Criticism of Mormonism/Books/One Nation Under Gods/Chapter 16

Response to claims made in "Chapter 16: Mormon Racism: Black Is Not Beautiful"


Claims made in "Chapter 15: Making the Transition"
A FAIR Analysis of:
One Nation Under Gods
A work by author: Richard Abanes
 Claims made in "Chapter 17: Is Mormonism Christian?"

355 epigraph, 597n1

Claim
  • Joseph Smith said in History of the Church: "Had I anything to do with the negro, I would confine them by strict law to their own species..."

Author's source(s)
  • History of the Church, vol. 5, 217-218.
Response

356, 597n5

Claim
  •  Author's quote: "Mormonism and racism have for many years been synonymous terms to persons well acquainted with Latter-day Saint beliefs."

Author's source(s)
  • Thelma Geer, Mormonism, Mama & Me, 24-25. This source is an anti-Mormon work published by Thelma "Granny" Geer (second edition in 1980; expanded 4th edition by 1984; 5th edition 1986). Ms. Geer's book cover announces that she has appeared in two films, The Cult Explosion and The God Makers. It is not clear why the author, who clearly has pretensions to writing a 'scholarly' work, would use this type of polemic as a secondary source. Anti-Mormon literature is nothing if not self-referential.
  • Richard N. and Joan K. Ostling, Mormon America: The Power and the Promise, (New York:HarperCollins Publishers, 2000), 103-106. ( Index of claims )
  • Thomas Matthews, "Mormon Racism In Perspective."
Response

356

Claim
  • Did the granting of the priesthood to blacks in 1978 fail to "eradicate the previous 148 years of Mormon racist/white supremacist teachings?"
  • Were these teaching all related to the LDS doctrine of pre-existence?

Author's source(s)
  • Author's statement.
Response
  •  Internal contradiction: p. 370 tells us that 'Mormons, by and large, were pleased that God had changed his mind at such a convenient time in history.' So, why were the Mormons happy about the revelation if their supposedly racist mindset could hardly be eradicated by the 1978 revelation?
  • And , the evidence shows that Mormons are no more or no less racist than others of the same background.[citation needed]
  • ONUG's double standard on race issues
  • Loaded and prejudicial language

356, n6

Claim
  • Do Latter-day Saints traditionally believe that everyone's place in the world was determined by how they behaved in the pre-mortal world?

Author's source(s)
  • Pearl of Great Price, Book of Abraham 3:22.
Response
  • Note well the word traditional. Such teachings have been repudiated. Revelation has clarified false or incomplete former beliefs.
  • The author presumes the Saints believe in prophetic infallibility. They do not.
  •  Misrepresentation of source: Abraham 3꞉22 only says that God chose 'noble and great' spirits to be his spiritual leaders in the pre-mortal world. It says nothing about country, socio-economic status, etc.

357, 597n7, 9-11

Claim
  •  Author's quote: These admirable spirits served God well, followed his commands, and did the most with their talents before coming to earth. Consequently, they are rewarded by being born into favorable circumstances. To be specific, they are born as Mormons in America, or at the very least, somewhere in a predominantly Caucasian country. More righteous spirits are born with more advantages. Less commendable spirits, however, are born with fewer advantages, into lives of greater or lesser quality depending on how poorly they performed in the pre-earth world. Moreover, they are born as non-whites. This is their punishment for not having been all they could have been during the pre-existence.
  • A quote from Apostle Mark E. Petersen is provided to support this assertion.

Author's source(s)
  • Mark E. Petersen, "Race Problems As They Affect The Church," Address At the Convention of Teachers of Religion On the College Level, delivered at Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah, August 27, 1954.
  • John J. Stewart, The Glory of Mormonism, inside flap book cover and 144.
  • Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation, vol. 1, 61.
Response

357, 597n8

Claim
  • Does Latter-day Saint doctrine teach that black is not an "honourable body?"

Author's source(s)
  • Orson Hyde, Speech of Orson Hyde, Delivered Before the High Priests' Quorum, in Nauvoo, April 27th, 1845, Upon the Course and Conduct of Mr. Sidney Rigdon, 309.
Response

358, 597n13

Claim
  • Were those who "fought on Christ's side" in the pre-existence born as "privileged Mormon whites?"
  • Were those who were "less valiant" born as blacks?

Author's source(s)
  • B.H. Roberts, "To the Youth of Israel," The Contributor, vol. 6, 296-297.
  • Bruce McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, p. 527.
Response

358, 597n14-15

Claim
  • Didn't Brigham Young and Bruce R. McConkie claim that blacks were of the lineage of Cain?

Author's source(s)
Response

360, 598n23-26

Claim
  • Why did Bruce R. McConkie say in his 1966 edition of Mormon Doctrine: "The negroes are not equal with other races where the receipt of certain spiritual blessings are concerned...[B]ut this inequality is not of man's origin. It is the Lord's doing."
  • Did Joseph Fielding Smith make a similar statement?

Author's source(s)
  • McConkie, 527.
  • Joseph Fielding Smith, mimeographed letter, July 9, 1963. Quoted in Stewart, The Glory of Mormonism, 154.
  • Lowery Nelson, letter to First Presidency, October 8, 1947. Quoted in Steward, 146.
  • LDS First Presidency, letter to Lowery Nelson, July 17, 1947. Quoted in Steward, 153.
Response

361, 598n27

Claim
  • "Fourth generation Mormon" Thelma Geer said:

"As a white Mormon, I proudly accepted the teaching that my fair skin and Mormon parentage signified that I had been one of God's most intelligent and obedient born-in-heaven spirit children....As a reward for my superior attributes and attitudes, I had been singled out, trained, and qualified to be born a white Latter-day Saint, deserving of emulation, adulation, and eventual deification. All dark-skinned people, even darker-complexioned Caucasians...had been inferior spirits in heaven."

Author's source(s)

  • Geer, Mormonism, Mama & Me, 24-25. The author cites Geer yet again. This source is an anti-Mormon work published by Thelma "Granny" Geer (second edition in 1980; expanded 4th edition by 1984; 5th edition 1986). Ms. Geer's book cover announces that she has appeared in two films, The Cult Explosion and The God Makers. It is not clear why the author, who clearly has pretensions to writing a 'scholarly' work, would use this type of polemic as a secondary source. Anti-Mormon literature is nothing if not self-referential.

Response

  • Thelma Geer appeared in the film The God Makers.
  • She and the author do not disclose that these are 'folk beliefs.' Such teachings have been repudiated. Revelation has clarified false or incomplete former beliefs.
  • The author presumes the Saints believe in prophetic infallibility. They do not.
  • This was true even when Geer wrote in 1980.


361, 598n28, 31

Claim
  • Was interracial marriage condemned by Brigham Young as "one of the most heinous of deeds?"

Author's source(s)
Response

362, 598n29-30

Claim
  • Did Mark E. Petersen say that segregation was acceptable, and the interracial marriage "posed a danger?"

Author's source(s)
  • Petersen, "Race Problems As They Affect The Church."
Response

364, 599n40

Claim
  • Did Latter-day Saints not support the Civil Rights movement because they had "strong feelings of racial superiority infused into them by years of white supremacist teachings," as claimed by Wallace Turner?

Author's source(s)
  • Wallace Turner, The Mormon Establishment, 229
Response
  • Latter-day Saints were of more than one opinion about the Civil Rights movement. Even the leadership did not all agree; some supported the movement, and others worried that it was a front for interests hostile to American liberties.
  • Unlike many Protestant denominations, however, Latter-day Saints did not have segregated congregations, or address racist groups like the Klu Klux Klan.
  • ONUG's double standard on race issues

365, 599n44

Claim
  • Did LDS leaders instruct a missionary to "not to work with the poor and to tell blacks that they should attend the church of their choice, but not the Mormon church?"

Author's source(s)
  • Robert Gottlieb and Peter Wiley, American Saints: The Rise of Mormon Power, 179-180.
Response

366

Claim
  • Was David O. McKay was "blocked" from granting Blacks the priesthood by Ezra Taft Benson, Harold B. Lee, and Joseph Fielding Smith?

Author's source(s)
  • No citations specific to this claim. The subsequent citations only talk about Ezra Taft Benson as part of the John Birch Society and his "racist/anti-Communist views."
Response
  •  History unclear or in error: David O. McKay's recent biography includes the following accounts about the priesthood ban:
    • "McKay said, 'I have prayed and prayed and prayed, but there has been no answer.'"
    • "...he had inquired of the Lord several times on the matter, and ... the answer was, 'Not yet.'"
    • "I've inquired of the Lord repeatedly. The last time I did it was late last night. I was told, with no discussion, not to bring the subject up with the Lord again; that the time will come, but it will not be my time, and to leave the subject alone." [1]
  • ONUG's double standard on race issues

367

Claim
  • When George Wallace asked President David O. McKay if Ezra Taft Benson could be his vice-presidential running mate, this request was denied. Did this, as the author asserts, "illustrate the serious in-fighting and strained relations between Benson and his supporters on one side, and more moderate high-ranking LDS authorities on McKay's side?"

Author's source(s)
  • No citation provided.
Response
  •  History unclear or in error: Despite being a staunch anti-Communist, David O. McKay persistently denied Ezra Taft Benson's desire to join the leadership of the John Birch Society. He did, however, allow Elder Benson to consider a run as a presidential candidate. [2]
  • President McKay refused, however, to grant permission for Elder Benson to be Wallace's running mate, based on some or all of:
    • "his already expressed aversion to a third political party" (which Wallace was running on)
    • "his personal feelings toward Wallace"
    • "his unwillingness to have an apostle square off against announced Mormon candidate George Romney"
    • his "growing weariness with Benson's political activities," which centered around problems with the John Birch Society. [3]

368

Claim
  • By the time Spencer W. Kimball took over as Church president "the church had been enduring non-stop pressure to conform with America's realization that racial inequality had to end."

Author's source(s)
  • No citation provided.
Response

369, 599n57

Claim
  • Was President Kimball forced to change the priesthood restriction because of the new temple in Brazil?

Author's source(s)
  • Gottlieb and Wiley, 184,.
Response

370, n58

Claim
  •  Author's quote: "Like the Manifesto, the 1978 policy change was billed as a 'revelation' from God"

Author's source(s)
  • Declaration 2, released to Deseret News, June 9, 1978, page 1A.
Response

370

Claim
  •  Author's quote: "Mormons, by and large, were pleased that God had changed his mind at such a convenient time in history."

Author's source(s)
  • No source provided.
Response
  •  Internal contradiction: On p. 356, we are told the 1978 revelation "could hardly eradicate the previous 148 years of Mormon racist/white supremacist teachings." See also p. 353 where LDS beliefs are called "white supremacist." So, why were most Mormons "pleased" if they were still suffering from the burden of racist attitudes and white supremacist beliefs? Why would racists be happy about the change?
  •  History unclear or in error: Social pressure on priesthood issue?
  • Sarcasm

370

Claim
  • Did the lifting of the priesthood ban cause "millions of dollars" to begin "flowing into the church's coffers?"

Response

370, 599n59

Claim
  • Didn't Brigham Young say that Blacks would not receive the priesthood until after the resurrection of the dead?

Author's source(s)
Response

371, 600n63

Claim
  • Is the idea that the words of a living prophet are more important than the teachings of a dead prophet a "illogical belief?"

Author's source(s)
  • John Lewis Lund, The Church and the Negro: A Discussion of Mormons, Negroes, and the Priesthood, 45.
Response

372

Claim
  • The book claims that following question has not been adequately answered: "If God has removed the curse that at one time kept Blacks from the priesthood, then why has he not removed the marks of that curse..."

Author's source(s)
  • No source provided. The author does not demonstrate that he has even assessed LDS answers, much less demonstrated why they have not been "adequately answered."
  • On what grounds does the author get to decide what is an "adequate" answer? His unremitting hostility to the Saints and the Church is clear—no answer is likely to satisfy him.
Response
  •  The author's claim is false: The answer is clear and has been answered by LDS apostles.

372

Claim
  • The book claims that following question has not been adequately answered: "If some spirits continue to be cursed with black skin because of their unrighteous behavior in the pre-mortal world, then why does that same unrighteous behavior now no longer disqualify them from the priesthood?"

Author's source(s)
  • No source provided. The author does not demonstrate that he has even assessed LDS answers, much less demonstrated why they have not been "adequately answered."
  • On what grounds does the author get to decide what is an "adequate" answer? His unremitting hostility to the Saints and the Church is clear—no answer is likely to satisfy him.
Response
  •  The author's claim is false: The answer is clear and has been answered by LDS apostles.

372

Claim
  • The book claims that following question has not been adequately answered: "If black skin is no longer a sign of a special curse, then does that mean white skin is no longer a sign of a special blessing?"

Author's source(s)
  • No source provided. The author does not demonstrate that he has even assessed LDS answers, much less demonstrated why they have not been "adequately answered."
  • On what grounds does the author get to decide what is an "adequate" answer? His unremitting hostility to the Saints and the Church is clear—no answer is likely to satisfy him.
Response
  •  The author's claim is false: The answer is clear and has been answered by LDS apostles.

372

Claim
  • The book claims that following question has not been adequately answered: "If a racially mixed couple conceived a child before June 9, 1978, and in so doing sinned by mixing a cursed seed (Black) with an un-cursed seed (White), then after June 9, 1978, were they still guilty of the sin of race-mixing since Blacks were no longer cursed from the priesthood?"

Author's source(s)
  • No source provided. The author does not demonstrate that he has even assessed LDS answers, much less demonstrated why they have not been "adequately answered."
  • On what grounds does the author get to decide what is an "adequate" answer? His unremitting hostility to the Saints and the Church is clear—no answer is likely to satisfy him.
Response

Notes


  1. ↑ Gregory A. Prince and Wm. Robert Wright, David O. McKay and the Rise of Modern Mormonism (Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 2005), 103-104. ISBN 0874808227.
  2. ↑ Prince and Wright, 286, 289, 317-318.
  3. ↑ Prince and Wright, 319.
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