LDS Racist Lies and Excuses

“Apostles Talk about Reasons for Lifting Ban,” Dallin H. Oaks, Daily Herald, Provo, Utah, 5 June 1988; “If you read the scriptures with this question in mind, ‘Why did the Lord command this or why did he command that,’ you find that in less than one in a hundred commands was any reason given. It’s not the pattern of the Lord to give reasons. We can put reasons to commandments. When we do, we’re on our own. Some people put reasons to [the ban] and they turned out to be spectacularly wrong. There is a lesson in that… The lesson I’ve drawn from that, I decided a long time ago that I had faith in the command and I had no faith in the reasons that had been suggested for it. […] I’m referring to reasons given by general authorities and reasons elaborated upon [those reasons] by others. The whole set of reasons seemed to me to be unnecessary risk taking. […] Let’s [not] make the mistake that’s been made in the past, here and in other areas, trying to put reasons to revelation. The reasons turn out to be man-made to a great extent. The revelations are what we sustain as the will of the Lord and that’s where safety lies.”

Matthew 23:29-33; “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous, 30 And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets. 31 Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets. 32 Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers. 33 Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?”

There are numerous problems with this man’s message so let’s take a look at a few of them… 

Problem #1 

Mr. Oaks said ‘It’s not the pattern of the Lord to give reasons’. In our biblical example today we’ve listed just one small passage and we can see how Jesus clearly gave a reason why He gave a doctrine to us. 

How could it be we easily came across one doctrine listing the reason why we should take heed and yet there’s less than ‘1 in 100’ times that God will do this? 

Problem #2 

Oaks said when we look for reasons ‘we’re on our own’.

Jesus told us that He’d never leave us – John 14:16-18.

Problem #3 

‘The whole set of reasons seemed to me to be unnecessary risk taking. […] Let’s [not] make the mistake that’s been made in the past, here and in other areas, trying to put reasons to revelation. The reasons turn out to be man-made to a great extent.’ 

Hello!! If the reasons turned out to be man-made, doesn’t it stand to reason the prophecy is man-made as well? 

Problem #4 

Mr. Oaks’ comment is quite telling. He said; ‘I decided a long time ago that I had faith in the command and I had no faith in the reasons that had been suggested for it…’ 

Why didn’t he question the source from where the commandment came? Obviously, he had doubts of their validity. Obviously, the lies they were telling weren’t logical, let alone biblical. 

Does anything Mr. Oaks said make sense to you personally? Can his insight be relied upon? Is this something you’d be comfortable with sharing when you try to explain the past racist teachings on Mormonism?