Rassistische Äußerungen von Kirchenführern

Frage

Quelle(n) der Kritik

  • Bill McKeever and Eric Johnson, Mormonism 101. Examining the Religion of the Latter-day Saints (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Books, 2000), Chapter 16.
  • Simon Southerton, Losing a Lost Tribe: Native Americans, DNA, and the Mormon Church (Salt Lake City, UT: Signature Books, 2004) 10–11.

Antwort

Wir verbringen in der Kirche viel Zeit damit, die Heiligen Schriften auf uns anzuwenden, wie Nephi sich ausdrückte. (1. Ne 19:23).

Diese Betrachtungsweise hat den Vorteil, dass wir die Lehren der Schriften und der ersten Kirchenführer auf uns beziehen können, sodass diese eine Änderung in unserem Leben bewirken und nicht nur abgesonderte Studienobjekte sind.

Der Nachteil dieses Denkansatzes ist, dass man zur der Auffassung kommt, die vorangegangenen Propheten wären genau wie wir — und hätten die gleichen Anschauungen, Traditionen und Glaubensvorstellungen. Doch das ist überhaupt nicht der Fall. Propheten waren in allen Dispensationen Männer ihrer Zeit, die mit all denen zusammenwirkten, die ihren Glauben teilten.

For example, the Old Testament peoples believed the earth was a flat expanse, with the sky a solid dome made out of a shiny, brass-like substance. But this was the way everyone understood things at that time, so we don't begrudge Isaiah and Ezekiel of speaking of the "four corners of the earth" (Jesaja 11:12; Ez 7:2), or Job for thinking the sky was a mirror (Ijob 37:18), or the Psalmist for thinking the earth stood still while the sun went around it Ps 93:1; Ps 19:4-6).

The same principle holds true when examining the beliefs of earlier prophets about people of different races. Most nineteenth-century Latter-day Saints were raised in a world where all Black people were either slaves or illiterate poor. At the time there was much debate among American Christians in general as to how Blacks fit into God's overall plan as described in the Bible. Many theories abounded, with virtually all of them justifying, in one way or another, slavery or relegation of Blacks to the role of second-class citizens. There was even debate as to whether or not Blacks were human beings with souls that could receive salvation. (In contrast to this general Christian view, Joseph Smith declared rather progressively that yes, Blacks did have souls and could be saved.[1])

This continued into the twentieth century. Some LDS leaders were wary of the civil rights movement that started in the 1950s, and publicly stated their concerns. But there were differences of opinion among the brethren on this. At one end was Elder Ezra Taft Benson, who believed that the American civil rights movement was a front for communism; at the other was President Hugh B. Brown, who felt that the Church should publicly support the civil rights movement.[2]

From our perspective as "enlightened" people of the early twenty-first century, virtually everyone in America up until the last few decades — prophets and other LDS leaders included — held beliefs that we could now consider racist. But that was the culture of the times, and we, like the rest of society, have progressed (line upon line, precept upon precept, see (2. Ne 28:30) to become better people in this respect, more tolerant, more accepting. Fifty years from now, people will probably look back at our time and say, "How could they have been so bigoted?" Or, "How could they have missed issue X, which seems so clear to us now, in retrospect?"

The key point here is that the Lord works with the people who are available. He does not make them into radicals; he gives them just enough light and understanding to lift the Saints a little and make them more fit for the kingdom. In his mercy, God works with people where they are, and does not wait for them to be perfect before he will deign to speak to them.

Non-LDS Biblical commentators have noted this same tendency is present with Biblical prophets:

Though purified and ennobled by the influence of His Holy Spirit; men each with his own peculiarities of manner and disposition—each with his own education or want of education—each with his own way of looking at things—each influenced differently from another by the different experiences and disciplines of his life. Their inspiration did not involve a suspension of their natural faculties; it did not even make them free from earthly passion; it did not make them into machines—it left them men. Therefore we find their knowledge sometimes no higher than that of their contemporaries.[3]

We should be forgiving of past prophets who we today would perceive as being "racists," or otherwise unsophisticated when compared to the present day. Lest we judge harshly, we ought to consider that even the Savior himself spoke of "outsiders" using language that we today would consider grossly offensive (Matth 15:26).

We are warned, however, that we will be judged in the same manner in which we judge others (Matth 7:2, Mark 4:24). If we condemn those of the past for being imperfect or influenced by their culture, what can we expect for ourselves?


Fußnoten

  1. [back] Joseph Smith, Jr., Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, herausgegeben von Joseph Fielding Smith (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Company, 1976), 269. ISBN 087579243X. Link
  2. [back] See Gregory A. Prince and Wm. Robert Wright, David O. McKay and the Rise of Modern Mormonism (Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 2005), chapter 4. ISBN 0874808227.
  3. [back]  James R. Dummelow, A Commentary on the Holy Bible: Complete in one volume, with general articles (New York : Macmillan, 1984 [1904]), cxxxv.

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