If you follow the LDS Church in the media, you may have heard a number of myths:

Blacks can’t be Mormons.

Blacks can’t participate in the Mormon priesthood.

Mormons are all racist.

Some are true. Some were true. Some are quite false.

Fair LDS has a great explanation of the history of the black race in the Mormon Church.

It’s true that Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) wouldn’t allow black members to join the priesthood. But that’s no longer the policy. The original policy, enacted by Brigham Young in 1852, was based on Biblical passages. The Church used those passages to claim that God had set aside the lineage of Cain (yes, Cain and Abel) as a cursed race — purportedly the black race.

Eventually the Church admitted that there is no such cursed lineage in the Bible – just cursed individuals, like Cain himself. The Bible does mention that Cain’s lineage became black, but it doesn’t say why. And it’s certainly not directly connected to Cain’s behavior. The Church reversed its  policies in 1978 under then-president Spencer Kimball.

The author of the Fair LDS article explains that keeping blacks out of the priesthood was, quite simply, racist and unnecessary. It would be wrong to generalize and claim that all Mormons are racist. In fact, founder Joseph Smith did not see reason to keep any specific races out of the priesthood.

Unsatisfied? Still think Mormons are racist as a group? Check out the Q&A section of the article for the Fair LDS response. It’s really quite interesting. It doesn’t excuse it. But it explains it away.

Want more? Their store has a DVD documentary about black Mormons.

Learn more about Mormons on Religion Transcends.

Copyright 2009, Religion Transcends.com

Filed under: Mormonism, Religion and Ethics, Sects | No Comments »

The following overview of the Society of Friends was written by Religion Transcends writer Jackie Walker for the Spring 2009 issue of Relate magazine. Relate’s mission is to inspire teen girls to pursue their dreams with confidence and to teach them to be an example for others in their speech, life, love, faith and purity. Religion overviews may have Christian overtones to make the content relatable for the Christian teen audience.

What would it be like to be the president’s daughter? What would you wear? Who would you meet? What would your school look like?

If you’re President Barack Obama’s daughters, you enter the classroom with secret servicemen at your side. Your family pays $30,000 a year for your school tuition. Your classmates have been warned not to talk to the newspapers. And even though you’re not a “Quaker,” your school is founded on the Quaker religion.

Here’s what you would need to know about Quakers and Quaker education if you were the president’s daughter.

Fact file

Name: “Quakers” is a nickname for the Religious Society of Friends. The group gained the nickname when its founder told a government official to quake upon hearing the name of God.

Numbers: 210,000 worldwide

Founder: George Fox (1624-1691)

History: Fox wasn’t satisfied with the churches around him in England.  Feeling God spoke to his heart when his heart was ready to listen, he decided people needed to listen to Jesus on their own.  After challenging churches and the government with his ideals, he was imprisoned eight times; over 6,000 of his followers were also jailed. Things were not any easier when the Quakers came to America in 1656. They were persecuted and some were killed until William Penn (founder of Pennsylvania) became a follower and showed people that Quakers wanted peace.

Main beliefs: Quakers don’t follow a set of beliefs. Instead, each person is supposed to follow her “Inner Light” or her own understanding of what God wants. This means many Quakers believe different ideas – but they all agree that Jesus is the most important belief. Therefore, many Quakers identify themselves as Christians.

Worship: Each week, Quakers gather for a worship meeting. It’s simple: Anytime two or three people meet in the name of Jesus, that’s considered worship (see Matthew 18: 20). There are no rules, no schedule, and no priests or pastors. Instead, Quakers believe each person can be moved by God to figure out what’s true and good. During a service, they sit in silence for an hour, waiting to be moved by God to speak (ready to listen, like Fox). If moved, a Quaker may speak to the whole group, either reading Scripture, praying, or talking about an experience or idea. As you can imagine, sitting in silence for an hour became a problem for some people over the years. In 1827-1828, a major separation of the Quakers took place. Some groups of Quakers began meeting in giant buildings with pastors, singing, and schedules. Others continued to hold meetings in small buildings with no leader and simple silence. The divide remains today.

Dress: In the past, Quakers wore “plain dress” or simple clothing that would not take attention away from God. Most people stopped wearing plain dress in the 20th century and today most Quakers dress like everyone else.

Peace: Quakers stand against war, injustice, racism, and all forms of violence. Instead they seek harmony, peace, justice, diversity, and equality for all people. After all, if all people have the “Inner Light” of God within them, it would be wrong to hurt people. This idea has led many Quakers to become “conscientious objectors,” refusing to join the armed forces and even refusing to make war goods and weaponry. Such refusal has led to imprisonment for some Quakers and death for others. But Quakers continue to actively work against violence and for peace. As a result, they have been successful in promoting women’s rights and human rights – and they were among the first to lead the anti-slavery movement in both England and the United States.

Inside the school

Quakers began founding schools around the time our founding fathers were forming our nation. They were among the first to teach pioneer children on the western frontier. After the Civil War, Quakers raised funds to educate thousands of former slaves.

Obama’s daughters (Malia, 10, and Sasha, 7) attend the Sidwell Friends School in Washington, DC, the same school that former first daughter Chelsea Clinton attended while her father was president. The first daughters aren’t Quakers – but only five percent of students at Sidwell are. Still, the school promotes many Quaker ideals mentioned in the above fact file – peace, unity, independence, and equality. The girls attend a weekly service, sitting in silence for an hour. In class, they will be taught to listen to God, to learn about the world, and to go out into the world to do good things. Based on these practices, it’s not so surprising that Obama chose a Quaker school for his daughters.

Want to know more about Quaker life or Quaker schools? Check out Quakers in America by Thomas D. Hamm (2003), available in part at www.books.google.com.

Copyright 2009, Religion Transcends.

Filed under: Christianity, Mormonism, RELIGION OVERVIEWS, Sects | 1 Comment »

Chad Hardy created a calendar featuring shirtless Mormon missionaries.

On July 13, he was excommunicated from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (the LDS church of Mormons), according to Religion News Service.

Hardy had sought to show people that there were many sides to Mormons by showing actual shirtless Mormon missionaries. He himself was once a missionary. But the church felt his actions needed the severest reprimand in order to bring about his repentance.

Though Hardy could appeal the decision, he doesn’t plan to.

Visit Hardy’s Web site to find the calendar that sold 10,000 copies in one year and for news about the upcoming 2009 calendar.

Then find out more about excommunication in the Mormon church.

Knowing what you now know about excommunication and Hardy, do you think the local church’s decision was a good one?

Filed under: Christianity, Mormonism, Religion and Ethics, Sects | 2 Comments »

On January 27, 2008, Mormon President Gordon B. Hinckley died at the age of 97.

Yesterday, the Church of Latter-Day Saints (nicknamed the “Mormon Church”) named Thomas S. Monson, 80, as the new president. Monson will be the 16th president and will remain in his office until his death, as is expected of all LDS Church presidents. He takes over at a time when Mormons seem to be getting more press than usual (with Mitt Romney’s candidacy in the presidential race) and when the LDS Church seems to be growing rapidly.

Mormon presidents have a lot of “say” and a lot of power over adherants. They are considered prophets and thus have the ability to change church laws and direct LDS beliefs. In the past, presidents have outlawed polygamy and allowed African Americans into the church. They have also published a number of revelations directing the belief system of followers.

To learn more about Mormons, check out one of my previous posts explaining the religion here, and watch for my upcoming article about the LDS Church in the winter issue of Relate magazine.

(Pictured above: Monson, at the time he was a first counselor to Hinckley; Hinckley, center, during his presidency; James Faust, right, the second counselor to Hinckley)

Filed under: Christianity, Mormonism | No Comments »

Latter-Day Saints will hold their annual Pioneer Day celebration on July 24. For those unfamiliar with the Mormon faith and Pioneer Day, here’s a rundown:

THE MORMON FAITH:
Names: Latter-Day Saints (which includes The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints), Mormon fundamentalism
The major players: Jesus; Joseph Smith, Jr.; Brigham Young. Smith (b. 1805) claimed to have been visited by an angel, Moroni, who asked him to publish writings on gold plates, said to contain messages from God to ancient Babylonians living in the Americas. Smith published these writings, which became The Book of Mormon. He then founded the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, said to be a restoration of the Christian tradition lost at the death of the apostles. After moving the church to Nauvoo, Ill., to escape conflicts, he was murdered there in 1844. Brigham Young became president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in 1847 and was the first governor of the Utah territory.
The sacred texts: The Book of Mormon (considered the Word of God, text compiled from Mormon’s plates, shown to Smith by Mormon’s resurrected son Moroni, said to contain the most complete Gospel of Christ), Book of Commandments, Doctrine and Covenants (modern scripture said to be a restoration of The Bible’s Old Testament). The Bible is seen as the Word of God only insofar as it has been translated correctly; Joseph Smith provided his own translation of The Bible.
The main tenants: God is the eternal father. Man can be saved through Christ’s atonement by following God’s laws. Mormons also believe in the Holy Spirit – but God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit are three separate entities.
The goal: To be saved by God through observance of His laws; to be resurrected at the second coming of Christ, when Christ will reign on the American continent
Encouraged practices: Building one’s character to be honest, true, chaste, benevolent, and virtuous, and to do good to all men; baptism; repentance
Social connection: Plural marriage (polygamy) was once permitted but renounced in 1890

PIONEER DAY:
In 1847, Mormons were suffering persecution in Nauvoo, Ill. To find relief, the “pioneers” journeyed west along the “pioneer trail” in covered wagons. (July 24 is sometimes referred to as “Covered Wagon Days.”) When they arrived in the Salt Lake Valley on July 24, Young proclaimed this was the place to stop. And so the Mormons Pioneers made their settlement in what was then called “Deseret,” what we now call Utah. Thus, July 24 marked the founding of what Latter-Day Saints consider their earthly Zion.

Today, Pioneer Day is a Utah state holiday (though the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints does not officially recognize it as a holy day). To learn about the ways in which Mormons have commemorated the event each year, check out Steven L. Olsen’s entry in the Utah History Encyclopedia.

Filed under: Christianity, Holidays, Mormonism | 2 Comments »