ldsfaqs wrote:The only actual doctrine was the ban itself. The reasons were never doctrine.
Let me call "BS" on this again. In addition to the "blood of Cain" as a
doctrinal basis for the priesthood ban (as I discussed in a post above),
another doctrinal basis was presented in an
official FP statement dated August 17, 1949. In the first paragraph, this statement asserts that the priesthood ban is
doctrine (and
not policy), and quotes Brigham Young in asserting that the priesthood ban stems from the curse of Cain. The second paragraph of the statement goes on to provide (emphasis mine):
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 premortal 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 mortality is a privilege that is given to those who maintain their first estate; and that the worth of the privilege is so great that spirits are willing to come to earth and taken on bodies no matter what the handicap may be as to the kind of bodies they are to secure; 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.
Thus, in addition to the curse of Cain, deprivation of the priesthood in this life also had to do with premortal conduct (
i.e., the "less valiant" tripe).
If the LDS Church today actually wants anyone to believe the "We don't know" garbage, then the Brethren will have to repudiate all prior bases for the ban (both official and unofficial) proffered by previous Church leaders (including the 1949 FP Statement quoted above). To simply claim now that "we don't know," while allowing prior opposing statements (including an official FP Statement) to remain, means the LDS Church can never be believed on this issue.
