Mark E Peterson in 1954 explains how non racist the Church is...
I think I have read enough to give you an idea of what the Negro is after. He is not just seeking the oppor[t]unity of sitting down in a café where white people sit. He isn't just trying to ride on the same streetcar or the same Pullman car with white people. From this and other interviews I have read, it appears that the Negro seeks absorption with the white race. He will not be satisfied until he achieves it by intermarriage. That is his objective and we must face it. We must not allow our feelings to carry us away, nor must we feel so sorry for Negroes that, we will open our arms and embrace them with everything we have. Remember the little statement that they used to say about sin, "First we pity, then endure, then embrace."
So, opening your arms to embrace the negro was considered a sin in 1954.
“We look to not only the spiritual but also the temporal, and we believe that a person who is impoverished temporally cannot blossom spiritually.” Keith McMullin - Counsellor in Presiding Bishopric
"One, two, three...let's go shopping!" Thomas S Monson - Prophet, Seer, Revelator
And what does the Church today teach about 'embracing the negro'?
"We recommend that people marry those who are of the same racial background generally, and of somewhat the same economic and social and educational background (some of those are not an absolute necessity, but preferred), and above all, the same religious background, without question” (“Marriage and Divorce,” in 1976 Devotional Speeches of the Year [Provo: Brigham Young University Press, 1977], p. 144).
“We look to not only the spiritual but also the temporal, and we believe that a person who is impoverished temporally cannot blossom spiritually.” Keith McMullin - Counsellor in Presiding Bishopric
"One, two, three...let's go shopping!" Thomas S Monson - Prophet, Seer, Revelator
Here Brant argues that skin in fact does not equal skin and blackness does not equal blackness.
Hopefully you spotted the passage that Tapirrider referred to:
1 Nephi 13:15 And I beheld the Spirit of the Lord, that it was upon the Gentiles, and they did prosper and obtain the land for their inheritance; and I beheld that they were white, and exceedingly fair and beautiful, like unto my people before they were slain.
In terms of Brant's logic, that would mean that 'white' didn't mean 'white' and 'fair' didn't mean 'fair' and 'beautiful' didn't mean 'beautiful'.
To be fair to Brant, apologists have already stated that 'horse' doesn't mean 'horse', 'steel' doesn't mean steel, 'North' doesn't mean north etc etc. He is merely spouting off a well worn fudge.
It's getting really hard to know which words in the Book of Mormon mean what they say...
“We look to not only the spiritual but also the temporal, and we believe that a person who is impoverished temporally cannot blossom spiritually.” Keith McMullin - Counsellor in Presiding Bishopric
"One, two, three...let's go shopping!" Thomas S Monson - Prophet, Seer, Revelator
PrickKicker: I used to be a Narrow minded, short sighted, Lying, Racist, Homophobic, Pious, Moron. But they were all behavioral traits that I had learnt through Mormonism.
Mary wrote: In terms of Brant's logic, that would mean that 'white' didn't mean 'white' and 'fair' didn't mean 'fair' and 'beautiful' didn't mean 'beautiful'.
Did you read the site that I linked to? What do you think? He makes a good case but I knew that you would ignore it and go back to the same old same old. Unbelievable.
I intend to lay a foundation that will revolutionize the whole world. Joseph Smith We are “to feed the hungry, to clothe the naked, to provide for the widow, to dry up the tear of the orphan, to comfort the afflicted, whether in this church, or in any other, or in no church at all…” Joseph Smith
why me wrote:Did you read the site that I linked to? What do you think? He makes a good case but I knew that you would ignore it and go back to the same old same old. Unbelievable.
Please underline the exact place where the case is made that "skin of blackness" does not mean "skin of blackness."
The Lord has always been there to guide His children on their sojourn here on earth. He has both inspired and commanded many to write, so that every man or woman in any dispensation of time, can study through available experiences across dispensations of time the love of God for all of His children, and gain from all that is available the knowledge of His goodness and truth, through the consistency of His teachings throughout each period of time. As you’ve read through the sections on the Old and New Testament, it should now be apparent that there were many who were inspired to write their experiences and messages from God to man, which were not included because they were perceived to be “not acceptable” to the entire church. What are we missing from those books and writings? Are they important to our salvation or our understanding of God’s plan for man? Has the Lord prepared a way for us to yet have some of those lost teachings, understandings and truths? Before reading the Book of Mormon, it might help to understand its purposes, and then what it is, and what it is not. The purposes of the Book of Mormon include: To be yet another witness the Jesus is the Christ, manifesting Himself unto all nations To demonstrate to Jew and Gentile that the Bible is the word of God To show unto the remnant of the House of Israel what great things the Lord hath done for their fathers That all may come to know the covenants of the Lord and His plan for man To restore to mankind, many of the plain and precious truths taken from the Bible
Thus, if one understands that these are among the key purposes of the Book of Mormon, there may be less resistance, and more of an eagerness to explore its pages. As you do so with a pure intent, you will feel the spirit of the Lord come over you as an encouragement to continue reading and learning of Him. While you are feeling that spirit, we recommend that you offer prayer of gratitude to the Lord for all that He has blessed you with, and then ask Him if the things you are reading are true and truly of Him. For any man or woman can come to know the truthfulness of all things through the spirit of the Lord, the Holy Ghost.
Mktavish wrote: Its a no brainer ... there was no black people in the story. Had there been , it would have been a much more interesting story.
So far we are 6 pages in a thread and no one has yet brought up what was incorrect in the video. The skin of blackness mentioned in the Book of Mormon is about the lamanites and the curse they received. It certainly is about God marking a group of people with a darker skin as punishment and a way to mark and discourage his other group from marrying and interacting with them. The problem here is that this idea does not come from the Bible or God, but ideas prevalent in the 1800's providing more evidence against the Book of Mormon being a real record of a real people.
by the way African people are not really black but dark brown in color, just as Caucasians are not really white.
