2020 Vision For The "Twin Relics of Barbarism"
2020 Vision For The
“Twin Relics of Barbarism”
*Please join us at The Restoration Table YouTube Channel where we will discuss more challenging issues like this, and share our favorite gems from The Restoration as well.
In the wake of this 2020 year, we have truly had time (Covid forcing us to slow down) to try to have more 20/20 vision about racial injustice. With the George Floyd incident and many others providing additional jolts to our attention, combined with the protests breaking out throughout the nation and the world, I feel heartbroken and have shed tears off and on as I have learned more about the terrible racial injustices that have occurred in our history as a nation.
As we all know, in order to eliminate oppression and injustice of any kind, we all need to show with our actions that we are equally outraged when any of us is treated unfairly. Unfortunately, it isn’t always easy or natural to do this, but we must try. We must abolish any form of oppression or injustice. With our words and our actions, we can non-violently, but boldly and unitedly condemn injustice, and demand full justice, equality, and reparations for all - just like many heroes have done in the past.
As a small effort to contribute towards this world-wide desire of many, I would like to reflect for a moment on “The Twin Relics of Barbarism.” This phrase, coined in an 1856 Philadelphia republican convention, was used by 19th century Americans to refer to slavery and polygamy. Most people believe that racism and sexism are at the root of those two twin relics.
In the last few centuries in this nation, racism has taken the forms of slavery, lynching, segregation, voting restrictions, and discriminatory behaviors in housing, employment, and the criminal justice system among others. Sexism has taken the forms of a variety of unequal power dynamics between men and women, unequal pay, voting restrictions, pornography, human trafficking, and sexual abuse. Polygamy, which has existed in many areas and periods of time in this world, including the U.S., is for many an extension of sexism and one of the venues where abuse has occurred.
Both racism and sexism have similar sins at the root: subjugation, greed, dominance, oppression, and discrimination. And both practice forms of inequality.
A Very Brief Historical Context of Polygamy
and the Priesthood and Temple Ban
*At the end of this article I include introductory resources to learn more about the historical details pertaining to what I discuss here:
Polygamy has existed in many time periods and cultures, but in the U.S. it really took off in the early 1840s among Mormons in Nauvoo, Illinois. From there it spread to Utah and wasn’t fully repudiated until the early 1900s among the main church, although many offshoots still practice polygamy today.
The priesthood and temple ban for blacks began in 1852 with Brigham Young’s address to the Utah State Legislature and ended 126 years later in 1978.
Not everyone will agree, but many people see the hand of God working in the Restoration despite the mistakes of past leaders. Although I think we should celebrate the divinely inspired gems of the restoration, (which include for many: the amazing teachings pertaining to The Plan of Happiness, The Book of Mormon’s beautiful teachings of Jesus, Temples, the great Zion building efforts, and much more), I believe we should also acknowledge mistakes and repair them. It might be painful, but just like in our relationships, the painful repentance process is needed and can lead to healing and joy. We don’t need to be afraid to investigate any aspect of our religion, because, as the great apostle J Reuben Clark taught: “If we have the truth, it cannot be harmed by investigation. And the apostle Hugh B. Brown wisely counseled “ … that facts are far more important than any cherished, mistaken beliefs, no matter how unpleasant the facts or how delightful the beliefs.”
When terms like racist or sexist are used in this article, please don’t misunderstand that I believe that the people who behave this way are always evil. Just because a person had limited understanding and subscribed to ideas of their day that we now realize fall short of God’s will, it doesn’t mean that these same people don’t have many parts of them that are good. It also doesn’t mean that they can’t still be inspired by God to do a great work. Just look at any of the heroes of our modern era, or the prophets of the Bible. Every human being is multidimensional and has wonderful virtues and also unfortunate vices.
For this article, let’s see how far we have come in our collective understanding regarding these 2 practices implemented by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the 1800s.
My purposes for this article are three-fold:
Enlighten the reader with significant details in the historical timeline regarding these 2 practices: their origin, reception, development, and disintegration through time and current status.
Come to grips with some warts in our past as part of the natural reconciliatory process.
Argue that God can still move in His majesty through imperfect vessels.
After engaging in this historical analysis and summarizing common critiques of polygamy and the priesthood and temple ban, I will acknowledge 10 positive aspects regarding the church’s relationship to these two practices in an effort to be fair and balanced
Similarities and Differences Between Polygamy and the Priesthood and Temple Ban
5 Differences
Difference #1: Polygamy Commenced With Joseph, and the Priesthood & Temple Ban Began With Brigham
There is a small group of people that believe Joseph didn’t practice polygamy, and that it started with Brigham. However most scholars feel the evidence is overwhelming, and the church has even chosen to declare Joseph’s involvement with polygamy as a fact in one of their Gospel Topics Essays.
Concerning the priesthood and temple ban, in a 1969 1st Presidency statement, the church asserted that “from the beginning of this dispensation, Joseph Smith and all succeeding presidents of the Church have taught that Negroes, while spirit children of a common Father, and the progeny of our earthly parents Adam and Eve, were not yet to receive the priesthood.” (see full statement on Fair Mormon)
The only problem with this assertion is that there is no evidence to back it up, and it has since been repudiated, with an admission in the church’s gospel topics essay that Joseph allowed for the ordination of multiple black men, and that the priesthood and temple ban began with Brigham. However, Brigham didn’t get the priesthood & temple ban idea out of nowhere, Joseph planted the seeds in a Book of Abraham verse (I’ll talk about that later in the article), although in practice it wasn’t firm yet.
Difference #2: There Was an Outcry From Members of the Church With Respect To The Priesthood & Temple Ban But Not With Polygamy.
As hard as it might be for some to believe, many Utah women participating in polygamy actually went on speaking tours throughout the U.S. defending the practice. That doesn’t mean that all women loved it. In fact, most loathed it, and kept their feelings relegated to private journals. Women were also reluctant to part with polygamy because they feared they would be separated from their children.
During the civil rights era of the 50s and 60s, the church drew heavy criticism for the priesthood and temple ban, not only from the outside world but from members of the church. Many letters were written to the prophets and apostles at church headquarters, and other intense correspondences took place. (See this history of the time period)
Difference #3: Polygamy Was Against the Law & The Priesthood & Temple Ban Wasn’t
The church’s gospel topics essay acknowledges that “In Joseph Smith’s time, monogamy was the only legal form of marriage in the United States.” Joseph and his successors found a loophole by not marrying their plural wives legally - the religious plural marriage sealings were recognized as legitimate only by the church. This topic is complex and I would suggest Brian Hale’s books if you want to learn the details more in-depth.
And because of the separation of church and state tradition in the U.S., the church had the religious freedom to restrict blacks from the priesthood and eternal marriage and families through the temple - for 126 years.
Difference #4: One of the Practices Had a Clean Break When it Ended, and the Other Did Not
When the Prophet & President of the church Wilford Woodruff issued Official Declaration #1 in 1890, polygamy didn’t 100% come to a halt right away. Many members, including top leaders, continued to allow and participate in new plural marriages for a while. (See this and this)
But the 1978 Official Declaration #2 completely ended the priesthood and temple ban. That doesn’t mean that there are not still lingering prejudicial views among some Mormons however, largely because the past justifications given by prophets from 1852 to 1978 (that blacks were the cursed lineage of Cain/Ham and less-valiant in the premortal life) for the priesthood and temple ban were not disavowed until 2013.
Difference #4: One of the Practices Will Never Return in the Future, and the Other One is Supposed To
LDS teachings support the idea that polygamy might resume one day. In the book, Mormon Doctrine (page 578 of the 1986 edition), prominent Mormon leader Bruce R. McConkie writes: "Obviously the holy practice [of Plural Marriage] will commence again after the Second Coming of the Son of Man and the ushering in of the millennium." And many early church leaders, including the prophet Brigham Young, taught that polygamy is the pattern of eternity - that Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, and Adam have many wives.
Also, the church policy regarding temple sealings still holds that a man can be sealed to an additional woman for “time and eternity” if his first spouse dies. In fact, our current prophet has been sealed to 2 women for time and all eternity, as have multiple other prophets and apostles in the last 50 years. And some of them, when speaking about their 2 wives have said that they expect to still be with both of them eternally in the next life. No one knows how everything will work out in the next life, but even the implication that polygamy could still be viable someday strikes many as unsettling.
Women, however, cannot remarry for “time and eternity” if they are widowed, although since 1998 the church has allowed women to posthumously be married to all of the spouses they were married to in this life through vicarious temple sealings. It might seem a little contradictory to allow it in the spirit world but not now, and also unequal because men can do it in this life and women cannot.
There have also been prominent Mormon voices that have suggested there will be more women than men who qualify for exaltation, because of the belief that a higher percentage of women are more righteous than men. And since in church doctrine, one must be sealed to go to the celestial kingdom, it’s a mathematical inevitability that some women will have to be sealed to a man already sealed to another woman. This notion is silly to many people to think that some women will have to become a plural wife just because of the numbers. Many also feel it’s crippling to men to suggest that they are not capable of becoming as righteous as women and have equal representation in heaven.
Most people believe that polygamy (and sex outside of monogamous marriage) robs a man and a woman of the possibility to enjoy exclusive, romantic love. So many latter-day saint women are tormented at the thought that polygamy ever was okay with their Heavenly Father or that it still might be.
5 Similarities
Similarity #1: Both Practices Were Intensified by Brigham Young
With polygamy, Brigham took a practice that Joseph secretly introduced in Nauvoo, and put it on the map by declaring and defending it to the world and sending missionaries to preach the doctrine of polygamy as part of the necessary restoration of all things. Brigham and some of his fellow apostles taught that polygamy was God’s highest law, superior to monogamy, that monogamy was responsible for the downfall of nations such as Rome, and that children from polygamous unions were biologically superior. Some of them taught that polygamy was necessary for exaltation and that you would have more glory in the next world depending on how many wives you accrued. (see this list of quotes) Also, Brigham Young & Heber C. Kimball had so many wives that many weren’t taken care of and suffered.
Although the priesthood and temple ban didn’t originate with Joseph, racism existed among Joseph and his contemporaries, although they were progressive in some respects as well. However, Brigham ramped up the racism in word and deed. Despite all the inspired things I believe God did through him, he nevertheless was human, and said and did many things we would consider today to be very racist. There are over a dozen quotes from him in General Conference and other addresses that most would agree are harrowing to read. Brigham also allowed Utah to be a slave state, although in a limited capacity. (See this Biography for more details)
Similarity #2: There Was Immense Pressure From The Outside World To Stop Both Practices
The U.S. Government put intense pressure on Brigham’s Utah church for decades regarding polygamy, culminating with the Edmunds-Tucker Act of 1887, when the government came and seized all church assets.
And especially starting in the 1950s with the dawn of the Civil Rights movement, the church drew heavy criticism for the priesthood and temple ban from outsiders, (and many insiders as well as was already discussed). One example was when the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights formally investigated BYU, requiring that they allow more black students and faculty. In addition, dozens of sports teams boycotted BYU. And with Bob Jones University losing its accreditation because of its discriminatory policies, the church might have been afraid that BYU was next. (See The Mormon Church and Blacks, for more details about this era)
Similarity #3: The Church Held Firm In The Face of The Outside Pressure
In response to government pressure on the Utah Mormons for the decades leading up to the Edmunds-Tucker Act, the church responded by proclaiming that God’s laws are superior to mans and that they were never going to give up polygamy. Prophet and President Wilford Woodruff in the 1880s proclaimed that the Saints would never give it up, asserting: “If we were to do away with polygamy … then we must do away with prophets and Apostles, with revelation and the gifts and graces of the Gospel, and finally give up our religion altogether … We just can't do that, for God has commanded us to build up His kingdom and to bear our testimony to the nations of the earth, and we are going to do it, come life or come death …” - Journal of Discourses, v. 13, pp. 165-166
With increasing criticism about the church’s stance on race, the church issued 1st Presidency statements in 1949 and 1969, clarifying that the priesthood & temple ban was doctrine, and would only be lifted in the millennium. In addition, other prophets and apostles in the mid-1900s proclaimed it as doctrine and also said many things regarding the church’s stance on race in their books and sermons that would today be considered very racist.
Similarity #4: The Church Eventually Discontinued The Practices Through Official Declarations
President Wilford Woodruff had a revelation in 1890 that was canonized as Official Declaration #1. He felt inspired by God to see that keeping temples (which the government had seized) was more important than keeping polygamy.
And President Spencer W. Kimball in 1978, along with most (Mark E. Peterson and Delbert L. Stapley were not present) of the other apostles received a revelation that now was the time to end the priesthood and temple ban. The revelation was canonized as Official Declaration #2. Although multiple prophets had said the ban wouldn’t be lifted until the Millennium (Brigham Young & Bruce R. McConkie to name two), the leaders of the church felt that the reasons to end it now were stronger than the reasons to keep it. Most church members wanted the priesthood and temple ban to be lifted, were embarrassed by it, and felt it was a hindrance to missionary work. However, most members didn’t think the ban would be lifted any time soon but were overjoyed when the revelation came.
Similarity #5: Modern Similarities With Respect to the Aftermath of These 2 Practices:
1. LDS Scriptures Used To Justify These Practices Have Not Been Taken Out of The Cannon, and Still Exist Today
There are verses of LDS scripture in The Bible (Genesis 9:25), The Book of Mormon (2 Nephi 5:21-22 and others), The Book of Abraham (Abraham 1:26), and The Book of Moses (Moses 7:8) that many church leaders throughout the years cited to justify the priesthood and temple ban. And there are verses of LDS scripture in The Bible,( ) The Book of Mormon (Jacob 2:23-30), and The Doctrine & Covenants (section 132) that many church leaders throughout the years cited to justify polygamy.
2. While The Scriptures Are Still There, The Justifications Linked To Those Scriptures Have Been Denied More Often Since The Discontinuation of the Practices
While leaders in the church used to cite the scriptures mentioned above as justification for why polygamy and the priesthood and temple ban was God’s will, with the discontinuation of the practices, church leaders have gradually stopped citing those scriptures, saying they no longer know why God instituted the practices. For example, John A. Widtsoe enunciated this admission for the saints: “We do not understand why the Lord commanded the practice of plural marriage.” (However in modern times the church sometimes reverts back to scriptures mentioned above as possible justifications). And in a 1969 1st Presidency Statement, the church proclaimed that blacks “were not yet to receive the priesthood, for reasons which we believe are known to God, but which He has not made fully known to man.”
3. Although the Church Has Often Distanced Itself From The Past Justifications Given For its Practices, It Nevertheless Maintains That The Practices Were the Will of God While They Lasted
In the church’s gospel topics essay about polygamy, it reaffirms that the early church practice of polygamy was God’s will. And concerning the priesthood and temple ban, at the 40th anniversary “Be One” celebration of the lifting of the ban, Elder Oaks stated that he didn’t agree with the justifications previously given by many of the prophets & apostles, but he still believes the priesthood & temple ban was God’s will while it lasted. He said: “I studied the reasons then being given and could not feel confirmation of the truth of any of them … the Lord rarely gives reasons for the commandments and directions He gives to His servants.”
4. There Have Been No Apologies Given So Far For The Harm The Practices Have Caused
The modern church leaders were not the ones responsible for instituting and perpetuating polygamy and the priesthood and temple ban. There are examples however of modern leaders of political and religious institutions apologizing for past actions of its nation and church, for acts mostly relating to the twin relics of barbarism this article has spoken about, racism and sexism. (See this excellent article about the subject)
Many believe that it’s not necessary to apologize for the actions of dead people. So was it necessary for all these political and religious leaders to apologize? Why did they do it?
Some believe an apology is not necessary, partly because current leaders are not to blame for the harm of past practices, because the church has already done so much to make the situation better, and because there are those that feel that it can’t be known 100% for sure that the practices were wrong/against God’s will - so why apologize if it possibly wasn’t wrong?
There are others that believe that there is a compelling case that it was wrong, and that in principle - when we do something that harms another, in order to achieve full healing and reconciliation (for both parties) we must acknowledge our misdeeds, sincerely apologize for them, and seek to make up for the harm caused in any way possible.
This article has already explained why the practices of polygamy and the priesthood and temple ban were so harmful to so many. In this modern era, many feel like it’s easier to see for many that these practices were inconsistent with the will of God. It was harmful to women and blacks then, and still causes many mental, emotional, and spiritual damage now to insist that these practices were the will of God, and to not repudiate them.
Many females, blacks, and others feel that to not repudiate and apologize for teaching that it’s the will of God for a man to be able to pursue other romantic and sexual interests than his first wife - can be emotionally tormenting for the first wife, and damaging to men to deceive them into believing that they are entitled to that kind of infidelity. Also, many feel that to not repudiate and apologize for the teaching that blacks were in a cursed lineage because of their previous failings, resulting in a prolonged period of restriction from full access to God’s fullest blessings - is harmful and damaging. It causes many people to lose faith in the church they have always loved - when the current leaders don’t validate their belief that these practices are inconsistent with the will of God. Many people have left the church over these very issues. Many believe that repudiations and apologies have to happen in order to give persons of color and women full psychological health, freedom, healing, and empowerment within the church.
Some believe that the church won’t repudiate or apologize for polygamy and the temple and priesthood ban because they don’t want people to doubt the reliable inspiration of LDS prophets. On the contrary, many believe that more good than harm would ultimately come if the leaders of the church would acknowledge that the practices were wrong and apologize. We don’t have a theology of prophetic infallibility. Many believe it’s possible to call out these practices as harmful errors without having to say the whole Restoration is bogus. God has worked through the imperfections of his mortal prophets all throughout time. And many, but probably not all, would still find plenty of good and inspired things in the Church to remain faithful disciples of it, even as the church engages in peace-making with these past harmful practices. Many believe their faith in the leaders would actually increase, instead of decrease, because we all know that it takes a big person to admit they were wrong. In 2018, someone created a fake church statement apologizing for its past racism, and it really fooled a lot of people. Some people’s faith was shaken to think the leaders admitted this, but for many, they thought it was a good move for the church and were overjoyed. When they learned it was fake they were scarred and devastated.
After having engaged in this historical analysis and summarizing common critiques of polygamy and the priesthood and temple ban, I now acknowledge 10 positive aspects regarding the church’s relationship to these two practices in an effort to be fair and balanced
Positive Polygamy Points:
(see the resources at the end to learn the historical background surrounding the points mentioned here)
There is a lot of evidence that most of the men were extremely reluctant to practice polygamy, even to the point of experiencing suicidality in some cases.
Many women recorded that they had powerful and miraculous experiences apparently confirming to them that it was God’s will.
In the midst of immense persecution, polygamy did forge larger webs of support for many.
There were some widows and who were taken into plural marriage and provided security.
There were some never-married women who were taken into plural marriage and provided security.
Many women grew close to their “sister wives” and they provided each other help and strength in housekeeping, child-raising, and myriad other things.
Although there is evidence for sexual relations in at least 10 of Joseph’s plural marriages, there has never been offspring from any of those polygamous unions detected through DNA studies, suggesting perhaps (although there are other possible explanations) that Joseph wasn’t cohabitating with them as much as some people have charged.
The sacrifice involved with polygamy, although too much for many, nevertheless forged a tight sense of community and identity through the loyalty to the practice.
Many claimed that men were less likely to engage in sexual promiscuity since they had multiple sexual partners due to plural marriage. (this seems silly today but back then it was taken seriously).
Many prominent future male and female leaders in the church came from polygamous families.
Positive Race Relations Points
(see the resources at the end to learn the historical background surrounding the points mentioned here)
The church at some points in its early history was against slavery.
Joseph allowed for the ordination of multiple black men.
Joseph welcomed blacks into the fold to worship with the Saints, instead of having segregated congregations like most of the other churches of the day.
The Book of Mormon says that black and white are equal before God.
The Church Gospel Topics Essay disavowed the past justifications given by church leaders for the ban.
The Church Gospel Topics Essay disavowed the past church teaching against interracial marriage.
The Church Gospel Topics Essay disavowed the past church teaching that black skin is a curse from God.
The Church has increased its teachings to condemn racism.
The Church has united with the NAACP to create more unity and overcome injustice.
The restored gospel is spreading a lot in Africa and blessing the lives of many.
Conclusion
God’s justice demands that we all receive equitable treatment. We are all children of God and deserving of the same blessings as everyone else. Regardless of our race or sex, we all deserve the freedom to pursue happiness now and into the eternities. There is no satisfactory justification for why anyone ever deserves to be blocked from the opportunity to come unto God and receive His full blessings. Many Americans believed it then, and it’s more accepted now among many members of the church, that the “twin relics of barbarism,” racism and sexism, manifest in the forms of slavery and a priesthood/temple ban, and in polygamy among early Mormons was inconsistent with God’s character. However, there are still those that believe, as the church still teaches, that these practices were God’s will while they lasted, or who are agnostic regarding the subject and not confident to conclude that the church was for sure wrong and these practices were not God’s will.
Although much progress has been made to overcome racism and sexism, there are still many abominable remnants today. Human trafficking and pornography are worse than ever, and minorities and women still don’t get paid the same on average for the same job as white men. The George Floyd incident and many others have been another shocking reminder to us all. There is still documented racial discrimination in employment, housing, and in the criminal justice system. I’m glad that some progress has been made, but I’m embarrassed and sickened that we haven’t progressed further faster.
As we look to make the rest of the needed progress in these areas, many believe it’s necessary to acknowledge the mistakes of the past in order to heal old wounds. Otherwise, there will always be barriers to progress.
Regarding Widtsoe’s admission that “We do not understand why the Lord commanded the practice of plural marriage,” with our 20/20 glasses on, many would feel that perhaps it would be more accurate to reform Widtsoe’s statement to say: “We do not know that the Lord commanded the practice of plural marriage.”
“And with the priesthood and temple ban, for “years. (Spencer W.) Kimball (and the other leaders) had to struggle and fight—mostly, he admitted, against himself, and against the prejudices natural to a white man born in America in 1895. Some assume that for many decades prophets had patiently waited on God to reveal if and when the policy should change. Based on Kimball’s self-assessment, perhaps it was the case that God was patiently waiting on his prophets.” - Patrick Mason, Planted: Belief and Belonging in An Age of Doubt
There are those that see the many imperfections of past church leaders regarding these two topics and conclude that they are not truly prophets because the errors are too grave, and they have the freedom to make that conclusion. But many also believe there is still space to chalk that up to human imperfection, (since everyone agrees human beings are all flawed), and still see the hand of God moving in real and powerful and beautiful and numerous ways all throughout the Restoration. People have the freedom to make that conclusion as well. And although people come to different conclusions, we should at least understand each other’s viewpoints, and be respectful in our disagreements.
Part of the ongoing restoration spoken about by church leaders in recent days is the effort to institute even more inspired teachings and practices than those in the past. (for example, President Nelson has made 39 adjustments in 3 years as a prophet) It doesn’t mean that the former teachings and practices that are replaced are evil. They were the best iterations the church leaders could muster as they tried to combine their imperfect but earnest efforts to reach towards heaven.
Bruce R. McConkie’s words soon after the 1978 lifting of the ban are instructive here. He taught that we should “forget everything that I have said, or what President Brigham Young or President George Q. Cannon or whomsoever has said in days past that is contrary to the present revelation. We spoke with a limited understanding and without the light and knowledge that now has come into the world. We get our truth and our light line upon line and precept upon precept. We have now had added a new flood of intelligence and light on this particular subject, and it erases all the darkness and all the views and all the thoughts of the past. They don’t matter anymore. It doesn’t make a particle of difference what anybody ever said about the Negro matter before the first day of June of this year, 1978. It is a new day and a new arrangement, and the Lord has now given the revelation that sheds light out into the world on this subject. As to any slivers of light or any particles of darkness of the past, we forget about them.”
We all “see through a glass darkly,” but God can, has, and will help us. And one day we will grow “brighter and brighter until the perfect day” and get everything right. But for now, we still believe that “He (God) will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the kingdom of God.”
I hope I have accomplished my three-fold purpose for this article:
Enlighten the reader with significant details in the historical timeline regarding these 2 practices: their origin, reception, development, and disintegration through time, and current status.
Help people come to grips with some warts in our past as part of the natural reconciliatory process.
Argue that God can still move in His majesty through imperfect vessels.
-Tony J. Fieldson
*Please join us at The Restoration Table YouTube Channel where we will discuss more challenging issues like this, and discuss our favorite gems from The Restoration as well
Resources For Further Study
Polygamy:
In Sacred Loneliness, by Todd Compton
Brian Hales’ Joseph Smith’s Polygamy website and books
The Church’s Gospel Topics Essay, Plural Marriage in Kirtland and Nauvoo
The Eternal Ghost of Polygamy, by Carol Lynn Pearson
Year of Polygamy Podcast, with Lindsay Hansen Park
Interpreting & Interrupting Polygamy (article written by believing Latter-day Saints who researched the history of Polygamy for 10 years and don’t believe it was from God although they still believe in the Restoration and remain active members)
Priesthood & Temple Ban:
Religion of a Different Color: Mormonism and the Struggle For Whiteness, by Paul Reeve
Edward Kimball’s Article about His Father, President and Prophet Spencer W. Kimball
The Church’s Gospel Topics Essay, Race and The Priesthood
The Mormon Church and Blacks, edited by Matthew Harris and Newell Bringhurst
Mormonism and White Supremacy, by Joanna Brooks
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