Got to agree with Deseret News, sloppy reporting by USA Today, Mormonism is goofy enough, report correctly.

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700219686/Oops-USA-Today-goofs-in-cover-story-about-LDS-beliefs.html?s_cid=rss-30

(sorry if this was already posted)

When has media been correct about anything at all? Every single article they write is wrong, incorrect or incomplete.

The sloppyness in this case is minor - even if corrected the issues remains...

Usually, it flat-out lies about some things. Its incompetence takes care of the rest.

I'm sorry, I thought that the 1978 decision was an agreement among the apostles, not a revelation. In fact, I would love to see where they said this was a revelation. I could be wrong, but I don't believe it was ever presented as a 'thus sayeth the lord, Revelation'.

From the article:

"And third, it has never been the official position of the LDS Church that black men bore the mark of Cain."

Ah yes, the elusive "official position." If you were to throw out everything that wasn't an "official position" there would be very little left of Mormonism. Plausible deniability strikes again.

Would THIS qualify as an "official position?"

"...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.”

Brigham Young, Mar. 8, 1863 (JoD: vol.10 p. 110)

Here a "Prophet of God" declares the "law of God" and refers to "the African race" as "the seed of Cain."

If that's not clear enough how about this:

"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."

Brigham Young, Oct. 9, 1859 (JoD vol.7 oo, 290-291)

"The Lord said I will not kill Cane But I will put a mark upon him and it is seen in the [face?] of every Negro on the Earth And it is the decree of God that that mark shall remain upon the seed of Cane & the Curse untill all the seed of Abel should be re[deem?]ed and Cane will not receive the priesthood until or salvation untill all the seed of Abel are Redeemed. Any man having one drop of the seed of Cain in him Cannot hold the priesthood & if no other Prophet ever spake it Before I will say it now in the name of Jesus Christ. ."

Brigham Young, Jan. 5, 1952 (Address by Brigham Young, as recorded in Wilford Woodruff's Journal)

"I tell you, this people that are commonly called negroes are the children of old Cain. I know they are, I know that they cannot bear rule in the priesthood, for the curse on them was to remain upon them, until the resedue of the posterity of Michal and his wife receive the blessings...and hold the keys of the priesthood.... In the kingdom of God on the earth the affricans cannot hold one partical of power in government."

Brigham Young, Feb. 5, 1852, (Church Archives, Young Addresses, Ms d 1234, Box 48, folder 3)

It seems that the President of the Church (Prophet, seer and revelator) expounding adamantly and continuously over a period of years, including clarifying that he IS speaking as a prophet, does not qualify as "official doctrine."

But, hey, don't get caught wearing the wrong number of earrings!

There's two things I like about the Church: its face.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/31/2012 11:44AM by baura.

I love that ridiculous narrow duck about the seed of Cain. Because I was never taught that black people were the seed of Cain; I was taught they were a cursed Lamanite people. Different curse, but same concept!