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Song Of Solomon 1:5 (ERV)-Daughters of Jerusalem, I am dark and beautiful, as black as the tents of Kedar and Salma.
Some of our religious friends teach that the Lord made some people with black skin as a punishment for sin.
For example:
“One of the most disconcerting aspects of the Mormon doctrine of pre-existence is the racist concept that black people are dark-skinned because God is punishing them for wrong choices they supposedly made before they were born. In the 1966 edition of Mormon Doctrine, Bruce McConkie commented on the pre-existence as it relates to black people: In the pre-existent eternity various degrees of valiance and devotion to the truth were exhibited by different groups of our Father’s spirit offspring. One third of the spirit hosts of heaven came out in open rebellion and were cast out without bodies, becoming the devil and his angels (D& C 29: 36–41; Rev. 12: 2–9). The other two-thirds stood affirmatively for Christ; there were no neutrals. To stand neutral in the midst of war is a philosophical impossibility. The Lord said: “He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad” (Mt. 12: 30). Of the two-thirds that followed Christ, however, some were more valiant than others. . . . The whole house of Israel was chosen to come to mortality as children of Jacob (Deut. 32: 7–8). Those who were less valiant in the pre-existence and who thereby had certain restrictions imposed upon them during mortality are known to us as negroes. Such spirits are sent to earth through the lineage of Cain, the mark put upon him for his rebellion against God and his murder of Abel being a black skin. (Moses 5: 16–41; 7: 8,12,22.) Noah’s son Ham married Egyptus, a descendant of Cain, thus preserving the negro lineage through the flood (Abra. 1: 2–27.) 5 What implications did the curse of dark skin have in regard to entering the Mormon priesthood? Prior to 1978, the situation was as follows: Negroes in this life are denied the priesthood; under no circumstances can they hold this delegation of authority from the Almighty (Abra. 1: 20–27). The gospel message of salvation is not carried affirmatively to them (Moses 7: 8,12,22), although sometimes negroes search out the truth, join the Church, and become by righteous living heirs of the celestial kingdom of heaven. . . . The present status of the negro purely and simply rests upon the foundation of pre-existence. Along with all races and peoples he is receiving here what he merits as a result of the long pre-mortal probation in the presence of the Lord. . . . The negroes are not equal with other races where the receipt of certain spiritual blessings are concerned, particularly the priesthood and the temple blessings that flow therefrom, but this inequality is not of man’s origin. It is the Lord’s doing, is based on his eternal laws of justice, and grows out of the lack of spiritual valiance of those concerned in their first estate. 6 Pre-existence, then, has a great deal to do with a person’s present lot in mortal life. A person’s behavior in the preexistence determines whether he is born with advantages or disadvantages in this life. The late apostle Mark E. Petersen explained it this way: Is there reason then why the type of birth we receive in this life is not a reflection of our worthiness or lack of it in the pre-existent life? . . . Can we account in any other way for the birth of some of the children of God in darkest Africa, or in flood-ridden China, or among the starving hordes of India, while some of the rest of us are born here in the United States? We cannot escape the conclusion that because of performance in our pre-existence some of us are born as Chinese, some as Japanese, some as Latter-day Saints. These are rewards and punishments, fully in harmony with His established policy in dealing with sinners and saints, rewarding all according to their deeds. 7 Similarly, in Doctrines of Salvation, we read, “There is a reason why one man is born black and with other disadvantages, while another is born white with great advantages. The reason is that we once had an estate before we came here, and were obedient, more or less, to the laws that were given us there. Those who where faithful in all things there received greater blessings here, and those who were not faithful received less.” 8 With such blatant racism at the heart of Mormon doctrine, it is not surprising that the Mormons came under severe criticism in the 1960s and 1970s. The LDS church was brought under tremendous pressure by people both inside and outside the church—including those involved in the civil rights movement. On June 9, 1978, the late Spencer W. Kimball—then President of the Mormon church—received a convenient “revelation” from God that said all worthy male church members were eligible for the priesthood, regardless of race. Therefore, in the next edition of McConkie’s Mormon Doctrine, the above-quoted information about black people was excised.” (Ron Rhodes with Marian Bodine, Reasoning from the Scriptures with the Mormons, 4762-4802 (Kindle Edition): Eugene, OR: Harvest House Publishers).
The teaching of science is that skin color has to do with a substance in the body called melanin. Based on genetics and environment, our bodies will produce more or less melanin.
“Yes, Jesus loves us all, but believe it or not, all human beings are basically the same color. Every human being has the same basic pigment in the skin (there are other pigments that are inconsequential in regard to one’s skin color); it’s called melanin, and it’s basically a brown color (there are a couple of forms of this pigment). Melanin protects the skin against damage by ultraviolet light from the sun. If you have too little melanin and you live in a very sunny environment, you will more easily suffer from sunburn and skin cancer. If you have a great deal of melanin and you live in a country where there is little sunshine, it is much harder for your body to get adequate amounts of vitamin D. Your body needs sunshine for its production of vitamin D and melanin filters it out. If you don’t get enough vitamin D you could suffer a bone disorder such as rickets….We are not born with a genetically fixed amount of melanin, but rather with a genetically fixed potential to produce a certain amount. In each of us this amount increases in response to sunlight and some of us are more responsive to the sunlight than others. That’s why some people seem to tan more than others even though they’re exposed to the same amount of light. Surprisingly, we all start with about the same amounts of pigment cells. Stem cells at the inner layers of your skin and other cells called melanocytes have melanin granules. The stem cells go and sort of bite off packages of these granules and they use them to protect the nucleus of their cells. Once that cell moves to the surface as a skin cell, it can lose melanin, causing the skin to be lighter (usually such people are called “white”). If more melanin makes it to the surface skin cells, the skin is darker (usually such people are called “black”).” (Ken Ham & Charles Ware, One Race One Blood: A Biblical Answer To Racism, 94-95 (Kindle Edition); Green Forest, AR; Master Books)
The Bible certainly does not teach that dark skin is a curse from God. Indeed, we are reminded that all humans come from “one blood” (Acts 17:26). We all have the same mother (Genesis 3:20). Regardless of background, all humans may be part of God’s priesthood!
1 Peter 2:9-10-But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; 10 who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.
Galatians 3:26-29-For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.
What are some things that we can do to combat racism in our day and age?
Lord, help us to see eradicate the scourge of racism and prejudice. Amen.