Join us for Part 2 of our discussion on Race and the Book of Mormon. Today Mike and John go over the various apologetics for the apparent racism in the Book of Mormon and early Church leaders, from denying those particular scriptures are literal, to saying “everyone was racist back then” and of course, breaking down the various problems each creates for a Church said to be built on the basis of revelation to modern prophets.
LDS Discussions.com Essay on Race
1663: Race & Mormon Scripture Pt 1 w/ LDS Discussions – 21
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Show Notes:
LDS Discussions
- LDS Discussions Essay on Priesthood
- LDS Discussions Youtube video called “People of Destiny” video
- 1585: Book of Mormon Translation w/ LDS Discussions – 03
- 1599: Tight vs Loose Translation of the Book of Mormon w/ LDS Discussions – 06
Mormon Stories Content:
- 1663: Race & Mormon Scripture Pt 1 w/ LDS Discussions – 21
- 1585: Book of Mormon Translation w/ LDS Discussions – 03
- Mormon Stories Truth Claims essays
- Losing the Lamanites Series on Mormon Stories
- A New(ish) Mormon Hero – Dr. Lowry Nelson
- 1124-1126: Spencer Nugent: A Jamaican Mormon Story
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- Instagram: @SketchADaydotcom
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- Twitter: @dailysketches
- YouTube Channel: Sketch A Day
Recommended Podcasts
- Thoughts on Things and Stuff, Jonathan Streeter
- Mormon Expression Podcast
- Year of Polygamy Podcast
- Black Menaces Podcast
- Insta: @blackmenaces
- Tiktok: @blackmenaces
Other Sources
4 Responses
All these talks keep dancing around the central problem, which is that the members never have to change. All those press releases and essays and conference talks are there to tell the outside world what the leaders want the outside world to think that Mormons believe. Can you have a podcast about what Sister Christensen in Sandy, Utah really believes about race or any of dozens of other topics? Because it is Sister Christensen that really and truly controls the church.
The racist commentary in the Book of Mormon fit in with 19th century thinking. By putting that in the book, Smith gave the book more credibility for the people of the time. It’s what they all thought or wanted to believe about the reason for racial differences. As Mike says, “the church is the product of its times.”
These racist ideas were ubiquitous, from Oliver Cowdery’s friend Josiah Priest teaching that God created blacks to be slaves to the Jehovah Witness teaching that blacks were a servant class, and happy to be so.
I always find it interesting how Christians aren’t able to use the same logic with their own Old Testament god as they do with the mormon god. The genocidal and homicidal god of the Old Testament certainly gives the mormon god a run for the money so I find it kind of amusing how John mentioned that many of his Christian friends think the mormon god really kills the whole belief in god thing after leaving mormonism.