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FACT: Until 1974, blacks could not hold positions in the LDS church, and were only allowed to become Mormon priests by decree from the top church official elaborated on an age-old edict that declared blacks "spiritually inferior" to whites.
FACT: Brigham Young's original sermons (which are considered gospel in the LDS faith, if I'm not mistaken) contain references to black Americans who trace ancestry to Africa as decendants of Cain and Ham, and relates that these individuals will not be granted access to Heaven.
FACT: Even when blacks were admitted to the priesthood, the gospel relating spiritual inferiority for African Americans was never repealed or reinterpreted (hence "elaborated").
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Now, these two facts have accounted for a considerable amount of what would normally be considered 'bad things', especially in Utah - the supposed inferiority of blacks led to institutionalized racism, much of which is purported to exist even today.
Utah is 0.9% black, and for good reason - it was made known that blacks weren't welcome by the LDS church.
Now . . . an organization that earns more than $7 million per DAY, but gives little back to beneficent organizations, and supported institutionalized racism into the mid-70s (that's 19, too, not 18) . . . why isn't more made of the actions of what is the FASTEST-GROWING religion on the earth?
Last edited by KSig RC; 07-11-2005 at 03:49 PM.
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