And the Lord 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; 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).
Above passage from The Book of Mormon discussed in article by Obery M. Hendricks Jr. Mitt Romney and the Curse of Blackness by Obery M. Hendricks,Jr. at Huffington Post ,January 12, 2012
Just as the Christian fundamentalism of former GOP candidates Michele Bachmann and Rick Perry informed their political ideology — and was therefore considered fair game in the national dialogue — so too does Mormonism define not only Mitt Romney’s character, but what kind of president he would be and what impulses would drive him in both domestic and foreign policy.Above quote from:
Romney’s religion is not a sideline, but a crucial element in understanding the man, the mission and the candidacy. He is the quintessential Mormon who embodies all of the basic elements of the homegrown American religion that is among the fastest growing religions in the world. Like his father before him, Romney has charted a course from missionary to businessman, from church bishop to politician — and to presidential candidate. The influence that Mormonism has had on him has dominated every step of the way.
The seeds of Romney’s unique brand of conservatism, often regarded with intense suspicion by most non-Mormon conservatives, were sown in the secretive, acquisitive, patriarchal, authoritarian religious empire run by “quorums” of men under an umbrella consortium called the General Authorities.
A creed unlike any other in the United States, from its inception Mormonism encouraged material prosperity and abundance as a measure of holy worth, and its strict system of tithing 10 percent of individual wealth has made the church one of the world’s richest institutions.
"Romney and the White Horse Prophecy :A close look at the roots of Romney's -- and the Mormon church's -- political ambitions" BY SALLY DENTON at Salon.com, January 29, 2012
Racism Mitt Romney Mormonism /LDS
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
Did racism end in LDS church in 1978 or are there still vestiges of racism in the church today.
Gordon Hinckley on Why Blacks Were Denied the LDS Priesthood
Uploaded by lhvm on 27 Jan 2007
Until 1978, no person of African descent was allowed into the LDS (Mormon) priesthood. German Reporter asks LDS President Gordon B. Hinckley why this was the case. His response begs the question of whether Mr. Hinckley can rightly be called a "prophet, seer and revelator". His response also demonstrates the patronizing and paternalistic attitude that many in the LDS Church still adopt toward persons of color.
also from Lawrence O'Donnell
Mitt Romney Sat In That Church For 31 Years?
also see for instance video at Youtube discussing Mormon racism and the N word "Blacks Called... By Mormon Joseph Smith .
More on Mormonism below after Updates on Hurricane Katrina's on-going repercussions and quality of Education in America hit by economic inequality and injustice.
Update:7 years later repercussions of Hurrican Katrina continue:
authorities used the Hurricane Katrina disaster to cut education budget the unwarranted unjust firing of thousands of employees. Disaster Capitalism at its best or worst ala Naomi Klein "The Shock Doctrine"
Post-Katrina School Firings Wrongful, Louisiana Judge Rules by Kevin McGill at Huff Post, June 20, 2012
NEW ORLEANS -- Thousands of New Orleans school employees were wrongfully fired after Hurricane Katrina scattered the populations and shut down the city and its schools, a Louisiana judge ruled Wednesday.
Judge Ethel Simms Julien awarded more than $1 million to seven people who filed the class-action suit against the New Orleans school board and the state. Her decision cleared the way for more damages to be awarded to an estimated 7,000 others in future proceedings.
It was not immediately clear whether the defendants – including the Orleans Parish School Board, the state Department of Education and the state itself – would appeal. An attorney for the school board said he would discuss the matter with his client. The state Attorney General's Office said it would consult with lawyers the state hired for the case.
The ruling comes almost seven years after levee breaches during the storm caused 80 percent of the city to flood.
With schools in no shape to open, the Orleans Parish School Board dismissed more than 7,000 employees, while the state seized the opportunity to take over most schools in the long-troubled system.
...The lawsuit is one element in an education story that has brought widespread attention to public schools in New Orleans, where even before Katrina, the system was plagued by corruption, mismanagement and poor student achievement.
Roughly 59,000 students were enrolled in New Orleans public schools when the storm hit on Aug. 29, 2005. Enrollment now in the hybrid state and local system is estimated at about 39,000, according to figures provided by state officials Wednesday.
In the months after the August 2005 hurricane, then-Gov. Kathleen Blanco and the Legislature moved to place most of the city's public schools in the state Recovery School District, leaving only a few higher-performing schools in the hands of the board. Most of the approximately 70 schools run by the RSD have been turned over to independent charter organizations. The local school board has chartered numerous schools as well.
The result has been steady if often incremental progress overall. But there also have been complaints about the state running local schools; allegations from some that local communities have not had enough say in the operation; and complaints that teachers and others who lost their jobs after the storm have been treated unfairly.
"Teachers who had devoted their lives to education found themselves without a job, without health care and without a safety net," state Sen. J.P. Morrell said in an interview last year. "A lot of them felt betrayed."
#OWS update : Economic injustice affects the quality of education of America's schools:
School Funding Practices Unfair Across States, National Report Card Finds By Gregory Kristof at Huff post, june 20,2012
The executive summary of the report defines "fair" school funding as "a state finance system that ensures equal educational opportunity by providing a sufficient level of funding distributed to districts within the state to account for additional needs generated by student poverty."
...The report found that only 17 states have progressive funding systems, according to which the state allocates greater funding to districts buckling under poverty. Utah, New Jersey, Ohio, and Minnesota are the most progressive states.
Six states have regressive funding systems, in which richer school districts receive more state dollars. Illinois is the most regressive state, followed by North Carolina, Alabama, Michigan, Texas, and Colorado.
In funding level, the report finds huge disparity. States in the Northeast, along with Wyoming and Alaska, tend to provide far higher levels of school funding than Southern or Western states.
... A survey published last fall by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities examined 46 states -- where 95 percent of the country's elementary and secondary students reside -- and found that most states cut state funding for schools last year, and a majority of states are funding K-12 education at levels lower than before the recession, after adjusting for inflation.
Of those studied, 37 trimmed K-12 educational funding since the year before, after adjusting for inflation: 19 of those states cut funding by more than 5 percent.
also see : Disaster Capitalism, K-12 Education, and Corporate Takeovers of Progressive Organizations by Karoli at Crooks and Liars , June 19, 2012
and:
Naomi Klein: Disaster Capitalism at YouTube
And more on Mitt Romney and the Mormon Church :
During the 2008 presidential election campaign Obama as presidential candidate was forced to state his case in regard to some outrageous remarks made by his pastor Reverend Wright to clarify his own position .
So there are those who are calling on Mitt Romney as the GOP presidential hopeful in the 2012 presidential election to respond on some of the contentious and troubling doctrines or once strongly held beliefs on the part of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints to which Romney belongs on the issues of racism , sexism, homophobia and so forth .
Up until 1978 Blacks were not permitted full membership and rights as those of white members of the church. This was not merely a matter of some cultural influence at the time but these racist attitudes were codified in the Book of Mormon as part of the Churches doctrine and holiest book. According to Joseph's Smiths translation of the Golden Tablets he had found in Missouri upon which was written God's Word people who were white were blessed and those who were black had been cursed by God and therefore were inferior to white people .
The LDS or Mormon Church also holds to some troubling doctrines such as seeing itself as the only True Christian Church and that all other self-described Christian churches are apostate churches and all other religions are false. The question arises that can Mitt Romney as a Mormon in a multicultural pluralistic nation be an effective leader or be able to represent all Americans of different faiths and not just Mormons or those who call themselves Christians but also those of different faiths and religions from Judaism to Islam to Buddhists and Hindus etc.
Mormonism is not any stranger than other religions. Mormons like other religions preaches that it is the only true religion and is even the only "true" or "Real" Christian Church. LDS is the quintessential American religion codifying that America is the Promised Land / the New Jerusalem or the City on the Hill as the Puritans referred to it.Evangelical Christians also believe that Christian Europeans' migration to America and the creation of the nation of America and its history was the fulfilling of divine intervention.
It should be noted that the official Mormon Church no longer allows polygamy and that Blacks are now permitted full membership and fellowship in the Church.
But as for women they are still seen as inferior to men in the Church. The role of women in LDS Church is that of helpmates to their husbands and are seen as primarily sexual objects and baby making machines.
But much of this inequality for women in the Mormon Church can be found to a greater or lesser extent within the Evangelical fundamentalist Christian community . One wonders how women for instance would fare in a nation entirely controlled by LDS or other conservative Christian sect.
Mitt Romney and the Curse of Blackness by Obery M. Hendricks,Jr. at Huffington Post ,January 12, 2012
When it comes to others' choice of religions, I'm pretty much a live-and-let-live guy. In fact, I don't believe in religious litmus tests of any kind. Frankly, I think they are self-righteous and insulting. Yet I must admit that there is something about Mitt Romney's religion that I find deeply troubling, particularly in light of the possibility that he could become the next president of this nation. What concerns me is this: the Book of Mormon, the book that Mitt Romney and all Mormons embrace as divinely revealed scripture that is more sacred, more true, and more inerrant than any other holy book on earth, declares that black people are cursed. That's right. Cursed. And not only accursed, but lazy and aesthetically ugly to boot.
I'm not talking about ascribed racism such as we see in Christianity, in which racist meanings are attributed to certain verses of the Bible that actually contain no such meanings, as with the Gen. 9:25 cursing of Canaan (not Ham!) which, though used as "proof" of black wickedness and inferiority, in actuality has nothing to do with race.
And no, I'm not talking about a single ambiguous, cherry-picked verse, either. I'd much rather that were the case. The sad truth is that the Book of Morman says it explicitly and in numerous passages: black people are cursed by God and our dark skin is the evidence of our accursedness. Here are a few examples:
And the Lord 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; 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).
And I beheld, after they had dwindled in unbelief they became a dark and loathsome and a filthy people, full of idleness and all manner of abominations (1 Nephi 12:23)."O my brethren, I fear that unless ye shall repent of your sins that their skins will be whiter than yours, when ye shall be brought with them before the throne of God. (Jacob 3:8).
And the skins of the Lamanites were dark, according to the mark which was set upon their fathers, which was a curse upon them because of their transgression and their rebellion against their brethren, who consisted of Nephi, Jacob, and Joseph, and Sam, who were just and holy men (Alma 3: 6).
It would have been infinitely more righteous if Mormons had relegated the sentiments of these verses to the scriptural sidelines of their faith, but the historical record tells us otherwise. Joseph Smith, Jr., the founder of Mormonism, repeatedly ordered his Church to uphold all slavery laws. Although Smith had a change of heart toward the end of his life, his successor, Brigham Young, did not. Young instituted social and ecclesiastical segregation as the Church's official policies, thus excluding people of black African descent from priesthood ordination and full participation in temple ceremonies, regardless of their actual skin color. Moreover, Brigham Young, whom Mormons revere almost equally with Smith, proved to the end of his life to be a brutal white supremacist who fervently supported the continued enslavement of African Americans; he was so convinced of black accursedness that he declared that if any Mormon had sex with a person of color, "the penalty, under the law of God, is death on the spot."
The Book of Mormon's teaching of the accursedness and, therefore, the inferiority of blacks -- if blacks are cursed, then by definition they are inferior to the divinely acceptable whites -- was reaffirmed by numerous Mormon leaders for a century and a half. As late as 1969, even after the Civil Rights Movement had dismantled de jure segregation throughout the land, David O. McKay, then president and "living prophet" of Mormonism, still publicly justified its segregationist policies by declaring that "the seeming discrimination by the Church toward the Negro... goes back into the beginning with God."
Mitt Romney interview -- Brutal
Uploaded by docdoc821 on 3 Jul 2007
The Early Show, CBS, July 3, 2007
And here's a discussion of ex-Mormons and Evangelical Christians about racism etc. in The Church Of Jesus Christ of latter Day Saints
The Curse of Cain Mormonism Racism in Mormon Church
also see:
Time To Cancel The Mormon Theocracy Watch Via Media Walter Russell Mead's Blog, march 27, 2012
Mitt Romney’s money man; Romney finance chief Spencer Zwick has raised a lot of money for the candidate -- and himself.by Alex Seitz-Wald at Salon.com, June 21, 2012
Michael Tomasky on the Problems With Mitt Romney’s Biography :From his family and faith to his careers in business and politics, Mitt Romney’s life story is a liability. Will America elect the Man Who Isn’t There? by Michael Tomasky at Daily Beast, June 17, 2012
"Romney and the White Horse Prophecy :A close look at the roots of Romney's -- and the Mormon church's -- political ambitions" BY SALLY DENTON at Salon.com, January 29, 2012
Just as the Christian fundamentalism of former GOP candidates Michele Bachmann and Rick Perry informed their political ideology — and was therefore considered fair game in the national dialogue — so too does Mormonism define not only Mitt Romney’s character, but what kind of president he would be and what impulses would drive him in both domestic and foreign policy.
Romney’s religion is not a sideline, but a crucial element in understanding the man, the mission and the candidacy. He is the quintessential Mormon who embodies all of the basic elements of the homegrown American religion that is among the fastest growing religions in the world. Like his father before him, Romney has charted a course from missionary to businessman, from church bishop to politician — and to presidential candidate. The influence that Mormonism has had on him has dominated every step of the way.
The seeds of Romney’s unique brand of conservatism, often regarded with intense suspicion by most non-Mormon conservatives, were sown in the secretive, acquisitive, patriarchal, authoritarian religious empire run by “quorums” of men under an umbrella consortium called the General Authorities. A creed unlike any other in the United States, from its inception Mormonism encouraged material prosperity and abundance as a measure of holy worth, and its strict system of tithing 10 percent of individual wealth has made the church one of the world’s richest institutions.
A multibillion-dollar business empire that includes agribusiness, mining, insurance, electronic and print media, manufacturing, movie production, commercial real estate, defense contracting, retail stores and banking, the Mormon church has unprecedented economic and political power. Despite a solemn stricture against any act or tolerance of gambling, Mormons have been heavily invested and exceptionally influential in the Nevada gaming industry since the great expansion of modern Las Vegas in the 1950s. Valued for their unquestioning loyalty to authority as well as general sobriety — they are prohibited from imbibing in alcohol, tobacco or coffee — Mormons have long been recruited into top positions in government agencies and multinational corporations. They are prominent in such institutions as the CIA, FBI and the national nuclear weapons laboratories, giving the church a sphere of influence unlike any other American religion in the top echelons of government.
... At the recent GOP presidential debate in Florida, Romney professed that the Declaration of Independence is a theological document, not specific to the rebellious 13 colonies, but establishing a covenant “between God and man.” Which would suggest that Mitt Romney views the American presidency as a theological office.
Recommended Books:
* Bushman, Richard Lyman : Mormonism; A Very Short History, Pub. 2008.
* Coke, Newell: Latter Days : A Guided Tour Through Six Billion Years of Mormonism, Pub. 2000.
* Conkin, Paul K. : American originals: Homemade Varieties of Christianity, Pub. 1997.
* Gottlieb, Robert and Peter Wiley : America's Saints-The Rise of Mormon Power, Pub. 1984.
* Ostling, Henry Richard and Joan K. Ostling : Mormon America-The Power and the Promise, 1999.
* Remini, Robert V : Joseph Smith (Mormon founder/Prophet) Pub. 2002.
*Wills, Garry: Head and Heart: American Christianities , Pub. 2007.
* Wills, Garry: Under God : Religion and American Politics , Pub. 1990/2007
Mormonism and its doctrines to be continued...
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