Unfortunately, racism—the abhorrent and morally destructive theory that claims superiority of one person over another by reason of race, color, ethnicity, or cultural background—remains one of the abiding sins of societies the world over. The cause of much of the strife and conflict in the world, racism is an offense against God and a tool …
Tag Archives: Jesus
(Page 5)Brigham Young on Apostates
Brigham Young was the second leader of the Mormon church. He wanted no dissension among the ranks and taught that members who openly disagree with church leaders are cursed. He said that any who reject Mormon doctrine or the absolute authority of the church leaders are apostates. He shared what he thinks of an apostate. …
President Nelson Embellishing Stories to Promote Faith – Armed Robbery and Faulty Gun to His Head
Russel M. Nelson and his second wife, Wendy, were involved in an altercation in Mozambique, Africa while visiting the mission home in 2009. The mission home is alarmingly robbed by assailants. When first reported there is nothing involving criminals targeting church leaders. The only injuries mentioned in the reports were the Mission President’s wife having …
Elijah Able, Early Black Mormon Received Priesthood via Joseph Smith
Elijah Abel was an early African American member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, commonly known as the Mormon Church. He is notable for being one of the few black individuals ordained to the priesthood before the church implemented a policy that restricted black men of African descent from receiving the priesthood. …
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Lyndon Lamborn Was a Mormon, an Ex-Mormon Profile Spotlight
Lyndon Lamborn served well in the church. But as he served he found himself examining the beliefs he was taught and found some issues that seemed not to add up. This troubled him, but he continued on until he reached a tipping point he describes perfectly: “The desire to know the truth at whatever cost …
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Where Does Mormon Tithing Go? Read the Fine Print
The short answer is we don’t know. We can’t know where tithing goes for sure because the church doesn’t and won’t share that information. This is despite the fact that church president Gordon B Hinckley stated when asked why the church wasn’t transparent as is required in many countries. He said that that information belongs …
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Mormon Leadership Dismisses Racist Doctrines as Folklore
!["One clear-cut position is that the folklore must never be perpetuated. I have to concede to my earlier colleagues. They, I'm sure, in their own way, were doing the best they knew to give shape to [the policy], to give context for it, to give even history to it. All I can say is however well intended the explanations were, I think almost all of them were inadequate and/or wrong." - PBS: The Mormons. Elder Jeffrey R Holland Interview, March 4, 2006 | wasmormon.org](https://i0.wp.com/wasmormon.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Holland-PBS-Interview-2006-01-the-folklore-must-never-be-perpetuated-well-intended-almost-all-inadequate-wrong.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1)
Not only does the church dismiss the previous racist doctrines of the church in today’s church essays, but the church publications and leaders also do the same. From the mid-1800s, the Church did not ordain men of black African descent to the priesthood or allow black men or women to participate in temple endowment or …
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Mormon Excuses for Zero Financial Transparency
The Mormon church is famously secretive (or confidential) with it’s financial disclosures. They say as little as possible about it and are even known to hide money from the IRS and SEC in filing the required tax forms illegally. They’ve been busted by a whistleblower recently and the SEC came looking – they were able …
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1969 Official First Presidency Statement on the Doctrines of Banning Blacks from the Priesthood
Just as the statement from the First Presidency in 1949, there was another statement issued in 1969 regarding the stance of the church on denying the priesthood to any black member of the church. In 1949, the First Presidency consisted of George Albert Smith, J Reuben Clark & David O McKay. In 1969, the presidency …
Byron Marchant, Accused Dissident, Unjustifiably Excommunicated for Opposing Priesthood Ban in 1977
Among the first votes of dissent in the modern Mormon church occurred in 1977, in opposition to the church doctrine banning blacks from any priesthood ordination and temple endowment. A member voted opposed to sustaining church leadership in General Conference 1977 and was subsequently excommunicated. Then less than 1 year later the church downgraded the …
Elder Oaks Claims Apostolic Duty to Sacrifice Anything That Makes The Church Look Bad
The authors of the fascinating book about Emma Smith, Mormon Enigma were reprimanded for publishing it. They weren’t excommunicated, but they were forbidden to speak in meetings and firesides. Elder Oaks spoke with Linda Newell (one of the authors of Mormon Enigma) as she recounted in her talk at the 1992 Pacific Northwest Sunstone Symposium called “The …
Authoritative Statement by the LDS Church on the Doctrine of Blacks in 1949
We have seen through the racist statements of Brigham Young when he announced banning the priesthood to those of African descent, or blacks that this was considered doctrine of the church. It was taught as doctrine and understood as doctrine. We also see it in the Lowry Nelson exchange with the First Presidency in 1947 …
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Elder Anderson claims “We Are Not a Wealthy People”
Elder Andersen met with the leaders of Zimbabwe and he said the significance of the meeting with Vice President Mohadi was to “express to him our desire to help improve Zimbabwe.” He noted that Vice President Mohadi had made a specific request for support with the development of clean-water wells in more remote areas of …
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Mormon Church Whitewashes Racist History in Essay
!["In two speeches delivered before the Utah territorial legislature in January and February 1852, Brigham Young announced a policy restricting men of black African descent from priesthood ordination. At the same time, President Young said that at some future day, black Church members would “have [all] the privilege and more” enjoyed by other members." - Race and the Priesthood, LDS Church Gospel Topic Essay | wasmormon.org](https://i0.wp.com/wasmormon.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Misleading-quotes-in-Race-and-the-Priesthood-LDS-Gospel-Topic-Essay.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1)
The LDS Church had a longstanding policy that restricted men of African descent from holding the priesthood, which is the authority to act in God’s name, and even entering the temple, where members make holy covenants with God. This policy was based on teachings and interpretations that linked African lineage to the biblical story of …
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Mormon Church Relatively Meager Humanitarian Efforts
The church brags about how much they give and donate to humanitarian efforts and welfare. But on the other hand, they do their best to hide how much they don’t give. They have hundreds of billions of dollars siphoned from tithing donations, which they invest and use to purchase real estate and operate their for-profit …
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Brigham Young’s Racist Remarks on Slaves, Seed, and Priesthood Doctrines
The church claims in their Gospel Topic Essay on Race and the Priesthood that Brigham Young announced the “policy” to deny priesthood to blacks and that he also said that “at some future day, black Church members would “have [all] the privilege and more” enjoyed by other members”. This is incredibly misleading. They want to …
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Would You Want to Know If The Church Isn’t True?
It has been stated that if the church is true, it’s arguably the most important thing to know about in the world. It’s the most important news we can share with anyone in the universe. Eternal salvation is at stake. The truth should be trumpeted from the rooftops! Wherever you have come from, shout it …
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Questioning The Infallible Thinking of Mormon Leaders
In 1945 the Improvement Era shared the now-ingrained Mormon mantra “When our leaders speak, the thinking has been done“. J Raymond Cope In response to this message, a Christian minister was troubled by what control the Mormon church leaders had on the people of Utah. He was not a Mormon, but a Unitarian minister in Salt …
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When Church Leaders Speak, Has Any Thinking Been Done
In 1945, the LDS magazine Improvement Era stated: “When our leaders speak, the thinking has been done. … To think otherwise, without immediate repentance, may cost one his faith, may destroy his testimony, and leave him a stranger to the kingdom of God.” This wasn’t just a random article, it was the teaching message for …
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The Anachronistic Olive Tree Allegory from Zenos in Jacob 5
Jacob 5 is a story about an orchard of Olive Trees and a servant who grafts branches from wild trees to tame trees and vice versa all according to the commands from the Lord of the Vineyard. The allegory represents the past, and future history of the House of Israel. It discusses the scattering of Israel before …
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Why Latter-day Saint Leaders Support the Respect for Marriage Act
Recently the US passed an act called The Respect for Marriage Act. This act requires the U.S. federal government and all U.S. states and territories to recognize the validity of same-sex and interracial civil marriages. It also protects religious liberty. Almost surprisingly, Latter-day Saint leaders supported the act. Support is a Dramatic Reversal Taylor Petrey, …
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Mormon Excommunication For Change – The September Six and More
The September Six were a group of six members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) who were excommunicated or disfellowshipped in September 1993 for their intellectual and historical pursuits that were deemed contrary to the teachings and doctrines of the Church. The six members were: The excommunications and disfellowshippings of …
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Defiant Apologists Challenge the New Seer Stone Narrative
The Mormon church is shifting the narrative surrounding the Book of Mormon translation lately by admitting that Joseph used a rock in his hat as a main translation method. This narrative shift has put some apologists in an awkward position. The Joseph Smith Foundation apologist group has published a book discussing Joseph Smith’s use of …
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Thoughts and Prayers
In his lazy learners and lax disciples talk at the April 2021 General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, church President Russell M Nelson emphasized the importance of developing faith in Jesus Christ through intentional effort and action. He refers to doubters as “lazy learners and lax disciples” and blames them …
Whistleblower News Prompts Vacant Responses from LDS Corp
The popular news program 60 Minutes released a segment on its program discussing the obscene wealth of the church and the whistleblower complaint filed by David Nielsen. His complaint alleges that the Mormon Church claims to behave as a non-profit charity, but in reality, is a for-profit corporation pursuing investments and investments. The church never …
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60 Minutes Transcript: Whistleblower David Nielsen Speaks Out After Reporting the Mormon Church to IRS in 2019
The show 60 Minutes broadcast a segment about the Mormon Billions. Sharyn Alfonsi follows up with whistleblower David Nielsen who resigned from his position at Ensign Peak Advisors and wrote the whistleblower report in 2019. Since then, the Mormon church has been fined 5 million dollars by the SEC for illegal filing practices, but Nielsen …
Timeline of the First Vision Story and Development
The First Vision is a foundational event in the history and theology of the Church. It refers to an experience Joseph Smith claimed to have had as a young man. In the spring of 1820, he seeks guidance and religious truth. In later accounts, he described going into a grove of trees and praying to …
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More Momon Thoughts on Evolution
Alongside statements from previous church president Joseph Fielding Smith that if evolution is true, the church is false and current church president Russell M Nelson that he finds evolution unbelievable because “Man has always been Man,” “it’s just the way genetics works,” we have other leaders offering their “inspired” views on evolution. Can we dismiss …
The Strange Hidden First Vision Account of 1832
There are multiple accounts of Joseph Smith’s “first vision”. This is a fact and today the church admits it. The church wants to dismiss these different accounts though by claiming that they really aren’t different because they tell the same consistent story. The details are in fact very different though. The earliest version of this …
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Why the Mormon Church Hid Billions of Dollars of Investments?
The Mormon church was recently charged with fraud and reached a settlement with the SEC agreeing to pay five million dollars. Their chief infraction was failing to properly file and misstating in filings they did submit about the church investments with the church-owned investment company Ensign Peak Advisors. The fraud reached all the way to …
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