View source for Criticism of Mormonism/Books/One Nation Under Gods/Chapter 16

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{{H1
|L=Criticism of Mormonism/Books/One Nation Under Gods/Chapter 16
|H=Response to claims made in "Chapter 16: Mormon Racism: Black Is ''Not'' Beautiful"
|T=[[../../|One Nation Under Gods]]
|A=Richard Abanes
|<=[[../Chapter 15|Claims made in "Chapter 15: Making the Transition"]]
|>=[[../Chapter 17|Claims made in "Chapter 17: Is Mormonism Christian?"]]
}}		
{{ChartOneNationUnderGodsChapter16}}	
<onlyinclude>
{{H2
|L=Criticism of Mormonism/Books/One Nation Under Gods/Chapter 16
|H=Response to claims made in One Nation Under Gods, "Chapter 16: Mormon Racism: Black Is ''Not'' Beautiful"
|S=
|L1=Response to claim: 355 epigraph, 597n1 - Joseph Smith said in History of the Church: "Had I anything to do with the negro, I would confine them by strict law to their own species..."
|L2=Response to claim: 356, 597n5 - "Mormonism and racism have for many years been synonymous terms to persons well acquainted with Latter-day Saint beliefs"
|L3=Response to claim: 356 - "the granting of the priesthood to blacks in 1978 failed to "eradicate the previous 148 years of Mormon racist/white supremacist teachings"
|L4=Response to claim: 356, n6 - The author claims that Latter-day Saints traditionally believe that everyone's place in the world was determined by how they behaved in the pre-mortal world
|L5=Response to claim: 357, 597n7, 9-11 - "These admirable spirits served God well, followed his commands, and did the most with their talents before coming to earth. Consequently, they...are born as Mormons in America"
|L6=Response to claim: 358, 597n13 - Were those who were "less valiant" born as blacks?
|L7=Response to claim: 358, 597n14-15 - Brigham Young and Bruce R. McConkie claimed that blacks were of the lineage of Cain
|L8=Response to claim: 360, 598n23-26 - Bruce R. McConkie said..."The negroes are not equal with other races where the receipt of certain spiritual blessings are concerned"
|L9=Response to claim: 361, 598n27 - "As a white Mormon, I proudly accepted the teaching that my fair skin and Mormon parentage signified that I had been one of God's most intelligent and obedient born-in-heaven spirit children"
|L10=Response to claim: 361, 598n28, 31 - Interracial marriage was condemned by Brigham Young as "one of the most heinous of deeds"
|L11=Response to claim: 362, 598n29-30 - Mark E. Petersen said that segregation was acceptable, and that interracial marriage "posed a danger"
|L12=Response to claim; 364, 599n40 - Wallace Turner claims that Latter-day Saints did not support the Civil Rights movement because they had "strong feelings of racial superiority infused into them by years of white supremacist teachings"
|L13=Response to claim: 366 - David O. McKay was "blocked" from granting Blacks the priesthood by Ezra Taft Benson, Harold B. Lee, and Joseph Fielding Smith
|L14=Response to claim: 367 - When George Wallace asked President David O. McKay if Ezra Taft Benson could be his vice-presidential running mate, this request was denied
|L15=Response to claim: 368 - By the time Spencer W. Kimball took over as Church president "the church had been enduring non-stop pressure to conform with America's realization that racial inequality had to end"
|L16=Response to claim: 369, 599n57 - President Kimball was forced to change the priesthood restriction because of the new temple in Brazil
|L17=Response to claim: 370 - "Mormons, by and large, were pleased that God had changed his mind at such a convenient time in history"
|L18=Response to claim: 370 - The author claims that the lifting of the priesthood ban caused "millions of dollars" to begin "flowing into the church's coffers"
|L19=Response to claim: 370, 599n59 - Brigham Young said that Blacks would not receive the priesthood until after the resurrection of the dead
|L20=Response to claim: 371, 600n63 - Is the idea that the words of a living prophet are more important than the teachings of a dead prophet a "illogical belief"?
}}
</onlyinclude>

==Response to claim: 355 epigraph, 597n1 - Joseph Smith said in ''History of the Church'': "Had I anything to do with the negro, I would confine them by strict law to their own species..."==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=One Nation Under Gods
|claim=
Joseph Smith said in ''History of the Church'': "Had I anything to do with the negro, I would confine them by strict law to their own species..."
|authorsources=<br>
#''History of the Church'', vol. 5, 217-218.
}}
{{misinformation|The author quotes Joseph Smith as saying, ""Had I anything to do with the negro, I would confine them by strict law to their own species..." ({{HC1|vol=5|num=217-218}}).  He apparently wishes to make Joseph appear racist and backward.  He does not, however, provide us with the other perspectives which Joseph offered on race issues:

<blockquote>
Elder Hyde inquired the situation of the negro. I replied, they came into the world slaves, mentally and physically. Change their situation with the whites, and they would be like them. They have souls, and are subjects of salvation. Go into Cincinnati or any city, and find an educated negro, who rides in his carriage, and you will see a man who has risen by the powers of his own mind to his exalted state of respectability. The slaves in Washington are more refined than many in high places, and the black boys will take the shine off many of those they brush and wait on.

Elder Hyde remarked, "Put them on the level, and they will rise above me." I replied, if I raised you to be my equal, and then attempted to oppress you, would you not be indignant and try to rise above me, as did Oliver Cowdery, Peter Whitmer, and many others, who said I was a fallen Prophet, and they were capable of leading the people, although I never attempted to oppress them, but had always been lifting them up? Had I anything to do with the negro, I would confine them by strict law to their own species, and put them on a national equalization.
</blockquote>

Fawn Brodie, from whom the author otherwise quotes liberally, noted that aside from the issue of intermarriage, Joseph was "in every other respect in favor of total equality. . .a stand which in 1844 was dangerously revolutionary." <ref>{{nc}}</ref>

In materials besides that from which the author's fragment was taken, Joseph also said:
* "Break off the shackles from the poor black man, and hire him to labor like other human beings, for 'an hour of virtuous liberty on earth is worth a whole eternity of bondage.'" (''Nauvoo Neighbor'' (17 April 1844)).
* Slaves owned by Mormons should, said Joseph in private, be brought "into a free country and set . . . free--Educate them and give them equal Rights." <ref>December 30, 1842, in Joseph Smith's Journal, kept by Willard Richards; copy at Church Historical Department; cited by Lester E. Bush, ''Dialogue'' 8/1 (Spring 1973): 18-19.</ref>
}}
* [[../Notable omissions#355|Notable omissions: Joseph Smith and confining the negro]]

==Response to claim: 356, 597n5 - "Mormonism and racism have for many years been synonymous terms to persons well acquainted with Latter-day Saint beliefs"==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=One Nation Under Gods
|claim=
{{AuthorQuote|"Mormonism and racism have for many years been synonymous terms to persons well acquainted with Latter-day Saint beliefs."}}
}}
{{propaganda|The author's hostility and many errors on this and many other points of LDS belief demonstrate that ''he'', at least, is not one of these persons so acquainted.
|authorsources=<br>
#Thelma Geer, ''Mormonism, Mama & Me'', 24-25. This source is an anti-Mormon work published by Thelma "Granny" Geer (second edition in 1980; expanded 4th edition by 1984; 5th edition 1986).  Ms. Geer's book cover announces that she has appeared in two films, ''The Cult Explosion'' and [[The God Makers|''The God Makers'']].  It is not clear why the author, who clearly has pretensions to writing a 'scholarly' work, would use this type of polemic as a secondary source.  Anti-Mormon literature is nothing if not self-referential.
*{{CriticalWork:Ostling:Mormon America|pages=103-106}}
*Thomas Matthews, "Mormon Racism In Perspective."
}}
*{{Abanes:One Nation:Racism}}
*[[../Loaded and prejudicial language|Loaded and prejudicial language]]

==Response to claim: 356 - "the granting of the priesthood to blacks in 1978 failed to "eradicate the previous 148 years of Mormon racist/white supremacist teachings"==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=One Nation Under Gods
|claim=
The author claims that the granting of the priesthood to blacks in 1978 failed to "eradicate the previous 148 years of Mormon racist/white supremacist teachings," and that these teaching all related to the LDS doctrine of pre-existence.
}}
{{propaganda|[[One_Nation_Under_Gods/Index/Chapter_16#370|p. 370]] tells us that 'Mormons, by and large, were pleased that God had changed his mind at such a convenient time in history.'  So, why were the Mormons happy about the revelation if their supposedly racist mindset could hardly be eradicated by the 1978 revelation?}} And , the evidence shows that Mormons are no more or no less racist than others of the same background.
|authorsources=<br>
#Author's statement.
}}
*{{Abanes:One Nation:Racism}}
*[[../Loaded and prejudicial language|Loaded and prejudicial language]]

==Response to claim: 356, n6 - The author claims that Latter-day Saints traditionally believe that everyone's place in the world was determined by how they behaved in the pre-mortal world==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=One Nation Under Gods
|claim=
The author claims that Latter-day Saints traditionally believe that everyone's place in the world was determined by how they behaved in the pre-mortal world.
}}
{{propaganda|Note well the word '''traditional'''. {{Abanes:One Nation:Racism Repudiated}} {{s||Abraham|3|22}} only says that God chose 'noble and great' spirits to be his spiritual leaders in the pre-mortal world.  It says nothing about country, socio-economic status, etc.
|authorsources=<br>
#''Pearl of Great Price'', Book of Abraham 3:22.
}}

==Response to claim: 357, 597n7, 9-11 - "These admirable spirits served God well, followed his commands, and did the most with their talents before coming to earth. Consequently, they...are born as Mormons in America"==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=One Nation Under Gods
|claim=
*{{AuthorQuote|These admirable spirits served God well, followed his commands, and did the most with their talents before coming to earth. Consequently, they are rewarded by being born into favorable circumstances. To be specific, they are born as Mormons in America, or at the very least, somewhere in a predominantly Caucasian country. More righteous spirits are born with more advantages. Less commendable spirits, however, are born with fewer advantages, into lives of greater or lesser quality depending on how poorly they performed in the pre-earth world. Moreover, they are born as non-whites. This is their punishment for not having been all they could have been during the pre-existence.}}
*A quote from Apostle Mark E. Petersen is provided to support this assertion.
}}
{{propaganda|This is an absurd bit of propaganda.
|authorsources=<br>
#Mark E. Petersen, "Race Problems As They Affect The Church," Address At the Convention of Teachers of Religion On the College Level, delivered at Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah, August 27, 1954.
*John J. Stewart, ''The Glory of Mormonism'', inside flap book cover and 144.
*Joseph Fielding Smith, ''Doctrines of Salvation'', vol. 1, 61.
}}
* {{Abanes:One Nation:Racism Repudiated}}
*[[Racist statements by Church leaders]]
*{{Abanes:One Nation:Racism}}

<!-- ====357, 597n8====
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=One Nation Under Gods
|claim=
Does Latter-day Saint doctrine teach that black is not an "honourable body?"
|authorsources=<br>
#
}}
* Such teachings have been [[Blacks_and_the_priesthood/Understanding_pre-1978_statements#Avoid_speculating_without_knowledge|repudiated]].  Revelation has [[Blacks_and_the_priesthood/Understanding_pre-1978_statements#Understanding_pre-1978_statements|clarified]] false or incomplete former beliefs.
*[[Racist statements by Church leaders]]
*{{Abanes:One Nation:Racism}}
|authorsources=<br>
#Orson Hyde, ''Speech of Orson Hyde, Delivered Before the High Priests' Quorum, in Nauvoo, April 27th, 1845, Upon the Course and Conduct of Mr. Sidney Rigdon'', 309.
}} -->

==Response to claim: 358, 597n13 - Were those who were "less valiant" born as blacks?==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=One Nation Under Gods
|claim=<br>
*Were those who "fought on Christ's side" in the pre-existence born as "privileged Mormon whites?"
*Were those who were "less valiant" born as blacks?
|authorsources=<br>
*B.H. Roberts, "To the Youth of Israel," ''The Contributor'', vol. 6, 296-297.
*Bruce McConkie, ''Mormon Doctrine'', p. 527.
}}
{{misinformation|Such beliefs have bee repudiated.
}}
*{{Abanes:One Nation:McConkie Distorted}}
*{{Abanes:One Nation:Racism Repudiated}}
*{{Abanes:One Nation:Racism}}
{{:Question: Was the idea that Blacks were neutral in the "war in heaven" ever official doctrine?}}

==Response to claim: 358, 597n14-15 - Brigham Young and Bruce R. McConkie claimed that blacks were of the lineage of Cain==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=One Nation Under Gods
|claim=
Brigham Young and Bruce R. McConkie claimed that blacks were of the lineage of Cain
|authorsources=<br>
*McConkie, ''Mormon Doctrine'' p. 109.
*{{JDfairwiki|author=Brigham Young|disc=45|vol=7|start=290}}
}}
{{misinformation|Such beliefs have been repudiated.
}}
*{{Abanes:One Nation:Racism}}
{{:Question: What are the "curse of Cain" and the "curse of Ham"}}
{{:Question: When did a biblical curse become associated with the "Hamites?"}}
{{:Question: When did the "mark of Cain" become associated with black skin?}}
{{:Question: How did the "curse of Ham" or "curse of Cain" become associated with Mormonism?}}

==Response to claim: 360, 598n23-26 - Bruce R. McConkie said..."The negroes are not equal with other races where the receipt of certain spiritual blessings are concerned"==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=One Nation Under Gods
|claim=
Bruce R. McConkie said in his 1966 edition of Mormon Doctrine: "The negroes are not equal with other races where the receipt of certain spiritual blessings are concerned...[B]ut this inequality is not of man's origin. It is the Lord's doing." Joseph Fielding Smith made a similar statement.
}}
{{misinformation|Such beliefs have been repudiated.
{{Abanes:One Nation:McConkie Distorted}}
|authorsources=<br>
#McConkie, 527.
*Joseph Fielding Smith, mimeographed letter, July 9, 1963. Quoted in Stewart, ''The Glory of Mormonism'', 154.
*Lowery Nelson, letter to First Presidency, October 8, 1947. Quoted in Steward, 146.
*LDS First Presidency, letter to Lowery Nelson, July 17, 1947. Quoted in Steward, 153.
}}

==Response to claim: 361, 598n27 - "As a white Mormon, I proudly accepted the teaching that my fair skin and Mormon parentage signified that I had been one of God's most intelligent and obedient born-in-heaven spirit children"==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=One Nation Under Gods
|claim=
"Fourth generation Mormon" Thelma Geer said:
<blockquote>
"As a white Mormon, I proudly accepted the teaching that my fair skin and Mormon parentage signified that I had been one of God's most intelligent and obedient born-in-heaven spirit children....As a reward for my superior attributes and attitudes, I had been singled out, trained, and qualified to be born a white Latter-day Saint, deserving of emulation, adulation, and eventual deification. All dark-skinned people, even darker-complexioned Caucasians...had been inferior spirits in heaven."
</blockquote>
}}
{{propaganda|Thelma Geer appeared in the film ''The God Makers''. She and the author do not disclose that these are 'folk beliefs.' {{Abanes:One Nation:Racism Repudiated}} This was true even when Geer wrote in 1980.
|authorsources=<br>
#Geer, ''Mormonism, Mama & Me'', 24-25. The author cites Geer yet again. This source is an anti-Mormon work published by Thelma "Granny" Geer (second edition in 1980; expanded 4th edition by 1984; 5th edition 1986).  Ms. Geer's book cover announces that she has appeared in two films, ''The Cult Explosion'' and [[The God Makers|''The God Makers'']].  It is not clear why the author, who clearly has pretensions to writing a 'scholarly' work, would use this type of polemic as a secondary source.  Anti-Mormon literature is nothing if not self-referential.
}}
==Response to claim: 361, 598n28, 31 - Interracial marriage was condemned by Brigham Young as "one of the most heinous of deeds"==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=One Nation Under Gods
|claim=
Interracial marriage was condemned by Brigham Young as "one of the most heinous of deeds"
}}
{{misinformation|Interracial marriage was illegal in Brigham Young's day.  The relationships which he was discussing were ''not'' marriages, and he condemned the white person for exploiting the black.
|authorsources=<br>
#''Juvenile Instructor'', vol. 3, 165. Quoted in {{CriticalWork:Tanner:Mormonism Shadow|pages=266}}.
*{{JDfairwiki|author=Brigham Young|disc=25|vol=10|start=110}}
}}
* {{SourceDistortion}}: [[Brigham Young/Race mixing punishable by death]]
*[[Blacks_and_the_priesthood/Repudiated_ideas#Is_interracial_marriage_condemned.3F|Inter-racial marriage a sin?]]

==Response to claim: 362, 598n29-30 - Mark E. Petersen said that segregation was acceptable, and that interracial marriage "posed a danger"==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=One Nation Under Gods
|claim=
Mark E. Petersen said that segregation was acceptable, and that interracial marriage "posed a danger."
|authorsources=<br>
#Petersen, "Race Problems As They Affect The Church."
}}
{{misinformation|Such ideas have since been repudiated.
}}
*{{Abanes:One Nation:Racism Repudiated}}
*{{Abanes:One Nation:Racism}}
{{:Question: Is interracial marriage prohibited or condemned within the Church?}}

==Response to claim; 364, 599n40 - Wallace Turner claims that Latter-day Saints did not support the Civil Rights movement because they had "strong feelings of racial superiority infused into them by years of white supremacist teachings"==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=One Nation Under Gods
|claim=
Wallace Turner claims that Latter-day Saints did not support the Civil Rights movement because they had "strong feelings of racial superiority infused into them by years of white supremacist teachings."
}}
{{propaganda|Latter-day Saints were of more than one opinion about the Civil Rights movement.  Even the leadership did not all agree; some supported the movement, and others worried that it was a front for interests hostile to American liberties. Unlike many Protestant denominations, however, Latter-day Saints did not have segregated congregations, or address racist groups like the Klu Klux Klan.
|authorsources=<br>
#Wallace Turner, ''The Mormon Establishment'', 229
}}

<!-- ====365, 599n44====
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=One Nation Under Gods
|claim=
Did LDS leaders instruct a missionary to "not to work with the poor and to tell blacks that they should attend the church of their choice, but not the Mormon church?"
|authorsources=<br>
#
}}
*{{Abanes:One Nation:Racism}}
|authorsources=<br>
#Robert Gottlieb and Peter Wiley, ''American Saints: The Rise of Mormon Power'', 179-180.
}} -->

==Response to claim: 366 - David O. McKay was "blocked" from granting Blacks the priesthood by Ezra Taft Benson, Harold B. Lee, and Joseph Fielding Smith==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=One Nation Under Gods
|claim=
David O. McKay was "blocked" from granting Blacks the priesthood by Ezra Taft Benson, Harold B. Lee, and Joseph Fielding Smith.
}}
{{misinformation|David O. McKay's recent biography includes the following accounts about the priesthood ban:
** "McKay said, 'I have prayed and prayed and prayed, but there has been no answer.'"
** "...he had inquired of the Lord several times on the matter, and ... the answer was, 'Not yet.'"
** "I've inquired of the Lord repeatedly.  The last time I did it was late last night.  I was told, with no discussion, not to bring the subject up with the Lord again; that the time will come, but it will not be my time, and to leave the subject alone." <ref>{{RMM1|start=103-104}}</ref>
|authorsources=<br>
#No citations specific to this claim. The subsequent citations only talk about Ezra Taft Benson as part of the John Birch Society and his "racist/anti-Communist views."
}}

==Response to claim: 367 - When George Wallace asked President David O. McKay if Ezra Taft Benson could be his vice-presidential running mate, this request was denied==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=One Nation Under Gods
|claim=
When George Wallace asked President David O. McKay if Ezra Taft Benson could be his vice-presidential running mate, this request was denied. Did this, as the author asserts, "illustrate the serious in-fighting and strained relations between Benson and his supporters on one side, and more moderate high-ranking LDS authorities on McKay's side?"
|authorsources=<br>
#No citation provided.
}}
{{misinformation|Despite being a staunch anti-Communist, David O. McKay persistently denied Ezra Taft Benson's desire to join the leadership of the John Birch Society.  He did, however, allow Elder Benson to consider a run as a presidential candidate. <ref>Prince and Wright, 286, 289, 317-318.</ref>
* President McKay refused, however, to grant permission for Elder Benson to be Wallace's running mate, based on some or all of:
** "his already expressed aversion to a third political party" (which Wallace was running on)
** "his personal feelings toward Wallace"
** "his unwillingness to have an apostle square off against announced Mormon candidate George Romney"
** his "growing weariness with Benson's political activities," which centered around problems with the John Birch Society. <ref>Prince and Wright, 319.</ref>
}}

==Response to claim: 368 - By the time Spencer W. Kimball took over as Church president "the church had been enduring non-stop pressure to conform with America's realization that racial inequality had to end"==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=One Nation Under Gods
|claim=
By the time Spencer W. Kimball took over as Church president "the church had been enduring non-stop pressure to conform with America's realization that racial inequality had to end."
|authorsources=<br>
#No citation provided.
}}
{{misinformation|Social pressure was actually on the decline after the Civil Rights movement and coordinated protests at BYU athletic events ceased in 1971.
}}
{{:Question: Was the priesthood ban lifted as the result of social or government pressure?}}

==Response to claim: 369, 599n57 - President Kimball was forced to change the priesthood restriction because of the new temple in Brazil==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=One Nation Under Gods
|claim=
President Kimball was forced to change the priesthood restriction because of the new temple in Brazil.
|authorsources=<br>
#Gottlieb and Wiley, 184.
}}
{{misinformation|The construction of the temple was a factor, but President Kimball was not "forced" to change anything.
}}
{{:Source:Gospel Topics:Race and the Priesthood:Church authorities encountered faithful black and mixed-ancestry Mormons who had contributed financially and in other ways to the building of the São Paulo temple}}

<!-- ====370, n58====
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title={{check}}
|claim={{AuthorQuote|"Like the Manifesto, the 1978 policy change was billed as a 'revelation' from God"}}
}}
|authorsources=<br>
#Declaration 2, released to ''Deseret News'', June 9, 1978, page 1A.
}}
* [[../Loaded and prejudicial language|Loaded and prejudicial language]] -->

==Response to claim: 370 - "Mormons, by and large, were pleased that God had changed his mind at such a convenient time in history"==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=One Nation Under Gods
|claim=
{{AuthorQuote|"Mormons, by and large, were pleased that God had changed his mind at such a convenient time in history."}}
}}
{{misinformation|On [[One_Nation_Under_Gods/Index/Chapter_16#356|p. 356]], we are told the 1978 revelation "could hardly eradicate the previous 148 years of Mormon racist/white supremacist teachings."  See also [[One_Nation_Under_Gods/Index/Chapter_15#353|p. 353]] where LDS beliefs are called "white supremacist."  So, why were most Mormons "pleased" if they were still suffering from the burden of racist attitudes and white supremacist beliefs?  Why would racists be happy about the change?}}
|authorsources=<br>
#No source provided.
}}
*[[../Sarcasm|Sarcasm]]
*[[Blacks_and_the_priesthood/Social_pressure|Social pressure on priesthood issue?]]

==Response to claim: 370 - The author claims that the lifting of the priesthood ban caused "millions of dollars" to begin "flowing into the church's coffers"==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=One Nation Under Gods
|claim=
The author claims that the lifting of the priesthood ban caused "millions of dollars" to begin "flowing into the church's coffers"
}}
{{propaganda|The claim is absurd.
|authorsource=No source provided.
}}
*[[../Absurd claims|Absurd claims]]

==Response to claim: 370, 599n59 - Brigham Young said that Blacks would not receive the priesthood until after the resurrection of the dead==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=One Nation Under Gods
|claim=
Brigham Young said that Blacks would not receive the priesthood until after the resurrection of the dead.
}}
{{information|The author presumes that Latter-day Saints believe in [[Church doctrine/Statements by Church leaders|prophetic infallibility]].  They do not.
|authorsources=<br>
*{{JDfairwiki|author=Brigham Young|disc=26|vol=2|start=143}}
*{{JDfairwiki|author=Brigham Young|disc=45|vol=7|start=290|end=291}}
}}

==Response to claim: 371, 600n63 - Is the idea that the words of a living prophet are more important than the teachings of a dead prophet a "illogical belief"?==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=One Nation Under Gods
|claim=
Is the idea that the words of a living prophet are more important than the teachings of a dead prophet a "illogical belief"?
}}
{{propaganda|What would be the point of a living prophet if their words were not more important than dead prophets? This is what the early Christians thought too&mdash;Jesus and the apostles superseded dead prophets like Moses.
|authorsources=<br>
#John Lewis Lund, ''The Church and the Negro: A Discussion of Mormons, Negroes, and the Priesthood'', 45.
}}
* [[../Loaded and prejudicial language|Loaded and prejudicial language]]
* [[../Sarcasm|Sarcasm]]

<!-- ====372====
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title={{check}}
|claim=The book claims that following question has not been adequately answered: "If God has removed the curse that at one time kept Blacks from the priesthood, then why has he not removed the marks of that curse..."
}}
* {{Abanes:One Nation:Racist Questions Unanswered Reply}}
|authorsources=<br>
#{{Abanes:One Nation:Racist Questions Unanswered Source}}
}} -->

<!-- ====372====
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title={{check}}
|claim=The book claims that following question has not been adequately answered: "If some spirits continue to be cursed with black skin because of their unrighteous behavior in the pre-mortal world, then why does that same unrighteous behavior now no longer disqualify them from the priesthood?"
}}
* {{Abanes:One Nation:Racist Questions Unanswered Reply}}
|authorsources=<br>
#{{Abanes:One Nation:Racist Questions Unanswered Source}}
}} -->

<!-- ====372====
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title={{check}}
|claim=The book claims that following question has not been adequately answered: "If black skin is no longer a sign of a special curse, then does that mean white skin is no longer a sign of a special blessing?"
}}
* {{Abanes:One Nation:Racist Questions Unanswered Reply}}
|authorsources=<br>
#{{Abanes:One Nation:Racist Questions Unanswered Source}}
}} -->

<!-- ====372====
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title={{check}}
|claim=The book claims that following question has not been adequately answered: "If a racially mixed couple conceived a child before June 9, 1978, and in so doing sinned by mixing a cursed seed (Black) with an un-cursed seed (White), then after June 9, 1978, were they still guilty of the sin of race-mixing since Blacks were no longer cursed from the priesthood?"
}}
* {{Abanes:One Nation:Racist Questions Unanswered Reply}}
* {{SourceDistortion}}: [[Brigham Young/Race mixing punishable by death|Brigham Young on race mixing]], as mentioned in the entry on p. 361, Brigham Young's remarks were not made in a context of 'marriage,' but in one of sexual exploitation.
*[[Blacks_and_the_priesthood/Repudiated_ideas#Is_interracial_marriage_condemned.3F|Inter-racial marriage a sin?]]
|authorsources=<br>
#{{Abanes:One Nation:Racist Questions Unanswered Source}}
}} -->

{{endnotes sources}}




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