User:Joshuajohanson/Sexuality in the LDS Church

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[edit] Blacks and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

[edit] Civil Rights movement

A 1969 letter from the First Presidency read "we believe the Negro, as well as those of other races, should have his full Constitutional privileges as a member of society."[1] The Doctrine and Covenants taught "Be one; and if ye are not one ye are not mine."(D&C 38:27) Another scripture chastises a group of Mormons, saying they were "not united according to the union required by the law of the celestial kingdom; And Zion cannot be built up unless it is by the principles of the law of the celestial kingdom; otherwise I cannot receive her unto myself."(D&C 105:4-5) A 1971 Ensign used this scripture to condemn "ethnic groups in the Church who consider themselves superior to some other group." It talked about the problem with unity coming from the growing diversity in the church, but commented "yet out of this diversity must come unity, oneness, and love."[2]

However, civil right groups were putting pressure on the church to end the ban, to which the church responded "It has no bearing upon matters of civil rights. In no case or degree does it deny to the Negro his full privileges as a citizen of the nation." While most churches did not ordain blacks to the priesthood, the Mormon church was more conspicuous because its universal lay priesthood for all non-black men.[3]

[edit] Backlog

[edit] Growth in black membership

In recent years, the church has reaped the benefits of reversing the ban[4] by experiencing rapid growth in predominately black communities while other mainstream sects have been losing members.[5] In the last 20 years, the church has been well received among middle-class African-Americans, and African American membership grew from minuscule before 1978 to an estimated 5,000 to 10,000 in 2005.[6] A 1998 survey by a Mormon and amateur sociologist, James W. Lucas, found that about 20 percent of Mormons in New York City were black.[7] Melvyn Hammarberg explained the growth: "There is a kind of changing face of the LDS Church because of its continuing commitment to work in the inner cities."[8] Sociology and Religious Studies Professor Armand Mauss says African Americans are particularly attracted by the focus on promoting healthy families. However, these numbers still only represent a fraction of total church membership in the United States, suggesting that African Americans remain comparatively hesitant to join, partly because of the church's past.[9] Still, Don Harwell, president of the Genesis Group, sees it as a sign that "People are getting past the stereotypes put on the church."[5] The revelation also helped pave the way for the church's exponential growth in areas like Africa and the Caribbean.[9] The church has been more successful among blacks outside the United States than inside, partly because there is less awareness of this past historic discrimination.[10]

  • Faster outside US than inside, not know of history, church mainly black[4]
  • Growth among middle class, growth in US, majority look past views, never felt as much love, continues to speak, shape into leaders of the church, role of minorities is growing [5]
  • Growth in urban areas as Catholic and Protestant declines [6]
  • Growth among blacks (clearly moved past)[7]
  • Growth in urban (no blacks) [8]
  • Reasons for growth, feeling no racism, never gave a reason, exponential in other areas [9]
  • Special look at Harlem [10]

[edit] Comparison to other American churches

  • 1971 Ensign against racial superiority [11]
  • ethnic superiority search [12]
  • better devil's rep quote [13]

No mainstream religion had a solid stance against slavery:

  • In 1845, the Baptists split over slavery and education of slaves. Southern baptists do not renounce racial superiority until 1995.[11]
  • "In 1843, Methodist church splits over issue of slavery, forming Methodist Episcopal Church, South. Racism influences Methodists' history
  • 1861 Presbyterian Church splits over slavery to form the Presbyterian Church in the Confederate States of America|
  • "Slavery itself, considered as such in its essential nature, is not at all contrary to the natural and divine law, and there can be several just titles of slavery and these are referred to by approved theologians and commentators of the sacred canons. It is not contrary to the natural and divine law for a slave to be sold, bought, exchanged or given. The purchaser should carefully examine whether the slave who is put up for sale has been justly or unjustly deprived of his liberty, and that the vendor should do nothing which might endanger the life, virtue or Catholic faith of the slave." (Instruction 20, June 1866)

[edit] Cultural Views

  • Church growing fast in urban areas [14]
  • Some blacks don't want church to apologize, membership growing, Hinckley appear at NAACCP, "I don't need an apology. . . . We're the result of an apology." Got doctrine from Protestant roots. related pages [15]

[edit] Survey of thoughts

  • Summary [16]
  • Deseret News [17]
  • 5 views [18]
  • Conference at BYU on Blacks in the Church (What, we don't care?) [19]

[edit] Other

  • "he inviteth them all to come unto him and partake of his goodness; and he denieth none that come unto him, black and white, bond and free, male and female" (2 Nephi 26:33)
  • "Therefore, it is not right that any man should be in bondage one to another." (D&C 101:79)
  • "And I give unto you a commandment that ye shall teach them unto all men; for they shall be taught unto all nations, kindreds, tongues and peoples" Doctrine & Covenants 42:58
  • high priests out of every nation D&C 77:11
  • explanation of Abraham [20]
  • Possible Black Area Authorities[21]
  • Elder Joseph Sitati (Area Authority Seventy from Kenya) - [22]
  • athletes - [23]
  • other famous - [24]
  • Incidentally, it was only six years earlier (1972) that baptist conferences voted to allow blacks similar privelges
  • "How many Negroes have been placed as ministers over white congregations in the so-called Christian denominations?"

[edit] Common consent

  • quorums unanimous (D&C 107:27)
  • The Saints can have faith in their leaders and vote unanimously on all propositions, knowing that the things presented for their sustaining vote were approved of the Lord to their leaders before being presented to the membership of the Church[25]
  • We need spirit to understand will of the Lord
  • Other revelations 1880[12]
  • Articles of Faith established through common consent 1880 [26]

[edit] Blacks in the standard works

The Standard Works are books that have been accepted as scripture in the LDS church through common consent, and "are the only sources of absolute appeal for our doctrine."[13] President Harold B. Lee taught: "If anyone, regardless of his position in the Church, were to advance a doctrine that is not substantiated by the standard Church works, meaning the Bible, the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price, you may know that his statement is merely his private opinion."[14] Even teachings of the President of the Church should not always be accepted as doctrine.[15]

According to the standard works, God is no respecter of persons(D&C 1:35) and "he inviteth them all to come unto him and partake of his goodness; and he denieth none that come unto him, black and white, bond and free, male and female."(2 Nephi 26:33) The doctrine of the church is that the gospel shall be taught to "all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people."(D&C 42:58) The elders of the church were commanded that "every man which will embrace it with singleness of heart may be ordained and sent forth."(D&C 36:7) There was also a prophecy that the 144,000 spoken of in the Book of Revelation that would be sealed were high priests "ordained out of every nation, kindred, tongue, and people."(D&C 77:11)

It is further official church doctrine that "it is not right that any man should be in bondage one to another."(D&C 101:80) There were to be "no divisions"(1 Cor. 1:10) among the Mormons, but they believed the Lord commanded them to "be one; and if ye are not one ye are not mine."(D&C 38:27)

In 1978, the Official Declaration—2 was accepted by the LDS as scripture. It states that "every faithful, worthy man in the Church may receive the holy priesthood, with power to exercise its divine authority, and enjoy with his loved ones every blessing that flows therefrom, including the blessings of the temple."(Official Declaration 2) This is significant, because by allowing blacks to be priests, meant, according to official church doctrine, that they were "called and prepared from the foundation of the world according to the foreknowledge of God, on account of their exceeding faith and good works,"(Alma 13:3) thus overruling any belief that blacks were somehow less than valiant in the pre-mortal life.[16]

Other statements by church leaders are not given the same weight as the Standard Works.[15] Bruce R. McConkie wrote "With all their inspiration and greatness, prophets are yet mortal men with imperfections common to mankind in general. They have their opinions and prejudices and are left to work out their own problems without inspiration in many instances."[17]

[edit] Curses

  • Laman and Lemuel (1 Nephi 2:23)
  • those who do not hide up their treasures to the Lord (Helaman 13:19)
  • the Jaredites because of their iniquities (Ether 14:1)
  • polygamists (Jacob 2:23)
  • the land because of their wickedness and their abominations. (Helaman 13:17
  • Korihor (Alma 30:56)
  • descendants of the Lamanites (Alma 17:15) - answered on head of parents (2 Nephi 4:6)
  • Almacites (Alma 3:18)
  • intermarriage okay if repent (Alma 3:13)
  • Adam's seed (Moroni 8:8)
  • the seed of him that mixeth with Lamanites (2 Nephi 5:23)
  • Nephites and their riches (Helaman 13:21)
  • those that put their arm in flesh (2 Nephi 4:34)
  • he that knoweth the will of God and doeth it not (Alma 32:19)
  • tried to convert Lamanites (Enos 1:4)
  • Lamanites more righteous than Nephites (Jacob 3:5)

[edit] cursing lands

  • Jaredite land
  • land northward (3 Nephi 3:24)


  • Amalikites cursed and every man bring upon himself curse 3 Nephi 18-19
  • repentance is unto them that are under condemnation and under the curse of a broken law. (Moroni 8:24)

[edit] Sexuality

Divorces often occur over sex, money, and child discipline. If you study the divorces, as we have had to do in these past years, you will find there are one, two, three, four reasons. Generally sex is the first. They did not get along sexually. They may not say that in the court. They may not even tell that to their attorneys, but that is the reason. ... Husband and wife ... are authorized, in fact they are commanded, to have proper sex when they are properly married for time and eternity. That does not mean that we need to go to great extremes. That does not mean that a woman is the servant of her husband. It does not mean that any man has a right to demand sex anytime that he might want it. He should be reasonable and understanding and it should be a general program between the two, so they understand and everybody is happy about It.

(Spencer W. Kimball, The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, edited by Edward L. Kimball [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1982], 312.)

"The divine impulse within every true man and woman that impels companionship with the opposite sex is intended by our Maker as a holy impulse for a holy purpose, not to be satisfied as a mere biological urge or as a lust of the flesh in promiscuous associations, but to be reserved as an expression of true love in holy wedlock." (Teachings of Presidents of the Church, 2000, p. 112; emphasis added)