Why did Latter Day Saints teach that Blacks were dark skinned because of their sins?

Question

I thought that we all sin. Are the sins of Blacks considered much worse than the sins of European Americans in LDS?

I know that this is traditional LDS teaching as both of my parents were from "church leader" families but I had to leave the faith because of this racist tradition. I am even a great great great grandson of Brigham Young who through his womanizing past has made me greatly question the morals of the church.

I know that now they allow Blacks to the priesthood but that does not change their racist past.

Now I am a Christian and we have always allowed Blacks to be members in our church.

Answer 1

First off, the slave ships use to carry the african american people all naked and barely fed them, some died of decease ont he way to america, they were chained standing up int he slave ship and so they had to go to the bathroom standing up and the wast products was everywhere around them. If they did not have enough food, they chained some slaves to each other and threw them off the ship to  drown in  th ocean. So where is it a better life???

Cain was the first murderer and his Mark was black skin in the mormon church. I found this to be very racist.

By the way the slave owners condoned slavery by saying that slvery existed int he bible times so it must be OK for their time. Yea right.

Then there is the curse of the indian people from the book of mormon. another act of prejudism.

Answer 2

Joseph Smith made it all up and he was a racist.  You pretty much answered your own question.  I thank God he opened your eyes and brought you out of that cult!

Answer 3

Something's wrong with those Saints, they can't be Christian or anything.

Christ says to Love everyone, so something's definitely wrong there.

Teach them that they're white because they're being hypocritical, proclaiming that they are good because of white skin, yet "clean" on the outside, but dirty on the inside because of their racial views.

Answer 4

You don't consider slavery racist, claim it a good thing for the slaves, and then want to chastize Mormon's for a racist history?  Wonder what the slaves and their descendants would think of that.

To answer your question:

We believe that black skin is the result of a curse placed on Cain.  But just as we do not believe all humans are born with sin because of Adam's transgressions, nor do we believe all blacks are born with sin because of Cain's.  ADD:  To the question about Cain's descendants dying in the flood.  No, through modern revelation, LDS believe that the son of Noah, Ham, married a Caananite woman named Egyptus and that through them the line of Cain was preserved through the flood.  

Did you know Joseph Smith ordained two black men in the priesthood and one was an orginal member of the first Quorum of the Seventy? Did you know the major reason the church members in Missouri were attacked was because they voted as a group and were against slavery, so there was a high possibility that the Mormon voting block would change Missouri from a slave state to a free state.  Did you know LDS churches were never segregated as most other churches in the US were?  http://www.blacklds.org

Answer 5

Hmm...LDS is perfect in every way.

Why do the Blacks always complain about stuff like that?

Answer 6

It had nothing to do with the color of their skin, but their heritage (being descendants of Cain). They were still allowed to be baptized, and to be members of the Church. They were loved and fellowshipped into the Church, and there was no discriminatory bias towards them. The only thing they could not do was receive all of the blessings of the Priesthood. When the revelation was given that people of African heritage could hold the priesthood, it was a cause for great rejoicing in the Church. The many faithful members in Africa who had been members of the Church their whole lives because they knew the truth were finally able to enjoy the full blessings of the Priesthood and temple marriage. The Lord was merciful to them, and lifted their curse.

Let me say again that the decision to withhold the blessings of the priesthood from people of African heritage had absolutely nothing to do with the hateful racist trends that were in America at the time. These people were always welcomed into the Church. Missionaries were sent to Africa to proclaim the word, and these people were always loved and treated with respect. And by the grace and mercy of the Lord, these good people were able to finally enjoy the full blessings of the Church alongside their other brothers; Asian, Indian, and Native alike.

Answer 7

Hahahahahahaha

*ROMFLs at you in the face*

*Makes fun of you*

*Trows herself on the floor and re-reads this and LOLs like crazy*

*Emails this joke (question) to her relief society sisters to make them have a good time*

*Goes to the doctor because the laughs dried her eyes completly and messed up her jaws*

Answer 8

Who and what religions owned slaves before, have you ever seen the movie Amazing Grace? Do you think that all the captains and all of the ships crew were of no faith? Eph 4:5 tells us there is only one true true God(Psalms 83:18), one true faith(Acts 15:14), & only one true Lord, Jesus Christ. John 17:3 tells us what we need to do to get everlasting life. But honestly do you think the kkk are all non believers? The LDS is not the only ones, we need to remember that we are all from Adam who threw his line came Noah, and Noah's 3 sons came the whole human race, Noah probably had more son's after the flood too. 2 Tim 3:1-5 tells us how people are going to be in the last days, and this is in every religion today because of imperfect man. Matt 24:14 tell us what we need to be doing now, who do you see doing this?

I just read one of the answer to your question,"they were the decendants of Cain? Wasn't all Cain desendants drowned in the flood?

Answer 9

Maybe they finally read Numbers 12:10, Genesis Chapter 9:24-7 and then Genesis 10. God did not Curse all dark skinned people as many denominations have taught.  It was Canaan.  Those were the Canaanites, Philistines, Phoenicians, but even they served a purpose in history.

Answer 10

I am afraid a lot of Churches have a racist past.  

Answer 11

Black (dark) skin is genetic, and has nothing to do with sin or lack thereof.

Rumor has it that either Cain or Ham were cursed because of their sin, and the mark put on them because of it was dark skin. It would have been THEIR sin, not the sins of their descendants.  

Answer 12

blacks have always been welcome members of the church. that was actually one of the things that bothered people about the mormons back when the church first started. the teaching that they are sinners is false. (i believe where that idea is derived from is that the catholic church believed that they were from the curse of hamm. 1873: Pope Pius IX Prays that God Remove the Curse of Ham.

Pope Pius IX is concerned about the “wretched Ethiopians in Central Africa.” He prays that “Almighty God may at length remove the curse of Cham [Ham] from their hearts.” God’s curse on Ham is that the Canaanite people would be forever enslaved. Some theologians had long used this Biblical passage to justify enslavement of Africans. (Awake!, October 8, 1977, p. 29) in our church they were withheld the priesthood but not because of these reasons- and with holding of the priesthood of black men, did not deny them membership or positions in the church, or importance. in fact joesph smith taught the exact opposite.

1836: Elijah Abel ( a black man baptized in 1832) Ordained an Elder

In March of 1836, Elijah Abel is ordained to the office of Elder. This is reportedly done by Joseph Smith himself.

1842: Joseph Smith Writes in His Personal Journal that Slaves Should be Set Free

He writes that the slaves owned by Mormons should be brought “into a free country and set …free– Educate them and give them equal rights.” [30 Dec. 1842 Joseph Smith Journal as quoted in Neither White Nor Black, Bush and Mauss (Signature Books, 1984), p. 62]

1842: Smith Writes His Famous Letter about Slavery

“It makes my blood boil.” In speaking of slavery, Smith writes this emotional letter expressing how he feels about slavery.

1843: Joseph Smith Makes Statements about Blacks

Blacks have souls (an item that others didn’t necessarily believe) and that they are a product of their environment. Given an equal environment they would be on the same level as whites.

1844: Joseph Smith Runs for President On an anti-slavery platform.

“[We] hold[s] these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal;…but at the same time some two or three millions of people are held as slaves for life, because the spirit in them is covered with a darker skin than ours.”

Joseph proposes the sale of public lands to pay for the release of every slave and to abolish slavery by 1850.

***there were many members of the church that were black from it's very beginning. they were never segregated like in other churches- and weren't looked down on. they were not forced to sit in certain places away from the "white" people and were treated with the same respect and love as those of all other races. all of this well before even the civil war. just to give some comparison here are what some other churches were doing at the same time.

1841: Baptists Argue that Slavery is Biblical

Southern delegates to the Triennial Convention of the American Baptist Foreign Mission Board “protested the abolitionist agitation and argued that, while slavery was a calamity and a great evil, it was not a sin according to the Bible.” [J.G. Melton, The Encyclopedia of American Religions, Volume I, Triumph Books, (1991), Volume II, Page 5.]

1843: Methodist Ministers are Slaveholders

“In 1843, 1,200 Methodist ministers owned 1,500 slaves, and 25,000 members owned 208,000 slaves…the Methodist Church as a whole remained silent and neutral on the issue of slavery.” (Slavery and Religion in America: A time line 1440 - 1866, at: http://www.ipl.org/ref/timeline/)

1843: New Methodist Splinter Group Forms Over Slavery

Members of the Methodist Episcopal Church leave to form the Wesleyan Methodist Church in America. The split is caused primarily by the slavery issue. The church had reneged on an earlier decision to forbid members to own slaves.

1844: Methodist Church Splits Over Slavery Issue

In 1844 the issue of slavery divides the General conference of the Methodist Church into a northern and a southern branch. You can read about it in this off site article: Methodists and Slavery.

1848: Baptists Split over Slavery

The American Baptist Missionary Union, (now the American Baptist Convention) split over slavery and the Southern Baptist Convention is formed. It remains a separate convention to this day. (One must question if they still disagree on the black segregation or slavery issue since that is why they originally split.)

1851: J.F. Brennan Publishes Book by Josiah Priest titled Bible Defence of Slavery

Brennan claims that Cain’s parents were Eve and the serpent. Unfortunately, this book becomes very influential in “explaining” the black race.

1861: Presbyterian Church Splits Over Slavery Issue

The Presbyterian Church in the United States of America splits and the Presbyterian Church in the Confederate States is formed in the south. They later rename themselves the Presbyterian Church in the United States.

hope that helped clear up any misunderstanding.

Answer 13

I never heard of this and I'm a Christian. I always thought we were our color because of the part of the world that our ancestors were from.

Answer 14

you know i don't really know if their sins are considered worse than a white person, but the disrespect for the fellow man is bad enough. when you believe someone is stupid, bad, or below you because of something they can't change that is horrible and if the religion is implying this it is wrong. religion is to bring you close to god and his love for his creation not farther away.

"It brought them to a better life than that in Africa, gave them a job and purpose, and brought them to Christianity." this statement about slavery is WRONG you don't think they had a job, families, and purpose in Africa.

and

I am glad you got out of the LDS church, but your views on slavery need some research into what actually happened and who slaves were before they were ripped from their society and brought to America to do forced labor.

I think it has been proven that skin color is how much sun the baby's get in the womb over generations and generations. so if people were traveling from Africa in tribes this is how different color people came about. so remember even white people started in Africa.

Answer 15

Simply its another form of institutionalized racism the simplest and easiest way to build the self confidence in any persecuted group is to find another to target and revile.   And as for bringing anyone to Christ by depriving them of the ingrained right to self determination. That is without doubt the oddest argument I've ever heard. The bible says that you are saved by your beliefs not others.

Also how dare you say they were given a purpose by given a job that enriched only their masters? If the life that was enforced on them was so purposeful why did so many attempt to escape the intuition?  

To you the agrarian life they led in their villages might have served no purpose as it was not one you would choose but I am sure anyone not living your life would think the same.

The Africans had the right to believe in any god they choose to just as you have the same right. I don't think you would agree to if anyone tried to enforce their beliefs on you by slavery in order to bring you into their fold this is patently wrong. In closing I ask the question; if you have no problem with slavery would you like to be one?

Answer 16

Every church used to be racist, including yours, I'm sure.

Edit: So you're saying, in your church, blacks and whites always attended services together?

Answer 17

When will black people ever get a break from idiots.

Answer 18

who ever taught this Bullshit is burning in sulphur right this moment.....

DID YOU EVER KNOW THAT THE PERSON WHO TOOK JESUS' DEAD BODY WAS A BLACK MAN??????

This latter Day saint ain't nothing but a bunch of holy rollers****

and what is your motive by the way huh???? looks like you got some traces of racism in you too...you ain't different from them....