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Like many others, I am very happy to see the church’s recent statement on race and the priesthood. I am happy that the content of the statement was open and honest. And yet, like many others, I see one glaring omission: an apology. We have recognized that mistakes were made. Not small mistakes, but large serious mistakes. It seems reasonable to me that as we have recognized those mistakes, we should seek to make corrections. Repentance, as we teach it, requires restitution where possible. In this case, there is so much that cannot be undone. We cannot erase decades of mistreatment. We cannot change history. But in recognition of our errors, we can offer our humble apology.
Those who, in my opinion, should have written the apology have passed away long ago. So I look to the church as the official organization responsible for that policy to issue that statement, much like the official representatives of the state of Illinois apologized to the church for the mistakes of the past.
I am in no position to speak for the church. I can not offer that official apology. Yet, I am a member of that church. And I feel that I have need to seek forgiveness.
I was born into the church, though most of my life has been spent in the post-ban era. I don’t remember when I learned about the ban, or how it was presented to me. But I do remember defending it. I used the same excuses that the church has just disavowed. I remember agreeing with the idea that blacks must have been less valiant in the pre-existence. For that I am ashamed. At some point I realized that that idea didn’t make sense. So I migrated to the next excuse – God had cursed the descendants of Ham, and the ban was according to His wisdom. Again I am ashamed.
While I still feel the church should officially apologize, I know that much of the hurt from the ban came from members who blindly perpetuated racist views. And so I offer my apology. I realize now that I was wrong. Very wrong. I plead with those who were affected by this policy for forgiveness. I can only imagine the pain that has been endured. I can offer no restitution. I can not change the past. All I can offer is a sincere desire to be a better person. I promise to do better in the future. I promise to look at all human beings in love and equality. I will no longer allow myself to be misguided by others. I will think for myself. I am not seeking to excuse my guilt by saying I was only following what I had been taught. If I blindly followed someone else, then that was a mistake as well.
In order to complete my apology, I must say that I have been less than charitable to other groups as well. In the past, I have not been kind towards the LGBT community. As a missionary I scoffed at a woman I met who felt the church should extend the priesthood to women. In order to comply with the promises I have made in my repentance, I can not sit by and wait for the church to tell me how I should feel towards these people. I must think for myself.
I do not know the mind of God. He has not made himself known to me. But I do not see how He could view any person or group of people as second class beings simply because of the circumstances of their birth. And until He Himself chooses to enlighten me in that regard, I choose to treat everyone with respect.
Beautifully said. Quote:“Lord, is it I?”
We all need to look at ourselves and apologize for those areas where we have been less than Christlike.
Just as a note,
not meant to take away at all from the spirit of the post, I also would like an institutional apology, but the explanation in the Gospel Topics section isn’t the place for it. If it happens, I believe it should be in a General Conference talk or Ensign article from the leadership – or, at the very least, an official statement published in the online Newsroom. fnts wrote:I was born into the church, though most of my life has been spent in the post-ban era. I don’t remember when I learned about the ban, or how it was presented to me. But I do remember defending it.
I did, too. Infrequently, because I was young and didn’t get asked about it much. And half-heartedly because I probably needed to keep it vague in my own mind. Thanks for the post.
I was living in Virginia when I joined the church and in Miami before that so I was taught all kind of racist/sexist/gender view and to some degree agreed with most and explained to my friends and others the same things I have been taught. I too needed to repent and I have. I changed and one of the points I strive for is to pass on the to next generations the love and respect that all people deserve and to make sure that my kids and grand kids don’t have to apology to anyone because of the things that I taught them. I would also like to add to the statement above. I believe exactly what was said about Christianity teaching forgiveness and repentance. It was well within the power of the church to make a publicized apology for the racism of the past. Not buried in article material on the website so the general membership only learns about it slowly, or not at all, but a full blown press release and statement signed by the first presidency. I felt a spiritual feeling come over me when I read the opening post. I would like to add my own apology to the people where disadvantaged by the priesthood ban. I have already taught my children about the priesthood ban, its disavowal, and the implicit lesson in it — that a person should not elevate anything above their personal conscience.
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