Daheshist wrote:"The First Presidency Statement on the Negro Question" it says:
"From the days of the Prophet Joseph Smith even until now, it has been
the doctrine of the Church, never questioned by Church leaders, that the Negroes are not entitled to the full blessings of the Gospel."
"The attitude of the Church with reference to Negroes remains as it has always stood.
It is not a matter of the declaration of a policy but of direct commandment from the Lord, on which is founded the doctrine of the Church from the days of its organization, to the effect that Negroes may become members of the Church but that they are not entitled to the priesthood at the present time."
"
The position of the Church regarding the Negro may be understood when
another doctrine of the church is kept in mind, namely, that the conduct of spirits in the pre-mortal existence has some determining effect upon the conditions and circumstances under which these spirits take on mortality, and that while the details of this principle have not been made known, the principle itself indicates that the coming to this earth and taking on mortality is a privilege that is given to those who maintained their first estate; and that the worth of the privilege is so great that spirits are willing to come to earth and take on bodies no matter what
the handicap may be as to the kind of bodies they are to secure i.e. a Negro body is a handicap]; and that among the handicaps, failure of the right to enjoy in mortality the blessings of the priesthood is a handicap which spirits are willing to assume in order that they might come to earth. Under this principle there is no injustice whatsoever involved in this deprivation as to the holding of the priesthood by the Negroes..... "Man will be punished for his own sins and not for Adam's transgression. If this is carried further, it would imply that
the Negro is punished or allotted to a certain position on this earth, not because of Cain's transgression, but came to earth through the loins of Cain because of his failure to achieve other stature in the spirit world." (Statement of The First Presidency on the Negro Question, July 17 1947, quoted in Mormonism and the Negro, pp.46-7)
You just can't get any more "official" than a statment from the First Presidency! In 1947, a liberal Mormon professor at Utah State University, Dr. Lowry Nelson, wrote to the First Presidency asking if the Curse of Cain Doctrine was a doctrine of the Church, or just some "personal opinion" of Church leaders. The First Presidency wrote him back saying:
"Dear Brother Nelson:
"As you have been advised, your letter of June 16 was received in due course ... We have carefully considered [its] content; and are glad to advise you as follows:
"We make this initial remark: the social side of the Restored Gospel is only an incident of it; it is not the end thereof.
"The basic element of your ideas and concepts seems to be that all God's children stand in equal positions before Him in all things. Your knowledge of the Gospel will indicate to you that this is contrary to the very fundamentals of God's dealings with Israel dating from the time of His promise to Abraham regarding Abraham's seed and their position vis-à-vis God Himself. Indeed, some of God's children were
assigned to superior positions before the world was formed.
"We are aware that some Higher Critics do not accept this, but the Church does. Your position seems to lose sight of the revelations of the Lord touching the pre-existence of our spirits, the rebellion in heaven, and the doctrines that our birth into this life and the advantages under which we may be born, have a relationship in the life heretofore.
"From the days of the Prophet Joseph Smith even until now, it is has been the doctrine of the Church, never questioned by any of the Church leaders, that the Negroes are not entitled to the full blessings of the Gospel. "Furthermore, your ideas, as we understand them, appear to contemplate the intermarriage of the Negro and White races,
a concept which has heretofore been most repugnant to most normal-minded people from the ancient patriarchs till now. God's rule for Israel, His Chosen People, has been endogamous [meaning 'marriage within a specific tribe or similar social unit']. Modern Israel [the Mormon Church] has been similarly directed.
"We are not unmindful of the fact that there is a growing tendency, particularly among some educators, as it manifests itself in this are, toward the breaking down of race barriers in the matter of intermarriage between whites and blacks, but it does not have the sanction of the Church and is
contrary to Church doctrine. "Faithfully yours,
[signed]
George Albert Smith
J. Reuben Clark, Jr.
David O. McKay
The First Presidency
(John J. Stewart and William E. Bennett, Mormonism and the Negro," [Orem, Utah: Community Press, 1960], pp. 46-47; see also,
http://www.signaturebookslibrary.org/ne ... ither2.htm and lightplanet.com )
Lowry followed up with another letter to the First Presidency, dated 8 October 1947, in which he expressed his disappointment with the Mormon Church's officially, blatantly racist position. Dr. Lowry wrote: "The attitude of the Church in regard to the Negro makes me very sad. I do not believe God is a racist."
The First Presidency send another letter in reply which said:
"We feel very sure that you are aware of
the doctrines of the Church. They are either true or not true. Our testimony is that they are true. Under these circumstances we may not permit ourselves to be too much impressed by the reasonings of men, however well founded they may seem to be. We should like to say this to you in all sincerity, that you are too fine a man to permit yourself to be led off from the principles of the Gospel by worldly learning.
"You have too much of a potentiality for doing good and we therefore prayerfully hope that you can re-orient your thinking and bring it in line with
the revealed Word of God." (Stewart and Bennett, "Mormonism and the Negro," p.28)