RACISM
Racism in the world, especially in the USA, appears to me to
have increased during the past 5 or 6 years.
It is black on white, white on black, poor on rich or one culture or
religion on another.
When I was a young boy, I grew up on the ranch with some of
my cousins and friends. Each summer we played
hard every day out on the ranch, around the shop and in the irrigation pond. We had a large, long irrigation pond that the
well pump would fill with water during the night. During the day the pond was drained into
ditches so the stored water plus the day time well pump water flowed to irrigate
the crops. Today the pond is gone and
the fields are under pivot irrigation machines.
We kids kept a tin boat on the pond which delivered hours of
fun. One day I remember we went out to
play in the pond but it was windy and dusty, as only Millard County can
be. Realizing a solution to the dust, we
went directly to the shop and took the acetylene welding goggles to wear while
boating; to keep the dust out of our eyes. We knew this was not allowed by our fathers and
we would be in big trouble if they found out.
But, my uncle was down in the fields working and we figured we could
simply return the goggles when we finished and no harm would be done. I remember sitting in the boat with my
cousins having a good time and all of us wearing goggles. As my uncle drove up from the fields, he saw
3 kids out in the boat in the wind wearing shaded welding goggles. He stopped and ordered us back to the shop to
return the goggles. I will admit that I
was naive and stupid back then because my first thought was, “How did he know
we borrowed goggles since he has not been into the shop and tried to use the
torch?” It is similar to your 4 year old
secretly scrawling his or her name on the wall with a marker and wondering how
you knew who did it.
For the record, when I was 10 or 11 years old my father came
out where we were playing one afternoon in June. He asked if I would drive the truck in the
field for him. I scrambled to his assistance
thinking that it sounded fun. I never
returned to play. I found myself doing
ranch work: operating equipment, hauling
hay, irrigating, punching cows, etc. every day all summer from that day to when
I left on my first mission.
Each human being tends to look at the world around him or
her through their own welding goggles.
My uncle and I both saw the same situation with two totally different
thought processes and perspectives. Too
often when it comes to Races of people identified by different colored skin or
religion, human beings have proven to be inhumane with their thoughts and
actions. In the Book of Mormon, the
Lamanites were cursed and received a darkened skin from God and answers are
given about this event that sheds some light on how you should view other races
today.
After arriving in the Promised Land and shortly after the
death of Lehi, Laman and Lemuel were angry with Nephi and sought to kill
him. They claimed he, their younger
brother, was thinking to rule over them.
They would have no part of that, stating the rights to rule the people belonged
only to the Lamanites. They sought to
take away Nephi’s life. The Lord warned Nephi
to depart from his brothers and take with him those who wanted to go. That
included Zoram, Sam, Jacob and Joseph and their families. They took their property and journeyed to a
new area to settle. There they observed
to keep the commandments of the Lord, they were industrious, they built
buildings and a temple, they labored with their hands and prospered
exceedingly. Nephi said they lived after
the manner of happiness. (2 Nephi 5:27)
The Lord had stated regarding the Lamanites when they left
Jerusalem that if they rebel against Nephi, “…they shall be cut off from the
presence of the Lord.” (1 Nephi 2:21)
So, when Nephi and his friends separated from the Lamanites:
20 …the word of the Lord was
fulfilled … Inasmuch as they will not hearken unto
thy words they shall be cut off from
the presence of the Lord. And behold, they were cut off from
his presence.
21 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… (2 Nephi 5:20-21)
The Curse. It
is clear that the curse was being cut off from the presence of God; it was
withdrawal of the Spirit. This is a sore
cursing by any standards. The darkened
skin was not the curse.
The Cause of the Curse. According to the verse, the curse was caused by
inequity and hardened hearts.
The Sign of the Curse. The following verse then explains that the
sign of the curse (not the curse itself) was a darkened skin:
22...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)
The Reason for the Sign. The reason stated in the scriptures for the
sign of darkened skin is to limit spreading of more wickedness. This often happens when believers marry nonbelievers
and become turned away from the Lord.
The Lord warns continually in the scriptures against doing this.
8 And this
was done that their seed might be distinguished from the seed of their
brethren, that thereby the Lord God might preserve his people, that they might
not mix and
believe in incorrect traditions which
would prove their destruction. (Alma
3:8)
Joseph Fielding Smith Jr stated, “The dark skin of those who
have come into the Church is no longer to be considered a sign of the
curse…These converts are delightsome and have the Spirit of the Lord.” (Answers to Gospel Questions, 3:122-23)
The Results of the Curse. The curse, being cut off from the presence of
God, results in people becoming a loathsome, idle people, full of mischief and
subtlety unless they repent of their iniquities. (2 Nephi 5: 22, 24) One great blessing is that the curse, being
cut off, and its result are only valid as long as the people are wicked.
God’s handling of his children is always a blessing and we are
accountable to be kind and understanding to everyone. Both the Lamanites and the Nephites often saw
people not as individuals but through the prism of which group they belonged
to; dark or white, Christian or non-Christian, rich or poor and nothing else
seemed to matter. They were unable to
judge people or situations fairly or objectively but their judgment depended on
the group involved and not as Martin Luther King later taught to judge on
content of character not the color of one’s skin. Their leaders sought power by creating
conflict and dividing people into groups by planting the seed of discord for
personal gain (race baiting). This created
a continuous cycle of hate that always led to conflict. These are still the same tactics used by
Racists today, some who are our leaders, and the results are no different. Our challenge is to recognize and avoid this
behavior in ourselves.
President Robinson
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