The Mormon apostle who said the following comments lived until 1984; long enough to see himself utterly and profoundly proven wrong, yet nobody ever forced him to retract these words. At the time he uttered these words, Elder Mark E Peterson had already been an apostle for 10 years!
[beginning of excerpt]
Elder MARK E. PETERSON
Race Problems -- As They Affect The Church
Convention of Teachers of Religion on the College Level,
Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah, August 27, 1954.
"I think I have read enough to give you an idea of what the Negro is after. He is not just seeking the opportunity of sitting down in a cafe where white people eat. He isn't just trying to ride on the same streetcar or the same Pullman car with white people. It isn't that he just desires to go to the same theater as the white people. From this, and other interviews I have read, it appears that the Negro seeks absorption with the white race. He will not be satisfied until he achieves it by intermarriage. That is his objective and we must face it. We must not allow our feelings to carry us away, nor must we feel so sorry for Negroes that we will open our arms and embrace them with everything we have. Remember the little statement that we used to say about sin, 'First we pity, then endure, then embrace'.... "
[end of excerpt]
History will be the judge on the role that the Prop 8 battle will play in the future dilemna of being gay and Mormon, but I hope you can see by reading the above words of an "apostle of the Lord" that the words "idiotic" and "inspired" are simply a matter of perspective when it comes to following a religion.
[beginning of excerpt]
Elder MARK E. PETERSON
Race Problems -- As They Affect The Church
Convention of Teachers of Religion on the College Level,
Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah, August 27, 1954.
"I think I have read enough to give you an idea of what the Negro is after. He is not just seeking the opportunity of sitting down in a cafe where white people eat. He isn't just trying to ride on the same streetcar or the same Pullman car with white people. It isn't that he just desires to go to the same theater as the white people. From this, and other interviews I have read, it appears that the Negro seeks absorption with the white race. He will not be satisfied until he achieves it by intermarriage. That is his objective and we must face it. We must not allow our feelings to carry us away, nor must we feel so sorry for Negroes that we will open our arms and embrace them with everything we have. Remember the little statement that we used to say about sin, 'First we pity, then endure, then embrace'.... "
[end of excerpt]
History will be the judge on the role that the Prop 8 battle will play in the future dilemna of being gay and Mormon, but I hope you can see by reading the above words of an "apostle of the Lord" that the words "idiotic" and "inspired" are simply a matter of perspective when it comes to following a religion.
No comments:
Post a Comment