Exmormonology Ep. 25 Race, Mormonism and You
From a post I shared on my personal FB page.
“I grew up in a religion that was racist. Please don’t tell me that it was a “different time.” Let’s not go down that road.
The scriptures I grew up reading specifically stated that to be black was a curse. Full stop.
These types of teachings leave racist residue no matter if you want to see that or not.
If you find yourself getting really defensive right now. Slow down. Think it through. I know. It is hard to look at. This is the work.
I am not here to argue. Just showing how racist ideology was part of my growing up socialization. It can’t be argued.
We have to see it first in order to do the work.”
Racism has been a huge part of mormonism. Prophets and apostles have preached and made terrible comments from the pulpit since the beginning of the religion.
In this week’s Exmormonology, I want to talk about this very sensitive topic. I believe that it is our responsibility to have uncomfortable conversations. I know that I may not say things right or do it perfectly, but I feel very strongly that our conditioning, in the mormon church, has contributed, even if we do not want to think so, to racist pieces of us.
Let's look at the foundational teachings from the Book of Mormon that include racism. Yes, the mormon church has tried to lessen the teachings around "white and delightsome" and dark skin being a curse, but the truth of the matter is that this language is in the Book of Mormon. Let's talk about the how these teachings get into our psyche and influence our thoughts, feelings and actions around racism.
