Blixa wrote:I also don't understand what the imagined result of "we don't know" is supposed to be. It leaves all kind of terrible racial beliefs circulating among older members (and possibly the not so old as well) and looks extraordinarily disingenuous to the Gentile. I can't think of a good rationale for going down this road.
Agreed.
It is becoming clear that the "we don't know" party line means only "We don't know why the priesthood ban was put into effect."
The unstated corrolary is, "But we do know that God did it."
Why God remains taciturn regarding why he initially placed the ban on blacks or why he subsequently lifted it also falls into the category of "we don't know."
This might be okay if we are talking about why gnostic Christians or some other sect thousands of years ago did things.
But we are talking about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints which, within the lifetime of many living general authorities issued the 1949 First Presidency Statement, and which even within my own lifetime lifted the priesthood ban in 1978.
To any reasonable outside observer, for the LDS Church to say, "We don't know" under these circumstances is tantamount to saying, "We'd rather not talk about it."
Good grief. The LDS Church claims to have no less than fifteen prophets at its head, none of whom can get God on the line to answer this simple question?
It out Herods Herod!
All the Best!
--Consiglieri