Today I read the Official Declaration 2 of the Doctrine and Covenants. The Official Declaration 2 was made in September of 1978 and it extended the priesthood to all worthy males in the church regardless of the color of their skin. Prior to this time, all those members of the church who had a skin color other than white were denied the priesthood and by extension, the blessings of the temple.
This one point has been a great stumbling block to a lot of people. I was not born until 1979 so I was obviously not alive when this happened, but my dad told me that when this was read in General Conference in September 1978 there were several members who left the church. They did not approve of extending the priesthood to all worthy men. I personally say good riddance. If such people did not have charity and appreciate what a wonderful revelation this was, then the church has no room for such bigots.
For the vast majority of the church though, this was wonderful, welcome news. To be able to extend the blessings of the restored gospel in its fulness to all men and women regardless of their country of origin and color of their skin is something most Latter-day Saints had waited for for decades. I know in particular President Spencer W. Kimball pleaded for years with the Lord until the Lord finally said the time was right.
I find it interesting that the two Official Declarations contain revelations concerning the two most controversial topics that people bring up about the church. There are lots of things the world at large does not like about the Latter-day Saint religion but nothing incites more debates and arguments like plural marriage and the priesthood being withheld from worthy men because of the color of their skin.
I remember once that a friend of mine asked me to come and attend their Wednesday church services and talk about the Latter-day Saints and explain what we believe and answer questions. They said they did this every month, they would showcase a new religion and that they wanted to know about the Latter-day Saints. As the day approaches it turns out they had also asked another LDS member to come that night, who I happened to know and happened to be the father of a good friend of mine. So we went together and we had a good time. I don't remember too much of what we said by way of explanation, but I do remember there was a lot of questions that we answered. I also remember he let me answer the question about why the priesthood was not available to all men sooner. I remember making a joke that he was letting me have all the "easy" questions. But I stand by my answer that I gave that night and it is still what I believe today. The real answer is that it was because that is the way God wanted it. God is the head of this church, not His prophets and not the Quorum of the Twelve or the other General Authorities. The Lord decreed that it should be this way and so it was. However, my person thoughts on the matter are that the world, and perhaps even the church, was not ready for it.
In 1830 when the church was founded, slavery was still very much a real thing, especially in the South of the United States. It is my opinion that if Joseph Smith had announced that they were extending the blessings of the Priesthood to all men regardless of color, the the United States would not have stood for it. At the time, as backwards as it seems to us now, people believed that people with black skin were lesser humans. That they were not as good as people with white skin. I don't know how any one could ever have believed such nonsense, but it's what people thought and believed. If they had believed that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints treated their slaves as equals, there would have been no place in this country that was safe for the Latter-day Saints. Again, that is just my opinion and not doctrine. I think that 1978 was when the United States were ready to accept that all men are created equal, an idea that our Founding Fathers tried to get us to understand over 200 years prior to this revelation and that we are just now beginning to act on in this country.
It's so amazing to me that in a country that can be so technologically advanced in so many ways, that in such fundamental truths we can be so backwards. But the issue of slavery sadly still rears its head with some people. Some people cannot let it go that it happened and still choose to dwell on it and play the martyr. Thankfully most of us have moved past it and would like nothing more than to forget it ever happened. I am very thankful I did not live in such a time. I would like to think that even though I were taught it from a young age, I would have been one of the ones that realized how dumb it was and not believed it. Thankfully I'll never have to find out.
I am personally glad that the time has come when all Saints are equals and the world is able to accept that. I am so very grateful that the Lord gave President Kimball this revelation when He did and am only saddened that the world, and perhaps the church, was not ready for it sooner. It is a wonderful feeling to live in such an age and I am thankful that these are my times and that I can try and make my corner of the world a better place. Until tomorrow.
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