Zuzanna Woźniak
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints along with other religions organisations which emerged after the Second Great Awakening, is one of the best documented denominations due to its relatively recent start. Having been founded only in 1830, the history of its teaching is much more concrete than that of any ancient faith. The date might sound really far back to us now, but most religious groups had their starts before the invention of the printing press, leaving their fates to often anonymous scribes. With LDS, this problem is almost non-existent. Though historic, the book of Mormon is still readable today and there still exist a few first copies. This might seem like an advantage for the church and a proof of its credibility, but in reality, it’s a curse in disguise.
Polygamy, now upheld only by smaller factions of Mormonism, was a central practice in its early days. Despite being outlawed by American government legislation, it was believed to be necessary to achieve the highest level of exaltation in the afterlife. It was publicly announced as doctrine in 1852 by one of the prophets and explicitly outlined in the founder’s Revelation on Celestial Marriage in 1843. If Joseph Smith wrote down revelations from God himself, then how can such a big change under the pressure of the US government be explained. Despite his claims of a direct communication with the divine, the practice was formally ended in about 1890.
An even more controversial teaching was the racial restriction on priesthood. Up until 1978, the LDS Church prohibited men of African descent from being ordained to the priesthood. Priesthood in the Mormon Church is the power and authority of God given to men, including the authority to perform ordinances and to act as a leader in the church. The ban was meant to limit their opportunities and was rooted in the belief that black people were the descendants of Cain, and, therefore, bore his mark as part of a curse. The teaching was strongly reinforced by one of the most prominent leaders and the second president of the Church, Brigham Young. He stated that black people would not receive the priesthood “until all the other descendants of Adam have received the promises and enjoyed the blessings of the Priesthood and the keys thereof.” The racist ban was uplifted in 1978, with the church extending priesthood to all worthy males regardless of race.
Both of these instances can be attributed to external forces whether that would be a government intervention or a social movement. Despite the Civil Rights Movement and broader social changes influencing the decisions of the Church, LDS has historically framed the changes as results of direct divine revelations rather than external pressure. The point of this article is not to demonise religion itself, but to show how it can be quickly turned around if a religious leader wishes so. It’s also not a direct dig at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, as many religions in history have gone through very similar changes. It’s relatively recent founding has simply allowed for more evidence of it and information about it.
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