Posted by:
xtbm
(
)
Date: January 17, 2011 05:40PM
• On December 6th, 1865, the 13th Amendment to the United States Constitution was passed, officially abolishing slavery.
• On December 1st, 1955, Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a public bus.
• On August 28th, 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech.
• On July 2nd, 1964, President Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
• On April 4th, 1968, Martin Luther King was assassinated.
Today, it is widely accepted that slavery and racial discrimination are wrong, even “evil” practices. If that is a universal, timeless principle, then it has always been wrong to practice these things, even if it was socially accepted at different points throughout history.
Mormons believe that God exists and is perfect. If this is true, then God has always understood that slavery and racial discrimination are wrong, even if men and women, in all their weakness, have not always been able to comprehend that same principle.
The Mormon church professes to be led by a prophet; one who is direct communication with God; one who is responsible to communicate an all-wise, all-knowing God’s will to all people here on earth.
• On June 8th, 1978, the First Presidency of the Mormon church officially put an end to the ban on people of African descent holding the Mormon priesthood.
Mormonism’s own form of discrimination was finally (and rightfully) overturned 10 years after MLK was assassinated, 23 years after the Civil Rights Movement was in its early stages, and more than 100 years after slavery was officially abolished.
How is it possible, then, that the Mormon church, supposedly led by prophets who are in direct communication with a God who obviously always has understood that racial discrimination is wrong, was so late to the party?
Unfortunately, there was plenty of reason for everyone to believe that God had already spoken through his Mormon prophets.
On February 5th, 1852 (nearly 16 years before slavery was abolished), Brigham Young proclaimed, “If there never was a prophet, or apostle of Jesus Christ spoke it before, 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 [sic], for the curse on them was to remain upon them, until the residue [sic] of the posterity of Michal and his wife receive the blessings, the seed of Cain would have received had they not been cursed; and hold the keys of the priesthood [sic], until the times of the restitution shall come, and the curse be wiped off from the earth, and from michals seed. Then Cain's seed will be had in rememberance [sic], and the time come when that curse should be wiped off.”
This is just one of may examples of how Mormonism ended up on the wrong side of history. It was because the “prophets”, people who profess to know God’s will, had already spoken! And according to them, God had evidently condoned withholding his priesthood from one single race [edit: at least until "the times of the restitution shall come"]. Giving Blacks the priesthood would be in direct violation of a former prophet’s teachings!
Today, Mormons point to Brigham Young’s statements as an example of human weakness. He was simply a product of his time, they say. Perfection shouldn’t be required of anyone, even prophets.
Fair enough, but just as perfection shouldn’t be expected of anyone, neither should being nothing more than just another man be expected of a prophet.
Mormonism being late to the party isn’t just about human weakness, it’s about a flawed model. Assuming that God knew and understood that discrimination is and always will be wrong, he was unable to communicate that through his prophets for well over 100 years! In fact, something completely and diametrically opposed to that principle is what ultimately ended up being communicated and embraced by the entire organization!
You want to know how to end up on the wrong side of history? Take a look at the Mormon model.
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/17/2011 05:45PM by xtbm.