Truth Against Error

There are three keys that are necessary for the process of ascension to have eternal efficacy. First, it must be centered on Christ. Second, it must be based on sacrifice, which in the new testament (testament means covenant), requires a broken heart and contrite spirit and is based on the Atonement. These first two can be counterfeited by others who have an understanding of the process. The third is where the line is drawn. That is the priesthood. There is a false priesthood that can mimic unity, but it has no power to bind.

The eventual results of the false priesthood can be seen in the story of Icarus in Greek mythology. His father (Satan), who wanted to escape his prison, made wings for himself and his son (the robes of the priesthood) so they could fly (ascend to the heavens). Icarus was warned not to fly too close to the sun. When he did, the wax melted that held the feathers in place and he fell to his death. The binding of the feathers had no power against Celestial glory. So how does the priesthood bind us together as part of the Body of Christ? It is done by making covenants and keeping the laws and ordinances of the gospel.

What is a covenant?

But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. (Jeremiah 31:33)

Let’s compare a covenant to the sun. It binds all the planets in the solar system to it by magnetic attraction. In our analogy, we will say the planets covenanted to follow the sun. They are attracted because the sun’s law is written in the heart of the planet and like attracts like. In Doctrine and Covenants 76:72, we are told that those who die without the law will inherit the terrestrial kingdom. Some people have asked me how this could be fair. Shouldn’t everyone have the opportunity to go to the Celestial Kingdom? A footnote chase shows that this means, those who do not have the law written upon their hearts die without the law and have limited themselves. Those who did the best they could while in mortality, or were in circumstances that stifled their growth, will be given the opportunity in the next life to accept the gospel. If they followed their conscience and tried their best on earth, the law will be written in their hearts when their temple work is done for them and they will be prepared for a glorious resurrection with the full blessings of the gospel through those vicarious covenants.

The footnote from verse 33 in Jeremiah leads us from the law being written upon the heart to what that law is in Mormon, chapter five. Scattered Israel is gathered and the Abrahamic Covenant is written upon the heart:

But behold, it shall come to pass that they shall be driven and scattered by the Gentiles; and after they have been driven and scattered by the Gentiles, behold, then will the Lord remember the covenant which he made unto Abraham and unto all the house of Israel (Mormon 5:20).

When the Kirtland Temple was dedicated, three crucial keys were brought to Joseph Smith. The first came from Moses and was the keys of the gathering of Israel. This gathering of scattered Israel into the Body of Christ happens in the temples. Elias brought the Abrahamic Covenant referred to by Mormon in the verse above. We can think of this as the curriculum. We use this curriculum to sanctify our hearts by the power of the Holy Ghost as we move up in grades. Therefore, we can think of the of the temple building as a schoolhouse. Finally, Elijah brought the sealing keys. This power justifies us by the grace of God when we are ready to move up a step or when we have completed the courses. We can think of this as the diploma for each level, and most important, the graduate degree. I learned this from a wonderful Doctrine and Covenants professor I had at BYU. By keeping the Abrahamic Covenant, which is our baptismal and temple covenants, scattered Israel centers around Christ and becomes ordered and unified.

What is an ordinance? In the same chapter of Jeremiah that discusses covenants, we can read about ordinances:

Thus saith the Lord, which giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar; The Lord of hosts is his name:
If those ordinances depart from before me, saith the Lord, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for ever (Jeremiah 31: 35,36).

The footnote in verse 35, for the word “ordinances” says: “or established courses”. So, to continue our analogy, when the planets follow the law of circling the sun according to the established course, they are keeping their ordinances, or the order of the priesthood. One branch of the false priesthood has an order (ordinance) of a coven (covenant).

When the ancients spoke of stars, as referred to in verse 35, they were usually speaking of the planets in the solar system that looked like stars in the sky.

This leads us back to the verse from 2 Nephi, chapter twelve that I wrote about in my previous blog:

And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths; for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem (2 Nephi 12:3).

As we know, the mountain of the Lord is the temple. A careful study of “walk in his paths” leads us to understand more about ordinances. We have the planets, moving about the sun to help us visualize the process. Another analogy is Israel in the wilderness, circumambulating in the desert, encircled about the Ark of the Covenant and its golden mercy seat. A full circle of circumambulation is 360 degrees. If Israel symbolically orbited around the Ark in the desert once a year for forty years, we would have a very special number; 14,400. The number 144 seems to imply completion (the womb is ready to give birth), or a full council. After modern Israel crossed the desert, it took 40 years to complete the temple. The wilderness between Egypt (the world) and the promised land (heaven) can be symbolized by a womb which is what the Egyptians believed the temple to be.

As I mentioned in my last blog, in physics, the Zero Point Field shows this process beautifully. I would suggest a study of “walking with God” in the topical guide and will leave one last scriptural reference that ties in these concepts from Ezekiel:

Therefore say, Thus saith the Lord God; I will even gather you from the people, and assemble you out of the countries where ye have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel.
And they shall come thither, and they shall take away all the detestable things thereof and all the abominations thereof from thence.
And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh:
That they may walk in my statutes, and keep mine ordinances, and do them: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God.
But as for them whose heart walketh after the heart of their detestable things and their abominations, I will recompense their way upon their own heads, saith the Lord God (Ezekiel 11:17-21).

Yesterday morning I woke up with a few scriptures in my mind. After I looked them up, I started a scripture chase with the footnotes. Later that afternoon, I continued my studies in astronomy and quantum physics and was amazed at how the information fit with the scriptures from that morning. Last night, I listened to Coast-to-Coast and was very disturbed by what I heard and shocked at the connection to my studies earlier in the day. The bottom line is this; there is a counterfeit religion being set up that mirrors our sacred temple truths.

Our outline for the February article is on the Tower of Babel as an antithesis to Abraham and God’s covenant with him. We were aware that a similar situation would manifest in the last days, and in fact, that is why we set up this website. Yet, it is still a surprise to find it is so well advanced, incredibly appealing, and found in such diverse belief systems. Although the February article will cover this general topic, I want to specifically write about last night’s radio program and also touch on the scriptures I felt impressed to read.

Let’s begin with Coast-to-Coast. The guest sounded kind and intelligent, and I do not doubt he is. If many of the very elect are to be deceived, then we absolutely must be aware of how sincere and appealing the counterfeit will be. Many who spread these works are fooled and trying to do good. Satan knows that most people are impatient and want instant rewards. I do not want to denigrate the speaker by name, but his philosophy is a combination of Christianity, Buddhism and Hinduism. Through meditation, he has been able to go into altered states of consciousness and experience intensely blissful visions. When he explained the science behind his philosophy, I was surprised to learn it was exactly inline with the quantum physics I had been studying earlier in the day that relates to how our temple endowment works.

Eventually, as the Millennium progresses, there will basically be two Churches, the true one and a counterfeit. What will the difference be? Only one will have the true priesthood, which has the binding power that grafts us into the Tree of Life spoken of in Jacob, chapter five. In Hebrew, the words thumb, fruit and tree are from the same base.

A spiritual Tower of Babel will exist that gives a path of spiritual ascension to God similar to what is found in the temple. Some of these will not seem the same but the underlying process and the anticipated outcome will be very similar. Those who follow the counterfeit path will find they do not have on the proper wedding garment at the marriage of the king’s son (also compare to the parable of the Ten Virgins). In Matthew, chapter twenty-two, we can read about the man who came but did not have on the wedding garment. The king had the servants bind him and cast him into outer darkness. To ascend to Heavenly Father by the correct path, one must be clothed upon with power, which is what endowment means.

Those who build these spiritual towers of babel will act as false apostles and work to bring others up by this other way. The following verses can be referenced in the Topical Guide under “False Priesthood”.

Paul warns us:

For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.
And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.
Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness, whose end shall be according to their works. (2 Corinthians 11:13-15)

The guest on the radio show last night, said something very revealing. He said that progression on this path leads a person to the attainment of singularity. Then they can feel at one with all things. That should be a red-flag to those who understand the At-one-ment. Christ has laid down the plan to bring us back into the family of God, sealing us together as families. Without the sealing power, the false priesthood can only try and organize their counterfeit with the fragile singularity that has no glue to bind. At the end of the Millennium, this tower of babel will be destroyed as was the one at the time of Abraham. It will fly apart without the sealing power of Elijah.

Because the true Church will have a unified, consecrated people in place at the Second Coming, all things will not be wasted at His coming. Why? Because the earth will move from the telestial state to a terrestrial state. The fallen earth works on the law of opposites that is based on good and evil. In the higher state, the earth will work on the law of unity. It will still have a polarity of opposites, but it will not be good and evil, but the sealing of husband and wife, male/female, yin/yang. Without the sealing power, everything would collapse when Satan and his hosts are cast out. The higher law will be in effect and keep nature in balance because of the work that is being done in temples. This is illustrated by the table of elements. When the valence of an element is completely filled, like a prayer circle that is complete, that element no longer has an attraction to other electrons to complete its circle. It begins to glow, and it is no longer subject to gravity. Thus, we can see how the City of Enoch was taken to God. This is the higher law of unity around Christ.

The Zero Point Field theory of pairs attracted magnetically together (yin/yang) and organized together by an electrical field (circle) and held in place by a still center, begins to sound very interesting. I do not want to go further with this but will throw out other tidbits that will expand this idea in the future. Look for it but put the pieces together yourselves.

Now to the scriptures that led me on this chase:

And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths; for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
Yeah, and the day of the Lord shall come upon all the cedars of Lebanon, for they are high and lifted up; and upon all the oaks of Bashan;
And upon all the high mountains, and upon all the hills, and upon all the nations which are lifted up, and upon every people; And upon every high tower, and upon every fenced wall. (2 Nephi 3, 13-15)

Verse three refers to the temple. There is a great deal to this verse and I will blog on that verse alone tomorrow. For now, let’s look at the latter verses. Fake towers, or trees of life will be set up. The cedars of Lebanon will be destroyed at the Second Coming, and again at the end of the Millennium. These are the counterfeit methods of ascension to a higher state. The lofty branches try to reach into the heavens but they will be lopped off. The oaks of Bashan are the doors, or veils to each major level of progression. The word Druid means door. The Druids believed the oak tree to be a door that leads to God through sacred rituals. These doors will be destroyed.

Some of these things are creeping into the Church. They are dangerous and will lead to apostasy. We should understand that the blessings of the temple prepare us for eternity and those sacred things should not be meddled with outside the temple without the express direction of the prophet. It is my opinion that when we use these blessings outside of the bounds the leaders have set, this becomes priestcraft and is under the influence of the wrong source.

What seems mystical and strange, is simply a process that encompasses the basics of the gospel; faith, repentance, baptism, the Holy Ghost. The ascension process is no more than sanctifying ourselves by the Holy Ghost, and justification that comes through the sealing power. Analogies that have been used since the beginning of time to help us understand the process, include mountains, trees, rivers, and other witnesses of Christ in nature. Cultures have made the mistake of taking an analogy and making a god out of it. We must be very careful not to follow this mistake. More on this later.

The thing I like about blogging my thoughts on my studies, is that I do not have to document everything here. When we write articles, we try our best to support everything by scriptures and/or Church authorities, and gospel scholars (Nibley). We also include Egyptology or other beliefs from various cultures to show a pattern. Blogging will help me order my thoughts and record the things I am learning from day to day.

If you have noticed the recent national dialog on Mormonism, and have sensed the tension increasing, you may be interested in what Elder Ballard has suggested we do.

Elder Ballard’s remarks are timely for me since I have felt conflicted lately. I remember when anti-Mormonism became fairly intense for a couple of years during the eighties. Boyd K. Packer gave us the wise counsel of ignoring it as a strong draft horse would try and ignore pesky flies. They are irritating but they do no real damage. I have thought about that council since we have joined with friends to start a political blog that calls for bringing together those with shared values. We are concerned with the current trend of cultural fractionalism. The following article by M. Russell Ballard relieved my concerns over raising my voice in the national dialog. At the same time, it also disturbs me that the political climate has changed so drastically to make such a call to action
necessary from an Apostle of the Lord.

Apostle Urges Students to Use New Media

LAIE, Hawaii 15 December 2007 Two hundred graduating students at Brigham Young University-Hawaii were urged today to use the Internet — including blogs and other forms of “new media” — to contribute to a national conversation about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Elder M. Russell Ballard, a senior apostle in the Church, told the mostly Mormon student body that conversations about the Church would take place whether or not Church members decided to participate in them.

“We cannot stand on the sidelines while others, including our critics, attempt to define what the Church teaches,” he said.

“While some conversations have audiences in the thousands or even millions, most are much, much smaller. But all conversations have an impact on those who participate in them. Perceptions of the Church are established one conversation at a time.”

Church leaders have publicly expressed concern that while much of the recent extensive news reporting on the Church has been balanced and accurate, some has been trivial, distorted or without context.

Elder Ballard said there were too many conversations going on about the Church for Church representatives to respond to each individually, and that Church leaders “can’t answer every question, satisfy every inquiry and respond to every inaccuracy that exists.”

He said students should consider sharing their views on blogs, responding to online news reports and using the “new media” in other ways.

But he cautioned against arguing with others about their beliefs. “There is no need to become defensive or belligerent,” he said.

END

For those who want to follow Elder Ballard’s advise but have not put their finger on how the religious fervor is connected to politics, the following blog entry may be helpful to put it into perspective.

The following blog is posted at: www.ingodwetrustblog.com

For Mature Audiences Only

In recent months, most of us have sensed political and religious turmoil roiling beneath the surface of our culture. Since Mitt Romney’s speech on values, that tension has broken like a tidal wave across America. The good news is, there are still many, including a few other candidates who believe in the Judeo-Christian tenants this nation was built on. To stand and voice those beliefs takes thought and conviction. Only those with courage will be able to withstand the mob mentality that is insisting on a new creed of tolerance. What is that destructive creed? In effect it is as follows:

We will be tolerant of the weak and the poor, showing our kind and gentle natures…BUT, to all else, we will call you intolerant if you persist in disagreeing with our beliefs. We will use intimidating labels and emotional haranguing until you either agree with us, or you are silenced so we can institute our agenda.

What is truly disturbing is that this new creed is coming from both many on the left, and also some factions in the far right. It is in different forms but both will result in a fracturing of our nation. The gloves have come off as all pretense at even-handed reporting by the press has given way to blatant bias. Romney dared to quote our founding fathers who believed in a values-based government. The press simply will not tolerate that kind of insubordination. They are outraged that fear of their verbal reprisal was not enough to keep Romney in line with the modern day religion of secularism. Many have accused Mitt of intolerance toward atheists as a result of his speech, but the reality is this; history shows that only a society that believes in some moral absolutes will have the determination to preserve the rights of choice for all their citizens. When the majority devolves into a relativistic mindset, they begin to enforce their creed and freedom is lost. The political climate is changing and now, right now…if the silent majority does not stand up and speak out, they will be silenced for good and be the majority no longer.

Some in the far right have shown equal intolerance as the left. I have read hundreds of comments on forums lately that basically state that if Romney is stupid enough not to believe exactly the same as them, then he is unfit to be in pubic office. Many posters are showing they do not understand the difference between doctrines and values.

Shared values are the ties that have bound this country since its inception. The celebration of diversity is good unless it is stretched to the point where there is no commonality left. If that occurs, then we will fly apart, and believe me, there are those waiting in the wings who will quickly pick up the pieces and reform our society in the image they desire.

Verbal aggressors find easy targets through the internet. Many studies have shown that internet bullies are on the increase because there is a sense of safety in smiting one’s opponent from the cold distance of cyberspace. Teenagers are feeling these effects, but it is becoming obvious that adults are also following this pattern. It becomes even easier when the bullies join together on a forum and attack those who are different or believe differently than they.

There is an immediate and addictive reward for giving in to anger as endorphins flood the brain with agitated pleasure. This emotional trigger is what gives mob mentality its power. It is something that is very easy to get caught up in and it is no fun to listen to someone like me who wants to ruin the fun. We have become caught up in a war of words in this country, and even though we don’t see the bloody effects of that war, the end results will show its ravages. It is so hard to stand against that tide and be peacemakers, but I am asking men and women of courage, to use reasoning and patience against blind emotionalism. Join in the political dialog of peace and help heal a nation.

Last Sunday, Lawrence O’Donnell, a guest panelist on the McLaughlin Group, unleashed a furious and libelous attack on Mitt Romney, the LDS Church and Joseph Smith regarding racial prejudice. He had almost every fact wrong.

My purpose here is not to explicitly address his remarks, but to discuss my personal journey in understanding the LDS Church regarding blacks and the priesthood. I do, however, want to throw in one comment about O’Donnell’s attack. Joseph Smith and the Mormons were not pro-slavery. In fact, the major reason they were driven out of Missouri was because they were an anti-slavery voting block in a pro-slavery state. They were violently kept from voting booths, some tarred and feathered. There are many beautiful stories about Joseph Smith’s treatment of blacks and his feelings toward slavery.

Prejudice

When I was seven, a close friend of the family came to visit. As she was leaving, she made a disparaging remark about “colored people”. I was completely stunned. Coming from a family with no racial prejudice, I had assumed that hated against another for the color of their skin had died with the Civil War, almost as if it was a law since the South lost. For the life of me, I could not grasp how this woman could hate a person because they were black. Looking up at this very tall, rather imposing woman, I said, “you must hate yourself then because you’re colored”.

I can still recall her gasp of shock and eyes going wide as she stared down at me. She demanded to know what I meant by that comment. Holding my arm next to hers, I said, “look, your skin isn’t white, it’s like mine, kind of a peach color.”

She had the grace to blush and mumble something about being taught by children. Ever since that episode, I have been fighting prejudice. I never saw being LDS as a conflict of those feelings. I learned early about the great love Joseph Smith had for the black community, especially loving the story of his selling his favorite horse to buy the freedom of a slave so a family could be together. I did not understand why they could not yet have the priesthood, but I knew that God had a reason and whatever that reason was, it would be out of love and with an eye to laying the foundation so that the fullest blessings available to any of His children would one day be available for black people. I kept this issue setting on a back shelf in my mind, waiting and seeking for understanding, and as I continued to study scripture. After a great deal of study, the time came when the facts easily fell into place and I want to share those thoughts with any who feel concerned about a seeming dichotomy.

The three points I will be making concern: 1) the Levities, 2) the emotional ravages of slavery, and 3) Christ being sent to the House of Israel.

1) Any who study the Bible understand that the tribes of Joseph and Judah were the favored tribes, so one begins to wonder why God would have favorites. I do not believe He does. I will address this point more fully later but want to establish now that those two favored tribes were not allowed the priesthood. When a group is allowed to have the priesthood, that is not necessarily a mark of favoritism, it simply means that that particular social order is ready for a difficult responsibility. What can be a great blessing, if one is not ready for it, turns to be a terrible curse if we do not live up to it. After 400 years of slavery, a step-by-step schooling in the desert had to take place and only the tribe of Levi had emerged from slavery with the stability to handle the priesthood. It would have been cruel to give such a responsibility to the other tribes who were not ready for that step. Did that mean they were lesser people than the Levites? No, it was not their fault that they had been crushed into subservience as slaves.

Some believe this life is as all that matters in eternal progression. They do not understand that if we are trying our best and moving forward, then God will not show favoritism to those who had an easier time on earth. He would be guilty of favoritism if this life was all the mattered. How fair would a God be to consign someone to hell because he/she was born in a time or place where they had no chance to hear of Christ?

Heavenly Father sent the flood, not because He hated His children, but because He knew that negative world circumstances made progression impossible. His children had a far better opportunity of being taught and accepting the gospel in the next life as Peter explained (1 Peter 3:19-20). Likewise, those other eleven tribes of Israel would have, (because of the history of slavery which was not their fault), a better chance of progressing without backsliding if they waited until the next life before receiving the priesthood. Heavenly Father is far more concerned with the final outcome. Therefore, a methodical progression gives the best chance of success, rather than a race to see who can get the priesthood first. It is a terrible responsibility that becomes a curse, not a blessing if one is not ready for it.

2) The black people have come from a history of slavery. I have studied histories which show how prevalent slavery was in Africa. Those histories are not popular because scholars want us to believe that only the whites were evil enough to engage in the practice. I am not prejudice against blacks, and likewise, I do not approve of prejudice against whites, and the world view that whites are the cause of all problems. People are people, black or white. There is irrefutable and overwhelming evidence that most of the tribes in Africa were in the business of slavery against other tribes. Of course, this crime against humanity was greatly acerbated by the white slave traders and a white society that allowed such an abomination to go on. The result of this was a social situation among the black victims of this evil that was similar to the Israelites who came out of Egypt. A loving, patient Heavenly Father, through people like Abraham Lincoln and many strong, visionary black and white leaders since, have helped His black children progress as a society and begin to throw off the emotional ravages of slavery. Continuing prejudice makes this hard but many wonderful black people that I’ve known have put aside resentment and hatred toward those who hate them.
God’s black children are no less loved than the tribes of Joseph and Judah who also had to wait for the privilege of the priesthood. When the time was right, the Lord prompted the prophet Spencer W. Kimball to feel impressed on this subject and to pursue fasting and prayer that led to the revelation that the time had come. Those blacks who died before this time will have every opportunity to gain these blessings in the eternities.

3) Christ is the true vine and He works to bring us all to Him as the fruits of His labor. The Lord made it very clear in the New Testament that He was sent to the House of Israel. How could this be fair? I believe that Christ gives to people what they are ready to receive. The Law of Moses and great prophets like John, prepared a people to receive Jesus. When the Jews rejected the gospel, the Lord sent His apostles to the gentiles. Did He love the Gentiles less? No, but He has His reasons and what may appear as prejudice to us, certainly is not. As time went on and stories spread, eventually the gentiles were ready to hear and accept truth from the apostles.

Mormons believe we all lived with God before this life and were organized into one great family. At-one-ment, the sufferings, death and resurrection of Christ, brings things back to their original state; unity with God, with the different being that we will eventually be resurrected and have a perfected body, like He has. Choosing to follow the Lord, no matter how hard the trials that purify us, and returning home to Him as “joint heirs” is what all Christians hope to do. As part of His family, or as Isaiah puts it, the city of righteousness, Zion, this is how we will find eternal happiness. Isaiah wrote:

And I will turn my hand upon thee, and purely purge away thy dross, and take away all thy tin:

And I will restore thy judges as at the first, and thy counselors as at the beginning: afterward thou shalt be called, The city of righteousness, the faithful city.

Zion shall be redeemed with judgment, and her converts with righteousness. (Isaiah 1:25-27).

The parables of Jesus show that many in the House of Israel who are called will refuse to heed that call, so the servants will be sent into the highways to bring those that will come. Many have suffered cruel oppression and hardship on this earth and this humbling of circumstance will bring about the condition of repentance so that they will be called to the feast. They will be gathered into the perfect organization that exists in heaven, the Church of the Firstborn, the city that is set on the hill to give light to all.

Many blacks have the blood of Israel in their veins, others do not. Is this the criteria for redemption? We believe that those who accept the gospel and receive the saving ordinances are spiritually adopted into the House of Israel. Simply having the blood right will not save anyone. All that matters is the gathering of Israel into the Body of Christ, as Paul puts it. This is the spiritual seed of Israel, those who have partaken of the spiritual rebirth available through the Atonement of Christ. Through proxy temple work, this opportunity will be given to all blacks and whites who have passed on and if they are pure of heart, nothing will be withheld from them. Blacks who hate whites or whites who hate blacks will have to lose that enmity before they can be spiritually gathered in to the Church of the Firstborn.

Membership in the kingdom was never denied blacks. Joseph and Brigham welcomed blacks with open arms and baptized them. Heavenly Father let them know the priesthood would need to wait until a later time. I did not understand these things as a child, but I did have faith in my Heavenly Father and I knew that if I was patient and prayerful, the day would come when all these things would be answered, line upon line. I have many more answers now, but certainly not all of them. Many things have to wait until the next life when all things shall be made known. I hope to remain humble enough to trust God and to know that His love is equal for all mankind, and that all will have the opportunity for the full blessings held within the perfect Plan of Salvation. Until then, I will hold to Isaiah’s words:

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.

For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:8&9)

END

Following are excerpts from a Romney blog by an anonymous contributor:

“You can find random, quotes by Brigham Young, which you can see he is repeating phrases as the “seed of Cain” to refer to Africans, it was hardly his original words on the subject, and is not some sort of reflection as to whether he was racist or not. The early Mormons “sounded” racist by [today’s] standards, but I’m telling you, they were probably among some of the least racist people of their time. Brigham Young said, “slaves should not be abused as they have been; they had also a right to make a law that negroes should be used like human beings, and not worse than dumb brutes. For their abuse of that race, the whites will be cursed, unless they repent.”

LDS befriended the Native Americans whom were regarded as enemies of the state, Joseph Smith freed slaves and some were joining the church, they were even inviting freed slaves to Missouri. Because they had no slaves when they went to Utah, out of 20,000 Mormons, there were only 45 Africans that went, that’s why, even today, I hear Utah is about 95% white. There have never been any “segregated” LDS congregations. LDS all over the Rocky Mountains are and always have been against the KKK:

In the 1960s. Were there no Christian leaders who denied Africans entrance to their churches, schools, civic centers and voting booths? I mean virtually all Protestant denominations have separate Negro churches, and thus the areas of association for religious purposes have been very small. 1963 is the same year Ferrell Griswold, pastor of the Minor Heights Baptist Church, addressed Klan supporters as Birmingham public schools began their first week of desegregation. While the LDS churches NEVER practiced segregation.

One view I find interesting was the ban was started all because the Priesthood was to never be held in bondage. Aaron and his sons weren’t allowed to exercise the priesthood until after the children of Israel were free from Egypt. This was also the case when the nation of Israel was carried away into captivity in Babylon. And so since a certain group in modern society have been held in slavery as well, even though this condition was not their fault, were not be allowed command of the Priesthood until they were free. Even though the Civil War ended slavery, many things did not change culturally for the Blacks until the Civil Rights movement of the seventies which was when the Blacks members of the LDS Church were given the Priesthood as they could finally regard themselves as being free from bondage.”