Life After Ministry

“Regardless of the color of our skin, of the shape of our eyes, of the language we speak, we all are sons and daughters of God and must reach out to one another with love and concern…Wherever we live we can be friendly neighbors.” – President Gordon B. Hinckley, Ensign, May 2005

“All Are Alike Unto God” is the title of a speech given at BYU by the LDS Apostle Bruce McConkie in August of 1978.  The speech was given as an address to members of the Church to explain the recent change in Church membership requirements.  Yet oddly enough, neither the speech nor the prophecy really changed the heart of Mormonism.

From the time the Church had been in existence (April 1830) up until June 1978, blacks were not allowed to hold the priesthood in the Mormon Church.  Due to socio, and economic pressures being put upon the hierarchy of Mormonism, the Prophet Spencer Kimball was on the hunt for a revelation from God to change the rules.

In the summer of ‘78, the Mormon god provided what the Church was in need of. A public metamorphosis of the Church’s archaic requirement to be white and delightsome.

If I had to classify all the reasons I left the Church in order of importance, I used the think this topic wouldn’t have made it to the top five. However as I look back, I can see how it was the driving force in my life to literally move out of Utah. It took me a long time to accept that my beloved heritage was a group of racists. The effects of racism in Utah Mormonism dictated everything I did in life, but this isn’t about me, it’s truly not about any one person; once again it’s about the doctrine.

My reason for leaving the Church over the race issue was and still is justified, yet I continue to receive e-mails and letters stating that I’m trying to come across as something I am not.  So here it is once again for all to see and understand; I am not fully African American.  I’m not Hispanic, I’m not Asian and I’m not Native American. And I’m definitely not fully white.

I’m classified as a white, middle aged mom of two.  All throughout the world I’m looked upon as a white woman; except for Utah.

I’m Black Welsh, born in America, a sixth generation ex-Mormon from Utah, and the 1978 revelation made a huge impact upon me as you might imagine.

Thirty plus years later, my concern has turned more outward than inward.  I’ll be honest and say that every time I see someone of color in the Church I’m frustrated and perplexed, but mostly concerned.  I don’t understand the responses I’ve received from black Mormons, or why they choose to be a Mormon.

Some have told me they wrestle with the prophetic utterances of Smith, Young, McConkie, et al.  However, with this behavior they’re giving the leadership a free pass to move on with nary a word.  How do we move on and still believe that God doesn’t change His mind?  What about the Sovereignty of God?  What about the people who said “thus saith the Lord”; what’s their excuse?

The official statement from the Church regarding the revelation in 1978 gives no indication it’s from God.  The policy changed because the Church needed it to.  The apostles and president were sweatin’ bullets while waiting on the answer from their heavens and ultimately had a man-made revelation.

For me and others with any melanoma, the damage has already been done.  The scriptures say God won’t be mocked and I know the ’78 revelation turned hundreds away from the one true God on High, not to mention the Mormon god.

When a black Mormon tells me the Church was only acting like everyone else, I say this is proof the Church isn’t true.  Man made doctrines and edicts are not eternal, they’re not always divine and they certainly aren’t infallible.  There will never be a good excuse for slavery and people who served as pastors while owning people during the days of slavery will be held accountable, God is patient.

Until the last couple of decades of the twentieth century, the Mormon Church was behaving just like the rest of American society when it came to the race issue.  If you were anything but white, the odds of finding a warm welcome in a ward building were slim to none.  And while their outward behavior globally speaking may have changed, the truth is that their scripture has stayed exactly the same.  Not one single thing has changed except for 2 Nephi 30:6.  Their teachings are still racist and their god is still an uncaring, unloving bigot.

Their past and present prophets today are still uttering false prophecies every day they don’t denounce the LDS scripture inked from the pen of Joseph Smith.

God created the races; He did it on purpose.  He chose to put different races on the face of the earth, and man chose to twist and abuse God’s creation.

I just won’t ever understand how anyone can come to the conclusion these teachings should be embraced when they so clearly contradict the Bible.  Below are some of the teachings of the LDS Church that are still in the “scriptures” they use every single day.

And in case you’re wondering…there are 35 scriptures listed.  The Mormon god has expressed 35 times how ‘fair’ and “righteous” the white people are, while making it perfectly clear dark people are sinful, lazy and loathsome.  If you’re African American, Asian, Hispanic, or Native American, are you lazy and loathsome?  Yeah, I didn’t think so either…

Book of Mormon

1 Nephi 11:13 (Mary) “. . . she was exceedingly fair and white.”

1 Nephi 11:15; “…A virgin, most beautiful and fair above all other virgins.”

1 Nephi 12:23 (Prophecy of Lamanites after Christ) “. . . became a dark, and loathsome, and a filthy people, full of idleness and all manner of abominations.”
1 Nephi 13:15 (Gentiles) “. . . they were white, and exceedingly fair and beautiful, like unto my people [Nephites] before they were slain.”
2 Nephi 5:21 “. . . a sore cursing . . . 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 5:22; “…I will cause that they shall be loathsome unto thy people, save they shall repent of their iniquities.”

2 Nephi 5:23; “And cursed shall be the seed of him that mixeth with their seed; for they shall be cursed even with the same cursing…”
2 Nephi 30:6 (Prophecy to Lamanites) “. . . scales of darkness shall begin to fall . . . they shall be a white and delightsome people.” (Changed to pure and delightsome in 1981)
Jacob 3:5 (Lamanites cursed) “. . .whom ye hate because of their filthiness and the cursing which hath come upon their skins…”
Jacob 3:8-9 “. . .their skins will be whiter than yours . . . revile no more against them because of the darkness of their skins . . .”
Alma 3:6 “. . . skins of the Lamanites were dark, according to the mark which was set upon their fathers, which was a curse upon them because of their transgression and their rebellion. . .”
Alma 3:8 (Cursed) “. . .that their seed might be distinguished from the seed of their brethren . . .that they might not mix . . .”
Alma 3:9 “. . . whosoever did mingle his seed with that of the Lamanites did bring the same curse upon his seed.”
Alma 3:14 (Lamanites cursed) “. . . set a mark on them that they and their seed may be separated from thee and thy seed. . .”
Alma 3:19 (Amlicites cursed) “. . . brought upon themselves the curse …”
Alma 23:18 “. . . [Lamanites] did open a correspondence with them [Nephites] and the curse of God did no more follow them.”

Helaman 13:17; “And behold, a curse shall come upon the land, saith the Lord of Hosts, because of the peoples’ sake who are upon the land, yea, because of their wickedness and their abominations.”

3 Nephi 2:14-16 “. . . Lamanites who had united with the Nephites were numbered among the Nephites; And their curse was taken from them, and their skin became white like unto the Nephites . . . became exceedingly fair . . .”
3 Nephi 19:25, 30 [Disciples] “. . . they were as white as the countenance and also the garments of Jesus; and behold the whiteness thereof did exceed all the whiteness . . . nothing upon earth so white as the whiteness thereof . . . they were white, even as Jesus.”

4 Nephi 1:10; “And now, behold, it came to pass that the people of Nephi did wax strong, and did multiply exceedingly fast, and became an exceedingly fair and delightsome people.”
Mormon 5:15 (Prophecy about Lamanites) “. . .shall become a dark, a filthy, and a loathsome people, beyond the description of that which ever hath been amongst us . . .”
Mormon 5:17 “They were once a delightsome people . . .”

Mormon 6:17; “O ye fair ones, how could ye have departed from the ways of the Lord! O ye fair ones, how could ye have rejected that Jesus, who stood with open arms to receive you!”

Mormon 6:19; “O ye fair sons and daughters, ye fathers and mothers, ye husbands and wives, ye fair ones, how is it that ye could have fallen!”

Mormon 9:6; “…cry mightily unto the Father in the name of Jesus, that perhaps ye may be found spotless, pure, fair, and white, having been cleansed by the blood of the Lamb, at that great and last day.”

Ether 7:4; “…he begat sons and daughters, and they became exceedingly fair; wherefore Corihor drew away many people after him.”

Ether 8:10; “…and behold, I am fair, and I will dance before him…”

Ether 13:17; “…neither his fair sons nor daughters; neither the fair sons and daughters of Cohor; neither the fair sons and daughters of Corihor; and in fine, there were none of the fair sons and daughters upon the face of the whole earth who repented…”

Pearl of Great Price

Moses 7:8 “. . . a blackness came upon all the children of Canaan . . .”
Moses 7:12 “. . . Enoch continued to call upon all the people, save it were [except] the people of Canaan, to repent . . .”
Moses 7:22 “. . . for the seed of Cain were black and had not place among them.”

Moses 8:14; “…daughters were born unto them, the sons of men saw that those daughters were fair…”

Abraham 1:21 “. . . king of Egypt [Pharaoh] was a descendant from the loins of Ham, and was a partaker of the blood of the Canaanites by birth.”
Abraham 1:27 “. . . Pharaoh being of that lineage by which he could not have the right of Priesthood . . .”

Abraham 2:22; “…the Lord said unto me: Behold, Sarai, thy wife, is a very fair woman to look upon.”

Come alongside us won’t you, and pray ALL Mormons become spiritually aware of what they’re ingesting.

With Love in Christ;

Michelle