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Mormon Church - Supporting Segregation and Opposing the 19th Amendment?

The Mormon Church was very active in clandestinely supporting Proposition 8 in California and has taken some negative publicity for doing so.

I have read and it is pretty well substantiated that the Mormon Church did pretty much the same kind of under handed and dirty tricks in relation to the Equal Rights Amendment in the early 70s.

Both of the above incidents are pretty well documented.

Today I had a conversation with a friend who is a Mormon but opposes what his church did in relation to Proposition 8 and the Equal Rights Amendment and he told me that there is a fair amount of documentation that the Mormon Church used similar clandestine "behind the scenes" techniques to oppose the 19th Amendment allowing women to vote in the early 1920s and also supported efforts to enforce Segregation in the deep south during the 1960s but that most people (even in his church) are not aware of how extensive these efforts were.

My friends father and two of his uncles are involved in buying and selling documents from the history of the early Mormon Church so I think that he would be someone that would be aware of all this.

Also he told me that many of the documents that his father and uncles obtain are bought by splinter groups from the Mormon Church to prove the "official" history of the Mormon Church is false and that these splinter groups have the "correct" history and that Joseph Smith really intended the splinter group to be the "real " Mormon Church and that the main stream Mormon Church buys anything that contradicts their version of their history and then just puts it into a vault where nobody will ever see it again.

My question is this - is it true that the Mormon Church opposed women's right to vote in the 20s and integration in the 60s and if so how and where is the documentation. Also I'm wondering what the story is with all these splinter groups that are buying up Mormon documents to undermine the the official story of Mormon History and if the Mormon Church itself is really just buying up anything that contradicts their story and then just hiding it from the world.

Is the situation really that bad?

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  • 1 decade ago
    Favorite Answer

    What underhanded and dirty tricks? It's never wise to throw out umbrella accusations, dear. You won't win any debate that way.

    People who supported Prop 8 had a legal right to do so, and to contribute in any way they felt was necessary. People who did NOT support Prop 8 had a legal right to do so, and to contribute in any way they felt was necessary...or are you going to argue that the only side which had that right was the one you were on?

    Mormons believe that marriage is sacred and should be between a man and a woman. We had the right to vote in accordance with our views. So did you. I understand why you would be upset that you lost, but is that really an excuse for hinting that we somehow broke the law? Mormons didn't even make up the majority of those who contributed. We didn't contribute the majority of the money. Catholics, Baptists, African Americans...many of them also voted against same-sex marriage. It's just silly to hold the Mormons completely accountable for what the majority of Californians wanted.

    And FYI...Mormons have always been against slavery and segregation. Do you know how many former slaves accompanied Mormons in the early treks to Utah? The LDS/Mormon faith was among the first in American to give African Americans membership. Joseph Smith actually ran for President of the United States on an anti-slavery platform. Where's the support for slavery or segregation in that?

    The Mormon church certainly never tried to keep women from voting. Quite the opposite. Women of my faith are encouraged to get educations, to speak their minds, to be an equal part of any marriage. We were absolutely encouraged to vote.

    Of course some splinter groups claim to know some dark secret history. They left our faith because they disagreed with us, and whatever the reason, wouldn't they automatically try to spin things in their favor, to justify leaving? You might want to caution your father to be a little careful when buying such documents. Some of them are just plain false.

  • Ender
    Lv 6
    1 decade ago

    They were not "clandestinely supporting" prop 8. They were very obvious and vocal about their support for it.

    The ERA of 1980 would have forced universities (Like BYU for example) to have co-ed dorms, shared bathrooms, and things like that. Do you really want to be standing in the showers naked with some guys??? The ERA was not simply about Equal rights. Did you forget that Utah was the second state in the Union to give women the right to vote??? Utah was very much in favor of "womens suffrage" movement. They also fought with the North in the Civil war. Joseph Smith ran for president on an anti-slavery campaign.....something that not even Abraham Lincoln did. The Missourians ran them out because there were enough Mormons to swing the vote against slavery in Missouri and they wanted their slaves. So why don't you stop fabricating history because you find it "convenient".

    You can hardly call the 14 Million member strong group the "splinter group" and the church with 200 members the "main group". Joseph Smith prophesied that his church of 6 members would "fill the earth". Now which branch of Mormonism does that sound like???

    You've got one serious chip on your shoulder.

  • I'm not sure the activity in California was clandestine, it seemed pretty well publicized and open, hence the negative publicity. The same could be said for the equal rights amendment. Not much secret there either.

    Regarding allowing women the right to vote, Utah was the 2nd territory (after Wyoming) to allow women voting rights.

    http://historytogo.utah.gov/utah_chapters/statehoo...

    Mormon leaders and the Mormon church supported the suffrage movement.

    http://www.families.utah.gov/Wells.pdf

    I have never heard anything about the church taking a position on civil rights in the 60's other than Hugh B Brown's (First Counselor to Church President David O McKay)1963 statement:

    We believe that all men are the children of the same God, and that it is a moral evil for any person or group of persons to deny any human being the right to gainful employment, to full educational opportunity, and to every privilege of citizenship, just as it is a moral evil to deny him the right to worship according to the dictates of his own conscience.

    http://74.125.95.132/search?q=cache:PU6N-00O4NIJ:w...

    One of the earlier answers alluded to Mark Hoffman. A forger of LDS historical documents designed to portray Mormon history in a negative light. In an attempt to cover up his activities, he made some letter bombs which killed two people and injured himself. Despite the fact that the forged documents called LDS history into question, the documents, though purchased by the church, were publicized and made available to legitimate historians.

  • Anonymous
    5 years ago

    The Book of Mormon is a remarkable book. One has to read it to believe it. Joseph Smith was shown in a vision where it lay buried, and given the power to translate it. The process took months, and several scribes were employed, and witnessed the translation process. Joseph never had so much as a piece of paper, and translated the whole thing from start to finish without ever losing his place, or going back over any passage. When the translation was finished, three men were promised that they would see the gold plates and meet the angel Moroni. David Whitmer, Oliver Cowdery and Martin Harris were chose to be witnesses, and did see the Book of Mormon, and the angel Moroni, and heard the voice of God declare the translation to be correct. Their testimony can be found in the front of the Book of Mormon. Others also testified to seeing the gold plates and the angel Moroni. Although many in the Christian world are loathe to accept additional scripture, many do believe that the Book of Mormon is authentic scripture written by ancient prophets. About half of the adult membership of the LDS church are converts from other churches. Like I said before, one has to read it to believe it. We invite people to read the Book of Mormon, and then ask God if it is true. God will answer the sincere prayer.

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  • I was a very very active member of the church living in North Carolina at the time that Prop 8 passed. I never even heard of it until it passed. So--if my church was directing it worldwide membership to give money to "the cause," I would have heard of it, right. But I didn't. (Wish I did, though, I would have supported it.) I am not denying that the church leaders asked members in California to do all they could have to support it--that DID happen. Marriage between a man and woman is something our church deeply believes in. That was not a clandestine act. As well it shouldn't have been. As something we believe in strongly, we gave it a voice.

    As stated many many times, it was the voters of California that made the final call to pass Prop 8. How else could that have been done? The votes passed it. So maybe, just maybe--same-gender marriage just isn't a popular idea yet???? Could that be? As much fuss as made over it, maybe people in their hearts and minds aren't ready to accept this? Our church supporting this did not make voters vote the way they did--consider that Mormons are a minority in California--how could they have that much power? If you don't believe that the voters passed this bill, then you don't believe in a system of democracy that allows the populace to choose.

  • 1 decade ago

    oh my...how many flaws can there be in one question??

    To get to the base of your real, underlying, question...many of the things that you think about the church are false. Your friend hasnt a real clue of church history...and just because someone has money to collect in no way makes them an expert! honestly.

    If you need to see what the church is about...look at what its about. Families. It will always promote families and righteous living. We are a church of people. Even though led by God, people make mistakes, thats certain. But what you are questioning, about hating race and gender, is ABSOLUTELY FALSE.

    This isnt new. Did you know that the mormons were drivin out of nearly every place they tried to settle? that there was even a law that made it legal to KILL mormons in missouri? Why? because they were all afraid of losing political power, or religion congregations. So what did they do...they drove them out and MADE UP STORIES to defame the leadership of the church. If you think about it, this makes much more sense than what you are proposing. This type of slander is nothing new.

    Look at the church...look at all the good it does. You may not agree with the churches stance on gay marriage (by the way, its not an unusual thing, seeing how Christianity sees homosexuality as a sin. Even our liberal, liberal president of the US doesnt support gay marriage.)

    the LDS are a good people. You may never realize this...which is a sad thought. Good luck with your questions

  • Anonymous
    1 decade ago

    Well, to be honest, it's really ******* hard to say. I know for fact that the mormons weren't the number one financial supporter of prop 8, and the official church stance at a general conference is to not tell the members to vote in a certain way, but that doesn't mean too much considering when they go to church on sunday and they're sitting in classes and every now and then something will crop up like, "destroying the family this" or "premarital relations that" and how misguided and uninformed that not everyone goes to byu and gets married at 22.

    but to answer your question! it's honestly hard to get answers on mormon history for questions that go too far back as far as finances and political positions go, least ways from the mormon church. BYU is a church run-private college. So you can imagine that professors there are somewhat limited as to their fields of study and research, not the least of which is their church history. it's kind of stifled!

    And if the reformed lds churches want to buy up bits of history to discredit the church, much luck they'll have with it, it won't do them any good. See, mormonism just got too big for that to work anymore. even if proselytizing in the states took a ginormous hit, it's still a family based religion that focuses on having babies. it's self sustaining by this point.

  • 1 decade ago

    Deseret Territory GAVE women the right to vote, LONG before the US did. And the US is the one who took taht right away. So, no, I doubt seriously that the church did ANYTHING to keep the 19th amendment out. I also do not believe the church did anything to encourage segregation in the south.

    I think either you are a troll, or your friend's father and uncles are pulling your leg.

  • 1 decade ago

    Sounds like your friend's father has a chip on his shoulder about the Mormon Church (that is, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints). It's not too surprising, then, that you're getting negative views from him.

    As for hiding things from the world, the church has never been more open with its past than today. Alissa's link to the Church History site is evidence of that.

    Cheers.

  • 1 decade ago

    If it is well-documented, I wouldn't call it clandenstine. The LDS church was very open about it's stance on Prop 8. I've never heard anything about there being a church-wide effort against th civil rights movements. Utah was one of the first states to grant women's suffrage so I don't think the Church was opposed to that.

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