I saved this post for when I could research a little on the subject.One
of my main concerns about joining the CoJCoLDS centered
around
this topic.
Once while I had the Missionaries over for discussion I brought up the
topic of
The Journal of Discourses and what
Brigham Young spoke about interracial (
white and black)
relationships. The topic was so shocking to me, I had to have my two
sons (Age 7 and 15) leave the room. You see my wife is of French
Canadian, Scottish stock and I am from Ethiopian, West Indian descant.
So if they would have stayed it might have brought up questions I
didn't have the answers for.
I asked them point blank about the
The Journal of Discourses and why did the
church believe Gods Law stated
"If the white man who belongs to
the chosen seed mixes his blood with the seed of Cain (Black People),
the penalty, under the law of God, is death on the spot. This will
always be so."
[Journal of Discourses Volume 10 Page 110
Spoken in the Tabernacle in Great Salt Lake City, March 8th, 1863.]
The answer was shocking to me. I guess it was more shocking than
finding that passage. They said "A Prophet speaks many things but not
all of those things are directed from God. But my question to you is do
you believe the Book of Mormon to be the true word of God?"
You
have to remember that these words were spoken by the Current Prophet in
the Tabernacle
on Sunday, the Holy
Sabbath Day while saying "Shall I tell you the law of God
in regard to the African race?"
I asked my wife about this subject. I told her that someone in the
church knows the truth but no one is telling why. We had this
conversation while in our hot tub. The conversation didn't go well. We
didn't go back into our hot tub for a while after that.It
wasn't an enjoyable time.
Here is a little back history of Jedi Jamie. My Third Great Grand
Father was born in 1827. This was 37 years before Brigham Young's
statement and 3 yeas before the church was started. My Second Great
Grand Parents were married just 4 months before the death of Brigham
Young and just 14 years after the Law of God statement. These ancestors
as well as myself are of Mixed Race Heritage. If Prophet Young had his
way with my ancestors, I would not be here today in a the church he
helped sustain, holding the same priesthood he held.
Boyd K. Packer in a talk stated that "
We've always counseled in the
Church for our . . .Caucasians to marry Caucasians . . . The counsel
has been wise. You may say again, "Well, I know of exceptions." . . . I
say, "Yes--exceptions." . . ."We'd like to follow the rule first, and
then we'll take care of the exceptions." ["
Follow the Rule" Boyd
K Packer's devotional address at Brigham Young University January 14th
1977 while he was a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and
while the priesthood ban was in full effect.]
Some say the only reason the church gave the black people the
priesthood was because of the
30
October 1978 dedication of the São
Paulo Brazil Temple
It was announced in 1975 and dedicated in 1978. As you know there
Brazil has had is a mixture African Heritage for so long one could not
determine what race a person was just by looking at them. Another
reason
was because other College teams refused to play ball with a racist BYU.
Other speculations were because it couldn't win church members and be
against the civil rights movement.
I asked one of the missionaries what All worthy males meant? The white
missionary couldn't say. I asked the Tongan Missionary and he stated
the Priesthood was always available to them. This Tongan
gentleman
had darker skin than me.
When I was 8 yeas old the CoJCoLDS lifted the ban on the
priesthood. When I was 36 I joined the church. 28 yeas have passed and
I cannot find anyone who can give me a good reason why the priesthood
was banned for me and my ancestors or why the second Prophet of the
church preached in Gods name that my ancestors should be '
killed on the spot'.
I just wonder will this '
always
be so'?
In Rant Mode 'Jedi' Jamie
