In my last post, I mentioned that the LDS church recently changed the introductory summary of 2 Nephi 5 from this:
The Nephites separate themselves from the Lamanites, keep the law of Moses, and build a temple -- Because of their unbelief, the Lamanites are cursed, receive a skin of blackness, and become a scourge unto the Nephites.to this:
The Nephites separate themselves from the Lamanites, keep the law of Moses, and build a temple—Because of their unbelief, the Lamanites are cut off from the presence of the Lord, are cursed, and become a scourge unto the Nephites.
The reason for the change is obvious: the former summary was too racist, even for the LDS church. So they softened it up and toned it down a bit. But the racism of 2 Nephi 5 remains.
Here's what it says about the Lamanites (Native Americans in the Book of Mormon):
He had caused the cursing to come upon them... that ... wherefore, as they were white, and exceedingly fair and delightsome ... God did cause a skin of blackness to come upon them ... that they shall be loathsome unto thy people. ...Cursed shall be the seed of him that mixeth with their seed; for they shall be cursed even with the same cursing. ...
Because of their cursing ... they did become an idle people, full of mischief. 2 Nephi 5:21-24
I'm sure the LDS church would like to do to the text of 2 Nephi 5 what they did to its chapter summary. Soften it up, tone it down, throw it out. And maybe they'll do that some day while no one is looking. But for now, at least, they are stuck with it.
Like the American Family Association is stuck with Bryan Fischer.
You remember, Bryan Fischer, don't you? He's the guy that thinks we should kill the bears, stone the whales, and become more Phinehas-like (by impaling interracial couples while they're having sex).
Now he tells us about Native Americans.
I'd link to his post, bit it's been removed from the AFA website. It seems that the AFA is as embarrassed by Fischer's post as the LDS church is with 2 Nephi 5.
Here are some excerpts from the original post.
The native American tribes at the time of the European settlement and founding of the United States were, virtually without exception, steeped in the basest forms of superstition, had been guilty of savagery in warfare for hundreds of years, and practiced the most debased forms of sexuality....
The [Lewis and Clark] journals record the morally abhorrent practice of many native American chiefs, who offered their own wives to the Corps of Discovery for their twisted sexual pleasure. (Regrettably, many members of the Corps, Lewis and Clark excepted, took advantage of these offers and contracted numerous and debilitating sexually transmitted diseases as a result.)
...
Many of the tribal reservations today remain mired in poverty and alcoholism because many native Americans continue to cling to the darkness of indigenous superstition instead of coming into the light of Christianity and assimilating into Christian culture.
...
God explained to the nation of Israel that because of the “abomination(s)” of the indigenous Canaanite tribes, the land had become unclean and “vomited out its inhabitants (Lev. 18:25).”
Is this to say the same holds true for native American tribes today? In many respects, the answer is of course no. But in some senses, the answer is yes. Many of the tribal reservations today remain mired in poverty and alcoholism because many native Americans continue to cling to the darkness of indigenous superstition instead of coming into the light of Christianity and assimilating into Christian culture.
OK. Maybe my title is a bit exaggerated. I'm not sure which is more racist, Bryan Fischer or the Book of Mormon. What do you think?
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