Is the Book of Mormon "skin of blackness" curse racist? | Ep. 202
29.8 هزار بار بازدید -
12 ماه پیش
-
The Book of Mormon describes
The Book of Mormon describes a curse that was pronounced upon a group of wicked people called the “Lamanites.” This curse was associated with a “skin of blackness.” While many plausible alternative explanations have been put forward in the past, many people still interpret this curse in a racial/racist sense. But is that what is really going on here? Research suggests otherwise. In this episode, David shows that sometimes what may be the easiest reading (from a modern perspective) may not be the correct reading.
Video transcript: https://saintsunscripted.com/faith-an...
— UPDATE: “'Life and Death, Blessing and Cursing': New Context for 'Skin of Blackness' in the Book of Mormon," by T. J. Uriona (BYU Studies): https://tinyurl.com/mpv6fkmv
— “The Inclusive, Anti-Discrimination Message of the Book of Mormon,” by David M. Belnap (Interpreter Journal): http://bit.ly/3Ev6Rf9
— “Skins as Garments in the Book of Mormon: A Textual Exegesis,” by Ethan Sproat (BYU Studies): https://bit.ly/3RYMMDb
— “Demythicizing the Lamanites’ ‘Skin of Blackness’,” by Gerrit M. Steenblik (Interpreter Journal): https://bit.ly/3IlT9NR
— “Nahum’s Rhetorical Allusions to Neo-Assyrian Treaty Curses,” by Gordon Johnston in Bibliotheca Sacra 158 (Oct.-Dec. 2001), pgs. 415-436: https://bit.ly/3RH4xXG
Notes:
— Notice also that in the example from Lamentations 4, we find that the “blacker than a coal” description is associated with symptoms of starvation that physically affected the way the people looked: “...they are not known in the streets: their skin cleaveth to their bones; it is withered, it is become like a stick.”
— It may be worthwhile to note that, as foreigners in a strange new land, Lehi’s family may have been particularly susceptible to New World illnesses — that would be especially true if the Lehites mixed with indigenous peoples.
— As an interesting and potentially coincidental side note — If you had leprosy as an ancient Israelite, you were unclean, and the Law of Moses demanded you do certain things. One of those things was to shave your head. Interestingly the Nephites portray the Lamanites as having shaved heads. Perhaps this was simply an intimidation technique, or perhaps it’s an indication of their affliction.
— According to the Nepal Leprosy Trust, “The conditions described [referring to biblical leprosy] could include boils, carbuncles, fungus infections, infections complicating a burn, … favus of the scalp, scabies, patchy eczema, phagedenic ulcer, and impetigo or vitiligo on people.”
— From “Religion of a Different Color” by Paul Reeve (pg. 56), regarding 19th century usage of the term “black,”
“The Book of Mormon confirmed in their [Latter-day Saints’] minds the long-standing Judeo-Christian notion that skin color was a curse; but the book added its own twist. Ironically, the curse in the Book of Mormon was ‘a skin of blackness’ that Mormons applied to Native Americans, not to African Americans. Like other Euro-Americans, nineteenth-century Mormons sometimes described Indians as their ‘red brethren,’ ‘red neighbors,’ or ‘untutored red men.’ The color they ascribed to Native Americans therefore did not fit the color of the Book of Mormon curse, a fact that Mormons failed to reconcile.”
— Just a note regarding the difficulty of researching Preclassic Mayan diseases: “Due to the typically poor bone preservation at Early and Middle Preclassic sites, reporting of skeletal pathology data is inconsistent. Thus, lesions resulting from disease and trauma are often reported when present, but we lack appropriate frequency data to carry out any sort of comparative analyses.” Source: https://bit.ly/3I43j4t (Published in 2021)
— A few scriptures from the Book of Mormon about diseases:
Mosiah 17:16-17 And it will come to pass that ye shall be afflicted with all manner of diseases because of your iniquities. Yea, and ye shall be smitten on every hand, and shall be driven and scattered to and fro, even as a wild flock is driven by wild and ferocious beasts. [Note that the footnote attached to “diseases” takes you straight to the curses listed in Deuteronomy 28]
Alma 9:22 Yea, and after having been delivered of God out of the land of Jerusalem, by the hand of the Lord; having been saved from famine, and from sickness, and all manner of diseases of every kind; and they having waxed strong in battle, that they might not be destroyed; having been brought out of bondage time after time, and having been kept and preserved until now; and they have been prospered until they are rich in all manner of things
Alma 46:40 And there were some who died with fevers, which at some seasons of the year were very frequent in the land—but not so much so with fevers, because of the excellent qualities of the many plants and roots which God had prepared to remove the cause of diseases, to which men were subject by the nature of the climate.
Video transcript: https://saintsunscripted.com/faith-an...
— UPDATE: “'Life and Death, Blessing and Cursing': New Context for 'Skin of Blackness' in the Book of Mormon," by T. J. Uriona (BYU Studies): https://tinyurl.com/mpv6fkmv
— “The Inclusive, Anti-Discrimination Message of the Book of Mormon,” by David M. Belnap (Interpreter Journal): http://bit.ly/3Ev6Rf9
— “Skins as Garments in the Book of Mormon: A Textual Exegesis,” by Ethan Sproat (BYU Studies): https://bit.ly/3RYMMDb
— “Demythicizing the Lamanites’ ‘Skin of Blackness’,” by Gerrit M. Steenblik (Interpreter Journal): https://bit.ly/3IlT9NR
— “Nahum’s Rhetorical Allusions to Neo-Assyrian Treaty Curses,” by Gordon Johnston in Bibliotheca Sacra 158 (Oct.-Dec. 2001), pgs. 415-436: https://bit.ly/3RH4xXG
Notes:
— Notice also that in the example from Lamentations 4, we find that the “blacker than a coal” description is associated with symptoms of starvation that physically affected the way the people looked: “...they are not known in the streets: their skin cleaveth to their bones; it is withered, it is become like a stick.”
— It may be worthwhile to note that, as foreigners in a strange new land, Lehi’s family may have been particularly susceptible to New World illnesses — that would be especially true if the Lehites mixed with indigenous peoples.
— As an interesting and potentially coincidental side note — If you had leprosy as an ancient Israelite, you were unclean, and the Law of Moses demanded you do certain things. One of those things was to shave your head. Interestingly the Nephites portray the Lamanites as having shaved heads. Perhaps this was simply an intimidation technique, or perhaps it’s an indication of their affliction.
— According to the Nepal Leprosy Trust, “The conditions described [referring to biblical leprosy] could include boils, carbuncles, fungus infections, infections complicating a burn, … favus of the scalp, scabies, patchy eczema, phagedenic ulcer, and impetigo or vitiligo on people.”
— From “Religion of a Different Color” by Paul Reeve (pg. 56), regarding 19th century usage of the term “black,”
“The Book of Mormon confirmed in their [Latter-day Saints’] minds the long-standing Judeo-Christian notion that skin color was a curse; but the book added its own twist. Ironically, the curse in the Book of Mormon was ‘a skin of blackness’ that Mormons applied to Native Americans, not to African Americans. Like other Euro-Americans, nineteenth-century Mormons sometimes described Indians as their ‘red brethren,’ ‘red neighbors,’ or ‘untutored red men.’ The color they ascribed to Native Americans therefore did not fit the color of the Book of Mormon curse, a fact that Mormons failed to reconcile.”
— Just a note regarding the difficulty of researching Preclassic Mayan diseases: “Due to the typically poor bone preservation at Early and Middle Preclassic sites, reporting of skeletal pathology data is inconsistent. Thus, lesions resulting from disease and trauma are often reported when present, but we lack appropriate frequency data to carry out any sort of comparative analyses.” Source: https://bit.ly/3I43j4t (Published in 2021)
— A few scriptures from the Book of Mormon about diseases:
Mosiah 17:16-17 And it will come to pass that ye shall be afflicted with all manner of diseases because of your iniquities. Yea, and ye shall be smitten on every hand, and shall be driven and scattered to and fro, even as a wild flock is driven by wild and ferocious beasts. [Note that the footnote attached to “diseases” takes you straight to the curses listed in Deuteronomy 28]
Alma 9:22 Yea, and after having been delivered of God out of the land of Jerusalem, by the hand of the Lord; having been saved from famine, and from sickness, and all manner of diseases of every kind; and they having waxed strong in battle, that they might not be destroyed; having been brought out of bondage time after time, and having been kept and preserved until now; and they have been prospered until they are rich in all manner of things
Alma 46:40 And there were some who died with fevers, which at some seasons of the year were very frequent in the land—but not so much so with fevers, because of the excellent qualities of the many plants and roots which God had prepared to remove the cause of diseases, to which men were subject by the nature of the climate.
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