Bill Maher takes on Mormonism

[_Polygamy Porter]

Racist statements by LDS leaders during the 1950s:

In 1954, Mormon elder Mark E. Peterson discussed blacks and the priesthood in an address to a Convention of Teachers of Religion at the College Level at Brigham Young University. He said:

"The reason that one would lose his blessings by marrying a Negro is due to the restriction placed upon them. 'No person having the least particle of Negro blood can hold the Priesthood' (Brigham Young). It does not matter if they are one-sixth Negro or one-hundred and sixth, the curse of no Priesthood is the same. If an individual who is entitled to the Priesthood marries a Negro, the Lord has decreed that only spirits who are not eligible for the Priesthood will come to that marriage as children. To intermarry with a Negro is to forfeit a 'Nation of Priesthood holders'...."

That is, all male descendents of a racially-mixed marriage in which one spouse had even a single distant black ancestor would be forever prohibited from becoming a Mormon priest. [All female descendents are also prohibited from ordination, as are females of all other races]. However, a black or partially black person could be baptized in the Mormon faith and attain heaven after death. Peterson concluded:

"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 celestial glory."

[_Mephitus]

Daughter of sucker: "Mommy, daddy...you were going to buy me a beautiful dress and throw a big party for my 14th birthday"

Female sucker: "Hush daughter, don't you know that the Mormons might be able to get Papa a job?"

Male Sucker: "You don't need a big party...we can have your party in the church building and we can go to the temple to practice Necromancy".

I don't really appreciate having our practices caricatured as Necromancy.

Hey, don't dog necromancy! My best friend is a practising necromancer.

[_dartagnan]

I'll never forget one day on his show Maher blew his own toes off. The subject was about the legalized killing of patients who were vegetables. Maher got cocky with a Christian guy and screamed, "Who are you to assume they want to live? Who are you to assume that they are working out crossword puzzles in their head?"

His opponent responded very calmly: "Who are you to say that they aren't?"

The entire forum roared in applause and Maher buried his head and turned red. He was pissed because he was made to look like an angry and bitter bigot on his own show.

But I do agree with him on issues of multiculturalism. He says we're taught to believe all cultures are equal. That is hogwash. Some cultures are better than others. Some countries are better than others.

[_Mercury]

Daughter of sucker: "Mommy, daddy...you were going to buy me a beautiful dress and throw a big party for my 14th birthday"

Female sucker: "Hush daughter, don't you know that the Mormons might be able to get Papa a job?"

Male Sucker: "You don't need a big party...we can have your party in the church building and we can go to the temple to practice Necromancy".

I don't really appreciate having our practices caricatured as Necromancy.

Hey, don't dog necromancy! My best friend is a practising necromancer.

Yah, i have alot of Mormon friends too.

[_maklelan]

Daughter of sucker: "Mommy, daddy...you were going to buy me a beautiful dress and throw a big party for my 14th birthday"

Female sucker: "Hush daughter, don't you know that the Mormons might be able to get Papa a job?"

Male Sucker: "You don't need a big party...we can have your party in the church building and we can go to the temple to practice Necromancy".

I don't really appreciate having our practices caricatured as Necromancy.

Hey, don't dog necromancy! My best friend is a practising necromancer.

Yah, i have alot of Mormon friends too.

"A lot" is two words, not one.

[_Yoda]

Racist statements by LDS leaders during the 1950s:

In 1954, Mormon elder Mark E. Peterson discussed blacks and the priesthood in an address to a Convention of Teachers of Religion at the College Level at Brigham Young University. He said:

"The reason that one would lose his blessings by marrying a Negro is due to the restriction placed upon them. 'No person having the least particle of Negro blood can hold the Priesthood' (Brigham Young). It does not matter if they are one-sixth Negro or one-hundred and sixth, the curse of no Priesthood is the same. If an individual who is entitled to the Priesthood marries a Negro, the Lord has decreed that only spirits who are not eligible for the Priesthood will come to that marriage as children. To intermarry with a Negro is to forfeit a 'Nation of Priesthood holders'...."

That is, all male descendents of a racially-mixed marriage in which one spouse had even a single distant black ancestor would be forever prohibited from becoming a Mormon priest. [All female descendents are also prohibited from ordination, as are females of all other races]. However, a black or partially black person could be baptized in the Mormon faith and attain heaven after death. Peterson concluded:

"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 celestial glory."

Obviously, Peterson's comments were bigotted. I don't think you're going to get any kind of an argument about that. He was obviously wrong....VERY WRONG.

But the Church has evolved since then. We don't believe this anymore. We never should have believed it in the first place.

But let's deal with the here and now. Is this attitude currently being preached? I think you would be hard pressed to say that it is.

[_Runtu]

Obviously, Peterson's comments were bigotted. I don't think you're going to get any kind of an argument about that. He was obviously wrong....VERY WRONG.

But the Church has evolved since then. We don't believe this anymore. We never should have believed it in the first place.

But let's deal with the here and now. Is this attitude currently being preached? I think you would be hard pressed to say that it is.

My biggest issue with the church on racism is that the racist stuff is still in the books held up as canonical scripture. It's interesting that they can say that Song of Solomon is not inspired because of its romantic content, but overtly racist content stays.

As a member before 1978, I remember that we all considered ourselves to not be racists; the ban was a cross we had to bear. Now I see my complicity in upholding an unjust and unrighteous practice.

[_TAK]

Racist statements by LDS leaders during the 1950s:

In 1954, Mormon elder Mark E. Peterson discussed blacks and the priesthood in an address to a Convention of Teachers of Religion at the College Level at Brigham Young University. He said:

"The reason that one would lose his blessings by marrying a Negro is due to the restriction placed upon them. 'No person having the least particle of Negro blood can hold the Priesthood' (Brigham Young). It does not matter if they are one-sixth Negro or one-hundred and sixth, the curse of no Priesthood is the same. If an individual who is entitled to the Priesthood marries a Negro, the Lord has decreed that only spirits who are not eligible for the Priesthood will come to that marriage as children. To intermarry with a Negro is to forfeit a 'Nation of Priesthood holders'...."

That is, all male descendents of a racially-mixed marriage in which one spouse had even a single distant black ancestor would be forever prohibited from becoming a Mormon priest. [All female descendents are also prohibited from ordination, as are females of all other races]. However, a black or partially black person could be baptized in the Mormon faith and attain heaven after death. Peterson concluded:

"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 celestial glory."

Obviously, Peterson's comments were bigotted. I don't think you're going to get any kind of an argument about that. He was obviously wrong....VERY WRONG.

But the Church has evolved since then. We don't believe this anymore. We never should have believed it in the first place.

But let's deal with the here and now. Is this attitude currently being preached? I think you would be hard pressed to say that it is.

Clearly Peterson and others were bigoted and today’s view is more accepting.. But Bill Maher's point was in the 50's that was the prevailing LDS view.

[_marg]

Racist statements by LDS leaders during the 1950s:

In 1954, Mormon elder Mark E. Peterson discussed blacks and the priesthood in an address to a Convention of Teachers of Religion at the College Level at Brigham Young University. He said:

"The reason that one would lose his blessings by marrying a Negro is due to the restriction placed upon them. 'No person having the least particle of Negro blood can hold the Priesthood' (Brigham Young). It does not matter if they are one-sixth Negro or one-hundred and sixth, the curse of no Priesthood is the same. If an individual who is entitled to the Priesthood marries a Negro, the Lord has decreed that only spirits who are not eligible for the Priesthood will come to that marriage as children. To intermarry with a Negro is to forfeit a 'Nation of Priesthood holders'...."

That is, all male descendents of a racially-mixed marriage in which one spouse had even a single distant black ancestor would be forever prohibited from becoming a Mormon priest. [All female descendents are also prohibited from ordination, as are females of all other races]. However, a black or partially black person could be baptized in the Mormon faith and attain heaven after death. Peterson concluded:

"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 celestial glory."

Obviously, Peterson's comments were bigotted. I don't think you're going to get any kind of an argument about that. He was obviously wrong....VERY WRONG.

But the Church has evolved since then. We don't believe this anymore. We never should have believed it in the first place.

But let's deal with the here and now. Is this attitude currently being preached? I think you would be hard pressed to say that it is.

It depends on what one means by "attitude". Of course cultures differ by the mores of the time, so one can appreciate the attitude of men in Brigham Young's day and why and where they get their ideas, no matter how ignorant those ideas might be. But the "attitude" which is fundamental and pervasive of the LDS church and which is the real problem in this issue, is that the Mormon/LDS church leaders receive revelations from a God and therefore speak on behalf of a God. Since God is the ultimate authority for many believers, it follows that many LDS will accept with little question church dictates, give church leaders ultimate authority ..over silly things like wearing garments for example, but also on more significant issues. What keeps the LDS authority in check are things like "separation of church and state" and laws which override anything the church might do contrary to those laws, as well as rapid communication world wide..a watch dog over their actions. But to get back to attitude, the problem is that the average LDS is trained to view the church as having ultimate authority and the follower should not question. How else could a church convince their members into wearing ugly silly undergarments?

[_Jason Bourne]

I think it important to note that Bill Maher is a comedian by trade, and not a scholar or a role model for critical thinking, let alone mature and healthy social behavior.

His schtick is geared towards an audience in their late teens to early twenties. He is successful with them because he appeals to their relative ignorance and their immature prejudices and predilictions. He appears witty and intelligent to them becauce they are terribly vulnerable to confusing comedy and sloganeering for logic and reasoning, and also because their warped understanding of critical thinking is not a function of learned instruction in that field, but what they have exposed themselves to by way of TV shows like Beavis and Butthead, the Simpsons, South Park, etc.

In short, it is just an act, and Bill Maher is but a court jester on the modern stage of TV, and he really doesn't deserve to be taken any more seriously than Archie Bunker, Pee Wee Herman, or the cast from Hee Haw.

Thanks, -Wade Englund-

Wade, your usual pathetic attempt at discrediting individuals is based on your ignorance, lacking any justification as usual. Bill Maher is a comedian. True. So was Lenny Bruce. This does not make Bills or Lennys opinions invalid.

Even if its an act does not discredit his opinion. A character on a television program can speak truth and still be a construct of acting.

How are their opinions ignorant? His content and basis for the conversation points were accurate and to the point.

You are SO SCARED of the reality of romneys campaign - that its going to get ugly and the polarization against romney as a conservative cantidate will bring out all the skeletons in mormonisms closet.

I hope it does. I hope Romney gets the nomination. Then maybe attention will be paid to romneys kooky religion. People such as yourself will be appalled at the historical facts that will be brought up and I can't wait to see discussion of the temple death oaths, Mormon racism, joes pedophilia, the mountain meadows massacre and many MANY other historical facts you don't want people to know about.

I can't wait, and ill be laughing at you and people like you when mormonisms public image is trounced, never able to recover from the PR onslaught from the dems and the left.

I don't care if its from teh socialists, the greens or the libertarians...hell, even some republicans will probably attack his religion.

I can't wait. Wade? can you hear that wade? it is the sound of INEVITABILITY.

Well don't hav an orgasm over it.

Sheeeesh.