Do you know what the immediate cause was of the Latter-day Saints’ being driven out of Independence, Jackson County, Missouri, when they lost hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of property, and some of them forfeited their lives?

It was an editorial published in the LDS newspaper there, THE EVENING AND MORNING STAR, entitles, “Free People of Color,” and an editorial filler in the same dition of the paper, in which the editor noted that, “In connection with the wonderful events of this age, much is doing towards aboloshing slavery, and colonizing the Blacks in America.”

This, remember, was published in the slave state of Missouri bya people alreay being persecuted… In their ultimatum to the Mormons, demanding that they leave or be exterminated, the Mirrourians declared that the Mormons’ policy of allowing the Negro to hold membership in the LDS Church “exhibits them in still more odious colors.”

…

If we as members of the Church are going to pick and choose among the Prophet’s teachings, and say “this one is of God, we can accept it, but this one is of man, we will reject that” then we are undermining the whole structure of our faith…

–Excerpt from the book, Mormonism and the Negro, written by John J. Stewart, and published by Bookcraft in 1960; pages 16-19.

The author also points out that when Joseph Smith ran for President of the United States, he did so on an anti-slavery platform that was extremely unpopular with the general public at the time. You cannot say that Mormonism ever taught that Blacks were ever less than human, just as they do not teach such things about gays now.

Never in the history of the world has the priesthood ever been given to people outside of a certain group; the Levites were the only ones allowed to hold it out of all 12 Tribes of Israel. Was this discrimination? Did God think less of the other groups? Of course not. Today, He has extended the priesthood to all men. Now people from all walks of life can speak authoritatively in the name of God. Homosexuality, on the other hand, goes against every aspect of God’s plan for His children and for this reason I am sure He will not command otherwise.

Hope, however, lies in our turning to Christ:

And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them. (Ether 12: 27)

For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord… (Mosiah 3: 19)

We are all born with desires that are unacceptable to God, but He can help us overcome them if we choose to deny them and accept the atonement of the Savior. Not just homosexuals- everyone.

PS- Sorry this response is waaaay past the statute of limitations on commenting :) I am a late-comer to this blog so I never saw this one!

Repression with the law as a club is repression all the same. If the people of Africa choose to slaughter their millions in a war of attrition, legal though it may be—it does not make it right.

Thanks Danny. I actually posted this post because I was interested in hearing about the subject which was posted. I think zinj is making some assumptions because many of my readers are religious that perhaps I am here to discuss theology.

Sorry Zinj.

I don’t understand why your are talking about the LDS religion. Are you mormon?

It’s clear that bb knows people with SSA exist…her blog doesn’t discuss the morality of homosexuality, but rather the merit and consequences of changing the definition of marriage. So far her blog isn’t advocating for SSA people to die or be forced out of the country. She is simply advocating for a healthy society.

What do you have to say to her claims? (I personally don’t care about the mormons–this is not interesting).
What do you think about homophobia vs. the desire to organize a healthy society?

“Be unafraid of new ideas for they are as steppingstones to progress. You will, of course, respect the opinions of others but be unafraid to dissent–if you are informed…. Only error needs to fear freedom of expression.” – Hugh B. Brown

YOU SAID>>> “not sure why you would want to pick a guilt trip with me.”
I’m not picking on you. I’m expressing my right of free thought. If you want to bury your head in the sand and pretend life is wonderful and that we don’t exist then so be it. I speak from experience here…you do not. You can change your rules of engagement here at this blog and delete us. Many have. It’s messy when things are not clean and tidy. Kind of like the blacks and the priesthood. Truth however perseveres.

YOU SAID>>> “will not lead me to say that homosexuality is healthy and right.”
Homosexuality is not a choice. You can play with that all you want. I know. Your therefore are saying we are an evil creation, a lesser creature than you however a creation of God. So God would create unhealthy and wrong. You passions are superior to our passions. Yours are good. Ours are evil. What arrogance for you to suggest that those of less stature than you somehow are not moral. We have the same commitment to our partners. We vote and pay taxes. We have children. We are family. We are patriotic, serve missions, and play baseball. Such evilness.

YOU SAID>>> “the effort to force moral equivalency”… “efforts they are making to coerce society.”

Moral equality…may I remind you…

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that ALL MEN are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator.

The struggle of this nation from day one has been to FORCE MORAL EQUALITY. This above all else is the founding principle of this nation. One War at a time. One march, one protest, one act of defiance, one color, one gender…..

Have you forgotten these sacred words…
A new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal….testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. ..It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us — that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause…

What UNFINISHED work? It is for US the living to be so dedicated ….the words of Lincoln condemn you as yet another generation of American bigots deprive other Americans of that sacred oath of EQUALITY. There is no coercion here. This is the our rights as outlined by the founding fathers.

…to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it…

Strong words by a bunch of Revolutionaries who did not let a bunch of bigots deny them equality.

YOU SAID>>> “I personally advocate love and tolerance”
Your words and actions condemn you. No one is suggesting that you give up marriage. It is you that deny such a basic human right to those of a lesser creation.

YOU SAID>>> The SSA community has blurred that line to say that if you have an attraction, you *are* gay.”… “(I) advocate love and tolerance for all”
Call it what you want. Define it anyway you want….It is not evil. The expression of a God given passion is not evil. It is no different than your passion. Your arrogance is bigotry. Your words condemn you.

YOU SAID>>>”Would you allow me, in my pain and suffering that is deep and true, to force you to change your deeply held religious beliefs?”
No one is asking you to do anything. This doesn’t effect you. You have it already. We only want what you have. We’re not taking yours away. It about equality and justice. Simple isn’t it. You keep your beliefs. Freedom of Religion. We keep our rights. “All Men are created Equal” Families prosper. All Committed Latter Day Saints can be at peace. Bigotry goes away. Kind of like Blacks and the Priesthood.

YOU SAID>>> “See through the emotion zinj,”
That must mean to look at this in a practical logical way. Let’s see…that means your love is good and right and my love is evil. That logical!! The love is the same. The dedication is the same. The family is at the center of both. Responsibility and Morality at every level is the same. Yours is good and mine is evil. That makes perfect sense!!

Beetle…we will not disappear. Arrogance and bigotry will continue to raise their ugly head. We have a God given right in this inspired nation to diminish inequality and continue the UNFINISHED work. Unenlightened Latter Day Saints will continue by their prejudices to disillusion choice spirits among them. Many find the discontinence devastating and commit suicide. Others like myself find our way with good friends and family. Most do not find a place at the table of the gospel. The leave or hide in the shadows. Your actions here do not bring souls to Christ.

“Marriage is neither a conservative nor a liberal issue; it is a universal human institution, guaranteeing children fathers, and pointing men and women toward a special kind of socially as well as personally fruitful sexual relationship. Gay marriage is the final step down a long road America has already traveled toward deinstitutionalizing, denuding and privatizing marriage. It would set in legal stone some of the most destructive ideas of the sexual revolution: There are no differences between men and women that matter, marriage has nothing to do with procreation, children do not really need mothers and fathers, the diverse family forms adults choose are all equally good for children. What happens in my heart is that I know the difference. Don’t confuse my people, who have been the victims of deliberate family destruction, by giving them another definition of marriage.”

Walter Fauntroy-Former DC Delegate to CongressFounding member of the Congressional Black CaucusCoordinator for Martin Luther King, Jr.’s march on DC

I thought it was very applicable.