A Disturbing Question Concerning the Muslim QUR’AN
Take for instance the Muslim holy book the Qur’an, which says:
“On the day when some faces will be whitened and some faces will be blackened, say to those whose faces will be blackened, ‘Did ye reject faith after accepting it? Taste then the penalty for rejecting faith.’ But those whose faces will be whitened, they will be in God’s mercy: therein to dwell.” (Sura Al-i-Imran, 3:106-107)
debate.org.uk/topics/trtracts/t12.htmThe question which I ask as a black man is why is white equated with goodness and black equated with evil? (see Yusuf Ali, footnote 432)
“Skin of blackness”
In the Book of Mormon, Lamanites are described as having a “skin of blackness” caused by God as punishment for their wickedness and corruption:
“And he had caused the cursing to come upon [the Lamanites], yea, even a sore cursing, because of their iniquity. For behold, they had hardened their hearts against him, and they had become like unto a flint; wherefore, as they were white, and exceedingly fair and delightsome, that they might not be enticing unto my people the Lord God did cause a skin of blackness to come upon them.” (2 Nephi 5:21).
Several Book of Mormon passages have been interpreted by some Latter-day Saints as indicating that Lamanites would revert to a lighter skin tone upon accepting the gospel. For example, early editions of The Book of Mormon contained the passage: “[T]heir scales of darkness shall begin to fall from their eyes; and many generations shall not pass away among them, save they shall be a white and a delightsome people” (2 Nephi 30:6). As early as 1840, with the Third Edition of the Book of Mormon, the word “white” was changed to “pure” by Joseph Smith, Jr. to more closely reflect the original intent of the Nephite authors.
Unofficial statements (leaders’ opinions) in support of the view that God miraculously changed the skin color of the Lamanites were made in a publication by Joseph Fielding Smith, then an apostle of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and who later became its prophet:
"Question: ‘The question I have is concerning the present status of the Lamanites. I know that Laman and Lemuel and their families were cursed, but to what extent is this curse carried today? Was the darker skin all or just part of the curse? Will this curse be completely forgotten and taken away by the Lord on the basis of repentance and complete acceptance of the gospel?’
Answer: The dark skin was placed upon the Lamanites so that they could be distinguished from the Nephites and to keep the two peoples from mixing. The dark skin was the sign of the curse. The curse was the withdrawal of the Spirit of the Lord and the Lamanites becoming a ‘loathsome and filthy people, full of idleness and all manner of abominations.’
… At the time of the Savior’s visit to the Nephites all of the people became united, and the curse and the dark skin which was its sign were removed.
… After the people again forgot the Lord and dissensions arose, some of them took upon themselves the name Lamanites and the dark skin returned.
When the Lamanites fully repent and sincerely receive the gospel, the Lord has promised to remove the dark skin.
… The dark skin of those who have come into the Church is no longer to be considered a sign of the curse. Many of these converts are delightsome and have the Spirit of the Lord. Perhaps there are some Lamanites today who are losing the dark pigment. Many of the members of the Church among the Catawba Indians of the South could readily pass as of the white race; also in other parts of the South."[10]
Spencer W. Kimball, another apostle of the LDS Church, who later became president of the church, also spoke about Lamanites in October 1960, in the context of LDS missionary efforts:
“(The Navajo)…are fast becoming a white and delightsome people.” He said, “The Indian children in the home placement program in Utah are often lighter than their brothers and sisters in the hogans on the reservation”[11]
This statement is similar to others by Kimball concerning African-Americans (See Blacks and Mormonism).
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LamaniteReferences