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Doctrine of Segregation

From the beginning of time God has shown that he does have a system of segregation or caste system. The caste system used in India segregates rich from poor and dark from fair. With God is dependent on these points:

1. Our premortal life determines where, to who, our race, country, etc to which we are born. It makes you wonder how you did before.
2. In the Old Testament the Great jehovah did all possible to stop the mixing of the 12 tribes with other races and in fact wanted all dead in Canaan.
3. The mark of Cain which caused a dark skin was to indicate to the rest of Adam's prosperity that they should not intermix and marry with them. This is true for the Lamanites and Nephites in the Book of Mormon.
4. When Christ came he mainly ministered to the Jews.
5. In the future sense we will be segregated just as 'Goats from Sheep' in that in the basic sense - the righteous will go to heaven and the wicked will go to hell. Men will also be segregated into varrying Kingdoms and their ability will be based on how they segregated themselves based on their choices.

An important point to note is that we are ultimately the ones that segregate ourselves from God when we choose to do wrong rather than right. We can choose to belong to His group or apart from it. What are your thoughts on this subject?

Segregation Doctrine

Oh boy, you have touched a topic that interests me a lot and at the same I cannot fully understand.
In the Book of Mormon, the Nephites who were a  'white and a delightful people' were from God and the evil ones were the Lamanites who were cursed by a 'dark skin'. Now, why should 'dark skin' be a 'curse'? I don't understand why.
In the Bible says that God sees our hearts and not our appearance, so why he would make segregation of races?.
What I'm saying is all the examples you showed in your thread go against any Christian Doctrine in my opinion. 'Love one another' BUT...please...don't mix with each other!. It doesn't make sense to me. If anyone can help me to understand this I would appreciate it. I have this problem since I was an investigator 16 years ago and I cannot find an answer that satisfies me on this matter. Thanks.

Doctrine of Segregation Studies Doctrine Mormon

I don't think that segregation by color applies anymore.  In old testament times it was used as a mark on the wicked to be distinguished from the righteous  and it became a genetic mark that was passed to their children.  The Lord didn't want intermarriage between the righteous and the wicked for fear that the righteous would turn their hearts against God, but I God would o.k. a marriage if the wicked repented of their idolotry and turned their hearts to God.  Not all of the Lamanites were dark skinned.  They were all who took the name of Lamanite.  Even some of the wicked Nephites.  
I'm not sure about the race thing.  

Segregation Doctrine

Well, that's my question. Why the dark ones were distinguished as wicked and the white ones as righteous and why God made that segregation based on races?

Segregation Doctrine

I don't know the answer to that but here is a thought.  We regard the gospel as light and truth and those who are without it remain in darkness, maybe the Lord chose to curse the wicked with dark skin as a symbol that they do not have or choose to not have the light and truth of the gospel, and choose the way of darkness instead.  Just a thought.  I know that God uses many symbols maybe this is one also.  What do you think?

Doctrine of Segregation

Yes, actually that's one of the answers that my husband gave me. I don't fully understand it though. I mean, sometimes I wonder how a black person feels knowing that God had put a 'curse' on their ancestors and as a sign of not mixing with the white race. I mean, it sounds really bad and I'm not speaking now from a religious perspective but in a human perspective. I cannot comprehend it. I guess when I reach the other side of the veil, all my questions will be answer, for now, I can only have faith and hope knowing that God is God and that there is a purpose in life for everything.

Doctrine Segregation

Yes the Lord does many things that I don't understand and probably never will until the next life.  There are good reasons for all that he does though.  I don't think he segregates race anymore.  

Doctrine Segregation Mormon Doctrine Studies

Just a quick and unexplored thought, Brigham Young taught (and, again, Hugh Nibley explores this further in "Temple and Cosmos") that the temple ceremony causes physical alterations in our blood and body that incorporate us into the family of Abraham, making us inheritants of those promises. Since our blood (our DNA) affects everything from height to skin color, I have wondered (no doctrine here) if the Lord, in denying the covenant to Cain and his descendents, changed something within his body that caused the alteration of skin color. We know that the fruits of the tree of life and the tree of knowledge of good and evil had the ability to alter the physical makeup of Adam and Eve and make them mortal. Surely the Lord has other methods than those two fruits to alter physical makeup.

This would explain the opposition to intermingling races, as well. Even within the covenant, the houses had different callings and different promises. If (that's a big IF) these promises are incorporated into our bodies (as the teaching of altering the blood in the temple would suggest) it would be important not to diminish the force of those promises by mingling different blood.

Why the change? This is the fulness of times and things are being revealed now that have been hidden from the foundation of the world. That's the best explanation I have found.