I'm 54. I was taught that white skin is better than dark skin in Mormon classes in the sixties when I was a kid. I'm damned sick of the lies. I was told that skin color indicates how righteous one was in the "pre-existence." White equals good and dark equals bad. Also, an entire aboriginal race could be turned dark-skinned for disobeying God. That's what I was taught in Mormon classes. If anyone wants to call me a liar, so be it.

If I were to call you a liar, I'd be a liar.

HA,ha my gay sister has a partially black son.

(Good Kid).

I totally agree.
This was one of the major turning points in my disaffection, and it happened at church. These is an older guy who openly said in GD class that people were born into certain areas of the world because of their activities in the Premortal existence.

What happened? Well the 30-somethings and under spoke up right away claiming that that was wrong, some even saying that the church does not teach that. I spoke up "well not anymore we don't" and people looked at me with the evil eye. Meanwhile, all the over 40 types kept silent.

A few days later when the Bishop came by my house on his routine trying to keep me from leaving, this issue came up. He tried to claim that those were the words of a few members and not church teachings. I said, you and I are the same age we went to Seminary at the same time and you and I both know that what brother X had said was taught over practically every pulpit until after we graduated from High School, and you know it.

Which by the way, led me to the conclusion that it was okay to leave the church because during our discussion out there on the front lawn I asked him if it is okay to lie to the members and converts if it keeps people from losing their testimonies and he said yes.

And so it is- as members of the church, mormons are required to speak with guile despite their temple initiatory blessing, and to give everything the Lord has blessed them with, including their personal integrity for the building up of the kingdom.

I'm 54 as well and distinctly recall being taught the same bulls**t. Drove me nuts to the point that I left the cult at age eighteen.

Here's an archived post from 2000:

Subject: Now wait just a cotton-pickin' minute!
Date: Aug 17, 2000
Author: Timothy

I just re-read an article in the September 2000 Ensign that still burns my fern!

In this article - 'No More Strangers' - Elder Alexander B. Morrison of the Seventy writes:

"How grateful I am that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints has from its beginnings stood strongly against racism in any of its malignant manifestations. President Spencer W. Kimball stated the Church's position well; "We do wish that there would be no racial prejudice ... Racial prejudice is of the Devil ... There is no place for it in the Gospel of Jesus Christ" ..."

Uh-huh. It appears that these two honkies are as daft on church history as is their faithful congregation.

Bro' Brigham seems to disagree somewhat with Bro' Morrison and Bro' Kimball:

“You see some classes of the human family that are black, uncouth, uncomely, disagreeable, and low in their habits ... wild and seemingly deprived of all the blessings of intelligence ... 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 the dark skin ... and the abolitionists cannot help it nor in the least alter that decree!”

Now if that ain't some sorry-a** s**t, listen to what bro' McConkie had to say:

“The Negroes are not equal with other races where the receipt of certain spiritual blessings are concerned, but this inequality is not of man’s origin it is the Lord’s doing, and is based on his eternal laws of justice!”

That sorry Mutha' F**ker! ... And whassup with this bulls**t from bro' Petersen:

“Now we are generous with the Negro. We are willing that the Negro have the highest kind of education. I would be willing to let every Negro drive a Caddillac if they could afford it. I would be willing that they have all the advantages they can get out of life. But let them do these things among themselves!”

You know, I've lived in the South for most of my life and I've seen some pretty ugly things. But I don't think I've seen anything in the way of racial injustice that compares to the Mormon Church.

Kimball's half-hearted TKO of the church's ban on blacks in 1978 was perhaps the worst!

“We have pleaded long and hard in behalf of these our faithful brethren ... he has heard our prayers and, by revelation, has confirmed that the long promised day has come ... Accordingly, all worthy male members of the Church may ordained to the priesthood without regard for race or color!”

Now wait just a cotton-pickin' minute, Bro' Kimball. Are you actually taking credit for convincing God to change his mind on the issue???

Perhaps this is why God chose you to be prophet. Would it not be wise to employ a prophet who is willing to point out certain mistakes?

Or do you just make it up as you go along, adapting God's will to meet the demands of an ever changing society?

Well, I suppose its time to re-write church history again. According to bro' Morrison, the church has always stood strongly against racism. I guess that means Kimball's revelation - not Joseph's - constitutes the beginnings of Mormonism. Consequently, the Church was established in 1978, not 1830 and all prophets before Kimball simply didn't exist!

That's one way to white-wash the situation, and it won't be the first time!

This is the Gospel according to Timothy ... Emma, you can turn the spit now. I think Brigham's done on that side!

Timothy

I'm old enough to remember the Cadillac comment. I remember being shocked that he said that. Even though I was just a child I knew there was something wrong with that. It was the same way they talked to and about women. In that respect it was a kind of everyday normal thing to say. I remember feeling hopeless.

Hell, it's right there in the BoM. And, with a certain interpretation of the Bible, it's there, too. (Cain's mark)

Funny how this eternal doctrine changed with the civil rights movement.

I was taught it too, in the dim-bulb suburbs of a very large urban center in the upper midwest. I'm 52, and was at BYU in '78. You can't imagine how distraught and angry...ANGRY!...all those teenaged and twentysomething white supremacists from the intermountain states were over that "revelation." Oh boy!

I can remember wondering why I felt so hollow about it, but later I realized it was my reaction to all the white-washing (literally!) that was going on.

You hear the same denial coming from Mormons now when you confront them about their cult homophobia: in what seems like the twinkling of an eye "It's not our fault God hates Negroes" has turned into "It's not our fault God hates Gays." Which leads me to the conviction that the only thing a bigot can change is which color he is going to hate. This time it changed from Black to Pink, lol. But it really isn't funny. It is pathetic and disgusting, and their lies, excuses, and evasions only intensify how disgusting it is.

Not only dark, but "loathsome." The word means "filthy" if you didn't know. That from the "most correct book" under Heaven.
Sweet Jesus, how did I believe that crap for decades?

I was taught it repeatedly, universally, fervently, and proudly. Not only was it taught as justification of rascism, it was taught so we'd all feel we were God's chosen people.

And we did.

http://exmormon.org/phorum/read.php?2,389984



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 01/13/2012 10:33AM by steve benson.

I'm 44. I was taught this in primary. That was before the BOM was changed from "white and delightsome" to "pure and delightsome". I was taught that the "curse of Cain" was black skin and also that if you were black you were not as good of a spirit as if you were white.

I was bothered by these teachings, but I accepted because my parents taught me the church was true.

I remember when the revelation came that blacks could have the priesthood and I can remember thinking that it was a good thing even though I was only 11 at the time. What I accepted as true was that black skin WAS the curse of Cain but that it was good that black people would be fully accepted into the church, because after all it was true right?

When the BOM was changed from "white and delightsome" to "pure and delightsome" I completely accepted that as correcting a mistake that JS had made. Ugh.

I was also specifically taught that the Catholic church was the "whore of all the earth" but that's another topic.

It does make me really angry that TSCC DENIES these teachings and then they have the nerve to pull the "poor me people aren't openminded" card.

Turn 40 this month and I was taught the same in Sunday School and at home when reading scriptures. If your a liar, and the next person is a liar then I'm a liar too for saying it is so.

Fence sitters, less valiant, will be turned white, etc....

. . . it's easy to see how Book of Mormon racism could be interpreted as anti-black since Book of Mormon scripture itself announces a curse of black skin placed by God upon the wicked:

"And the Lord had caused the cursing to come upon them, yea, even a sore cursing, because of their iniquity. For behold, they had hardened their hearts against him, that they had become like unto a flint; wherefore, as they were white, and exceedingly fair and delightsome, that they might not be enticing unto my people the Lord God did cause A SKIN OF BLACKNESS to come upon them (2 Nephi 5:21)."

(emphasis added for head-in-the-sand Mormons who may have missed it)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/13/2012 11:23AM by steve benson.

I am a convert, living on eastern Canada and I was taught this as well in the late 80's and eary 90's. As a convert I had a hard time with those statements but I was looked at like the 'ignorant' convert you didn't know deep doctrine.

To this day, even when the church claims not to be racists, there are a lot of mormons in my suburban neighbourhood who are.

I see it when a black or middle east person walks into our meetings, all eyes are on the person and there is always someone who will ask if anyone invited them or knows them.

I vt a sister in her 60's who told me how her old neigourhood had become dangerous "now that black people moved" in.

There was break-in in one of the church buildings. A brother was telling the story and said "the negroes entered the building" to steal. I said 'Oh I didn't know they had caught the thieves'. He said, 'No, they never found them'. I said 'Then how did you know they were black? Thieves can also be white you know'. He laughed.

And many many more stories.

It's like we don't talk about it because we must protect the image of the church is important, but we all secretly know white skin is superior.
D

My older brother was on his mission in mid 1970's in Louisanna. They were told to NOT teach any black families. If they came across a black family while tracting, they were instructed to say "We are in the neighborhood encouraging everyone to attend the church of their choice" and then leave.

Bruce R McConkie confirmed this practice in some of his talks/writings.

So much for sharing the gospel, the good news of the restoration, key to happiness on this earth, sharing essential ordinances and covenants, and all that BS.

Funny how Jesus was so far behind the civil rights movement, you'd think he'd be leading the movement...not getting dragged along and finally "getting it" in 1978.

What a crock.

While on my mission in 1984, this subject came up in conjunction with the priesthood ban that had recently been lifted. I had heard about blacks being "less valiant" in the pre-earth life and this idea was finally being challenged. I was told that the book, "Three Degrees of Glory" by Melvin J Ballard was now banned. Naturally, i bought and read it at the first opportunity.

Go ahead and read that if you don't think it was once taught.

That is the book that has the "blacks were fencesitters in the preexistence" doctrine in it.

Amazing how blatantly the past is rewritten. Can you say "1984" ala George Orwell? "We are at war with the Eastasia, Eurasia is our ally-it has always been so."

Joseph Fielding Smith quotes heavily from the Journal of Discourses in his book The Way to Perfection in defending and teaching that very doctrine.

And this from the 3 volume set, Doctrines of Salvation:
“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 come 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.”

- Prophet Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation, p. 61;

Of course they all say now that they spoke with limited light and understanding, but at the time it was essential to our salvation that we believe the living prophets.

I'm sick of Mo's denying it as well. Lying bastards.

Yea, all that stuff was taught. I am 51. Funny how people just deny that we taught certain stuff when it is brought up and quoted and they just are left with a gaping mouth and no reply but to say it was "someone's opinion" and "we didn't teach that". We did.

Don, I hope you are taking this message to other realms.

It needs to be heard, it needs to be heard right now ...

Racism is sytemic in mormonism.

Yes, mormons are trying to be more politically correct and some of them are so shallow they haven't checked out traditional morg history and dogma. Still, we were taught racism from the pulpit, in family prayers, and in hymns and scripture. The racism is there and has been since early times.

In response to noted African-American theologian and author Obery M. Henrick, Jr.'s article, "Mitt Romney and the Curse of Blackness," a desperate, igorant, brainwashed Mormon childishly tries to brush off embedded Book of Mormon scriptural racism as a curse aimed solely at brown people, not black ones:

“The Book of Mormon says nothing about Africans or African-Am­ericans. God made some people's skin color dark because of the curse on them. This was 600 years before the birth of Christ and no where near Africa, in fact, on the other side of the world.

“We believe our priesthood is God's priesthood­, and as in the Bible, He can give it to whomever He wants, or withhold it from whomever He wants. We don't know why blacks of African descent could not hold it for so long. But, the fact that there were blacks who were members of our church before 1978 leads me to believe that they too believed this to be God's church and God's priesthood­. If they believed they were being discrimina­ted against, they could leave the church or not join in the first place. “

(posted by “lidasdf,” at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/lindasdf?action=comments; for Hendricks, article, see: Obery M. Hendricks, Jr., "Mitt Romney and the Curse of Blackness," in "Huffington Post," under "Religion," with accompanying reader responses, 13 January 2012, at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/obery-m-hendricks-jr-phd/mitt-romney-curse-blackness_b_1200470.html
_____


What an inherently and utterly stupid, moronic, dishonest “defense.”

Contrary to the suggestion by this shallow true-believing Mormon parrot, the Book of Mormon actually does curse the so-called "wicked" with a black skin, as Henricks points out by (damn!) quoting directly from the Book of Mormon itself:

"And the Lord had caused the cursing to come upon them, yea, even a sore cursing, because of their iniquity. For behold, they had hardened their hearts against him, that they had become like unto a flint; wherefore, as they were white, and exceedingly fair and delightsome, that they might not be enticing unto my people the Lord God did cause A SKIN OF BLACKNESS to come upon them (2 Nephi 5:21)."

(emphasis added for head-in-the-sand Mormons who may have missed it)

Mormons can't even trust their own Book of Mormon when it comes to them trying to excuse anti-black, anti-brown, pro-white supremacist racism in the Book of Mormon.

So much for (as Joseph Smith incorrectly claimed) the Book of Mormon supposedly being “the most correct of any book on earth.” (Joseph Smith, “History of the Church, “ vol. 4, p. 461; and Smith, “Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, “comp. Joseph Fielding Smith [Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret Book, 1976], p. 194)
_____


By the way, the "you're-now-black" 2 Nephit %;21 reference is still in the Book of Mormon, brought to you by the official website of the Church of Jesus Christ of Whiter-day Saints:

"The Nephites separate themselves from the Lamanites, keep the law of Moses, and build a temple—Because of their unbelief, the Lamanites are cut off from the presence of the Lord, are cursed, and become a scourge unto the Nephites. About 588–559 B.C. . . .

"[verse] 21 And he had caused the acursing to come upon them, yea, even a sore cursing, because of their iniquity. For behold, they had hardened their hearts against him, that they had become like unto a flint; wherefore, as they were white, and exceedingly fair and delightsome, that they might not be enticing unto my people the Lord God did cause a skin of blackness to come upon them."

("The Second Book of Nephi, Chapter 5," at: http://lds.org/scriptures/bofm/2-ne/5?lang=eng


Advice to Mormons: Stay away from the Book of Mormon. It's your own worst enemy.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/13/2012 12:45PM by steve benson.

I'm 32. By the time I hit seminary, it was all about backtracking and spinning the racism. However, I was still taught that skin color was indicative of our behavior before we came to earth, just not over the pulpit.

These conversations happened in homes, on long drives, camping, etc.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/13/2012 04:11PM by Queen of Denial.

I was taught the same thing many times.

By the way I'm 54 also so that makes it all true!

In it he talked about where the different races of the earth came from; their lienage. He described how the whiter the skin the more obedient in the pre-existence someone was and the more 'blessed' they were in this life. He went from white to yellow to tan to brown to black; all the races on the earth.

I read a transcript of the talk while wasting my two years in England back in '76-'78. It was hot property in the field.

link?

while in England in the late '70's. Dyer had previously given the talk numerous times to various missions. Even back then it was considered 'deep doctrine', 'meat' that should not be shared with those only ready for 'milk'.

As long as I draw breath I will testify to the egregious lies and racist propaganda that I was taught as a Mormon minor. I blame my idiot father (who was not really racist, but cowardly) as well as the Mormon corporation for the ruinous garbage that stunted my intellectual growth. My testimony is that humans are individuals and we all have the capacity for both right and wrong, no matter our personal titles.

I am 76 same story!!

Mormon ideas. I remember my sister and I being very upset when we were around 9 and 10 or so. We just didn't understand how it made any sense and no one could explain it any better than "We just don't understand the mind of God in this".

For some reason I can't keep my own age straight.

But, that being said, I do remember being taught all the standard racist crapola, along with all the "Isn't it wonderful" stuff about the change in 1978.

My grandfather's idea of a good FHE less was reading a section out of Mormon Doctrine. We learned all kinds of unsavory bits that gave context to the things we were learning at church.

Neither of my parents was particularly racist. They both seemed embarrassed that the priesthood ban happened in the first place and they were sorry they didn't have better answers for us.

I'm in my 50's now. It was taught way out in the mission field that the curse of Cain was a a black skin & this was due to being less valiant in the pre-existence. Polynesians & their early acceptance of TSCC mumbo-jumbo didn't fit the arguments so that was glossed over & the Australian aborigines just didn't enter the equation-but Blacks of African origin were cursed.

I was already dis-affected & withdrawn from involvement in TSCC when THE revelation came. It seemed to me the most cynical & opportune piece of PR arising out of desperation. The big boys in Salt Lake had their hand forced.

The current denial & whitewashing is despicable & just deepens my contempt for this morally vacuous organization.