[threeonefour]

[ QUOTE ]
I'm not sure if you're familiar with the history of the Mormon church, but they changed their position on race in the 70s. They used to proclaim whiteness as virtuous and dark skin as sinful.

[/ QUOTE ]

that isn't exactly accurate. they did change their stance in the 70s yes. however it was more like this, the descendants of cain (people of color basically) were cursed for cain's transgression. as such they were not worthy for the priesthood, though they could still be members of the church.

much like women today can not be priesthood holders. women are not thought of as inferior, its just not the role they play. at the time, the church leaders (or rather god) did not think it was yet the time for black people to have the preisthood. which sounds bad right? was it a mistake? most outside of the church would say yes. but it wasn't exactly what anti-mormon people frame the situation as. basically all christian churches have similar problems with their policies if you look into their past (more distant for many churches). Catholicism in particular. not that that is an excuse, i just think its important to come from the right perspective. to say that mormons think OR thought black people were more sinful/immoral than white people is simply wrong imo and i think anyone who actually researched the issue in an honest manner would come to the same conclusion.

of course that policy is no longer in effect, for obvious reasons.


for the record, this is just my understanding of the issue which may be somewhat off. so if you want the official line you should really ask a bishop, church official, official church website or missionary. you should probably double check if your source is a missionary though, they are just kids themselves, not necessarily scholars.