|
|
| (45 intermediate revisions by 9 users not shown) |
| Line 1: |
Line 1: |
| {{RacePortal}}
| | #REDIRECT[[Repudiated ideas about race#In the 1950s, did the Church teach that the only way a black man could get into heaven was as a slave?]] |
|
| |
|
| ==Criticism==
| |
| "...[I]n the [19]50s, the Mormons preached that the only way a black man could get into heaven was as a slave."
| |
|
| |
|
| ===Source(s) of the criticism===
| |
| * Bill Maher, ''Real Time with Bill Maher'', HBO, 16 February 2007. {{link|url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xqNbZKIQUs}}
| |
|
| |
|
| ==Response==
| | <!-- PLEASE DO NOT REMOVE ANYTHING BELOW THIS LINE --> |
| Maher was probably referring to an address given by Elder Mark E. Petersen at Brigham Young University on 27 August 1954 entitled "Race Problems—As They Affect the Church." Elder Petersen said in this address:
| | [[Category:Questions]] |
| | |
| :Think of the Negro, cursed as to the priesthood.... This Negro, who, in the pre-existence lived the type of life which justified the lord in sending him to earth in the lineage of Cain with a black skin.... In spite of all he did in the pre-existent life, the Lord is willing, if the Negro accepts the gospel with real, sincere faith, and is really converted, to give him the blessings of baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost. If that Negro is faithful all his days, he can and will enter the celestial kingdom. He will go there as a servant, but he will get a celestial resurrection. He will get a place in the celestial glory. He will not go then even with the honorable men of the earth to the Terrestrial glory, nor with the ones spoken of as being without law.{{ref|petersen1}}
| |
| | |
| At the time of Elder Petersen's remarks, black members of the Church did not hold the priesthood. The reasons behind this are complex, and still debated. (''See: FAIR Wiki article on [[Blacks_and_the_priesthood|priesthood ban]] for further background information.'')
| |
| | |
| However, despite the restriction on priesthood, Elder Petersen asserted that black members of the Church who were faithful to their covenants would be exalted in the celestial kingdom, the highest degree of glory in LDS theology (see {{s||DC|76|50-70}}). Those who attain to this glory are "the church of the Firstborn," brought forth in the "resurrection of the just," who have "overcome all things." They are "just men made perfect through Jesus the mediator of the new covenant."
| |
| | |
| It is not clear what he meant by saying a faithful black would have to go "as a servant." Glory within the celestial kingdom is not differentiated, since the "glory of the celestial is one, even as the glory of the sun is one" ({{s||DC|76|96}}). Only the telestial kingdom has differentiated levels of glory between members in LDS theology, "for as one star differs from another star in glory, even so differs one from another in glory in the telestial world..." ({{s||DC|76|98}}).
| |
| | |
| It seems unlikely, then, that Elder Petersen was teaching that blacks would be servants (much less "slaves") in heaven, since there is no differentiation between those glorified in the celestial kingdom. It may be that he was suggesting that the blacks' path to heaven would require acceptence of a measure of servitude or lower status, both within the world and within the Church, since they did not then have the right of presiding with priesthood authority.
| |
| | |
| Elder Petersen acknowledged that we did not have full information on the removal of the priesthood ban, and that those who spoke of the timing of the removal were expressing their own ideas. In 1978, as a result of the revelation on the priesthood, further knowledge was available and the change was welcomed by members of the Church.
| |
| | |
| ==Conclusion==
| |
| Elder Peterson's comments were made during a very different time from our own. Much of American society believed that blacks were socially and culturally inferior, and that the nascent American civil rights movement was a bad idea. The 1978 revelation on the priesthood was almost 25 years in the future.
| |
| | |
| Elder Petersen's comments were, to some degree, a reflection of the prevailing beliefs of his time, and were based on his interpretation of the limited light and knowledge he had available. Many of the expressions he used in his speech are objectionable to a twenty-first century audience that has better learned the lessons of racial equality and tolerence.
| |
| | |
| It is clear from the context of this talk that Elder Petersen did not believe that any group or race would be slaves in heaven. That notion goes against all teachings concerning the nature of the Celestial kingdom. It is a notion that is completely reprehensible to any responsible member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. If Elder Petersen ''did'' believe in slavery in heaven—which seems most unlikely—he was in error.
| |
| | |
| Latter-day Saints need feel no responsibility to defend racist statements by fallible Church leaders. Only Christ was without sin, and we all reflect the culture in which we are raised, to an extent. As President Gordon B. Hinckley reminded Church members:
| |
| | |
| :Now I am told that racial slurs and denigrating remarks are sometimes heard among us. I remind you that no man who makes disparaging remarks concerning those of another race can consider himself a true disciple of Christ. Nor can he consider himself to be in harmony with the teachings of the Church of Christ...
| |
| | |
| :Throughout my service as a member of the First Presidency, I have recognized and spoken a number of times on the diversity we see in our society. It is all about us, and we must make an effort to accommodate that diversity.
| |
| | |
| :Let us all recognize that each of us is a son or daughter of our Father in Heaven, who loves all of His children.
| |
| | |
| :Brethren, there is no basis for racial hatred among the priesthood of this Church. If any within the sound of my voice is inclined to indulge in this, then let him go before the Lord and ask for forgiveness and be no more involved in such.{{ref|hinckley1}}
| |
| | |
| ==Endnotes==
| |
| #{{note|petersen1}}Mark E. Petersen, "Race Problems—As They Affect The Church," address at Brigham Young University, 27 August 1954. This address is not available at the [http://speeches.byu.edu BYU Speeches] web site. The text is, unfortunately, only available on various anti-Mormon web sites. This would seem to suggest that the Church disavows the concepts taught in this address.
| |
| #{{note|hinckley1}} {{Ensign | author=Gordon B. Hinckley | article=The Need for Greater Kindness|date=May 2006|start=58|end=61 }}{{link|url=http://library.lds.org/nxt/gateway.dll/Magazines/Ensign/2006.htm/ensign%20may%202006.htm/the%20need%20for%20greater%20kindness.htm?fn=document-frameset.htm$f=templates$3.0}}
| |
| ==Further reading==
| |
| | |
| ===FAIR wiki articles===
| |
| | |
| {{BlacksPriesthoodWiki}}
| |
| | |
| ===FAIR web site===
| |
| | |
| {{BlacksPriesthoodFAIR}}
| |
| | |
| ===External links===
| |
| | |
| {{BlacksPriesthoodLinks}}
| |
| | |
| ===Printed material===
| |
| | |
| {{BlacksPriesthoodPrint}}
| |
