Should a Latter-day Saint Support Black Lives Matter?
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Should a Latter-day Saint Support Black Lives Matter?
Isaiah pronounces a dreadful wo upon those in the endtime “who suppose what is evil to be good and what is good, evil!” Noting their confusion, he says “They put darkness for light and light for darkness.”
This can be an extremely difficult wo to avoid considering the amount of deception, lies, and propaganda swirling around media outlets of all kind. It is therefore vital for each disciple of Christ to take “the Holy Spirit for their guide, and…not [be] deceived” by diligently involving Jesus Christ, the Spirit of Truth, in decisions regarding what movements and groups to support. We must pit the policies, agendas, and motives of all groups against the truth that He has revealed.Particularly relevant right now is the group Black Lives Matter. Many people have jumped on the bandwagon of this trending organization, but have we taken the time to analyze the actual beliefs and agendas of this group? Here are direct quotes taken from the “What We Believe” page of their website:
“We are guided by the fact that all Black lives matter, regardless of actual or perceived sexual identity, gender identity, gender expression, economic status, ability, disability, religious beliefs or disbeliefs, immigration status, or location.
We make space for transgender brothers and sisters to participate and lead.
We are self-reflexive and do the work required to dismantle cisgender privilege and uplift Black trans folk, especially Black trans women who continue to be disproportionately impacted by trans-antagonistic violence.
We build a space that affirms Black women and is free from sexism, misogyny, and environments in which men are centered.We practice empathy. We engage comrades with the intent to learn about and connect with their contexts.
We make our spaces family-friendly and enable parents to fully participate with their children. We dismantle the patriarchal practice that requires mothers to work “double shifts” so that they can mother in private even as they participate in public justice work.
We disrupt the Western-prescribed nuclear family structure requirement by supporting each other as extended families and “villages” that collectively care for one another, especially our children, to the degree that mothers, parents, and children are comfortable.
We foster a queer‐affirming network. When we gather, we do so with the intention of freeing ourselves from the tight grip of heteronormative thinking, or rather, the belief that all in the world are heterosexual (unless s/he or they disclose otherwise).”
What is this movement truly about? And is it really in harmony with the gospel of Jesus Christ? In the cited paragraphs above there are 14 references to issues regarding gender, gender roles, gender identify, and the elimination of the traditional family unit. There are only 3 references to race, and in the paragraphs preceding these on the website there were 4 references to race, with two of those in the same sentence. Is the movement simply about racial equality, or moving forward the Satanic LGBT agenda? Consider statements like “we disrupt the Western-prescribed nuclear family structure,” or “we foster a queer-affirming network…freeing ourselves from the tight grip of heteronormative thinking.”
In The Family: A Proclamation to the World we read:
“All human beings—male and female—are created in the image of God. Each is a beloved spirit son or daughter of heavenly parents, and, as such, each has a divine nature and destiny. Gender is an essential characteristic of individual premortal, mortal, and eternal identity and purpose.”
Gender is an eternal characteristic of each child of God. Spirits are male and female. They are not confused, they are not trans or multi gendered, nor are they without a gender and simply select whichever feels best. In Genesis we read:
“And I, God, created man in mine own image, in the image of mine Only Begotten created I him; male and female created I them. And I, God, blessed them and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.”
There is no confusion here, zero. We have been created as males and females in the image of our Heavenly Parents as their spiritual offspring with the potential to become Gods as they are. This enables us to fulfill the joyful commandment to multiply and replenish the earth, a commandment that would be unattainable if the LGBT narrative were true. Yes, individuals may struggle with feelings of attraction to the same gender, or confusion regarding gender identity in the Telestial world, but those come from the influence and possession of devils and unclean spirits and they can be healed and cast out through the power of Jesus Christ.
The Lord has said “Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God.” But do we also read the next verse wherein He states: “For, behold, the Lord your Redeemer suffered death in the flesh; wherefore he suffered the pain of all men, that all men might repent and come unto him”?
When the Lord states the worth of souls is great He means each is deserving of an opportunity to repent, which involves “a turning of the heart and will to God, and a renunciation of sin” because “without this there can be no progress in the things of the soul’s salvation.” Rather than a call to repentance, the Black Lives Matter beliefs seem to suggest the exact opposite—the accommodation for, and acceptance of wickedness.As we consider their beliefs, the upheavals and riots they’ve inspired, and the civil rights movement in general, it appears their agenda runs much deeper than that though. Upon careful analysis they appear to be an outright communist faction simply exploiting differences in race to create animosity, turmoil, and contention, leading to more centralized government control. Consider these words of [then] Elder Ezra Taft Benson from 1967 in relation to the current Black Lives Matter movement:
“Now there is nothing wrong with civil rights–it is what’s being done in the name of civil rights that is alarming. There is no doubt that the so-called Civil Rights movement as it exists today is used as a communist program for revolution in America…This shocking statement can be confirmed by an objective study of communist literature and activities and by knowledgeable Negroes and others who have worked within the communist movement.
As far back as 1928, the communists declared that the cultural, economic, and social differences between the races in America could be exploited by them to create the animosity, fear, and hatred between large segments of our people that would be necessary beginning ingredients for their revolution. Briefly, the three broad objectives were–and are–as follows:
Create Hatred
Trigger Violence
Overthrow Established Government
1. Create Hatred. Use any means to agitate blacks into hating whites and whites into hating blacks. Work both sides of the split. Play up and exaggerate real grievances. If necessary, don’t hesitate to manufacture false stories and rumors about injustices and brutality. Create martyrs for both sides. Play upon mass emotions until they smolder with resentment and hatred.
2. Trigger Violence. Put the emotional masses into the streets in the form of large mobs, the larger the better. It makes no difference if the mob is told to demonstrate “peacefully” so long as it is brought into direct confrontation with the antagonist. Merely bringing the two emotionally charged groups together is like mixing oxygen and hydrogen. All that is needed is one tiny spark. If the spark is not forthcoming from purely spontaneous causes, create it.
3. Overthrow Established Government. Once mob violence becomes widespread and commonplace, condition those who are emotionally involved to accept violence as the only way to “settle the score” once and for all. Provide leadership and training for guerrilla warfare. Institute discipline and terrorism to insure at least passive support from the larger inactive segment of the population. Train and battle-harden leadership through sporadic riots and battles with police. Finally, at the appointed time, launch an all-out simultaneous offensive in every city.
Police and national guard units will never be adequate to handle such widespread anarchy–especially if a large part of our men and equipment are drained away in fighting a foreign war. In self-defense, larger numbers are brought into fighting on both sides. The appearance of a nationwide civil war takes form. In the confusion, potential anti-communist leaders of both races are assassinated, apparently the accidental casualties of race war.
Time the attack to coincide with large-scale sabotage of water supplies, power grids, main railroad and highway arteries, communication centers, and government buildings. With fires raging in every conceivable part of town, with wanton looting going on in the darkness of a big city, without routine police protection, without water to drink, without electrical refrigeration, without transportion or radio or TV, the public will panic, lock its door in trembling fear, and make it much easier for the small but well-led and fully disciplined guerrilla bands to capture the power-centers of each community. Overthrow the government! After complete control is consolidated, only then allow the people to discover that it was a communist revolution after all.”
He then goes on to expound:
“It would be a terribly bloody affair, with all Americans suffering mightily, but with [blacks] paying the highest toll in human life. And the communists know this better than anyone else. They do not really expect to take America with a “War of National Liberation,” unless the aggressive revolutionary force can be broadened to include, not only the minority of [blacks], but migratory farm laborers, the poor, the unemployed, those on welfare, other minority groups, students, the so-called “peace movements,” and anyone who can be propagandized into mob action against established government. But unless and until they manipulate an overwhelming majority of the population into at least sympathizing with their revolutionary activities, they will use violence, anarchy, and sabotage, not as a means of seizing power, but merely as a support operation or a catalyst to an entirely different plan.
The plan is as follows: Using unidentified communist agents and non-communist sympathizers in key positions in government, in communications media, and in mass organizations–such as labor unions and civil rights groups–demand more and more government power as the solution to all civil rights problems. Total government is the objective of communism. Without calling it by name, build communism piece by piece through mass pressures for presidential decrees, court orders, and legislation which appear to be aimed at improving civil rights and other social reforms. If there is social, economic, or educational discrimination, then advocate more government programs and control.
And what if riots come? Then more government housing, government welfare, government job training, and finally, federal control over police. Thus, the essential economic and political structure of communism can be built entirely “legally” and in apparent response to the wishes of the people who have clamored for some kind of solution to the problems played-up, aggravated or created outright by communists for just that purpose…The total state mechanism can now openly and “peacefully” be transferred into the hands of communists. Such is the so-called Proletarian Revolution. Such has happened in other once free countries. It has already started here.”
Anything sound familiar? It is nothing new, nor is it anything that has not been foreseen. Yet many naively align with the organization and criticize those who choose not to, or who remain quiet. But here we see it is nothing more than an arm for the communist agenda in America, and ironically enough, they openly admit this. Here you can watch one of the founders of the organization declare “we are trained Marxists.”
As a quick aside. . . it is interesting considering Joseph Smith’s statement that “in relation to the kingdom of God, the devil always sets up his kingdom at the very same time in opposition to God,”
Karl Marx was born just two years prior to Joseph’s vision of the Father and Son in 1820.This open embracing of Marxism should be ringing all kinds of warning bells for any Latter-day Saint considering these statements:
“Communism is Satan’s counterfeit for the gospel plan, and … it is an avowed enemy of the God of the land. Communism is the greatest anti-Christ power in the world today and therefore the greatest menace not only to our peace but to our preservation as a free people. By the extent to which we tolerate it, accommodate ourselves to it, permit ourselves to be encircled by its tentacles and drawn to it, to that extent we forfeit the protection of the God of this land.”
“It is time, therefore, that every American, and especially every member of the priesthood, became informed about the aims, tactics, and schemes of socialistic-communism. This becomes particularly important when it is realized that communism is turning out to be the earthly image of the plan which Satan presented in the pre-existence. The whole program of socialistic- communism is essentially a war against God and the plan of salvation—the very plan which we fought to uphold during the war in heaven.”
“The position of this Church on the subject of communism has never changed. We consider it the greatest Satanical threat to peace, prosperity and the spread of God’s work among men that exists on the face of the earth… Communism debases the individual and makes him the enslaved tool of the state, to which he must look for sustenance and religion. Communism destroys man’s God-given free agency. No member of this Church can be true to his faith, nor can any American be loyal to his trust, while lending aid, encouragement or sympathy to any of these false philosophies, for if he does they will prove snares to his feet.”
How could a faithful disciple of Jesus Christ support such an organization as Black Lives Matter? The answer is they couldn’t. It is contradictory to everything Jesus Christ stands for. In 1936 the First Presidency published this warning: “Communism is not a political party nor a political plan under the Constitution; it is a system of government that is the opposite of our Constitutional government.”
Concerning that Constitution, Jesus Christ himself has said “I, the Lord, justify you…in befriending that law which is the constitutional law of the land; And as pertaining to law of man, whatsoever is more or less than this, cometh of evil.”
He later asserted that every man should be able to “act in doctrine and principle pertaining to futurity, according to the moral agency which I have given unto him” so that “every man may be accountable for his own sins in the day of judgment.” He emphasized that “it is not right that any man should be in bondage one to another,” declaring “for this purpose have I established the Constitution of this land, by the hands of wise men whom I raised up unto this very purpose.”The Black Lives Matter organization thus stands in opposition to true eternal and temporal freedom—both of which come from Jesus Christ. While they may outwardly feign equality under the mask of social justice, hidden beneath their costume is the devil himself subtly inspiring spiritual and physical slavery. Give him an inch and he takes a mile. Sadly where this organization is concerned, that mile involves repulsive levels of immorality the Lord calls abominations—which are signs that a society is ripe for destruction.
It is true that Nephi testified concerning Jesus Christ:
“he inviteth them all to come unto him and partake of his goodness; and he denieth none that come unto him, black and white, bond and free, male and female; and he remembereth the heathen; and all are alike unto God, both Jew and Gentile.”
But we must read this verse and its claims in context of the warning that precedes it:
“And again, the Lord God hath commanded that men should not murder; that they should not lie; that they should not steal; that they should not take the name of the Lord their God in vain; that they should not envy; that they should not have malice; that they should not contend one with another; that they should not commit whoredoms; and that they should do none of these things; for whoso doeth them shall perish. For none of these iniquities come of the Lord.”
Jesus Christ loves all children of God and He invites all to come unto Him, but this invitation is accompanied by an insistence on repentance and conformance to truth—something Black Lives Matter has little to nothing to do with. Could you as a Latter-day Saint support this group and honestly answer this question:
“Do you support, affiliate with, or agree with any group or individual whose teachings or practices are contrary to or oppose those accepted by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints?”
Isaiah 5:20 (Gileadi Translation)
D&C 45:57
John 14:17; D&C 93:26
Genesis 1:29-30
D&C 18:10-11
See Bible Dictionary within the LDS Standard works concerning “Repentance”
An address delivered on September 29, 1967, at the General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, in the Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Utah, and printed in pamphlet form by Deseret Book Company.
Ibid.
Joseph Smith, History of the Church, 6:364
President Marion G. Romney, in the First Presidency Message in the September 1979 Ensign
Ezra Taft Benson, Secret Combinations, Conference Report, October 1961.
David O. McKay, Conference Report, April 1966
First Presidency Letter, July 3rd 1936
D&C 98:6-7
D&C 101:78-80
2 Nephi 26:33
2 Nephi 26:32-33