bcspace wrote:The statement as quoted in the blog is not racist. There is nothing that says or implies that because blacks have blacks skin, they were not ready for the priesthood. Bott would have to be questioned further as to why he thinks they were not ready. Perhaps he would point to some of their general cultural aspects. Perhaps he would say that it was everyone else who was not ready. Perhaps something else.
Southern racists didn't think blacks were inferior due to skin tone, either. They must not have been racist.
Parley P. Pratt wrote:We must lie to support brother Joseph, it is our duty to do so.
Rollo Tomasi wrote:Bott is just depressing -- to think that a tenured BYU professor actually believes and spouts this crap is very disheartening. Bott makes it very clear that the Brethren need to issue an official statement apologizing for and renouncing the Church's past (and perhaps present, if Bott is any indication) racist ways and stating unequivocally that there was never a revelation establishing the priesthood ban as doctrine. Otherwise, members will continue to believe and spew this BS.
You said it my friend. I am so pissed about this. I think I will cut my tithing check in half this month. Vote with my money! They understand that!
I'd cut it 100%, if you're able to.
Parley P. Pratt wrote:We must lie to support brother Joseph, it is our duty to do so.
Jason Bourne wrote:You said it my friend. I am so pissed about this. I think I will cut my tithing check in half this month. Vote with my money! They understand that!
Over at "By Common Consent" Armand Mauss (whom I consider an expert on the issue) has posted this response to Bott's comments:
Professor Bott seems to be a little behind in his reading on the history and doctrine regarding black members of the Church. He seems unaware of any of the scholarship on this topic during the past 45 years or more. Otherwise he would know that (1) the references that he cites from the Pearl of Great Price and other scriptures have the meaning he attributes to them ONLY if the reader already believes the folklore that Bott is proposing and elaborating – that is, only if one reads them through the lens of that folklore; (2) numerous spokesmen from LDS Public Affairs, plus many other official statements in recent decades, have denied that such folklore was ever official doctrine: (3) despite such folklore (in versions common to American history more generally), Joseph Smith ordained at least a few African Americans to the priesthood; (4) there is no record of any revelation to any prophet denying the priesthood to people of black African ancestry; and last, but not least (5) this kind of armchair theologizing done by well-meaning, but ill-informed LDS religion teachers like Bott, does enormous damage to the public image of the Church in a time when the Church is trying hard to overcome its historic association with that very kind of folklore. That Brother Bott has a reputation as a skillful and inspiring teacher is not very reassuring if his teaching includes the kind of racist nonsense he was purveying in the Washington Post on Tuesday.
"Moving beyond apologist persuasion, LDS polemicists furiously (and often fraudulently) attack any non-traditional view of Mormonism. They don't mince words -- they mince the truth."
-- Mike Quinn, writing of the FARMSboys, in "Early Mormonism and the Magic World View," p. x (Rev. ed. 1998)
This whole Bott episode is really bugging me, so I've been researching the man (I had never heard of him until today). Here is an excerpt from his online BYU resume (emphasis mine):
Areas of Expertise: Doctrine of the Church, missionary preparation, application of doctrine to life; Joseph Smith's writings.
Areas of Research: Scriptural application; Interdisciplinary healing of the whole man; Doctrines of the Gospel.
So here we have BYU publicly holding the guy out as an "expert" on "doctrines of the Church/Gospel"! No wonder the Post sought him out to discuss the priesthood ban; I mean, the guy's an "expert" and all. Egads!!! Ok, I've gotta calm down .... It's been nearly 34 years since the ban ended, and the Church STILL has NO clue how to handle it. Issue an apology and be done with it!
"Moving beyond apologist persuasion, LDS polemicists furiously (and often fraudulently) attack any non-traditional view of Mormonism. They don't mince words -- they mince the truth."
-- Mike Quinn, writing of the FARMSboys, in "Early Mormonism and the Magic World View," p. x (Rev. ed. 1998)
Bott's head has to be spinning this morning. He has to be wondering A. When did proclaiming the gospel become so offensive? and B. When did I become a dinosaur?
Here is a blog post about blacks and the priesthood he wrote in 2008. Not quite as racist, but still pretty condescending. The guy is sure full of himself, seems to be a common trait amongst BYU professors.
Willy Law wrote:Here is a blog post about blacks and the priesthood he wrote in 2008. Not quite as racist, but still pretty condescending. The guy is sure full of himself, seems to be a common trait amongst BYU professors.
Thanks for sharing that. Although he may have used better words, the tone was just as condescending as his remarks in the Post article, in my opinion. I found this statement about the black investigator with whom he was speaking, particularly offensive:
I thought he [i.e., the black investigator with whom Bott was speaking] was turning pale white in front of me.
How did this guy ever last so long with CES and BYU?
"Moving beyond apologist persuasion, LDS polemicists furiously (and often fraudulently) attack any non-traditional view of Mormonism. They don't mince words -- they mince the truth."
-- Mike Quinn, writing of the FARMSboys, in "Early Mormonism and the Magic World View," p. x (Rev. ed. 1998)
Rollo Tomasi wrote:This whole Bott episode is really bugging me, so I've been researching the man (I had never heard of him until today). Here is an excerpt from his online BYU resume (emphasis mine):
Areas of Expertise: Doctrine of the Church, missionary preparation, application of doctrine to life; Joseph Smith's writings.
Areas of Research: Scriptural application; Interdisciplinary healing of the whole man; Doctrines of the Gospel.
So here we have BYU publicly holding the guy out as an "expert" on "doctrines of the Church/Gospel"! No wonder the Post sought him out to discuss the priesthood ban; I mean, the guy's an "expert" and all. Egads!!! Ok, I've gotta calm down .... It's been nearly 34 years since the ban ended, and the Church STILL has NO clue how to handle it. Issue an apology and be done with it!
Let's see, self proclaimed expert on church doctrine. Sees absolutely nothing racist about the priesthood ban, while sounding like a racist during his explanation of it. Could Randy Bott be BC Space?
"We have taken up arms in defense of our liberty, our property, our wives, and our children; we are determined to preserve them, or die." - Captain Moroni - 'Address to the Inhabitants of Canada' 1775
I thought he [i.e., the black investigator with whom Bott was speaking] was turning pale white in front of me.
How did this guy ever last so long with CES and BYU?
Because he was repeating a Latter Day Prophet's (SWK) publicly stated belief that a persons skin will turn lighter the more righteously Mormon that person becomes. Presumably they think the reverse is equally true...
“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
The conversation ended on a very congenial note with the Sister Stake Missionary forcefully declining to accept the responsibility of the priesthood and gratefully being content to enjoy the blessings of the Priesthood—just as the Blacks had before 1978.
I call BS on the entire story. It's another cookies-and-widows, I-met-Mick-Jagger-on-a-plane-once 'parable' but in an intellectual setting.
Frankly, I think it either didn't happen or is a greatly 'improved' version of actual events.
Zadok: I did not have a faith crisis. I discovered that the Church was having a truth crisis. Maksutov: That's the problem with this supernatural stuff, it doesn't really solve anything. It's a placeholder for ignorance.
DarkHelmet wrote:Let's see, self proclaimed expert on church doctrine. Sees absolutely nothing racist about the priesthood ban, while sounding like a racist during his explanation of it. Could Randy Bott be BC Space?