men, to undertake to put them in a position to rule.
The Lord conferred portions of the Priesthood upon certain races of men, and through promises made to their fathers they were entitled to the rights, and blessings, and privileges of that Priesthood. Other races, in consequence of their corruptions, their murders, their wickedness, or the wickedness of their fathers, had the Priesthood taken from them, and the curse that was upon them was decreed should descend upon their posterity after them, it was decreed that they should not bear rule. In looking abroad on the earth and seeing the effects produced upon different races of men, it will be plainly discovered that there are races who have never been permitted to bear rule to any great extent.
Cain Held Mormon Priesthood
Milton R. Hunter, Pearl of Great Price Commentary, p. 140
Since the Lord appeared unto Cain and conversed with him many times before Cain killed Abel, Cain must have held the Priesthood. 9 God said unto Cain, "For from this time forth thou shalt be the father of his [Satan's] lies; thou shalt be called Perdition;"10 and the Lord cursed Cain with severe [p.141] cursings. One of these cursings was a mark placed upon Cain, which mark would be carried by his posterity throughout all generations. According to the teachings of the Pearl of Great Price, this mark was a black skin.
Racism is God’s law
Joseph Fielding Smith, Answers to Gospel Questions, vol. 2, p. 185
The Church does not bar them from membership, and we have members of the Negro race in the Church. If a Negro is baptized and remains true and loyal, he will enter the celestial kingdom, but it is not the authorities of the Church who have placed a restriction on him regarding the holding of the priesthood. It was not the Prophet Joseph Smith nor Brigham Young. It was the Lord! If a Negro desires to join the Church, we will give him all the encouragement that we can, but we cannot promise him that he will receive the priesthood.
Blacks not Entitled to the Priesthood
Hyrum L. Andrus, Doctrinal Commentary on the Pearl of Great Price, p. 406
The attitude of the Church with reference to Negroes remains as it has always stood. It is not a matter of the declaration of policy but of direct commandment from the Lord, on which is founded the doctrine of the Church from the days of its organization, to the effect that Negroes may become members of the Church but that they are not entitled to the Priesthood at the present time.
Negroes come to earth, but can’t hold the Priesthood
Joseph Fielding Smith, Answers to Gospel Questions, vol. 2, p. 185
Let us reason together. In the Book of Moses, Chapter 4, and in the Book of Abraham, Chapter 3, we are taught that there was a council held in heaven and our Eternal Father presented a plan by which we could come down on the earth and receive tabernacles (bodies) of flesh and bones for our spirits which are begotten sons and daughters unto God. We learn also that one third of those spirits rebelled against the plan and followed Satan. For this they were denied bodies of flesh and bones and have to remain spirits. Why do not those who complain about the Negro and the priesthood also complain about the punishment which was given to this third of the spirits? They were denied even the blessings of bodies! Was this an injustice on the part of our Eternal Father? Well, there were other spirits there who were not faithful in the keeping of this first estate. (Abraham 3:23-28.) Yet they have not sinned away their right to receive bodies and come to earth and receive the resurrection. They were restricted in the privileges that were given to those who keep their first estate and who were promised to have "glory added upon their heads for ever and ever." (Ibid., 3:26.) Therefore the Lord prepared a way through the lineage of Cain for these spirits to come to the earth, but under the restriction of priesthood.
Negroes are barred from Priesthood forever
Improvement Era, 1924
It is true that the negro race is barred from holding the Priesthood, and this has always been the case. The Prophet Joseph Smith taught this doctrine, and it was made known to him, although we know of no such statement in any revelation in the Doctrine and Covenants, Book of Mormon, or the Bible.
Slaves Free
Lord will free the Negros
Ezra T. Benson Journal of Discourses, Vol.6, Pg.180
"Well," said he, "do not you believe in freeing the negroes?"
I answered, "No; the Lord will do that."
"Ah," said he, "the Mormons do believe in slavery; for they permit men to bring their slaves into their Territory."
I them went on to show him our views upon the subject; but I could see my remarks did not satisfy the people.
Blacks are servants and the Civil War will not free slaves
Brigham Young Journal of Discourses, Vol.10, Pg.250
Ham will continue to be the servant of servants, as the Lord has decreed, until the curse is removed. Will the present struggle free the slave? No; but they are now wasting away the black race by thousands. Many of the blacks are treated worse than we treat our dumb brutes; and men will be called to judgment for the way they have treated the negro, and they will receive the condemnation of a guilty conscience, by the just Judge whose attributes are justice and truth.
Treat the slaves kindly and let them live, for Ham must be the servant of servants until the curse is removed. Can you destroy the decrees of the Almighty? You cannot. Yet our Christian brethren think that they are going to overthrow the sentence of the Almighty upon the seed of Ham. They cannot do that, though they may kill them by thousands and tens of thousands.
A summary from the church newspaper: black skin and black heart prove the prophecies are fulfilled, and abolitonists won't be able to change it
The South will prevail
Prophet Joseph Smith, Jr., History of the Church, v. 2, p. 438
“I do not believe that the people of the North have any more right to say that the South shall not hold slaves, than the South have to say the North shall.... the first mention we have of slavery is found in the Holy Bible.... And so far from that prediction being averse to the mind of God, it [slavery] remains as a lasting monument of the decree of Jehovah, to the shame and confusion of all who have cried out against the South, in consequence of their holding the sons of Ham in servitude.”
Mormons not abolitionists
Joseph Smith, Jr., History of the Church, v.3, p. 29
“Thirteenth – ‘Are the Mormons abolitionists?’ No, unless delivering the people from priestcraft, and the priests from the power of Satan, should be considered abolition. But we do not believe in setting the negroes free.”
Slavery is God’s will
Brigham Young, New York Herald, May 4, 1855, as cited in Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, Spring 1973, p. 56
“You must not think, from what I say, that I am opposed to slavery. No! The negro is damned, and is to serve his master till God chooses to remove the curse of Ham.”
Freeing slaves endangers chastity of every female
Messenger and Advocate, vol. 2, April 1836
Where can be the common sense of any wishing to see the slaves of the south set at liberty, is past our comprehension. Such a thing could not take place without corrupting all civil and wholesome society, of both the north and the south! Let the blacks of the south be free, and our community is overrun with paupers, and a reckless mass of human beings, uncultivated, untaught and unaccustomed to provide for themselves the necessaries of life endangering the chastity of every female who might be chance be found in our streets-our prisons filled with convicts, and the hang-man wearied with executing the functions of his office!
Intermarriage
Death on the spot for mixing blood
Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, 10:110
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. The nations of the earth have transgressed every law that God has given, they have changed the ordinances and broken every covenant made with the fathers, and they are like a hungry man that dreameth that he eateth, and he awaketh and behold he is empty.
Intermarry and condemn your posterity
President Harold B. Lee Youth and the Church, pp. 168-69
"Surely no one of you who is an heir to a body of more favored lineage would knowingly intermarry with a race that would con¬demn your posterity to penalties that have been placed upon the seed of Cain by the judgments of God.... You our youth of today are among the most illustrious spirits to be born into mortality in any age of the world. Yours is a noble heritage.... May you join in the refrain of the rallying song of youth today: `...O youth of the noble birthright....' "
Stay with own species
Joseph Smith, Jr., January 2, 1845, History of the Church, v. 5, pp. 21-218
“Had I anything to do with the negro, I would confine them by strict law to their own species...”
Stephen L Richards, Where Is Wisdom?, p. 374
In substantiation of this view the writer calls attention to the well-known distinct primary divisions of the human race now on the earth, namely, the Caucasian, the Mongolian, and the Negroid; and that these branches of mankind differ not only in bodily appearance but especially in mental qualities. The black skin of the Negro is not simply an excessive sunburn; no Caucasian becomes black, however long he may reside in tropical climates; and no Negro born and bred in temperate climates ever becomes white. Intermarriage between members of these great racial divisions are possible, but the progeny are usually feeble, not long-lived, and of poor physical quality; and no permanent self-propagating, homogeneous races can be generated by such intermarriages. Hence these different classes of mankind amount in effect to a difference in species.
Intermarriage not sanctioned
LDS First Presidency (George Albert Smith), letter to Virgil H. Sponberg May 5, 1947, quoted in Lester E. Bush, Mormonism’s Negro Doctrine: An Historical Overview, p. 42
“Your ideas, as we understand them, appear to contemplate the intermarriage of the Negro and white races, a concept which has heretofore been most repugnant to most normal-minded people from the ancient patriarchs until now.... there is a growing tendency, particularly among some educators, as it manifests itself in this area, toward the breaking down of race barriers in the matter of intermarriage between whites and blacks, but it does not have the sanction of the Church and is contrary to Church doctrine.”
Must not intermarry
Mark E. Peterson, “Race Problems – As They Effect the Church,” Address given at the Convention of Teachers of Religion on the College Level, delivered at BYU, August 27, 1954
“We must not inter-marry with the Negro. Why? If I were to marry a Negro woman and have children by her, my children would oil be cursed as to the priesthood. Do I want my children cursed as to the priesthood? If there is one drop of Negro blood in my children, as I have read to you, they receive the curse. There isn’t any argument, therefore, as to inter-marriage with the Negro, is there?”
God’s caste system
Bruce R. McConkie , Mormon Doctrine, p. 114
However, in a broad general sense, caste systems have their root and origin in the gospel itself, and when they operate according to the divine decree, the resultant restrictions and segregation are right and proper and have the approval of the Lord. To illustrate: Cain, Ham, and the whole negro race have been cursed with a black skin, the mark of Cain, so they can be identified as a caste apart, a people with whom the other descendants of Adam should not intermarry. (Gen. 4; Moses 5.) The whole house of Israel was chosen as a peculiar people, one set apart from all other nations (Ex. 19:5-6; Deut. 7:6; 14:2); and they were forbidden to marry outside their own caste. (Ex. 34:10-17; Deut. 7:1-5.) In effect the Lamanites belonged to one caste and the Nephites to another, and a mark was put upon the Lamanites to keep the Nephites from intermixing with and marrying them. (Alma 3:6-11.) All this is not to say that any race, creed, or caste should be denied any inalienable rights. But it is to say that Deity in his infinite wisdom, to carry out his inscrutable purposes, has a caste system of his own, a system of segregation of races and peoples. The justice of such a system is evident when life is considered in its true eternal perspective. It is only by a knowledge of pre-existence that it can be known why some persons are born in one race or caste and some in another.
It is a sin to intermarry
John L. Lund, The Church and the Negro, pp. 54-55, 1967
“Brigham Young made a very strong statement on this matter when he said, ‘... 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.’ God has commanded Israel not to intermarry. To go against this commandment of God would be to sin. Those who willfully sin with their eyes open to this wrong will not be surprised to find that they will be separated from the presence of God in the world to come. This is spiritual death.... It does not matter if they are one-sixth Negro or one-one hundred and sixth, the curse of no Priesthood is still the same.... To intermarry with a Negro is to forfeit a ‘Nation of Priesthood holders.’”
Emancipation is destructive
Messenger and Advocate, vol. 2, April, 1836
The idea of transportation is folly, the project of emancipation is destructive to our government, and the notion of amalgamation is devilish! And insensible to feeling must be the heart, and low indeed must be the mind, that would consent for a moment, to see his fair daughter, his sister, or perhaps, his bosom companion, in the embrace of a negro!
The Negro is markedly inferior
B. H. Roberts, Seventy's Course in Theology, 1, p. 166
At this point we hear some one exclaim, 'Not so fast! To sit at table, to mingle freely in society with certain persons, does not imply you would marry them." Certainly not, in every case. We may recognize socially those whom we personally abhor. This matters not, however; for wherever social commingling is admitted, there the possibility of intermarriage must be also admitted. It becomes a mere question of personal preference, of like and dislike. Now, there is no accounting for tastes. It is ridiculous to suppose that no negroes would prove attractive to any white. The possible would become actual-as certainly as you will throw double-double sixes [in dice], if only you keep on throwing. To be sure, where the number of negroes is almost vanishingly small, as in the north and in Europe, there the chances of such mesalliances are proportionally divided; some may even count them negligible. But in the South, where in many districts the black outnumbers the white, they would be multiplied immensely, and crosses would follow with increasing frequency. * * * But some may deny that the mongrelization of the Southern people would offend the race notion-would corrupt or degrade the Southern stock of humanity. If so, then such a one has yet to learn the largest-writ lessons of history and the most impressive doctrines of biological science. That the negro is markedly inferior to the Caucasian is proved both craniologically and by six thousand years of planet-wide experimentation; and that the commingling of inferior with superior must lower the higher is just as certain as that the half-sum of two and six is only four."
Interracial marriages discouraged
Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, p. 527
It means that members of all races may now be married in the temple, although interracial marriages are discouraged by the Brethren, and that the full blessings of the gospel may be made available to their ancestors through vicarious temple ordinances. It also means that Negro members of the Church may now perform missionary service and should bear the burdens of the kingdom equally with all other members of the Church.