Mr. Deity on Mormon Racism

Is dark skin a "sore cursing" from God?  That's what the Book of Mormon says. 2 Nephi 5:21:

21 And he had caused the cursing to come upon them, yea, even asore cursing, because of their iniquity. For behold, they had hardened their hearts against him, that they had become like unto a flint; wherefore, as they were white, and exceedingly fair and delightsome, that they might not be enticing unto my people the Lord God did cause a skin of blackness to come upon them.

Disclaimer:  If you are a Mormon, you might be offended by this video.




Unlike Mr. Deity, I have met racist Mormons.  This is not to say that most Mormons I have known are racist (some never even really have the chance because they grew up, like me, in extremely white communities).  This is to say that the previous doctrines (and speakings of prophets) are crazily racist and that the original wording of the Book of Mormon is also racist.  The little clip at the end explains the fairly recent change of wording from "white and delightsome" to "pure and delightsome."

The point here is that although the church has changed, they have never apologized for their behavior, instead blaming their actions on God, saying that's just how he wanted it and in the future we will understand why (put that on your shelf of things to be explained later, but be careful because that shelf may not be as strong as you think it is).  That's a thin and ugly coating of whitewash.  Some leaders have even gone as far as to say that they are sure glad we never participated in anything as ugly as racism.  Say what?  I'll leave you to research the quotes yourself if you are interested enough.  In addition, the older generation, say Baby Boomers and generations before that grew up in this racist culture (even if they had never even seen or interacted with black people).  Racism sanctioned both by the government and by the church. Now the church has "moved on."  Moved on, but never apologized.  I'm sure I'm not the only one for whom admitting and apologizing goes a long way.

About Romney and Mormonism:  That said, people who use scare tactics to try to keep people from voting for Romney should probably drop it.  It's unlikely that Romney would pull some Mormon tricks while in office, if elected.  For me, though I still feel pretty feisty about many Mormon things, it's not really about religion.  Romney's policy ideas are the damning thing for him where my vote is concerned.  I would just ask people who would vote for him simply because he's Mormon or simply because most Mormons are Republican or because your favorite bobble-head is Mormon to think deeper into the policies.  I'm not saying that will necessarily change your mind, just that it takes a lot of work to actually hold logical opinions about issues.  More work than most Americans are willing to do.

Note:  Mr. Deity's normal videos are hilarious, but sacrilegious, which isn't a problem for me, the apostate-type.