Discuss Ether 14:1
Author Archives: JA Benson
Part IV LDS and the Sephardic Connection: Western Europe
After 1492, many of the Jews who remained in Spain, and later Portugal, were called New Christians or Converso. Many abandoned their Jewish faith entirely, but despite their conversion, all New Christians were under suspicion until the early 1800’s when the Spanish Inquisition ended. The Old Christians called the New Christians “Marrano” (pig) and discriminated against them. Some of the New Christians, who kept some measure of Jewish practices, became Crypto Jews.
Friday Forum: All Dogs Go To Heaven
A Review: Nobody Knows: The Untold Story of Black Mormons
Award winning authors Darius Gray and Margaret Blair Young, along with new filmmaker Danor Gerald have brought to us a documentary entitled Nobody Knows: The Untold Story of Black Mormons. This eye-opening inspiring film ought to be required viewing for faithful members of the LDS church. This is a little known segment of LDS history about incredibly faithful members of the church who endured and continue to endure persecution from both within and without the church. Nobody Knows delves into the experiences of LDS Black Americans, rather than the Priesthood ban and it’s influence on the International Church. Nobody Knows is a powerful testimony of perseverance and faith demonstrated by Black Latter-day-Saints of both past and present.
Like a tightrope walker moving carefully along the wire, master storytellers Gray and Young expertly balance truth as their guide. Nobody Knows allows each individual, including 19th century Black Mormon pioneers, and today’s modern day pioneers, to honestly share their unique perspective through interviews, historical footage, and written accounts. Nobody Knows frankly denounces the racist doctrines surrounding the Priesthood ban. Delicately this film reveals the Priesthood ban as policy and not doctrine. Nobody Knows truthfully recounts the terrible racism Black American Latter-day Saints endured; and balances it with comments by leaders in the church condemning racism. Nobody Knows is a worthy film to warm your heart, thoughtfully educate, and strengthen your spirit.
For more information and how to order the DVD please see:
http://www.untoldstoryofblackmormons.com/
The Meanest, Scariest Mama in the Whole County
I occasionally had a passing thought, as I surveyed a neighbor’s yard right after a disastrous encounter with toilet paper, teens and big tall trees, as to why our yard had never been toilet papered. This fact was a mystery to me. I had instructed my older boys to never go toilet papering because we have a yard loaded with tall trees. I could not fathom how to get the stuff out of the branches, especially if it rained. My nightmare would be for a gang of hoodlums armed with Scotts Two-Ply to retaliate; with a light misty rainfall right afterwards. The fact my boys have not been involved in any toilet-papering incidents may have been part of the reason, but the entire rationale as to WHY we have never been toilet papered has not been clear up until now.