Comments on: White and Delightsome

Comment by: chandelle

2007-12-22T14:48:04Z

that surely seems to contradict BY’s assertion that intermarriages would be struck down on the spot, doesn’t it?

Comment by: Jonathan Blake

2007-12-22T18:05:48Z

I hadn’t thought of Brigham’s statement, but wasn’t that about marriage to people of African descent? Let me research…

Brigham Young made a very strong statement on this matter when he said, “… 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.” (The Church and the Negro, pp. 54-55, John L. Lund, 1967; as quoted by Changing World)

So he was probably OK with marriage to dark-skinned Lamanites but not dark-skinned Africans. That makes his racism a lot better, doesn’t it?

Comment by: Seth R.

2007-12-22T19:26:02Z

Joseph Smith was all about connections. His driving obsession, according to LDS historian Richard Bushman, was to bind people together – both as groups and as individuals. Polygamy can be traced to this impulse, as well as his concern with the fate of deceased individuals who died without the Gospel. Same thing with the literal gathering of Israel. This seems to fit the pattern. I already knew of his abolitionist tendencies.

Comment by: Jonathan Blake

2007-12-23T17:33:37Z

I still haven’t made up my mind how where along the spectrum from calculating scoundrel to honest religious experimenter Joseph fits.