Question for Don Bradley

[Shulem]

Perhaps it was the Church responding to President roulette (like the name Mormon being in and out of favour).

Sparing any details (please) and staying on topic with *this* thread, however, I would also like to point out that Fig. 7., of the Egyptian god Min in Facsimile No. 2 caused some embarrassment with past church leaders when they were informed by Egyptologists that Min sported an erect phallus in their Facsimile, so they removed it in later editions. At last, in the 1981 edition of the Pearl of Great Price, the phallus was restored in order to match the original publication in Times and Seasons published in 1842.

Do you have a penis? Now you see it and now you don't!

What about the name Mormon? Now you see it now you don't!

[Shulem]

On another billboard nearby should be...

"God made her this way and thinks she is cursed."

And then there is this:

'PUNISHMENT OF THOSE NOT VALIANT'

The negro is an unfortunate man. He has been given a black skin. But that is as nothing compared with that greater handicap that he is not permitted to receive the Priesthood and the ordinances of the temple, necessary to prepare men and women to enter into and enjoy a fulness of glory in the celestial kingdom.

Mormons were racist! All of them!

[Shulem]

'PUNISHMENT OF THOSE NOT VALIANT'

The negro is an unfortunate man. He has been given a black skin. But that is as nothing compared with that greater handicap that he is not permitted to receive the Priesthood and the ordinances of the temple, necessary to prepare men and women to enter into and enjoy a fulness of glory in the celestial kingdom.

But the apologists will counter with how it was only his opinion and the theory of man, to which I say, "BS, you liars!" Read the talk and you will see that it was NOT just a theory or the opinion of a racist member of the Quorum of the Twelve but was the inspired message approved by the entire leadership of the Church and was ratified by the POWER OF THE HOLY GHOST (if you can believe it).

From this same conference talk:

• assist me by his Holy Spirit

• with the help of the Lord

• and having his blessing to attend me

• with the prayers and faith of the people

• The Spirit of the Lord has been with us

• bless the Latter-day Saints for their faithfulness and their worthiness

• I pray, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

From this same talk that explains why Negros were banned from the priesthood, Elder Richards testifies, "I cannot conceive our Father consigning his children to a condition such as that of the negro race, if they had been valiant in the spirit world in that war in heaven." We are given to understand this message was meant to be heard by everyone who has an ear to hear:

I have in mind that what I shall say will not only be heard by those within this building, a congregation made up of members and nonmembers of the Church, but possibly by many people on the outside who are listening in over the radio, and I would like to say something that would be helpful to those who are not members of the Church, as well as to members of the Church, if they will accept of what I have to say, the advice that I may be led to give.

And during all this, PRESIDENT DAVID O. McKAY (Second Counselor in the First Presidency) sat in his seat blessing this racist spectacle and did everything in his own power to ensure blacks would never get the priesthood during his lifetime!

Why?

Because David O. McKay was a white supremacist! If not, he would have been inspired to remove the priesthood ban during his Presidency!

[Shulem]

So long as the Church refuses to remove the promotion of racism that is found in the Book of Mormon, no amount of spin or essays or apologetic nonsense or public pronouncements against racism will hold water. The only action that can, and must, be taken to show that the Church does not believe in racist notions, is to remove those racist ideas and teachings from the canon.

If they removed the portions in the Book of Mormon would it not be said and thought that they were falsifying the book. People might view the change as dishonest. Same with the other scriptures teaching the ban. It's a tricky problem, glad it is not my business to solve it.

They would have to remove all the silly utterances given in the General Conferences of the church led by generations of prophet, seers, and revelators wherein the HOLY GHOST was said to reside. In 1938 there were 784,764 total members of the church of which were about 5,000 Hispanic/Latino members worldwide, and only a handful of Negro members of which were considered second class saints. Interestingly enough, here is a conference address given at that time which demonstrates how white Mormons felt about their dark-skinned brothers and sisters of the church who would one day appear white and delightsome, prophetically in the next life:

My brethren and sisters : I am happy with you in this conference session and to receive the inspiration that has come to us. I am thankful above all else for the leadership of this Church, for the knowledge we have that the Priesthood of God — which is the power to officiate in the name of the Lord upon the earth — is directing this Church work and all the movements of it.

<snip>

I bring to you greetings from the missionaries and Saints in the Spanish-American Mission.

<snip>

We of the Spanish-American Mission, like others who are laboring among those who speak Spanish, have a love that is deep for those people, and we feel that regardless of the color of their skin they are of the house of Israel, beloved of our Father in heaven, and are one with us.

<snip>

I saw that good brother not as he stood before me, bent by age and the privations he had endured throughout his life in a struggle for existence, not with a dark skin, but as one of the sons of God, measured by the intent of his heart, by his humility, and as he will appear in the day when they will be a white and delightsome people.

<snip>

I know that we are engaged in the Lord's work, and that we are being led by inspiration and revelation through the leadership that is ours in this Church...

Clearly, the Church taught that white skin was superior to that of a cursed dark-skin but they would be blessed with white skin in the hereafter.

Stupid racist Mormons!

[Shulem]

Elder LeGrand Richards was the Presiding Bishop of the Church between 1938-1952 and was thereafter ordained a member of the Quorum of the Twelve. In 1967, Richards made a racist comment in the priesthood meeting of General Conference that makes little sense:

We can go anywhere in this world, and it doesn't matter what mission it is; for as long as people have taken upon them the name of Christ in the waters of baptism, they are truly brothers and sisters, no matter what color their skin may be. It is the greatest brotherhood in all the world.

In 1967 there were no missions in Africa except for that of South Africa that was attended almost exclusively by white members of the church. Negros could be baptized but the priesthood ban was strictly enforced until 1978, consequently black members in Africa were numbered in the dozens. Sure, a black man could be baptized but he could NOT be part of or join "the greatest brotherhood in all the world," because Negros were banned from joining the "greatest fraternity, the greatest brotherhood" by which Richards paid direct reference to in President McKay's opening address. So, this business of going anywhere in this world, no matter the mission, to ordain blacks did not occur until 1978 in Nigeria and Ghana.

Skin color mattered and the Curse of Cain was strictly enforced by the lily-white President of the Church who refused to relent and allow blacks to receive the priesthood!

[Shulem]

Elias Wesley Smith (descendant of Hyrum Smith) was a former Hawaiian Mission President and gave an address in General Conference in 1950. He was Caucasian and a native Hawaiian. He loved the Hawaiian people and spoke kindly of "that delicate, brown, lovely skin of the Hawaiian." But in his zeal to impress the leaders of the Church by acknowledging the superiority of being "white and delightsome," he stumbled when trying to compare skin color with the clothes people wear when it comes time to be judged.

The Lord said that they should become a white and delightsome people. They are a delightsome people and I feel, when they stand before God and their souls are presented before him you'll find that they are a white and delightsome people. We are not judged by the clothes we wear, nor the skin that covers these bodies but God will judge us by the purity and the love and the sincerity that's in our hearts.

Well, I can only imagine how someone (anyone), especially a negro man, attending an LDS church meeting in 1950 would be judged (condemned) for wearing clothes that don't comply with standards of that time which was formal attire or what we call today, "Sunday best." In those days, clothing attire was a sign of showing respect to God which included men being dressed in suits, button-down shirts, and ties.

But what about the negro who is covered with black skin? Did the Church judge him as unworthy to hold the priesthood because of his race and skin color? Was he deemed unqualified because of the color of his skin?

Answer the goddamn question, Don Bradley. This question will follow you for the rest of your life here on planet earth. You cannot escape it -- you coward.

[Shulem]

In 2022, the church replaced the original mural of "The Last Judgment" that was on display in the Washington D.C. Temple since 1974 with a new painting depicting Christ's return. If I'm not mistaken, it appears the dude (angel) in the bottom right corner of the new painting appears to be of African decent. This aligns with how the Church is increasing their ethnic diversity in an attempt to be more inclusive. I think that's great but it does not align at all with old Mormonism regarding a skin of blackness, especially that of Africans. I hardly see how past prophets of the Church would/could approve of this and it might even be considered a mockery to some of them, more especially Brigham Young.

Any thoughts, anyone?

[bill4long]

Any thoughts, anyone?

Robotic horn blowers on clouds. Doesn't look appealing. (I've always found it amusing that the Mormon leaders hate men to have beards these days, but have no problem with Jesus as a long haired hippy.)

Here's the Real Heaven:

[Shulem]

I haven't been blessed with that delicate, brown, lovely skin of the Hawaiian, but if you could see my heart, you could note that I am an Hawaiian.

<snip>

The Lord said that they should become a white and delightsome people. They are a delightsome people and I feel, when they stand before God and their souls are presented before him you'll find that they are a white and delightsome people. We are not judged by the clothes we wear, nor the skin that covers these bodies but God will judge us by the purity and the love and the sincerity that's in our hearts.

So, what of white and delightsome in the resurrection "when they stand before God and their souls are presented before him" and what happens to dark-skinned Lamanites who are judged worthy to enter the celestial kingdom? We can be absolutely sure that what Elias W. Smith (son of President Joseph F. Smith) taught were the doctrines of his father who served as President of the Church for 17 years. No doubt about that! We are assured the automatic fallback was to apply Book of Mormon doctrine: "And it came to pass that those Lamanites who had united with the Nephites were numbered among the Nephites; And their curse was taken from them, and their skin became white like unto the Nephites; And their young men and their daughters became exceedingly fair, and they were numbered among the Nephites, and were called Nephites." (3 Nephi 2:14-16) Thus, Don Bradley's "genetic and geographical isolation" is no more!

President Smith's "Doctrine" published in 1919 was the universal belief among a total membership of 507,961 people, a church that was almost exclusively made up of Caucasians. Hispanic/Latino membership was about 2,000 seeing there was no LDS missions established in South America until 1925 and only a handful of African people had anything to do with Mormonism. So, it lends us to conclude that all those who enter celestial glory are made white and delightsome and the curse of Lamanite/Negro colored skin is no more.

But that conclusion seems to defy what the prophet taught concerning the identity and appearance of resurrection and we are left to wonder how Smith took no thought at all about how colored people would be raised up in appearance other than being what they were on earth! We may gather this shortsighted viewpoint from the prophet's own teachings given to a Caucasian membership:

GOSPEL DOCTRINE, 1919

• ...they will possess the same bodies they possessed while journeying in mortality. Those bodies will become purified, cleansed, and made perfect; and the spirit and the body will be reunited, never more to be separated, never again to taste of death.

• We will meet the same identical being that we associated with here in the flesh—not some other soul, some other being, or the same being in some other form, but the same identity and the same form and likeness, the same person we knew and were associated with in our mortal existence...

• will be restored to his perfect frame—every limb, every joint, every part of his physical being will be restored to its perfect frame.

• ...resurrected body shall assume the exact stature of the spirit that possessed it here in its perfection...

• I expect to meet the same individual that I knew here. I expect to be able to recognize her, just as I could recognize her tomorrow, if she were living. I believe I will know just exactly who she is and what she is, and I will remember all I knew about her; and enjoy her association in the spirit as I did in the flesh; because her identity is fixed and indestructible, just as fixed and indestructible...

It seems very clear to me that President Smith taught that people will look and appear like they were on earth. All this must have sounded just fine in the ears of the white membership of the church but it fails to address colored people. In fact, President Smith's view of the Lamanites seems almost derisive:

GOSPEL DOCTRINE, 1919

• That God will manifest his purposes to the Lamanites in his own time and way there can be no doubt in the minds of those who believe in the divine origin of the Book of Mormon

• So far, however, but little of good has been effected through either of these channels, on account of the extremely benighted condition of the minds, and the wild nomadic habits of the red men. And for many other sufficient reasons they have not been susceptible to the impressions of the Holy Spirit, nor capable of rising to the comprehension of its power.

• The time had not come, and is not yet come, for them to receive the message and the work bequeathed them by their fathers, as designed of God

• While it is more than likely that Christ might send messengers to the Lamanites to prepare the way for his coming in the fulness of time, it is highly improbable that Christ himself would appear to a people so utterly unprepared to receive and comprehend him.

JOSEPH F. SMITH,

JOHN R. WINDER,

ANTHON H. LUND,

First Presidency.

—Improvement Era Vol. 10, 1906-1907

[Shulem]

If I'm not mistaken, it appears the dude (angel) in the bottom right corner of the new painting appears to be of African decent.

And, it appears the sister angels that flank (slightly above) the black angel are Asian!

The Church is changing. Isn't that right, MG?

Folks, this is a Mormon miracle.