Mormons try to come to grips with their racist history



Recent Developments and their background

While I was growing up Mormonism was an officially racist religion. Black people were not permitted to become full members of the church. What the Mormons called their priesthood was the central part of being Mormon and blacks were not allowed into the priesthood. The reason for the ban was black behavior in pre-existence. Mormons believe you actually begin your existence as a spirit child on a planet far from earth and then you get a body from an earthly mother and begin your earthly existence. There was a war in this pre-existent world. People who chose to fight on Jesus’ side were then born on earth in white bodies. People who fought against Jesus were condemned to never have bodies. People who took no side in the conflict were born in black bodies. Thus the priesthood restriction on people with black skin. Richard Ostling has a pretty good summary: “Many Americans — both secular and religious — have harbored racial views that are abhorrent in the 21st century. But The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its leaders have been unique in proclaiming racial discrimination to be the will of God and thoroughly incorporating that belief into all aspects of church life for well over a century.”

Needless to say, this belief came under a lot of criticism in America in the 1960s. Then in 1978 Spencer Kimball, the president of the Mormon church, claimed to receive a revelation from God lifting the ban on blacks in the priesthood. They could now become full members of the church. The week the ban was lifted I went to a Mormon church to a worship service and encountered a missionary I knew and asked him how the change was possible. Had all of a sudden blacks no longer sat out the pre-existent war? He couldn’t answer my question. He finally took me to the top Mormon missionary trainer in the area and I asked him my question. He looked at me and said, “Young man, if you will just pray and ask the Lord if these things be true the Holy Spirit will reveal them to you.” In other words, no answer.

How did the Mormons arrive at the decision to change their historic view?

How did Mormonism, officially, theologically racist for more than a hundred years, arrive at the decision to abandon racism? Here enters a new book that has caused quite a stir. “Second-Class Saints: Black Mormons and the Struggle for Racial Equality,” , by historian Matthew L. Harris. He analyzes the restrictions that the Mormon church imposed upon members of Black African ancestry, and all the bureaucratic machinations that went on behind the scenes to change it.

Jana Riess is a faithful Mormon and one that I read regularly. She interviewed Harris and she says one of the main themes of the book was how much the hierarchy of the church argued about the church’s racial posture and what to do about it.

I have linked her interview below and you can read it for yourself but let me summarize his comments. For many years there was intense debate within the inner sanctum of church leadership over the priesthood ban on blacks. Some in the top council of the church were adamant in keeping it but others battled mightily for many years to change it. Finally, the president of the church, Spencer Kimball, made the decision to change it. Harris says: “When Spencer Kimball was praying in the temple in 1977 and 1978, he wasn’t asking God, “Do I need to lift the ban?” Rather, he asked, “God, help me get my colleagues to see the wisdom in this… Kimball went to great lengths to convince the apostles that lifting the ban was in the best interests of the church, especially as leaders tried to spread the gospel globally.”

And that was that. Kimball came forth, announced a new revelation, and the Mormons changed their historic view on race.

What does this tell us about the Mormon view of revelation?

As a Bible-believing Christian I find this process curious, even ridiculous. We are told by Mormons that one of the chief advantages of their religion is having a living prophet, one who claims authority to speak for God and bring new revelation. Apparently the newer revelations can contradict the older revelations. So theology is not fixed by the character of God but is ever changing. The Mormons could very easily get a revelation legalizing gay marriage or any other action that now is considered a moral outrage.

It is clear to me that the Mormon god does not exist. He was manufactured out of whole cloth by Joseph Smith and other Mormon leaders. He does not remotely resemble the God of the Bible and is different in a hundred ways. Please see my article on Mormon doctrine linked below. This is not to disparage the many fine Mormons who live exemplary lives and are a credit to their religion. You ask, how can their theology be so heterodox yet individually they live morally upstanding lives? The answer to this question is easy. It shows the power of Christian culture. Jesus Christ is so powerful He shapes the behavior of those who believe wrong things about Him or nothing about Him. Consider how many Americans have no religious faith whatsoever yet live lives we would call morally “Christian.” That’s the power of Christ to work even in the lives of those who deny Him.

The Mormons have been through this before. Originally Mormonism was polygamous. Joseph Smith declared taking plural wives an obligation for Mormon men. Disobedience to this commandment merited damnation. Then in the 1880s when the Mormons had settled in Utah and wanted to become a state the law in Protestant America was monogamy. In fact, a military invasion had been threatened as long as the Mormons followed their laws on marriage. The Mormon god decided that they were finished with polygamy and in 1890, Wilson Woodruff, then president and prophet of the church, got a revelation in which God said to abandon the practice. So, in time, they did. And they became the 45^th state in the union.

This won’t be the last time the Mormons face this issue. As I stated above, the Mormons abolished it because Protestant America required it for statehood so the motivation for the new revelation was the law of the land. It was a Christian law. But the abolition against polygamy is going away in modern America with the advent of gay marriage, throuples—three people being legally married to each other—and other combinations. Will the Mormons feel pressure or the need to once again allow polygamy in this new environment? Will the Mormon god once again change his mind on marriage?

More: Are Mormons Christians? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPQ1rrEDEas

I have written a detailed examination of Mormon doctrine which is found here: https://www.the401stprophet.com/our-mormon-friends

Richard Ostling on a new book on Mormonism’s racist past:

https://religionunplugged.com/news/2024/8/26/latter-day-saints-come-to-terms-with-the-126-year-racial-barrier

An interview with Matthew Harris, author of, “Second-Class Saints: Black Mormons and the Struggle for Racial Equality;  https://religionnews.com/2024/08/13/the-behind-the-scenes-battles-to-lift-mormonisms-racial-priesthood-temple-ban/

The best website countering Mormon beliefs is Mormon Research Ministry. Here is there take on the priesthood ban:

https://www.mrm.org/sharing-with-mormons-priesthood-ban

An entertaining summary of Mormon beliefs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pgw-C_DTVo8

Citations from Mormon Scripture affirming discrimination against blacks: https://www.mrm.org/quotes-on-blacks-priesthood