Free People of Color, The Evening and The Morning Star, Vol. II, Independence, MO, July 1833, No. 14, pg. 109; “To prevent any misunderstanding among the churches abroad, respecting Free people of color, who may think of coming to the western boundaries of Missouri, as members of the church, we quote the following clauses from the Laws of Missouri.
“SECTION 4. Be it further enacted, That hereafter no free negro or mulatto, other than a citizen of some one of the United States, shall come into or settle in this state under any pretext whatever…Slaves are real estate in this and other states, and wisdom would dictate great care among the branches of the church of Christ, on this subject. So long as we have no special rule in the church, as to people of color, let prudence guide; and while they, as well as we, are in the hands of a merciful God, we say: Shun every appearance of evil.”
Genesis 1:31; “And God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good.”
Nowhere in God’s word did He ever say “oh man, I messed up!” On the contrary the Lord saw all that He made and called it very good.
The Hebrew word for good is tôb which means beautiful or best. Why did mankind do this to other human beings?
As a Mormon have you ever placed yourself in the shoes of the people your prophets speak so ill of?
Have you ever stopped to wonder what it might feel like to be told you’re nothing but a piece of real estate?
Have you ever stopped to question the practice of slavery and when slavery of different races came into being?
Have you as a Mormon ever wondered what kind of God would create people He supposedly hated?
If you’ve answered no to any of these questions I ask that you make today the day you ask yourself why!
It doesn’t matter what society was doing at the time. Other churches or governments could’ve been doing these things and much more, but that doesn’t excuse the behavior of the LDS Church.
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