Racism and the Book of Mormon: Let's Get Meta

If you've read any of the apologetics having to do with race in the Book of Mormon you've probably noticed a pattern, which is as follows:

1. A sea of words written by a white guy who, trust him, is the least racist person
2. Some silly goose-ism about the application to scripture of "modern pre-occupations in America," as one writer put it
3. References to verses that seem to contradict each other about whether or not black skin is a curse or a mark
4. A conclusion that since the Book of Mormon condemns colorism/racism anything that could be interpreted to the contrary is not that

Ta-da!

We're supposed to feel all good about the multitude of chapters that teach the reader to equate black skin with dirty, sinful, and loathsome, and white skin is of course clean, pure, and even delightsome! All that is horrible on its own, but taken in the context of a Church that somehow, for reasons still unknown, preached Blacks were cursed and not allowed to receive the priesthood is just gas-lighting at its finest. 

So let's try something else...

¡Ay, bendito!

Last month a friend of mine who has reclaimed her Aztec lineage and now goes by Cueponcaxochitl (pronounced Kweh-pōn-ka-SO-chill) shared with me a creation myth by my ancestors, the Taíno (pronounced Tah-EE-noh) native Caribbeans. Even though I grew up with drawings and sculptures of the god Yaya in my home, I had never heard this story before. I was enthralled as I watched a video retelling. Then a funny thing happened. I got the sense that something important was coming into my view. There was a resonance within my soul, as it were, when the narrator described a character named Deminan as having skin covered by sores, which set him apart. By the end of the tale we learn that his skin condition was bittersweet because it made him a medium between heaven and earth, called caracaracol. I was amazed by how this ancient description persists even today, as Puerto Ricans are known for calling those who suffer blessed, literally "bendito." 

From there my mind reflected on the account that started a mess,

And he had caused the cursing to come upon them, yea, even a sore 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 (2_Nephi 5:21)

... followed the impression, "Sore curse is meant to be taken literally (as in skin covered by sores); white/black markings are metaphorical."

If God wanted a covenant group of people to stop mating with a cursed group of people, it would make sense to make the latter unattractive on a superficial level, particularly their faces. Pustulating sores would get the job done. And with parallels to the lepers who were pronounced pure and clean in the New Testament, those who repented of the Lamanite curse were described as having  "scales of darkness...fall from their eyes (2_Nephi 30:6)." I take that to be literal scales of diseased skin, which likely occluded their vision, nothing to do with skin color. Interestingly, for those whom the curse persisted it appears they were unable to repent in fullness because they lacked Gospel instructions for how to do that. Nevertheless at some point they were better than the chosen Nephites (see Jacob 2:35 and 3:7-8) —in part due to the latter's iniquity— and find God's favor. To my mind, this makes them a type of caracaracol, somewhere in between sanctified and impure. 

In its separate sphere is the mark of darkness which —hold your mesoamerican horses— is not the same as SKINS of blackness (I'll get to that later). A mark is something that symbolizes a larger concept relating to purpose. My husband marks the consecrated oil as separate from the cooking oil by placing it in a separate container, for example. I'm not ready to jump into the debate about how mesoamericans are related to Book of Mormon characters, but when I read about Aztecs painting themselves black (their skin, their hair, and/or teeth) and literally producing broken hearts from contrite spirits upon the altar (see also 2_Nephi2:7) I start to think there's a connection. Could it be that their priests claimed the color black because of its strength and distinction from everyone else? We certainly see that same habit (pun intended) in our time. And would such a mark indicate that theirs is a religion separate from what Nephi intended to hand down? Yes. 

Now let's talk about skins of blackness. This is where things get meta. You might've seen my post about how white male supremacy is a scourge upon earth, and that it's the fruit of an abominable church originating in Europe (see 1_Nephi 13:4 ). I have a testimony that Joseph Smith was the prophet who brought about the Book of Mormon, which teaches us these truths, and I also know that he was a white male, susceptible to stumbling as many white males do. It is my personal belief that Joseph Smith took the figurative language of (pure) white and darkness (away from God's presence) and applied these to a literal description of skin color, which is false. His mistranslation is apparent to anyone who reads the Book of Mormon and is not racist. Those who wish to standby the black skin commentary are not only prejudiced in their hearts they are, ironically, in opposition to Joseph Smith who later regretted the error enough to remove skin color in 1840. (Sadly, this correction did not persist in later editions following his death as the Church recruited European members when slavery was still going strong. I wonder why...)

Closing thoughts:

When I shared my previous post a woman I admire congratulated me for building a liberation theology, and that's when I realized this was going to be a process, not just a feel-good post for minorities here and there. This is something I need to continually shape within restored doctrine for the truths about my people to finally see the figurative light. 

We Need to Talk about The Abominable Church

This year my baptism anniversary fell on Columbus Day. I was feeling pretty raw about it.

Some time ago my mother's cousin did our family history work and made a shocking discovery. He was looking for the Spaniard who traveled to Mexico and from whom we inherited our family name, but we never found him. Instead, our line proved to be purely indigenous to the Americas, all the way back to a grown man living in the early 1500s who was renamed Felix Moreno (we have no idea what he was called at birth). Felix Moreno literally translates to Lucky Brown Man. Was that name given in mockery? Did some Europeans think he was fortunate to not be killed, and apparently allowed to reproduce and/or keep his offspring (and not have them thrown to the dogs, as Columbus was known to do)? I was simultaneously proud to be detached* from such atrocities and hurt to think about my ancestors being subject to them.

This was not my favorite chapter

So as I reflected on my Church membership this time I couldn't find peace. I felt dumb, even traitorous to my roots as I felt the weight of 1Nephi13 on me. That chapter has always been there, causing me to ache, and serving as an immediate stumbling block to my progression in reading the Book of Mormon. As you can see from the screenshot above, it's about the "discovery and colonization of America," a scriptural embodiment of Manifest Destiny. Almost everyone who's ever read it understands the following verse to be a reference to Christopher Columbus:  "...and I beheld the Spirit of God, that it came down and wrought upon the man; and he went forth upon the many waters, even unto the seed of my brethren, who were in the promised land." Inspired by God, eh? Divine enslavement, rape, and torture? No, I couldn't get behind this. The chapter heading has a large X on it in my scriptures, encouraging me to look past it.

And yet, I felt impressed to face my stumbling block head on. Then and there. Of course I didn't want to, but the Spirit was nudging me. Plus, if there was any possibility I could bury this issue I thought I ought to go for it. So I did. And it was painful.

I re-read the whole chapter, and as Enoch once said, I "refus[ed] to be comforted... but the Lord said unto [me]: Lift up your heart, and be glad; and look." And verily I say onto you that I did see a few things, but the trick about seeing is that you perceive without understanding. At least at first. What I saw were many chapters in the Book of Mormon about war, and these reports stood as a witness to why God's anger had been kindled. After accepting this I felt permitted, even blessed to cast aside the 1Nephi13 verses that started with "I beheld." (Part of me even wondered if this was Joseph Smith's interpretation of what Nephi saw in a vision.) From there another strong impression came:

The Abominable Church is founded by Satan, the father of lies... and white male supremacy. 

In an instant I became aware of a historical dichotomy, as outlined below:

And you know what? This lines up with 1Nephi13, especially as you focus on the verses spoken by the angel, who instructs Nephi,

Behold the gold, and the silver, and the silks, and the scarlets, and the fine-twined linen, and the precious clothing, and the harlots, are the desires of this great and abominable church.(1Nephi13:7)

I always thought this was a jab at the early Catholic Church. But having been raised Catholic, I know that the men and women who toiled away at making and preserving illuminated manuscripts, who lived chaste and simple lives, preached the Gospel, and took care of the poor (including animals) did not deserve to be lumped into this group. I understand now that they never were. What I believe these verses want us to comprehend is that white male supremacy thrives on gold and silver obtained by the shedding of innocent blood, and by the bitter fruit of human trafficking ye shall know them. This does well to describe the Inquisition, of which God does not approve. The Inquisition was Satan's counterfeit missionary work.

The angel also asks Nephi to behold the wrath of God, as it rains upon his own brethren (verse 11). In my previous ward I was told this meant the bloody massacre of my people was ordained by God, which bothered me to say the very least. But if you think about it, that's not really how He operates. When Moses needed his people freed, for example, God worked through plagues and finally a destroying angel as a last resort. I am willing to accept that the multitude of diseases European immigrants brought with them could be a form of God's wrath for things well-documented in the Book of Mormon and beyond. Fine. But war is never God's modus operandi. Does he suffer it to be so? Sure, we're even told later on in Mormon 4:5 that "it is by the wicked that the wicked are punished." And why does God permit this? Because being a covenant people does not mean everything you do is blessed by the Lord, rather it means God will often stay His hand because He needs you to preserve or even restore His Word.

In 1Nephi13:29 we read,

And after these plain and precious things were taken away it goeth forth unto all the nations of the Gentiles; and after it goeth forth unto all the nations of the Gentiles, yea, even across the many waters which thou hast seen with the Gentiles which have gone forth out of captivity, thou seest—because of the many plain and precious things which have been taken out of the book, which were plain unto the understanding of the children of men, according to the plainness which is in the Lamb of God—because of these things which are taken away out of the gospel of the Lamb, an exceedingly great many do stumble, yea, insomuch that Satan hath great power over them.

This is a reminder that even though the Gentiles (in and out of the Abominable Church) do terrible things, God must have a level of mercy for them that relates to their actions occurring in a time when His Gospel is not fully on the earth. In other words, they will be judged on an incomplete law. But note here again that this is not saying the Gentiles are inspired as a group in all things, in fact just the opposite. This verse is reminding us that "an exceedingly great" number of white Americans will do awful things, often in His name. This concept is especially hard to grasp for those who believe the USA's origins are entirely divine. And yet...

Credit Arlen Parsa on this thread

Above we see the Founding Fathers, where those who owned and exploited slaves (that's White Male Supremacy in case you missed it) have their faces covered by a red dot. Those who managed not to stumble and held to pure Christianity (which abhors enslavement) were few indeed.

And if the Book of Mormon is written for our day, which I believe it is, then we really ought to think about what the Abominable Church is up to now and who is falling for it. We should seek to identify the false priests who oppress. And oppose white male supremacy. In fact we must.

Right now I feel a good sense of relief from a testimony standpoint, but one of the hardest things lately is sharing my revelations about this chapter with white Mormon Americans who are, "happy for [me]." Happy for just me? Why hasn't this bothered YOU? Are we so accustomed to indigenous people being used and abused that we're cool with planting these pain-inducing verses –for they are easily misused– in their lives and walking away? No. I need white members of the Church to try and feel what I feel, and go about correcting our discourse on 1Nephi13. Think of it as manifesting a new destiny.

*I'm actually equal parts indigenous and Iberian on genetic testing. Life is complex.