The modern definition of 'racist' is someone who's
winning an argument with a liberal.
-Peter Brimelow
Laman and Lemuel had been warned about the consequences that
would fall on them if they rejected the word of the Lord. Nephi was told, “in that day that [your brethren] shall rebel against me, I will curse
them even with a sore curse, and they shall have no power over thy seed except
they shall rebel against me also” (1 Nephi 2:23).
Lehi warned them:
My
heart hath been weighed down with sorrow from time to time, for I have feared,
lest for the hardness of your hearts the Lord your God should come out in the
fulness of his wrath upon you, that ye be cut off and destroyed forever;
Or,
that a cursing should come upon you for the space of many generations; and ye
are visited by sword, and by famine, and are hated, and are led according to
the will and captivity of the devil.
And
he hath said that: Inasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments ye shall prosper
in the land; but inasmuch as ye will not keep my commandments ye shall be cut
off from my presence.
And
now that my soul might have joy in you, and that my heart might leave this
world with gladness because of you, that I might not be brought down with grief
and sorrow to the grave, arise from the dust, my sons, and be men, and be
determined in one mind and in one heart, united in all things, that ye may not
come down into captivity;
That
ye may not be cursed with a sore cursing; and also, that ye may not incur the
displeasure of a just God upon you, unto the destruction, yea, the eternal
destruction of both soul and body.
2 Nephi 1:17-18; 20 - 22
After Lehi’s death, Laman, Lemuel, and their followers became
a serious threat to the safety of Nephi and his followers. This time, their threats were serious enough
that the Lord told Nephi to take those that would follow him and flee for their
safety. This Nephi did.
Laman, Lemuel, and their followers refused to accept the
words of Lehi. Thus, the promised curse
came upon them.
Critics of the Book of Mormon have accused the Book of
Mormon of being a racist record because of the curse placed upon the
Lamanites. Is this true? When all else fails, look at the record.
The claims of the critics begs the question – “What was the
curse?” According to the record, we
learn the curse is:
- Being cut off from the presence of the Lord (see 2 Nephi 1:17-18; 20-22). This is the ultimate curse any one could face. Those cut off from the Lord fall under the eternal influence of the devil.
- Their hearts had become “like unto a flint.” Even though they had been cut off from the presence of the Lord, they still could have repented and returned to that presence. They hardened their hearts to the point where the Spirit could not communicate with their sole.
- The Lamanites became an idle people. Rather than settle down and farm, they hunted wild beasts. We seldom read of large Lamanite societies doing much farming.
- They were full of mischief and subtlety. The Lamanites would cause trouble for the Nephites. They would damage crops, steal animals, and disturb the Nephites. They became crafty and devious. They would operate in ways that harmed the Nephites.
These are the curses placed upon the Lamanites.
So, was the “skin of blackness” a part of the curse. It’s clear from Nephi’s writing it was
not. The “skin of blackness” was to
identify those that fell under the curse.
The Nephites would not want to intermingle with them. If they did, the curse would fall upon
them.
We see that the dark skin was not a part of the curse. Does having the bad guys having a darker skin
indicate racism? Understanding the
record clearly contradicts this claim.
Steven Olsen writes:
One of the persistent contrasts
between the Nephites and Lamanites concerns physical appearance. While Nephites
are described as "fair," "white," and
"delightsome," Lamanites are described as being "black,"
"dark," and "loathsome" (1 Nephi 12:23; 13:15;
2 Nephi 5:21-22). While these descriptors may be understood in an
empirical sense (i.e., describing the physical appearance of their bodies), the
Book of Mormon also allows for a metaphorical interpretation (i.e., symbolizing
the spiritual condition of their souls).
Nephi's own account introduces the
possibility of a metaphorical interpretation. In the same context as his
reference to the curse of a "skin of blackness," Nephi uses human
anatomy in a metaphorical sense to further describe the Lamanites' wicked
condition: "because of their iniquity . . . they had hardened their hearts
. . . that they had become like unto a flint" (2 Nephi 5:21).
Elsewhere, Nephi describes the spiritual transformation of Lehi's latter-day
descendants in terms of another anatomical metaphor. "And then they shall
rejoice; for they shall know that it is a blessing unto them from the hand of
God; and their scales of darkness shall begin to fall from their eyes; and many
generations shall not pass away among them, save they shall be a pure and a
delightsome people" (2 Nephi 30:6).[1]
Hugh Nibley points out that Mormon prays for the Lamanites
to again become a delightsome people (Words of Mormon 1:8, Mormon 5:17). Then he tells us Nephi wrote that, as they
Jews accept Christ, they will become a “delightsome people” (2 Nephi
30:7). Nibley then asks (about the
Jews), “Are they black?”[2]
Richard L. Bushman presents a different way to look at the
dark skin.
The purpose of the sign
accompanying the curse, the dark skin, was to prevent the Nephites from mixing
with the Lamanites … But in a later incident, we learn more about the inner
meaning of the curse. In the time of Alma a group of dissident Nephites called
Amlicites joined the Lamanites in an attack on the Nephites. The Amlicites
marked their foreheads with red paint to distinguish friends from enemies in
battle. The marking led Mormon (presumably the editor of Alma's records) to … [explain]
the reason why the Lord did not wish the Lamanites and Nephites to mix. It was
not because of their contrasting skin colors … At issue was the story of their
founding, deeply embedded as it was in Lamanite culture. The danger was not a
mixture of races or skin colors but a mixture of false traditions with true
ones. Mormon said the very identity of the Nephites lay in their acceptance of
the true history of origins.[3]
Hugh Nibley explains how skin color was a part of the Arab
tradition.
With the Arabs, to be white of
countenance is to be blessed and to be black of countenance is to be cursed … And
what of Lehi's people? It is most significant that the curse against the
Lamanites is the very same as that commonly held in the East to blight the sons
of Ishmael, who appear to the light-skinned people of the towns as "a dark
and loathsome, and a filthy people, full of idleness and all manner of
abominations, . . . an idle people, full of mischief and subtlety," etc.
(1 Nephi 12:23; 2 Nephi 5:24). It is noteworthy that all the descendants of the
Book of Mormon Ishmael fall under the curse (Alma 3:7), as if their Bedouin ancestry
predisposed them to it. The Book of Mormon always mentions the curse of the
dark skin in connection with and as part of a larger picture: "After they
had dwindled in unbelief they became a dark, and loathsome,
and a filthy people," etc. "Because of the cursing which was upon
them they did become an idle people . . . and did seek in the wilderness for
beasts of prey" (2 Nephi 5:24). The statement that "God did
cause a skin of blackness to come upon them" (2 Nephi 5:21) describes the
result, not the method, which is described elsewhere.[4]
In the next post, we’ll examine the attitude of the Nephites
towards the Lamanites.
[1] The
Covenant of the Chosen People: The Spiritual Foundations of Ethnic Identity in
the Book of Mormon, Steven L. Olsen, Provo, Utah: Maxwell
Institute, accessed August 13, 2013.
[2] "Forever
Tentative…" Hugh Nibley, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute,
accessed August 13, 2013.
[3] The
Lamanite View of Book of Mormon History, Richard L. Bushman, Provo,
Utah: Maxwell Institute, August 13, 2013.
[4] Desert
Ways and Places, Hugh W. Nibley, Provo, Utah: Maxwell
Institute, accessed August 13, 2013.
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