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There are far simpler explanations for the temple and priesthood ban (TPB) than the logical contortions offered by Stapley here, and simply "seeing it as a mistake and moving on" downplays purposeful implementation and maintenance of the policy by multiple church presidents. 1/ https://twitter.com/ByCommonConsent/status/1359827027432513537
First, let's stop calling the TPB "a mistake" as if it were some kind of unintentional oopsy-daisy. The TPB was implemented with purpose, and that purpose was the exclusion of Black people and preservation of white supremacy in the church and in Utah. 2/
Calling it a "mistake" deflects responsibility for the TPB to the foibles of fallible & bumbling men. It carries the connotation of the kind of innocence we attribute to forgetting a friend's birthday, or accidentally breaking mom's lamp. A more apt descriptor would be "sin." 3/
The distinction is important. "Mistake" implies ignorance or negligence. "Sin" implies intentionality. The TPB definitely fits within the latter. Young and other leaders knew what they were doing when they implemented it, and they did it on purpose. 4/
After the policy was implemented, church leaders sought doctrinal justifications for what they were doing. They purposefully constructed narratives using Mormon scripture that justified the racist track they had taken. This wasn't an "oops, didn't mean to" scenario. 5/
Moreover, calling it "a mistake" and suggesting that we "move on" trivializes the impact of the TPB and absolves the modern church of any duty apart from issuing an apology. Notably, they refuse to do even that much. But this wasn't a mistakeâit was a sin. 6/
The church's approach thus far has been to revoke the TPB and carry on as if everything is now fine. This ignores the toxic legacy the TPB has left in the church, including the doctrinal justifications that were constructed for it and their still-present effects. 7/
Stapley attempts to dispel some of these effects by reinterpreting the doctrinal/theological rationales that were once standard teachings in the church. He does so in a way that tries to save Mormonism from itself while absolving the church of the sins it committed. 8/
For example, Stapley reinterprets Book of Moses and Book of Abraham narratives in order to avoid acknowledging what they actually are: racist slavery apologia taken from Smith's 19th-century American Protestant culture, and enshrined in Mormon scripture as revealed truth. 9/
Stapley's goal is simple: to preserve "confidence in the Churchâs ecclesiastical governance" and prevent the "loss of faith among our people." These are the reasons he cites as why we must move away from the "older ways of thinking" about the TPB being God's will. 10/
Can we really refer to such as "older ways of thinking" when Pres. Oaksânext in line to lead the churchâinvokes God's inscrutable will as the reason behind the TPB as recently as October 2020? I'm positive Oaks's goals are the same as Stapley's in using this defense. 11/
Shall we also consider the implications of a white Mormon man suggesting that the appropriate response to the legacy of the TPB is simply "seeing it as a mistake and moving on?" This is essentially what the church has done since 1978. Where has that gotten us? 12/
The truth is that the TPB was a policy intentionally created and intentionally defended. The doctrinal justifications created for it were rooted in Mormon scripture, which sacralized 19th-century white supremacist ideas used to justify slavery. 13/ https://twitter.com/TheGrandScoobah/status/1268934445630992391
The TPB wasn't "a mistake." It was an intentional, deliberate decision made by white men to exclude Black men and women in order to preserve white supremacy in Utah and in the church. It is best characterized as "a sin." 14/ https://twitter.com/TheGrandScoobah/status/1292828867514773505
The effects of the TPB were broad and pervasive, and its legacy continues into the present. The church has far more repentance to do for this sin than simply "seeing it as a mistake and moving on." 15/ https://twitter.com/TheGrandScoobah/status/1268570572038057985
Attempts to save Mormon scripture from themselves by re-imagining their racist passages into saying something other than what they very plainly sayâespecially in the context that they were writtenâis the continued participation in white supremacy. 16/ https://twitter.com/TheGrandScoobah/status/1278414967658688512
Mormon scripture is replete with examples of 19th-century racist ideas, and these extend far beyond the TPB. Refusing to acknowledge these for what they are in trying to defend their divinely-inspired origins is the very thing you're arguing against! 17/ https://twitter.com/TheGrandScoobah/status/1267157649243672586
Claiming that the TPB was just "a mistake" committed by fallibly bumbling old men, and not rooted in doctrine or given by revelation, is even more damning and damaging to "confidence in the Churchâs ecclesiastical governance." 18/ https://twitter.com/TheGrandScoobah/status/1175651480147304449
Particularly since the church has worked hard to instill a culture of prophetic infallibility when it comes to leading the church. If they aren't infallible, why are we working so hard in trying to defend them in their rejection of accountability? 19/ https://twitter.com/TheGrandScoobah/status/1298650037019381760
The church will never heal from its legacy of racist teachings and policies so long as it makes excuses for them and refuses to engage in active repentance through reparation and the systematic excising of these racist ideas (and scriptures!) from their religion.
