As to why George Washington Carver and other Negroid men were denied the priesthood, First Presidency counselor McKay informed Nelson that the reasons were rooted in the following failures:
a) sub-par performance of Blacks in the Mormon pre-existence;
b) the supposed intelligence level of Blacks in the pre-existence;
c) the lack of achievement of Blacks in the pre-existence;
d) the ‘retarded’ spiritual attainment of Blacks in the pre-existence;
e) the attraction of Blacks to non-White parents in the mortal world because of the Blacks’ lack of sufficient spiritual preparation in the pre-existence (which, McKay argued, explains the presence of various non-White races on earth);
f) the overwhelming desire of Blacks to receive a mortal body, even if it was a Black one; and
g) the lack of preparation by Blacks in the pre-existence to take on Mormon Church leadership positions in the mortal world. ibid.
Mark Hofmann was a forger and shrewd observer of human behavior. Like any good con-man, he knew part of his success manufacturing and selling fake historical documents depended on willing victims – people who wanted to believe his claims.
Growing up Mormon, Hofmann realized he was surrounded by credulous people who were trained to trust those who presented themselves as authorities ...
From his years of poking around old documents and studying church history, Hofmann knew there were skeletons in the Mormon closet. Authentic LDS history is far murkier than the official version. He also knew the church was interested in acquiring potentially embarrassing documents so they could suppress them ...
So Hofmann concocted the ‘Salamander letter’, an account of Joseph Smith encountering a talking salamander that turned into an angel. The forgery neatly connected the Smith family’s occult practices with the origins of Mormonism ...
How is it that church leaders could meet several times with Mark Hofmann and never discern the dark spirit inside him? How could they not recognize the devil within their midst? And how many times before had they failed at similar challenges? How many more times would they fail? ...
What about the church’s document experts? Well, they turned out not to be so expert.
Before Hofmann started blowing up people, the church trumpeted the Salamander letter as a marvelous, wonderful new find while carefully spinning its content. After law enforcement forgery experts declared the Salamander letter a fake, however, the brethren had to spin their way back out without making it look like they had been duped and swindled. Furthermore, they resisted cooperating with the investigation out of fear their ineptitude would be further exposed.
The Hofmann case was a shameful moment of ecclesiastical bungling. I don’t imagine it’s an isolated case. The brethren work pretty much in secret, with no checks and balances, answering to no one, except each other and the still, small voices they hear in their heads. Stray Mutt, board post, ‘For Newbies and Lurking TBMs – A Review of the Hofmann Case’
And there in the St George Temple I saw what I had always hoped and prayed that someday I would see. Ever since I returned as a humble missionary and first learned that the Founding Fathers had appeared in that temple, I wanted to see the record. And I saw the record. They did appear to Wilford Woodruff twice and asked why the work hadn’t been done for them. They had founded this country and the Constitution of this land, and they had been true to those principles. Later the work was done for them. Ezra Taft Benson, address Sandy Utah 30 December 1978, cited Benson, ‘The Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson’ p60
[I]f Communism comes to America ... the Negro represents only ten percent of the population. In any all-out race war which might be triggered, there isn’t a chance in the world that Communist-led Negro guerrilla units could permanently hold on to the power centers of government, even if they could capture them in the first place.
... It now seems probable that the Communists are determined to use force and violence to its fullest, coupled with a weakening of the economy and military setbacks abroad, in an effort to create as much havoc as possible to weaken American internally, and to create the kind of psychological desperation in the minds of all citizens that will lead them to accept blindly government measures which actually help the Communists in their take-over. Ezra Taft Benson, ‘Civil Rights: Tool of Communist Deception’, adaptation from general conference address
If Soviet Russia thought she could win, she would not hesitate to make the first strike. There is much that is favorable to the enemy at this time. I consider Communism the greatest enemy and the greatest threat to all we hold dear. Ezra Taft Benson, letter to grandson Steve 18th September 1979
It pleases me that you have decided to use your talents in the interest of presenting the weaknesses and the dangers of socialism and communism and the power of blessing of the free enterprise, capitalist system, which has built this country ...
The subversive and freedom-destroying forces are closing in, Stephen, as never before in my memory. They are among our own people. They are whispering in the ears of our people ...
[the John Birch Society’s weekly news magazine] I consider of great importance as the best single source of reliable information next to the writings of the prophets and the Holy Scriptures on the question of socialism, communism, and other dangerous evils, which are rapidly invading this great land. Ezra Taft Benson, letter to grandson Steve 11th May 1977
Let me warn the sisters in all seriousness that you who submit yourselves to an abortion or to an operation that precludes you from safely having additional healthy children are jeopardizing your exaltation and your future membership in the kingdom of God. Ezra Taft Benson, God Family Country p224
Martin Luther King had been affiliated with at least the following officially recognized Communist fronts ... the Communists will use Mr King’s death for as much yardage as possible. Ezra Taft Benson, letter to J Willard Marriott, cited D Michael Quinn, The Mormon Hierarchy
The kindest thing that could be said about Martin Luther King is that he was an effective Communist tool. Personally, I think he was more than that. ibid.
My beloved brothers and sisters ... [y]ou students are a part of a choice young generation – a generation which might well witness the return of our Lord ... For nearly six thousand years, God has held you in reserve to make your appearance in the final days before the Second Coming of the Lord. Every previous gospel dispensation has drifted into apostasy, but ours will not. Ezra Taft Benson, address BYU 4th March 1979, ‘Fourteen Fundamentals in Following the Prophet’
Not only that, but when those associations come, let them be primarily for the purpose of procreation, for the having of a family, because it is not pleasing in the sight of God to enjoy the pleasures of those associations and refuse to accept the responsibilities of parenthood. Ezra Taft Benson
Okay, let’s take the gloves off. This insurrection didn’t just happen. It was a set-up-just as the assassination of Martin Luther King was a set-up. The Communists and their Black Power fanatics have been working to create just such a situation for years. They even told us what they were planning to do, again and again, as they did it ... Don’t kid yourself. The people who are behind all of this mean to have a civil war. We either stop them now or they will escalate this thing ...
And remember, the Reds and their Black Power troops have promised us that this is only the beginning! Stokely has said that his forces plan to burn down America.
They’re sure going to try.
How do you stop it? It’s very simple. You stop Communist racial agitation; you arrest the leaders for conspiracy to commit murder, arson and burglary, prove their guilt in a court of law and lock them up. And you free the hands of our police so that the can prevent rioting and looting and arson by those citizens now convinced by the actions of our ‘Liberals’ that theft, incendiarism and assault will be tolerated.
Don’t kid yourself. The people who are behind all of this mean to have a civil war. We either stop them now or they will escalate this thing. Ezra Taft Benson, ‘An Enemy Hath Done This’ p335, citing article Susan L M Huck, originally John Birch magazine
Our religion is one of absolutes and cannot be rationalized into a relativistic philosophy of the ‘liberal Mormons’. We cannot safely rationalize away righteousness. Ezra Taft Benson
The Communist Program for revolution in America has been in progress for many years and is far advanced. Ezra Taft Benson
The man who is generally recognized as the leader of the so-called civil rights movement today in America is a man who has lectured at a Communists training school, who has solicited funds through Communist sources, who hired a Communist as a top-level aide, who has affiliated with Communist fronts, who is often praised in the Communist press and who unquestionably parallels the Communist line. This same man advocates the breaking of the law and has been described by J Edgar Hoover as ‘the most notorious liar in the country’. Ezra Taft Benson, US News and World Report 30th November 1964
This is not just another Church. This is not just one of a family of Christian churches. This is the Church and kingdom of God, the only true Church upon the face of the earth. Ezra Taft Benson, Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson from p164