Black and Mormon: Sitting at the Welcome Table
There are many people who know very little, if anything, about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (commonly referred to as the Mormon Church), and quite a bit of what they do know about the LDS Church and its teachings and beliefs has come from critics of the Mormon religion. One of the main issues that critics of The Church of Jesus Christ tend to focus on is the relationship that exists between Blacks and Mormons, and whether or not the LDS Church is racist.
The fact that Latter-day Saints of African American descent were not permitted to be ordained to the Priesthood for a long period of time has triggered, and continues to trigger, uncertainty in the minds of some people, in particular, those of the Black race, who view this action as a sign of prejudice or racism on the part of the LDS Church. This one fact becomes even more complex for some to understand and accept as there has never been an official statement released by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as to why those of African American descent were not permitted to be ordained to the Priesthood, which in turn also restricted them from participating in the sacred ordinances of the Holy Temple. (more…)
Mormons (members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) believe in the importance of being “called of God, as was Aaron” before one can ‘hold’ or ‘bear’ the priesthood of God.
Christ of Latter-day Saints, and members of this church often have strong adverse feelings with being associated with the other two branches known as the Reorganized Latter-day Saints and the Fundamentalist Latter-day Saints due to their rejection of the prophets and practice of unseemly traditions. We are, however, connected in our history-