MORMON CHURCH KEEPING ITS RACIST PAST SECRET FROM AFRICAN MORMONS
by Darrick T. Evenson, former Mormon Elder and missionary
Today there are about 200,000 Mormons in the countries of Ghana and
Nigeria. All but perhaps 2,000 of them are natives of those
countries.
The rest are mostly white missionaries. You can recognize them
because
they dress in suits, often ride bikes, and white ****fts and dark ties
with black name-tags saying "Elder" or "Sister" and "The Church of
JESUS CHRIST of Latter-day Saints". These are Mormon missionaries. I
was one myself many years ago.
It is true that the Mormon Church, a Church with 13 million members
worldwide, now accepts black people as full members, but this was not
always so. This was not so until 1978.
I was a Mormon for 15 years. I served as a missionary for the Mormon
Church in the United States, and was an Elder. I studied Mormon
history more than 99% of other Mormons. For 130 years (from 1848
until
1978) Mormon prophets and apostles taught the following about
"Negroes" (black Africans and African-Americans):
*Before this Earth was created there was a War in Heaven between
Jesus
and Lucifer (Satan). The spirits that sided with Jesus and against
Lucifer were rewarded by being born as humans on earth. But some
spirits that sided with Jesus were "less valiant" ("too lazy") and
God
punished them by being born Negroes. This is known as the "Less
Valiant" doctrine.
*The firstborn son of Adam and Eve was Cain. He was a white man like
his parents. But he killed his brother Abel. As punishment, God
cursed
Cain and turned him into the first Negro on earth. Cain married his
sister, and she was turned into the second Negro on Earth, and they
became the parents of the Negro race. The "mark" of the Curse of Cain
was black skin, kinky hair, and negroid features. This was known as
"the Curse of Cain Doctrine".
*Negroes are the children of Cain, and the representatives of the
Devil on earth (taught by John Taylor, president of the Mormon Church
in the late 19th century).
*Negroes can be members of the Mormon Church (the official name is
"The Church of JESUS CHRIST of Latter-day Saints"), but Negro men
cannot hold the priesthood (which all Mormon men above the age of 12
must do), and Negro men and women cannot wor****p in Mormon Temples
along with other Mormons, and they cannot go through the Endowment
Ceremony (a Masonic-like secret ceremony) nor be "Sealed" in eternal
marriages until this "Curse of Cain" is removed from the "children of
Cain" (Negroes).
Negroes were "banned" from the Mormon priesthood and Mormon temples
until June 8th, 1978. This was known as "The Priesthood-Ban". Very
few
blacks were Members of the Mormon Church before June 8th of 1978; no
more than a few hundred at any one time.
Here are some quotes from Mormon leaders from the past:
Oliver Cowdery, scribe to Joseph Smith (founding "Prophet" of the
Mormon Church") and Second Elder, co-founder of the Mormon Church:
"Let the blacks of the south be free, and our community is overrun
with paupers, and a reckless mass of human beings, uncultivated,
untaught and unaccustomed to provide for themselves the necessaries
of
life-endangering the chastity of every female who might by chance be
found in our streets-our prisons filled with convicts, and the hang-
man wearied with executing the functions of his office!" (Messenger
and Advocate, Sept. 11, 1833)
Brigham Young second President and Prophet:
"You see some cl***** of the human family that are black, uncouth,
uncomely, disagreeable and low in their habits, wild and seemingly
deprived of nearly all the blessings of the intelligence that is
generally bestowed upon mankind. . . . Cain slew his brother. Cain
might have been killed, and that would put a termination to that line
of human beings. This was not to be, and the Lord put a mark upon
him,
which was the flat nose and black skin. Trace mankind down to after
the flood, and then another cursed is pronounced upon the same race--
that they should be the "servants of servants;" and they will be
until
that curse is removed; and the Abolitionists cannot help it, nor in
the least alter that decree (Journal of Discourses, 7:290; emphasis
added)
"Shall I tell you the law of God in regard to the African race? If
the
white man who belongs to the chosen seed mixes his blood with the
seed
of Cain, the penalty, under the law of God, is death on the spot.
This
will always be." (Journal of Discourses, 10:110; emphasis added)
"I have never yet preached a sermon and sent it out to the children
of
man, that they may not call Scripture." (Journal of Discourses,
13:95).
John Taylor, third President and Prophet:
"After the flood we are told that the curse that had been pronounced
upon Cain was continued through Ham's wife, as he had married a wife
of that seed. And why did it pass through the flood? Because it was
necessary that the devil should have a representation upon the earth
as well as God. . . ." (ibid., 23:304; emphasis added).
"When he [Satan] destroyed the inhabitants of the antediluvian
worlds,
he suffered a descendant of Cain to come through the flood in order
that he might be properly represented upon the earth." (Journal of
Discourses, 23:336; emphasis added)
Wilford Woodruff, who became the fourth President and Prophet of the
LDS Church:
"What was that mark? It was a mark of blackness. That mark rested
upon
Cain, and descended upon his posterity from that time until the
present. To day there are millions of the descendants of Cain,
through
the lineage of Ham, in the world, and that mark of darkness still
rest
upon them."(Millennial Star, 51:339; emphasis added).
George Reynolds (Apostle):
"We will first inquire into the results of the approbation or
displeasure of God upon a people, starting with the belief that a
black skin is a mark of the curse of Heaven placed upon some ****tions
of mankind. . . . We understand that when God made man in his own
image and pronounced him very good, that he made him white. We have
no
record of any of God's favored servants being of a black race. . . .
When God cursed Cain for murdering his brother Abel, He set a mark
upon him that all meeting him might know him. . . . After the flood
this curse fell upon the seed of Shem, through the sin of their
father, and his descendants bear it to this day. . . . We are told in
the Book of Abraham in the Pearl of Great Price, that Egypt was
discovered by a woman, who was a daughter of Ham, the son of
Noah. . . . The pure Negro, as represented by the people of Guinea
and
its neighboring countries, is generally regarded as the unmixed
descendant of Ham. . . . Their skin is quite black, their hair woolly
and black, their intelligence stunted, and they appear never to have
arisen from the most savage state of barbarism (Juvenile Instructor,
October 15, 1868, p. 157).
George F. Richards (Apostle):
=93The Negro is an unfortunate man. He has been given a black skin. But
that is as nothing compared with that greater handicap that he is not
permitted to receive the Priesthood and the ordinances of the temple,
necessary to prepare men and women to enter into and enjoy a fullness
of glory in the celestial kingdom [i.e., godhood].=94 (Conference
Re****t, April 1939, p. 58)
Joseph Fielding Smith (10th President of the Mormon Church):
"Not only was Cain called upon to suffer, but because of his
wickedness he became the father of an inferior race. A curse was
place
upon him and that curse has been continued through his lineage and
must do so while time endures. Millions of souls have come into this
world cursed with black skin and have been denied the privilege of
Priesthood and the fullness of the blessings of the Gospel. These are
the descendants of Cain. Moreover, they have been made to feel their
inferiority and have been separated from the rest of mankind from the
beginning=85 we will also hope that blessings may eventually be given
to
our Negro brethren, for they are our brethren--children of God---
notwithstanding their black covering emblematical of eternal
darkness." (The Way to Perfection, 101-02; emphasis added).
"There is a reason why one man is born black and with other
disadvantages, while another is born white with great advantages...
The Negro, evidently, is receiving the reward he merits." (Doctrines
of Salvation, 1:61, 66; emphasis added)
Bruce R. McConkie (Mormon Apostle):
"In a broad general sense, caste systems have their root and origin
in
the gospel itself, and when they operate according to the divine
decree, the resultant restrictions and segregation are right and
proper and have the approval of the Lord. To illustrate: Cain, Ham,
and the whole Negro race have been cursed with a black skin, the mark
of Cain, so they can be identified as a caste apart, a people with
whom the other descendants of Adam should not intermarry. (Gen. 4;
Moses 5.)" (Mormon Doctrine, p.114)
"Though he was rebel and an associate of Lucifer in pre-existence,
and
though he was a liar from the beginning whose name was Perdition,
Cain
was cursed with a dark skin; he became the father of the Negroes, and
those sprits who are not worthy to receive the priesthood are born
though his lineage. He became the first mortal to be cursed as a son
of perdition. As a result of his mortal birth he is assured of a
tangible body of flesh and bones in eternity, a fact which will
enable
him to rule over Satan." (Mormon Doctrine, p.104)
"Through Ham (a name meaning black) the blood of the Canaanites was
preserved through the flood, he having married Egyptus, a descendent
of Cain. Negroes in this life are denied the priesthood; under no
cir***stances can they hold this delegation of authority from the
Almighty." (Mormon Doctrine, p.343)
In the early 1960s many groups in Ghana and Nigeria were forming.
Black ministers had read articles about the Mormon Church and its
founding prophet Joseph Smith. Many formed their own "Mormon"
congregations with names such as "The Mormon Church of Nigeria" and
"The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints of Ghana". They
wrote
to white Mormon leaders in Salt Lake City saying, "Send us
missionaries to baptise us into your Church". But the white Mormon
leaders knew that the black Mormons could not hold the priesthood.
So,
they decided to send older missionaries who would acts as priests in
black Mormon congregations, but then the governments of Ghana and
Nigeria discovered the "Curse of Cain Doctrine" and then refused to
grant visas to the white Mormon elders.
In 1978, then President of the United States, Jimmy Carter, told the
"Prophet" of the Mormon Church at that time, Spencer W. Kimball, the
following: "You must give your priesthood to the Negroes, or the U.S.
government will strip your church of tax-exempt status!" Had the
U.S.
Government stripped the Church of tax-emempt status, then the Church
would have lost most of its money it gets from Mormons every year;
many billions of dollars. The "prophet" of the Mormon Church then
said
he had a "revelation" which the Lord said to him, "Give the blacks
the
priesthood, and let them enter the temples!" On June 8th, 1978, he
announced that the "priesthood-ban" had ended, and Negro men were now
allowed to hold the priesthood, and all Negroes could now wor****p in
Mormon Temples and receive the "Endowment Ceremony" and the "Sealing
Ceremonies" in those temples in which it is promised they will be
eternally married and may become gods and goddesses in the next life;
if they are faithful to Mormon leaders during this life.
I am writing this article because the Mormon Church "Public Affairs"
Office in Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S.A. is now telling journalists,
"No, we never taught that blacks are cursed. We NEVER taught that
black people are the children of Cain!" They are lying through their
teeth!
If Nigerians and Ghananians wish to become Mormons, that is their
business, but the Mormon Church has no right to lie to them, and to
lie to journalists, and deny that its leaders taught the Curse of
Cain
doctrine. The Mormon Church has never repudiated the Curse of Cain
Doctrine. I call upon Mormon leaders in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA,
to
make a public apology regarding its past racist teachings.
I call upon the governments of Ghana and Nigeria to deny visas to
white Mormon missionaries until the Mormon Church publicly repudiates
and declares "false" the Curse of Cain doctrine that it taught for
130
years.
I call upon all Ghananians and all Nigerians to refuse to let white
Mormon missionaries into your homes until the Mormon Church in Salt
Lake City issues and publishes such a public apology. Thank you.
Darrick Evenson
http://www.truthandgrace.com/racism.html
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