Race, Mormonism, and the 2012 Presidential Election
The Presidential Election is less than two weeks away--the campaign has been a long, hard road--vicious and nasty, too. It seemed to uncover some unhealed wounds, making them ooze and run even though many either thought or (falsely and knowingly) insisted they were completely healed. Race in America is a tough nut to crack. It looms largely over us--even Christians, and we just won't have an open dialogue about it; instead, we deny that it is a factor in our elective process and our relationships with one another. However, it clearly IS a real factor. The proof is most evident on Sunday morning when most of us gather (Christians, that is) for worship--blacks in predominately black churches with one style and flavor of worship; caucasians with another; latinos with yet another, and the list goes on. We could argue for language barriers with many, but not among African-Americans and Whites. It is a choice to be separate. In fact, around the turn of the century, at Azuza (the great Pentecostal Revival), color barriers were dissolved just as at the original Pentecost (where it became established that this new entity Christ-ianity was for "ALL"), and what was unheard of at that time in history--blacks and whites worshipping together occurred openly and freely. "African-Americans, Latinos, whites, and others prayed and sang together,
creating a dimension of spiritual unity and equality, almost
unprecedented for the time. It allowed men, women, and children to
celebrate their unity in Christ and participate as led by the Spirit.
Indeed, so unusual was the mixture of blacks and whites, that Bartleman
enthusiastically exclaimed, 'The color line was washed away in the
blood'." (Bartleman, Frank. Azusa Street)
Still, it didn't take long for racism to bring division among the Pentecostal believers, too. Out of this body of unified believers, we now have many denominations thanks to racism, and many other issues--none of which should divide us, since Christ prayed, "That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me." (John 17:21).
With our Christian divisiveness, we gladly carry it and nurture it wherever we go, and we rationalize it, too. For many years in our nation, racism thrived in all of its heinous acts, because supposedly God-fearing men made the claim that separation of the races was according to Scripture. We can twist God's Word to make it say anything we desire--and if we do not study His Word, we will fall victim to the untruths spouted by those who seem to know His Word (John 5:39). That's what Jesus meant when He said, "Beware of false prophets, who come to you dressed as sheep, but inside they are devouring wolves." (Matthew 7:15). Too many of us have a personal agenda that suits our own desires, prejudices and weaknesses; and we don't have a problem using God's Holy Word to make our agenda palatable to those who would not follow otherwise. Hatred and racism became acceptable by skillfully perverting the Old Covenant of Mosaic Law--which was finished at Calvary. It was temporary--only meant for a season, to be our "schoolmaster" until Jesus came to break the bonds of sins power over mankind once and for all time. We are no longer subject to the Law, its rules and points--but to a New Commandment in Christ Jesus, which embodies and encompasses every law and point of the Old Covenant summed up into two laws and one word.
"Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
This is the first and great commandment.
And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets." [Matthew 22:37-40]
And, the one word: LOVE. That isn't a very popular concept in our time. It wasn't when Jesus spoke the words, originally, either. In fact, the environment was very much like the one we find ourselves in, in many ways. Many, (the Pharisees, and scribes) desired to keep God's people bound by harsh rules and laws--ceremonial rituals of purification, dietary laws, etc. To them, many were deemed "untouchable" or "unclean"--there was indeed a caste system in place, in Jesus' day. He took every opportunity to tear down those walls. He taught against pride, greed, selfishness, and for compassion, love, giving (to those who have the greatest need), embracing sinners (but not sin) because He came to save those that are lost saying, "But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." [Matthew 9:13]. God desires that we give mercy [Matthew 5:7], but we continue to offer the outward ritual of sacrifice. We are so focused on what men see that we have failed to execute the things of the heart--that God desires of us. We have missed the boat--greatly. "“How terrible for you, teachers of the Law and Pharisees! You hypocrites! You give to God one tenth even of the seasoning herbs, such as mint, dill, and cumin, but you neglect to obey the really important teachings of the Law, such as justice and mercy and honesty. These you should practice, without neglecting the others." [Matthew 23:23, GNT]
Is it getting clearer??? There is no way to please God, and leave your brother/neighbor destitute. You might want to ask, "And who is my neighbor?" Jesus was asked that question, too. Hear His response:
"Jesus replied, “A man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho. He encountered thieves, who stripped him naked, beat him up, and left him near death. Now it just so happened that a priest was also going down the same road. When he saw the injured man, he crossed over to the other side of the road and went on his way. Likewise, a Levite came by that spot, saw the injured man, and crossed over to the other side of the road and went on his way. A Samaritan, who was on a journey, came to where the man was. But when he saw him, he was moved with compassion. The Samaritan went to him and bandaged his wounds, tending them with oil and wine. Then he placed the wounded man on his own donkey, took him to an inn, and took care of him. The next day, he took two full days’ worth of wages and gave them to the innkeeper. He said, ‘Take care of him, and when I return, I will pay you back for any additional costs.’ What do you think? Which one of these three was a neighbor to the man who encountered thieves?”
Then the legal expert said, “The one who demonstrated mercy toward him.”
Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.” [Luke 10:30-37, CEB]
How does that or any of the words and instructions of Jesus line up with our particular political agenda? To call ourselves Christians means that we accept and adhere to the teachings of Jesus Christ, not the Mosaic Law, or any other code that we come up with. If our agenda leaves out mercy toward sinners, care for "the least of these", compassion for the weak, sick and needy then it is not a Christian agenda. It is not godly, either. God gave us Jesus to usher us into a New dispensation of GRACE, that is marked by, not laws and rules--"an eye for an eye" but love, compassion, grace, mercy and peace, all made possible by the sacrifice of Jesus' shed blood on the Cross at Calvary. We are to share that Gospel Message with the world (mercifully, compassionately, with kindness, love and grace), not just those we like, or those like us, or those we choose to feel pity for, but everyone, including homosexual's, lesbians, abortionists, Muslim extremists and those who hate us. We must love even our enemies. We don't get to call ourselves Christians and spew hate-filled venom at anyone, because God loves every sinner--in fact, He sent His Son to die for them. Remember, "Don’t you realize that this is not the way to live? Unjust people who don’t care about God will not be joining in his kingdom. Those who use and abuse each other, use and abuse sex, use and abuse the earth and everything in it, don’t qualify as citizens in God’s kingdom. A number of you know from experience what I’m talking about, for not so long ago you were on that list. Since then, you’ve been cleaned up and given a fresh start by Jesus, our Master, our Messiah, and by our God present in us, the Spirit." [1 Corinthians 6:9-10, The Message]. Presenting the Gospel (or Good News) should be easy and welcome for us, since we have been so graciously redeemed; somehow, though, our presentation of the Gospel is not Good News, but fear-laden, hateful, angry rhetoric. That is not the Gospel. The Gospel is peace, it is righteousness and it brings joy.
We have become so hateful, and so racist in promoting our own fallacious agenda that we will support a presidential candidate that is anti-everything we believe. We will reject the man who professes Christianity, insisting that he is a Muslim, no matter how many times he states that he is not. Even if he had been raised as such (and I don't believe that he was), couldn't he have experienced a conversion just as much as you or I? How pharisaical is it to insist that someone who professes Christianity is not one? How do we get to decide what lies within someone's heart? 1 Samuel 16:7 says: "But the Lord said to Samuel, 'Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.'” (ESV) We can get so caught up in the things that are pleasant and acceptable to our own perceptions, feelings, and yes, flesh that we forget that God sees beyond barriers of color, heritage, even sins and mistakes to the heart--that although it may not be perfect, (it fails, just like David, the man "after God's own heart") a heart that has compassion for people is still leaps and bounds beyond one that is filled with greed and willing to "pass by on the other side".
Bottom line, there are many things about having a president who is a Mormon that concerns me. Mormonism is a cult--like it or not; Christians (many) want to ignore that fact to support the current GOP candidate. To me, it's like supporting David Koresh, Jim Jones or Reverend Sun Myung Moon because they are Republican candidates--and they oppose the current president, who must be defeated, at all costs. In researching Mormonism, I remembered a little about its racist history and I sought dates and came across this information--from its own sources:
All (white) males receive the priesthood at age 12, in the Mormon church. I do not know if black males, even today, receive this rite of passage at age 12, or if their priesthood happens at some later time as the quote above indicates.
As Christians, we should be very concerned about politically supporting someone who by nature of his religion/cult must use whatever influence he has to propagate Mormonism (in all of its dangers) and insure that it becomes prolific, growing and abounding not only in America, but around the world. Some very anti-Christian ideologies of Mormonism are:
The deity of man ("God himself, the Father of us all, is a glorified, exalted immortal resurrected man!" (Bruce McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, pp. 322-23, 517, 643)
"...God himself was once as we are now and is an exalted man and sits enthroned in yonder heavens..." (Journal of Discourses, V6, P3, 1844)
"As man is, God once was: as God is, man may become." (Lorenzo Snow, quoted in Milton R. Hunter, the Gospel Through the Ages, pp. 105-106)
The denial of the Deity of Jesus Christ
Acceptance of multiple authorities (beyond the Word of God) The Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith's writings are also authoritative. In fact, Joseph Smith taught his people to doubt the accuracy of the Bible: "...it was apparent that many important points touching the salvation of men, had been taken from the Bible, or lost before it was compiled." (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 10)
Polygamy supported While it is reported that it is no longer practiced, supported or believed in, the writings of Mormonism say otherwise: "...if any man espouse a virgin, and desire to espouse another, and the first give her consent, and if he espouse the second, and they are virgins, and have vowed to no other man, then he is justified; he cannot commit adultery...And if he have ten virgins given unto him by this law, he cannot commit adultery." (Doctrines and Covenants, 132:61, 62)"
Mormonism rejects every other denomination as false "The Mormon book, The Pearl of Great Price, claims that all other Christian groups are "corrupt" and are an "abomination" in God's sight (Joseph Smith, 2:19)."
More Anti-Christian Beliefs Polytheism (many gods), baptism for the dead, and the notion that Jesus and Satan were originally spirit brothers and "In The Articles of Faith, by James Talmage, justification by faith in Jesus Christ is called a "pernicious doctrine" twice and he states that it has been "an influence for evil." (pp. 107, 480) Bruce McConkie once stated at Brigham Young University that a personal relationship with Jesus Christ is "improper and perilous" (Church News, March 20, 1982, p. 5)".
It seems to me, those of us who are Christians should be seeing some bright red flags right about now. It will take some honest heart examination, prayer and reflection to make a decision that is truly righteous, spiritually, and not self-righteous.
Jesus said, "Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit.
Still, it didn't take long for racism to bring division among the Pentecostal believers, too. Out of this body of unified believers, we now have many denominations thanks to racism, and many other issues--none of which should divide us, since Christ prayed, "That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me." (John 17:21).
With our Christian divisiveness, we gladly carry it and nurture it wherever we go, and we rationalize it, too. For many years in our nation, racism thrived in all of its heinous acts, because supposedly God-fearing men made the claim that separation of the races was according to Scripture. We can twist God's Word to make it say anything we desire--and if we do not study His Word, we will fall victim to the untruths spouted by those who seem to know His Word (John 5:39). That's what Jesus meant when He said, "Beware of false prophets, who come to you dressed as sheep, but inside they are devouring wolves." (Matthew 7:15). Too many of us have a personal agenda that suits our own desires, prejudices and weaknesses; and we don't have a problem using God's Holy Word to make our agenda palatable to those who would not follow otherwise. Hatred and racism became acceptable by skillfully perverting the Old Covenant of Mosaic Law--which was finished at Calvary. It was temporary--only meant for a season, to be our "schoolmaster" until Jesus came to break the bonds of sins power over mankind once and for all time. We are no longer subject to the Law, its rules and points--but to a New Commandment in Christ Jesus, which embodies and encompasses every law and point of the Old Covenant summed up into two laws and one word.
"Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
This is the first and great commandment.
And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets." [Matthew 22:37-40]
And, the one word: LOVE. That isn't a very popular concept in our time. It wasn't when Jesus spoke the words, originally, either. In fact, the environment was very much like the one we find ourselves in, in many ways. Many, (the Pharisees, and scribes) desired to keep God's people bound by harsh rules and laws--ceremonial rituals of purification, dietary laws, etc. To them, many were deemed "untouchable" or "unclean"--there was indeed a caste system in place, in Jesus' day. He took every opportunity to tear down those walls. He taught against pride, greed, selfishness, and for compassion, love, giving (to those who have the greatest need), embracing sinners (but not sin) because He came to save those that are lost saying, "But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." [Matthew 9:13]. God desires that we give mercy [Matthew 5:7], but we continue to offer the outward ritual of sacrifice. We are so focused on what men see that we have failed to execute the things of the heart--that God desires of us. We have missed the boat--greatly. "“How terrible for you, teachers of the Law and Pharisees! You hypocrites! You give to God one tenth even of the seasoning herbs, such as mint, dill, and cumin, but you neglect to obey the really important teachings of the Law, such as justice and mercy and honesty. These you should practice, without neglecting the others." [Matthew 23:23, GNT]
Is it getting clearer??? There is no way to please God, and leave your brother/neighbor destitute. You might want to ask, "And who is my neighbor?" Jesus was asked that question, too. Hear His response:
"Jesus replied, “A man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho. He encountered thieves, who stripped him naked, beat him up, and left him near death. Now it just so happened that a priest was also going down the same road. When he saw the injured man, he crossed over to the other side of the road and went on his way. Likewise, a Levite came by that spot, saw the injured man, and crossed over to the other side of the road and went on his way. A Samaritan, who was on a journey, came to where the man was. But when he saw him, he was moved with compassion. The Samaritan went to him and bandaged his wounds, tending them with oil and wine. Then he placed the wounded man on his own donkey, took him to an inn, and took care of him. The next day, he took two full days’ worth of wages and gave them to the innkeeper. He said, ‘Take care of him, and when I return, I will pay you back for any additional costs.’ What do you think? Which one of these three was a neighbor to the man who encountered thieves?”
Then the legal expert said, “The one who demonstrated mercy toward him.”
Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.” [Luke 10:30-37, CEB]
How does that or any of the words and instructions of Jesus line up with our particular political agenda? To call ourselves Christians means that we accept and adhere to the teachings of Jesus Christ, not the Mosaic Law, or any other code that we come up with. If our agenda leaves out mercy toward sinners, care for "the least of these", compassion for the weak, sick and needy then it is not a Christian agenda. It is not godly, either. God gave us Jesus to usher us into a New dispensation of GRACE, that is marked by, not laws and rules--"an eye for an eye" but love, compassion, grace, mercy and peace, all made possible by the sacrifice of Jesus' shed blood on the Cross at Calvary. We are to share that Gospel Message with the world (mercifully, compassionately, with kindness, love and grace), not just those we like, or those like us, or those we choose to feel pity for, but everyone, including homosexual's, lesbians, abortionists, Muslim extremists and those who hate us. We must love even our enemies. We don't get to call ourselves Christians and spew hate-filled venom at anyone, because God loves every sinner--in fact, He sent His Son to die for them. Remember, "Don’t you realize that this is not the way to live? Unjust people who don’t care about God will not be joining in his kingdom. Those who use and abuse each other, use and abuse sex, use and abuse the earth and everything in it, don’t qualify as citizens in God’s kingdom. A number of you know from experience what I’m talking about, for not so long ago you were on that list. Since then, you’ve been cleaned up and given a fresh start by Jesus, our Master, our Messiah, and by our God present in us, the Spirit." [1 Corinthians 6:9-10, The Message]. Presenting the Gospel (or Good News) should be easy and welcome for us, since we have been so graciously redeemed; somehow, though, our presentation of the Gospel is not Good News, but fear-laden, hateful, angry rhetoric. That is not the Gospel. The Gospel is peace, it is righteousness and it brings joy.
We have become so hateful, and so racist in promoting our own fallacious agenda that we will support a presidential candidate that is anti-everything we believe. We will reject the man who professes Christianity, insisting that he is a Muslim, no matter how many times he states that he is not. Even if he had been raised as such (and I don't believe that he was), couldn't he have experienced a conversion just as much as you or I? How pharisaical is it to insist that someone who professes Christianity is not one? How do we get to decide what lies within someone's heart? 1 Samuel 16:7 says: "But the Lord said to Samuel, 'Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.'” (ESV) We can get so caught up in the things that are pleasant and acceptable to our own perceptions, feelings, and yes, flesh that we forget that God sees beyond barriers of color, heritage, even sins and mistakes to the heart--that although it may not be perfect, (it fails, just like David, the man "after God's own heart") a heart that has compassion for people is still leaps and bounds beyond one that is filled with greed and willing to "pass by on the other side".
Bottom line, there are many things about having a president who is a Mormon that concerns me. Mormonism is a cult--like it or not; Christians (many) want to ignore that fact to support the current GOP candidate. To me, it's like supporting David Koresh, Jim Jones or Reverend Sun Myung Moon because they are Republican candidates--and they oppose the current president, who must be defeated, at all costs. In researching Mormonism, I remembered a little about its racist history and I sought dates and came across this information--from its own sources:
- "At the time the devil was cast out of heaven, there were some spirits that did not know who had authority, whether God or the devil. They consequently did not take a very active part on either side, but rather thought the devil had been abused, and considered he had rather the best claim to the government. These spirits were not considered bad enough to be cast down to hell, and never have bodies; neither were they considered worthy of an honorable body on this earth." (A speech by Elder Orson Hyde, delivered before the High Priests' Quorum, in Nauvoo, April 27th, 1845, printed in Liverpool, p. 30).
- "The very fact that God would allow those spirits who were less worthy in the spirit world to partake of a mortal body at all is further evidence of his mercy," (Mormonism and the Negro, part I, p. 48-50).
- "It is the Mormon belief that in our pre-mortal state there were a large number of individuals who, due to some act or behavior of their own in the pre-existence, forfeited the right to hold the Priesthood during their mortal lives...the Negro is thus denied the Priesthood because of his own behavior in the pre-existence," (The Church and the Negro, p. 42-43).
- "As a result of his rebellion, Cain was cursed and told that "the earth" would not thereafter yield him its abundance as previously. In addition he became the first mortal to be cursed as a son of perdition...The Lord placed on Cain a mark of a dark skin, and he became the ancestor of the black race. (Moses 5; Gen. 4; Teachings, p. 169)." (Mormon Doctrine, by Bruce McConkie, p. 109.)
- "Shall
I tell you the law of God in regard to the African race? If the white
man who belongs to the chosen seed mixes his blood with the seed of
Cain, the penalty, under the law of God, is death on the spot. This will
always be so." (Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, vol. 10, p. 110).
The reader should be reminded that Brigham Young, the second prophet of the Mormon church said that whatever he preached was as good as scripture (Journal of Discourses, vol. 13, p. 95, 264). - "...the church went to court on several occasions to block Negroes from moving into the San Francisco neighborhood in which the headquarters was located," (The Christian Century, Sept. 29, 1965, p. 1184).
All (white) males receive the priesthood at age 12, in the Mormon church. I do not know if black males, even today, receive this rite of passage at age 12, or if their priesthood happens at some later time as the quote above indicates.
As Christians, we should be very concerned about politically supporting someone who by nature of his religion/cult must use whatever influence he has to propagate Mormonism (in all of its dangers) and insure that it becomes prolific, growing and abounding not only in America, but around the world. Some very anti-Christian ideologies of Mormonism are:
The deity of man ("God himself, the Father of us all, is a glorified, exalted immortal resurrected man!" (Bruce McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, pp. 322-23, 517, 643)
"...God himself was once as we are now and is an exalted man and sits enthroned in yonder heavens..." (Journal of Discourses, V6, P3, 1844)
"As man is, God once was: as God is, man may become." (Lorenzo Snow, quoted in Milton R. Hunter, the Gospel Through the Ages, pp. 105-106)
The denial of the Deity of Jesus Christ
Acceptance of multiple authorities (beyond the Word of God) The Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith's writings are also authoritative. In fact, Joseph Smith taught his people to doubt the accuracy of the Bible: "...it was apparent that many important points touching the salvation of men, had been taken from the Bible, or lost before it was compiled." (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 10)
Polygamy supported While it is reported that it is no longer practiced, supported or believed in, the writings of Mormonism say otherwise: "...if any man espouse a virgin, and desire to espouse another, and the first give her consent, and if he espouse the second, and they are virgins, and have vowed to no other man, then he is justified; he cannot commit adultery...And if he have ten virgins given unto him by this law, he cannot commit adultery." (Doctrines and Covenants, 132:61, 62)"
Mormonism rejects every other denomination as false "The Mormon book, The Pearl of Great Price, claims that all other Christian groups are "corrupt" and are an "abomination" in God's sight (Joseph Smith, 2:19)."
More Anti-Christian Beliefs Polytheism (many gods), baptism for the dead, and the notion that Jesus and Satan were originally spirit brothers and "In The Articles of Faith, by James Talmage, justification by faith in Jesus Christ is called a "pernicious doctrine" twice and he states that it has been "an influence for evil." (pp. 107, 480) Bruce McConkie once stated at Brigham Young University that a personal relationship with Jesus Christ is "improper and perilous" (Church News, March 20, 1982, p. 5)".
It seems to me, those of us who are Christians should be seeing some bright red flags right about now. It will take some honest heart examination, prayer and reflection to make a decision that is truly righteous, spiritually, and not self-righteous.
Jesus said, "Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit.
O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.
A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things." [Matthew 12:33-35, KJV]
Decisions, decisions....
A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things." [Matthew 12:33-35, KJV]
Decisions, decisions....
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