Answer to Your Question

OK, I’ll answer my own question. I enjoy talking to myself since no one else talks to me.

I won’t exactly answer the question, “Is it OK for General Authorities to lie to protect the Church?” but I have learned a little more about how to be a faithful member of the Church and of the human race.

In another podcast, Doug Fabrizio interviewed Engene Orr who joined the Church in 1978 and was a founding member of Genesis, a group for African-American Mormons.

After he had been attending church for awhile, he asked the Bishop if he could attend Priesthood Meeting. The Bishop said he would check with the Quorum. He reported back that three members of the Quorum said they would not attend if Eugene did. The Bishop asked him if he didn’t think it was more important for Priesthood holders to attend than those who don’t hold the Priesthood.

Eugene told this incident to his dentist, who was a bishop. “Come over to my ward,” he bade and he did.

Eugene stayed active in the church despite the racism he encountered. He put in a lot of effort trying to help the blacks get the Priesthood. With others, he met with apostles for six months. He thinks the folklore should be dissolved; and the Church should acknowledge the pain of the past or apologize. So far, there has been no real acknowledgment.

Perhaps they could say:

Yes, we made mistakes.

Yes, we are making mistakes.

Yes, we will make mistakes in the future.

We’re all in the same boat. We’ll work this out together.

“You can change all the bills you want, but you can’t change people’s hearts.”

So why does he stay? The same reason Darius Gray stays.

Because he received a firm conviction that the Church is true and the Book of Mormon is inspired scripture.  The Holy Ghost bears witness to him. He wasn’t totally shocked when he heard the announcement in 1978, because he had received a confirmation through prayer that his boys would receive the Priesthood. His oldest boy was 11 at the time.

The Blacks didn’t get the Priesthood in 1978; they got it back.

By now, I’m realizing that you have to have a relationship with God and be patient with the Middlemen. They are doing what they think is right.

I next listened to an interview with Darius Gray, who joined the church four years before Engene Orr and was also a founding member of Genesis.

He found out on his final interview, the night before his baptism that he could not hold the Priesthood. He was shocked. “No way in hell am I going to join that Church.” He prayed and “heard the voice of deity saying that you are to join – if you’ve heard that voice, you can’t deny it.” So when people asked him why he joined he answers: “Because God told me to.”

He admits that being excluded was painful; being seen as less-than; not a worthy son of God because of the color of his skin.  He feels whole now he holds the Priesthood; however, he has always felt whole in God’s sight.

Darius was raised to be proud of who he was, of his race and heritage. It was routine in his family. Then to be confronted with “You’re cursed,” “You can’t be a full member,” was crushing but “I had no other choice because of what God had said.” “We have challenges and obstacles to overcome. We each have to find our own testimony.”

He knows the Priesthood ban was not of God; he knows it wasn’t from God; but it was allowed by God. And the Church had to undo that which man had put in place.

“There is only one race – the Human Race – All are God’s children - Glory in diversity.”

I learned a lot about humility and forgiveness from these two brethren but I’m not through talking to myself. I’ve been listening to Gandhi as I ride my trike each morning and he expands my boundaries even more as he tells his life story and his mission and relationship with God.

Quotes from Mahatma Gandhi:

v  “I believe in the fundamental truth of all great religions of the world.”

v  “I call him religious who understands the suffering of others.”

v  “God has no religion.”

v  “If it had not been for the Christians that I have known I might have been a Christian.”

v  “I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.”

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