The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ==Criticism and controversy== {{Main|Criticism of the LDS Church}} The LDS Church has been subject to criticism and the subject of controversy since its early years in New York and [[Pennsylvania]]. Modern criticism of the church includes disputed claims, allegations of historical revisionism by the church,<ref>{{cite web|url= https://dailyutahchronicle.com/2019/02/05/brown-race-relations-and-the-lds-church-a-problematic-history-of-revisionism/|title= Brown: Race Relations and the LDS Church: A Problematic History of Revisionism|date= February 5, 2019|publisher= [[Daily Utah Chronicle]] |access-date= August 29, 2021|archive-date= August 29, 2021|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210829152849/https://dailyutahchronicle.com/2019/02/05/brown-race-relations-and-the-lds-church-a-problematic-history-of-revisionism/|url-status= live}}</ref> child sexual abuse, anti-gay teachings,<ref name="Gay Rights"/>{{rp|4, 288–301}}<ref>{{cite web|url=https://religionandpolitics.org/2016/02/23/mormons-anglicans-and-why-global-churches-struggle-over-lgbt-rights/|title=Mormons, Anglicans, and Why Global Churches Struggle Over LGBT Rights|date=February 23, 2016|website= Religion and Politics |publisher=[[Washington University in St. Louis]] |access-date=August 29, 2021|archive-date=August 29, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210829150229/https://religionandpolitics.org/2016/02/23/mormons-anglicans-and-why-global-churches-struggle-over-lgbt-rights/|url-status=live}}</ref> racism,<ref name=Aspired/><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/chi-blackmormons-story.html|title=Mormon past steeped in racism|date=July 26, 2005|newspaper=[[Chicago Tribune]] |access-date=August 29, 2021|archive-date=August 29, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210829151528/https://www.chicagotribune.com/chi-blackmormons-story.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Mormons Grapple With Church's History Of Discrimination Amid Wider Racial Reckoning|date=September 22, 2020|publisher=[[WBUR-FM]]|work=[[Here and Now (Boston)|Here and Now]]| location=Boston, Massachusetts|url= https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2020/09/22/mormon-church-lds-black-racism|access-date=October 13, 2021|archive-date=August 13, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210813183934/https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2020/09/22/mormon-church-lds-black-racism|url-status=live}}</ref> and sexism.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://religionnews.com/2019/09/10/mormon-men-are-groomed-not-to-listen-to-women/|title=Mormon men are groomed not to listen to women|date=September 10, 2019|first=Jana|last=Reiss|author-link=Jana Reiss|publisher=[[Religion News Service]]|access-date=August 29, 2021|archive-date=August 29, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210829154621/https://religionnews.com/2019/09/10/mormon-men-are-groomed-not-to-listen-to-women/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|title= Latter-day Saints Take a Stand on Feminism…and It Isn't Pretty|date= January 29, 2020|url= https://nonprofitquarterly.org/latter-day-saints-take-a-stand-on-feminismand-it-isnt-pretty/| magazine=[[Nonprofit Quarterly]]|access-date= August 29, 2021|archive-date= August 29, 2021|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210829154621/https://nonprofitquarterly.org/latter-day-saints-take-a-stand-on-feminismand-it-isnt-pretty/|url-status= live}}</ref> Notable 20th-century critics include [[Jerald and Sandra Tanner]]<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.cityweekly.net/utah/the-notorious-tanners/Content?oid=2129013| title=The Notorious Tanners |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210624203532/https://www.cityweekly.net/utah/the-notorious-tanners/Content?oid=2129013|archive-date=June 24, 2021|newspaper=[[Salt Lake City Weekly]]|date=June 11, 2007}}</ref> and historian [[Fawn Brodie]].<ref>{{cite journal|title= Fawn Brodie and Her Quest for Independence |url=https://www.dialoguejournal.com/wp-content/uploads/sbi/articles/Dialogue_V22N02_81.pdf | journal=[[Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought|Dialogue]] | volume=22 |issue=2 |date=Summer 1989 |pages=79–95 |last1= Bringhurst |first1= Newell G. |author1-link=Newell G. Bringhurst}}</ref> ===Child sexual abuse=== {{Main|Mormon abuse cases}} The church has been criticized for a number of abuses allegedly perpetrated or covered up by local church leadership; several cases have been settled out of court.<ref name=blasts>{{cite news|url=http://www.deseretnews.com/article/862366/Lawyer-blasts-LDS-Church.html?pg=all|title=Lawyer blasts LDS Church|work=[[Deseret News]]|date=September 5, 2001}}</ref><ref name = "Recordings" /><ref>[https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-04-27/riverside-woman-to-receive-2-3-billion-in-sex-abuse-lawsuit-that-also-accused-the-mormon-church Jury awards Riverside woman $2.3 billion in a sex abuse lawsuit involving the Mormon church. LA Times. April 27, 2023.]</ref> In other cases, church leaders have been criticized for: allegedly failing to report abuse to law enforcement;<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://apnews.com/article/Mormon-church-sexual-abuse-investigation-e0e39cf9aa4fbe0d8c1442033b894660|title=Seven years of sex abuse: How Mormon officials let it happen|date=August 4, 2022|publisher=[[Associated Press]]}}</ref> improperly invoking [[Priest–penitent privilege|clergy-penitent privilege]] in so doing;<ref name="Recordings">{{cite news|url=https://apnews.com/article/mormon-church-investigation-child-sex-abuse-9c301f750725c0f06344f948690caf16 |title=Recordings show how the Mormon church protects itself from child sex abuse claims|first1=Michael|last1=Rezendes|first2=Jason|last2=Dearen|publisher=[[Associated Press]]|date=December 12, 2023|access-date=January 23, 2024}}</ref> and failing to keep records of sexual abuse claims which were reported through its Helpline phone number.<ref name = "Recordings" /> ===Scriptures=== {{see also|Criticism of the Book of Mormon|Historicity of the Book of Mormon|Origin of the Book of Mormon|Archaeology and the Book of Mormon|Genetics and the Book of Mormon|Book of Mormon anachronisms|Criticism of the Book of Abraham}} In the late 1820s, criticism centered on the claim by Joseph Smith to have been led to a set of gold plates from which the Book of Mormon was reputedly translated.<ref name=RoughStone/>{{rp|116–118}}<ref name=Brodie/>{{rp|80–82, 87}} Mainstream archaeological, historical, and scientific communities have discovered little to support the existence of the civilizations described in the Book of Mormon, and do not consider it to be an actual record of historical events.{{r|Lost|p=xv|q=. "Anthropologists and archaeologists, including some Mormons and former Mormons, have discovered little to support the existence of [Book of Mormon] civilizations. Over a period of 150 years, as scholars have seriously studied Native American cultures and prehistory, evidence of a Christian civilization in the Americas has eluded the specialists... These [Mesoamerican] cultures lack any trace of Hebrew or Egyptian writing, metallurgy, or the Old World domesticated animals and plants described in the Book of Mormon."}} Scholars have pointed out a number of [[Anachronisms in the Book of Mormon|anachronisms within the text]]. They argue that no evidence of a reformed Egyptian language has ever been discovered;<ref name=Shadow/>{{rp|91}}{{efn|Standard language references such as Peter T. Daniels and William Bright, eds., ''The World's Writing Systems'' (New York: [[Oxford University Press]], 1996) (990 pages); David Crystal, ''The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language'' ([[Cambridge University Press]], 1997); and Roger D. Woodard, ed., ''The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the World's Ancient Languages'' ([[Cambridge University Press]], 2004) (1162 pages) contain no reference to "reformed Egyptian." "Reformed Egyptian" is also ignored in Andrew Robinson, ''Lost Languages: The Enigma of the World's Undeciphered Scripts'' (New York: [[McGraw Hill]], 2002). Smith's discussion of it is mentioned in ''Fantastic Archaeology''.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Williams |first=Stephen |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2ekybHamEW8C |title=Fantastic Archaeology: The Wild Side of North American Prehistory |date=1991 |publisher=[[University of Pennsylvania Press]] |isbn=978-0-8122-8238-2 |pages=161–163}}</ref>}} the Book of Mormon explicitly says it was written in [[Reformed Egyptian]],<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Shields |first=Steven L. |date=2021 |title=The Quest for 'Reformed Egyptian' |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/27112676 |journal=The John Whitmer Historical Association Journal |publisher=[[John Whitmer Historical Association]] |volume=41 |issue=2 |page=101 |jstor=27112676 |issn=0739-7852}}</ref> and so the non-existence of this language would challenge the book's claims about its own origin. Also, general archaeological and genetic evidence has not supported the book's statements about any known indigenous peoples of the Americas.<ref>{{Cite magazine | last=Duffy | first=John-Charles | title=Defending the Kingdom, Rethinking the Faith: How Apologetics is Reshaping Mormon Orthodoxy | magazine=[[Sunstone (magazine)|Sunstone]] | volume=132 | issue=May | year=2004 | page=37 | url=https://www.sunstonemagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/sbi/articles/132%2022-55.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716163827/https://www.sunstonemagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/sbi/articles/132%2022-55.pdf |archive-date=July 16, 2011 |url-status=live |via=[[Internet Archive]] |url-access=limited}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | last= Abanes | first= Richard | year= 2003 | title= One Nation Under Gods: A History of the Mormon Church | publisher= [[Perseus Books Group|Thunder's Mouth Press]] | isbn= 1-56858-283-8 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=jYVItAEACAAJ |pages= 74–77}}</ref> Since its publication in 1842, the Book of Abraham (currently published as part of the canonical Pearl of Great Price) has also been a major source of controversy. Numerous non-Mormon Egyptologists, beginning in the late 19th century,<ref name=Papyri>{{cite book | last=Ritner | first=Robert K. | title=The Joseph Smith Egyptian Papyri: A Complete Edition| isbn=978-1-56085-220-9| publisher=[[Signature Books]] | date=2013 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=08hVtwAACAAJ}}</ref>{{rp|61}} have disagreed with Joseph Smith's explanations of the book's facsimiles. Translations of the original papyri—by both Mormon and non-Mormon Egyptologists—do not match the text of the Book of Abraham as purportedly translated by Joseph Smith.<ref name=OwnHand>{{cite book | last=Larson | first=Charles M. | title=By His Own Hand Upon Papyrus | publisher=[[Institute of Religious Research]] | year=1992 | edition=2nd | isbn=978-0-9620963-2-7 |url=https://archive.org/details/ByHisOwnHandUponPapyrusByCharlesB.Larson/mode/1up |via=[[Internet Archive]]}}</ref>{{rp|61}} Indeed, the transliterated text from the recovered papyri and facsimiles published in the Book of Abraham contain no direct references to Abraham.<ref>{{cite book|editor2-link=Ardis E. Parshall|editor1-link=W. Paul Reeve| editor1-last=Reeve | editor1-first=W. Paul | editor2-last=Parshall | editor2-first= Ardis |date= 2010 |title=Mormonism: A Historical Encyclopedia |publisher=[[ABC-CLIO]] |location=[[Santa Barbara, CA]] |chapter=Mormon Scripture |isbn= 978-1-59884-108-4 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qLji9wwnaoUC | via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref>{{rp|269}}<ref>{{cite journal| last=Ashment | first=Edward H. | title=Joseph Smith's Identification of 'Abraham' in Papyrus JS1, the 'Breathing Permit of Hor' | journal=[[Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought]] |volume=33 | issue=4 | date=December 2000 | doi=10.2307/45226744 | jstor=45226744 | s2cid=254298749 | url=https://www.dialoguejournal.com/wp-content/uploads/sbi/issues/V33N04.pdf | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110119070137/https://www.dialoguejournal.com/wp-content/uploads/sbi/issues/V33N04.pdf |archive-date=January 19, 2011| page=126}}</ref><ref name=Papyri/>{{rp|66}} Scholars have also asserted that damaged portions of the papyri were reconstructed incorrectly by Smith or his associates.<ref name=OwnHand/>{{rp|25}} ===Polygamy=== {{main|Mormonism and polygamy}} [[File:Polygamists in prison.jpg|thumb|Mormon polygamists in prison at the Utah Penitentiary, {{circa|1889}}]] Polygamy (called plural marriage within the church) was practiced by church leaders for more than half of the 19th century,<ref name=HoP>{{Cite web |last=Embry |first=Jessie L. |year=1994 |title=The History of Polygamy |url=https://heritage.utah.gov/history/uhg-history-polygamy-2 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181107044102/https://heritage.utah.gov/history/uhg-history-polygamy-2 |archive-date=November 7, 2018 |access-date=December 31, 2018 |publisher=[[Utah State Historical Society]]}}</ref> and practiced publicly from 1852 to 1890 by between 20 and 30 percent of Latter-day Saint families.<ref>{{cite book|last= Flake|first=Kathleen|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=GLLCAB5vmMQC&pg=PA65|title=The Politics of American Religious Identity|publisher=[[University of North Carolina Press]]|year=2004|isbn=0-8078-5501-4|pages=65, 192 |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref><ref name="Embry19942">{{Citation | last = Embry | first = Jessie L. | title = Utah History Encyclopedia | publisher = University of Utah Press | year = 1994 | chapter = Polygamy | chapter-url = https://www.uen.org/utah_history_encyclopedia/p/POLYGAMY.shtml | url = https://www.uen.org/utah_history_encyclopedia/ | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20240322100959/https://www.uen.org/utah_history_encyclopedia/p/POLYGAMY.shtml | archive-date = March 22, 2024 | isbn =9780874804256 | access-date = April 9, 2024}}</ref> It was instituted privately in the 1830s by founder Joseph Smith and announced publicly in 1852 at the direction of Brigham Young.<ref name="Embry19942"/> For over 60 years, the [[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and politics in the United States|church and the United States]] were at odds over the issue: at one point, the Republican platform referenced "the twin relics of barbarism—polygamy and slavery."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ushistory.org/gop/convention_1856.htm| website=US History.org|publisher=[[Independence Hall Association]] |location=Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |title=GOP Convention of 1856 in Philadelphia}}</ref> The church defended the practice as a matter of religious freedom, while the federal government aggressively sought to eradicate it; in 1862, the United States Congress passed the [[Morrill Anti-Bigamy Act]], which prohibited plural marriage in the territories.<ref name="Embry19942"/> In 1890, church president Wilford Woodruff [[1890 Manifesto|issued a Manifesto]] that officially terminated the practice in the United States,<ref name=OD1/> though it did not dissolve existing polygamous marriages of any couples, some of which continued to cohabit into the 1950s.<ref name=HoP/> Some church members continued to enter into polygamous marriages in Canada and Mexico, but these eventually stopped in 1904 when church president Joseph F. Smith disavowed polygamy before Congress and issued a "[[Second Manifesto]]," calling for all plural marriages in the church to cease. Several small fundamentalist groups, seeking to continue the practice, split from the LDS Church, but the mainline church now excommunicates members found practicing polygamy and distances itself from those fundamentalist groups.<ref name=VeryShort/>{{rp|91}}<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.nbcnews.com/id/25396937 |title=Mormons seek distance from polygamous sects |year=2008 |publisher=[[NBC News]]}}</ref> ===Minorities=== ====Black people==== {{see also|Black people and Mormonism|Black people and Mormon priesthood|Black segregation and the LDS Church|Curses of Cain and Ham and the LDS Church|Interracial marriage and the LDS Church|Mormonism and slavery}} [[Image:Green Flake Colorized.jpg|left|thumb|upright|150px|[[Green Flake]], an enslaved Black man reported to have driven the first wagon of LDS pioneers to the [[Salt Lake Valley]] in 1847<ref name=Flake>{{cite web |title=Century of Black Mormons: Flake, Green |url=https://exhibits.lib.utah.edu/s/century-of-black-mormons/page/flake-green |website=[[J. Willard Marriott Library]] |publisher=[[University of Utah]]}}</ref>]] The teachings, attitudes, and practices of top LDS Church leaders towards Black people have changed significantly from its founding years to the modern times, and the church has faced criticism and controversy on these topics.<ref name="Harris2015">{{cite book|last1=Harris|first1=Matthew L.|last2=Bringhurst|first2=Newell G.|author2-link=Newell G. Bringhurst|title=The Mormon Church and Blacks: A Documentary History|url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=Pn20CgAAQBAJ}}|date=2015|publisher=[[University of Illinois Press]]|location=Champaign, Illinois |via=[[Google Books]]|url-access=limited|isbn=978-0-252-08121-7|id={{ProQuest|2131052022}}}}</ref>{{rp|1–5}}<ref name="Black and mormon">{{cite book |editor1-last= Bringhurst |editor1-first= Newell G. |editor1-link=Newell G. Bringhurst|editor2-last= Smith |editor2-first= Darron T. |title=Black and Mormon |year=2004 |publisher=[[University of Illinois Press]] |location=Champaign, Illinois |isbn=0-252-02947-X |url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=lSvRnQgJAx8C}}|id={{ProQuest|2131367301}}}}</ref>{{rp|5–7}}<ref name="nytimes.com">{{cite news|last=Turner |first=John G. |title=Why Race Is Still a Problem for Mormons|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=August 18, 2012|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/19/opinion/sunday/racism-and-the-mormon-church.html}}</ref> Joseph Smith allowed several black men to be ordained as priests during his presidency, but also taught that the dark skin of people of Black African ancestry was a sign of a curse from God.<ref name="Mauss 2003"/>{{rp|213}}<ref name=Marks>{{cite journal |last1=Stuart Bingham |first1=Ryan |title=Curses and Marks: Racial Dispensations and Dispensations of Race in Joseph Smith's Bible Revision and the Book of Abraham |journal=[[Journal of Mormon History]] |date=July 2015 |volume=41 |issue=3 |doi=10.5406/jmormhist.41.3.22 |pages=22, 27, 29, 30–31, 43, 54–57|jstor=10.5406/jmormhist.41.3.22 |s2cid=246574026}}</ref>{{rp|27}} Both Smith and Brigham Young taught that Black people were subject to the Biblical [[curse of Ham]],<ref name="Reeve 2015">{{cite book|last1=Reeve|first1=W. Paul |author-link= W. Paul Reeve |title=Religion of a Different Color: Race and the Mormon Struggle for Whiteness|chapter=Religion of a Different Color |date=2015|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=95j4BQAAQBAJ}}|location=New York|isbn=978-0-19-975407-6|via=[[Google Books]]|url-access=limited|doi=10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199754076.001.0001}}</ref>{{rp|126}}<ref name=BYHamCurse>{{cite journal |last1=Young |first1=Brigham |author-link=Brigham Young |title=Necessity for Watchfulness |journal=[[Journal of Discourses]] |date=October 6, 1863 |volume=10 |page=250 |url=https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Journal_of_Discourses/Volume_10/Necessity_for_Watchfulness,_etc.}}</ref> and [[curse of Cain]].<ref name=Marks/>{{r|name=Reeve 2015|q=Joseph ... sought to 'sh[o]w that the Indians have gr[e]ater cause to complain of the treatment of the whites than the Negroes or Sons of Cain.'|p=256}} Both made statements in support of Black enslavement,<ref name="Harris2015"/>{{rp|22}} and Young legalized Black slavery while acting as Utah territory's governor.<ref name=ToGo>{{cite web|title=Slavery in Utah|date=April 20, 2016|publisher=Utah State Department of Cultural & Community Engagement|url=https://historytogo.utah.gov/slavery/|last1=Nichols|first1=Jeffrey D.}}</ref><ref name="Saints, Slaves, and Blacks">{{cite book|last1=Bringhurst|first1=Newell G.|author1-link=Newell G. Bringhurst|title=Saints, Slaves, and Blacks: The Changing Place of Black People Within Mormonism|url=https://archive.org/details/saintsslavesblac0000brin/|url-access=registration|date=1981|publisher=[[Greenwood Press]]|location=Westport, Connecticut|isbn=0-313-22752-7|via=[[Internet Archive]]}}</ref>{{rp|69}}<ref name="Williams" >{{cite book|title=Slavery in Utah Territory: 1847–1865|first=Don B. |last=Williams |url= {{google books|plainurl=y|id=tbnQ6doL2U8C}} |isbn=978-0-9746076-2-7|date= December 2004 |publisher= Mt Zion Books}}</ref>{{rp|34}} From 1844 to 1978, the church barred Black women and men from participating in temple ordinances necessary for the highest level of salvation;<ref name=Kendall>{{cite journal |last1=White |first1=O. Kendall Jr. |title=Integrating Religious and Racial Identities: An Analysis of LDS African American Explanations of the Priesthood Ban |journal= [[Review of Religious Research]] |date=March 1995 |volume=36 |issue=3 |pages=296–297 |doi=10.2307/3511536 |jstor=3511536 |quote='Celestial' or 'temple' marriage is a necessary condition for 'exaltation' ... Without the priesthood, Black men and women ... were denied complete exaltation, the ultimate goal of Mormonism.}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Hale |first=Lee |date=May 31, 2018 |title=Mormon Church Celebration Of 40 Years Of Black Priesthood Brings Up Painful Past |work=[[All Things Considered]] |publisher=[[NPR]] |url=https://www.npr.org/2018/05/31/615911082/mormon-church-celebration-of-40-years-of-black-priesthood-brings-up-painful-past}}</ref><ref name="bowman">{{cite web |url=https://theconversation.com/mormons-confront-a-history-of-church-racism-95328 |title=Mormons confront a history of Church racism |last=Bowman |first=Matthew |date=May 29, 2018 |website=[[The Conversation (website)|The Conversation]] |access-date=February 15, 2021 |archive-date=February 16, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210216034904/https://theconversation.com/mormons-confront-a-history-of-church-racism-95328 |url-status=live }}</ref> prevented most men of Black African descent from being ordained to the church's lay, all-male priesthood;<ref name="embry">{{cite book |last=Embry |first=Jessie |url=https://archive.org/details/blacksaintsinwhi0000embr |title=Black Saints in a White Church |publisher=[[Signature Books]] |year=1994 |isbn=1-56085-044-2|location= Salt Lake City, Utah |oclc=30156888 |url-access=registration|via=[[Internet Archive]]}}</ref>{{rp|64}} supported [[racial segregation]] in its communities and schools;<ref name="Harris2015" />{{rp|67, 78}}<ref name=Balmer>{{cite book|url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=mQ7TCgAAQBAJ|page=168}}|title= Mormonism and American Politics|author1-first=Randall|author1-last=Balmer |author2-first=Jana |author2-last= Riess |author2-link=Jana Riess |page=168|isbn=978-0-231-54089-6|year=2015|publisher=[[Columbia University Press]]}}</ref> taught that righteous Black people would be made White after death;<ref name=Aspired/><ref name="US_Commission_1959">{{cite web|title=The National Conference and the Reports of the State Advisory Committees to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights|year=1959|publisher=[[United States Government Printing Office]]|quote=The Mormon interpretation attributes birth into any race other than the [W]hite race as a result of inferior performance in a pre-earth life and teaches that by righteous living, the dark-skinned races may again become '[W]hite and delightsome.' This doctrine is mentioned in passing by way of explaining certain attitudes evident in specific fields of investigation.|pages=379–380|url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=zKIHERHQKBcC|page=379}}}}</ref><ref name="Mueller">{{cite book |first=Max Perry |last=Mueller |url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=hB8wDwAAQBAJ}} |title=Race and the Making of the Mormon People |publisher=[[University of North Carolina Press]] |year=2017 |isbn=978-1-469-63376-3}}</ref>{{rp|148}} and opposed interracial marriage.<ref name=Repugnant>{{cite book |last1=Brooks |first1=Joanna |author-link=Joanna Brooks |title=Mormonism and White Supremacy: American Religion and The Problem of Racial Innocence |date=2020 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |location=New York City |isbn=978-0-19-008175-1 |pages=121–123 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IcDgDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA123 |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref><ref name="Neither White Nor Black">{{cite book |editor-last= Bush |editor-first= Lester E. Jr.|editor-link=Lester E. Bush Jr. |editor2-last= Mauss |editor2-first= Armand L. |editor2-link= Armand L. Mauss |title= Neither White Nor Black: Mormon Scholars Confront the Race Issue in a Universal Church |publisher= [[Signature Books]] |year= 1984 |location= Salt Lake City, Utah |url=http://signaturebookslibrary.org/neither-white-nor-black/|archive-date=October 1, 2022|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20221001163611/http://signaturebookslibrary.org/neither-white-nor-black/ |isbn= 0-941214-22-2|via=[[Internet Archive]]}}</ref>{{rp|89}} Leaders taught on many occasions during this time that Black people were less righteous in the pre-existence.<ref name=BushDialogue>{{cite journal |last1=Bush |first1=Lester E. |date=1973 |title= Mormonism's Negro Doctrine: An Historical Overview|url=https://www.dialoguejournal.com/wp-content/uploads/sbi/articles/Dialogue_V08N01_13.pdf |journal=[[Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought|Dialogue]] |volume=8 |issue=1 }}</ref>{{rp|27}}<ref name="Harris2015" />{{rp|56, 66}}<ref name="Neither White Nor Black"/>{{rp|221}} The temple and priesthood racial restrictions were lifted by top leaders in 1978<ref name="Harris2015"/>{{rp|106–107}}<ref>{{cite news |last1=Gurwell |first1=Lance |title=Critics Still Question 'Revelation' on Blacks |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1988-06-02-8801040230-story.html |work=[[Chicago Tribune]] |date=June 1, 1988}}</ref> following public pressure during the United States' [[civil rights movement]].{{efn|Examples of public pressure include: * In 1963, [[Hugh B. Brown]] made a statement on [[civil rights]] during [[General Conference (LDS Church)|General Conference]] in order to avert a planned protest of the conference by the [[NAACP]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Black History Timeline|url=http://www.blacklds.org/history|access-date=April 14, 2016|archive-date=March 21, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170321042304/http://www.blacklds.org/history|url-status=live}}</ref> * During the late 1960s and 1970s, black athletes at some universities refused to compete against teams from church owned [[Brigham Young University]] as a form of protest.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Collisson|first1=Craig|title=The BSU takes on BYU and the UW Athletics Program, 1970|url=http://depts.washington.edu/civilr/BSU_BYU.htm|website=Seattle Civil Rights & Labor History Project| publisher=[[University of Washington]] |access-date=April 14, 2016|archive-date=October 19, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211019210617/http://depts.washington.edu/civilr/BSU_BYU.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> * A protest in 1974 was in response to the exclusion of black scouts to become leaders in church sponsored [[Boy Scouts of America|Boy Scout]] troops.<ref name="Saints, Slaves, and Blacks"/>{{rp|185}}}} In 2013 the church directly disavowed its previous teachings on race for the first time.<ref name=Aspired>{{cite magazine |last1=Green |first1=Emma |title=When Mormons Aspired to Be a 'White and Delightsome' People |date=September 18, 2017 |magazine=[[The Atlantic]] |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/09/mormons-race-max-perry-mueller/539994/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221207001722/https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/09/mormons-race-max-perry-mueller/539994/|url-status=live|url-access=subscription|archive-date=December 7, 2022|via=[[Internet Archive]]}}</ref><ref name=Despite>{{cite magazine|url= https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/08/black-and-mormon/497660/|title=Choosing to Stay in the Mormon Church Despite Its Racist Legacy|first=Janan |last=Graham-Russell| date=August 28, 2016|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20220821082919/https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/08/black-and-mormon/497660/|archive-date=August 21, 2022|url-status=live|url-access=subscription| magazine=[[The Atlantic]]|via=[[Internet Archive]]}}</ref> In 2018, the Church formed an alliance with the [[NAACP]] in an effort to improve race relations.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Mccombs |first=Brady |date=June 14, 2021 |title=Mormons and NAACP seek to advance work with new initiatives |url=https://apnews.com/article/naacp-race-and-ethnicity-religion-fe1014587d6525b7c23f42ff93339c7e |access-date=October 16, 2023 |publisher=[[Associated Press]]}}</ref> ====Native American people==== {{see also|Native American people and Mormonism|Mormon teachings on skin color|Genetics and the Book of Mormon|Archaeology and the Book of Mormon|Indian Placement Program}} [[File:Joseph Smith Preaching to the Indians by William Armitage.png|thumb|200px|Artistic depiction of Joseph Smith preaching to Native Americans in Illinois]] Over the past two centuries, the relationship between Native American people and the LDS Church has included friendly ties, displacement, battles, slavery, education placement programs, official and unofficial discrimination, and criticism.<ref name=Myths>{{cite web |last1=Hamilton |first1=Andrew |last2=Geisner |first2=Joe |last3=Newcomb |first3=Sarah |title=Mormons and Native Americans: Myths vs. Realities |url=https://sunstone.org/mormons-and-native-americans-myths-vs-realities/ |website=[[Sunstone (magazine)|Sunstone]] |date=January 2020}}</ref><ref name=Struggle/> Church leadership and publications taught that Native Americans are descendants of [[Lamanites]], a dark-skinned and cursed people from the Book of Mormon.<ref name=Gathering>{{cite journal |last1=Green |first1=Arnold H. |title=Gathering and Election: Israelite Descent and Universalism in Mormon Doctrine |journal=[[Mormon History Association#Journal of Mormon History|Journal of Mormon History]]|date=Spring 1999 |volume=5 |issue=21 |jstor=23287743 |url=https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1032&context=mormonhistory|publisher=[[University of Illinois Press]] |location=Champaign, Illinois}}</ref>{{rp|196}}<ref name=Struggle>{{cite news |last1=Diana |first1=Kruzman |title=Indigenous Mormons struggle to balance pride in the faith with LDS history |url=https://religionnews.com/2022/01/11/indigenous-mormons-struggle-to-balance-pride-in-the-faith-with-lds-history/ |publisher= [[Religion News Service]] |date=January 11, 2022}}</ref> More recently, LDS researchers and publications generally favor a [[limited geography model|smaller geographic footprint]] of [[Lamanites#Proposed modern descendants|Lamanite descendants]].{{efn|Prior to 2006, the introduction to church-published editions of the Book of Mormon stated Lamanites form the "principal ancestors of the American Indians." Since the 2006 edition, the same passage now reads they are "among the ancestors of the American Indians." <ref>{{cite news |last1=Fletcher Stack |first1=Peggy |author-link=Peggy Fletcher Stack |title= Single word change in Book of Mormon speaks volumes |url= https://archive.sltrib.com/story.php?ref=/lds/ci_7403990 |newspaper=[[The Salt Lake Tribune]] |access-date=April 27, 2022 |date=November 8, 2007}}</ref><ref name=Ruckus/>}}<ref>{{cite news|title=Why Native Americans struggle to make their stories and traditions fit with the Book of Mormon|url=https://www.sltrib.com/religion/2021/07/02/why-native-americans/|newspaper=[[The Salt Lake Tribune]]|date=July 2, 2021|access-date=October 13, 2021|archive-date=September 27, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210927135734/https://www.sltrib.com/religion/2021/07/02/why-native-americans/|url-status=live}}</ref> There is no direct support amongst mainstream historians and archaeologists for the [[historicity of the Book of Mormon]] or Middle Eastern origins for any Native American peoples.<ref>{{cite thesis| last=Murphy| first=Thomas W.| title=Imagining Lamanites: Native Americans and the Book of Mormon| journal=Ph.D. Dissertation| place=[[University of Washington]]| year=2003| ssrn=2177734|url=https://www.academia.edu/10367006|via=[[Academia.edu]]}}</ref><ref name=Lost>{{Cite book |last=Southerton |first=Simon G |title=Losing a Lost Tribe: Native Americans, DNA and the Mormon Church |publisher=[[Signature Books]] |year=2004 |url=https://www.signaturebooks.com/books/p/losing-a-lost-tribe |place=Salt Lake City |isbn=1-56085-181-3 }}</ref><ref name=OriginsBoM>{{Cite book| last= Persuitte| first= David| author-link = David Persuitte| title= Joseph Smith and the Origins of the Book of Mormon| edition = 2nd| year=2000| publisher = [[McFarland & Company]]|location=Jefferson, North Carolina|chapter='The Book of Mormon' and Ancient America| isbn= 978-0-7864-0826-9|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hrR7DwAAQBAJ|via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref>{{rp|259–267}} Soon after Mormons colonized the Salt Lake Valley in 1847, Native American child slaves became a vital source of labor.<ref name=other>{{cite book|title=The Other Slavery: The Uncovered Story of Indian Enslavement in America| first=Andrés |last=Reséndez |date=April 12, 2016| publisher= [[HarperCollins]] |isbn=978-0-544-60267-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z2gpCgAAQBAJ |via=[[Google Books]]|url-access=limited}}</ref>{{rp|273–274}} The settlers initially had some peaceful relations, but because resources were scarce in the desert, hostilities broke out with the local Native Americans.<ref name=Envision /> According to LDS [[Church Historian and Recorder|Church Historian]] [[Marlin K. Jensen]] as more LDS immigrants arrived and took over the land of Native nations, "Resources the Indians had relied on for generations diminished, and in time they felt forced to resist and fight for their own survival ... the land and cultural birthright Indians once possessed in the Great Basin were largely taken from them."<ref name=Envision>{{cite news |last1=Fletcher Stack |first1=Peggy |author-link=Peggy Fletcher Stack |title=LDS Native American teacher envisions a Pioneer Day that celebrates all Utahns |url=https://www.sltrib.com/religion/2020/07/24/lds-native-american/ |work=[[The Salt Lake Tribune]] |date=July 24, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230402193836/https://www.sltrib.com/religion/2020/07/24/lds-native-american/ |archive-date=April 2, 2023 |via=[[Internet Archive]] |url-status=live| url-access=limited}}</ref> Within 50 years of Mormon settlement, the population of Utah's Native Americans was reduced by almost 90%.<ref name=other/>{{rp|273}} The church ran an [[Indian Placement Program]] between the 1950s and the 1990s, wherein indigenous children were adopted by white church members. Criticism resulted during and after the program, including claims of improper assimilation and even abuse.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://dailyutahchronicle.com/2019/02/14/the-making-of-a-lamanite-a-brief-history-between-the-lds-church-and-indigenous-communities/|title=The Making of a Lamanite: A Brief History Between the LDS Church and Indigenous Communities|newspaper=[[Daily Utah Chronicle]] |publisher=[[University of Utah]] |date=February 14, 2019|access-date=October 13, 2021|archive-date=March 1, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210301143625/https://dailyutahchronicle.com/2019/02/14/the-making-of-a-lamanite-a-brief-history-between-the-lds-church-and-indigenous-communities/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=Aspired/> However, many of the involved students and families praised the program.<ref name="Making lamanites">{{cite book|last1=Garrett|first1=Matthew|title=Making Lamanites: Mormons, Native Americans, and the Indian Student Placement Program, 1947–2000 |isbn= 978-1-60781-494-8|publisher=[[University of Utah Press]]|date=August 2016 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MImgDAEACAAJ| via=[[Google Books]]|url-access=limited}}</ref>{{rp|194–195}} Church leaders taught for decades that Native Americans' darker skin would be made lighter due to their righteousness.<ref name=Shift>{{cite news |last1=Dart |first1=John |title=Indians Hope to Shift Mormon View of Their Skin Color |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1979/03/02/indians-hope-to-shift-mormon-view-of-their-skin-color/8d099524-23ae-484f-879a-c9ab5aad7eb5/ |newspaper=[[Washington Post]] |agency=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=March 2, 1979}}</ref><ref name=Balmer/><ref name="Mauss 2003">{{cite book |title=All Abraham's Children: Changing Mormon Conceptions of Race and Lineage |first=Armand L. |last=Mauss |author-link= Armand Mauss |publisher= [[University of Illinois Press]] |year=2003 |isbn=0-252-02803-1|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=7lXq9JfR_EYC |via= [[Google Books]]}}</ref>{{rp|64}} ====LGBTQ+ individuals==== {{see also|Homosexuality and the LDS church|Gender minorities and the LDS church|Sexual orientation change efforts and the LDS Church|LGBT rights and the LDS church|LGBT Mormon suicides}} [[File:Prop8templeProtest.jpg|thumb|right|Protesters in front of the [[Newport Beach California Temple]] voicing their opposition to the church's support of [[California Proposition 8 (2008)|Prop 8]]]] The [[Homosexuality and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints|church's policies and treatment of sexual minorities]] and [[Gender minorities and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints|gender minorities]] have long been the subject of external criticism,<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Browning |first=Bill |date=December 21, 2021 |title=Utah billionaire leaves Mormon church with blistering accusation it is actively harming the world |url=https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2021/12/utah-billionaire-leaves-mormon-church-blistering-accusation-actively-harming-world/ |url-status=live |magazine=[[LGBTQ Nation]] |location=[[San Francisco]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211221140543/https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2021/12/utah-billionaire-leaves-mormon-church-blistering-accusation-actively-harming-world/ |archive-date=December 21, 2021 |access-date=December 25, 2021}}</ref><ref name="archive.sltrib.com">{{cite news|last1=Winters|first1=Rosemary|title=Mormon apostle's words about gays spark protest|url=http://archive.sltrib.com/story.php?ref=/sltrib/home/50434583-76/gay-church-packer-protest.html.csp|access-date=November 16, 2016|newspaper=[[The Salt Lake Tribune]]|date=October 19, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Bailey |first1=Sarah Pulliam |author-link1=Sarah Pulliam Bailey |title=Mormon Church to exclude children of same-sex couples from getting blessed and baptized until they are 18 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2015/11/05/mormon-church-to-exclude-children-of-same-sex-couples-from-getting-blessed-and-baptized-until-they-are-18/ |url-access=subscription |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151117084237/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2015/11/05/mormon-church-to-exclude-children-of-same-sex-couples-from-getting-blessed-and-baptized-until-they-are-18/ |archive-date=November 17, 2015 |access-date=November 12, 2016 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=November 11, 2016}}{{cbignore}}</ref> as well as internal controversy and disaffection by members.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Murphy |first1=Caryle |author-link1=Caryle Murphy |title=Most U.S. Christian groups grow more accepting of homosexuality |url=http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/12/18/most-u-s-christian-groups-grow-more-accepting-of-homosexuality/|publisher=[[Pew Research Center]] |access-date=March 12, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Levin|first1=Sam|title='I'm not a Mormon': fresh 'mass resignation' over anti-LGBT beliefs|journal=[[The Guardian]] |date=August 15, 2016|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/aug/15/mormon-church-lgbt-mass-resignation-protest-utah|access-date=December 11, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Hatch|first1=Heidi|title=Millennial Mormons leaving faith at higher rate than previous generations|url=http://kutv.com/news/local/millennial-mormons-leaving-faith-more-than-previous-generations-are-more-republican|work=[[KUTV]]|publisher=[[CBS Television]] |date=April 13, 2016}}</ref> Because of its ban against same-sex sexual activity and same-sex marriage, the LDS church taught for decades that any adherents attracted to the same sex could and should change that through [[sexual orientation change efforts]] and righteous striving.<ref name="Gay Rights">{{cite book |last1=Prince |first1=Gregory A. |author-link=Gregory Prince|title=Gay Rights and the Mormon Church: Intended Actions, Unintended Consequences |date=2019 |publisher=[[University of Utah Press]] |location=Salt Lake City |isbn=978-1-60781-663-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XfnQuQEACAAJ |via= [[Google Books]]}}</ref>{{rp|25–30, 89–101 |via=[[Google Books]]}} The church provided therapy and programs for attempting to change sexual orientation.<ref>{{cite journal|last1= Galliher|first1=Renee |last2=Bradshaw|first2=William |last3=Hyde|first3=Daniel| last4=Dehlin|first4=John| last5=Crowell|first5=Katherine|title=Sexual orientation change efforts among current or former LDS church members|journal=[[Journal of Counseling Psychology]]|date=April 2015|volume=62|issue=2|pages=95–105|doi=10.1037/cou0000011|pmid=24635593|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/260873307 |via=[[ResearchGate]]}}</ref> Current teachings and policies leave homosexual members with the options of: attempts to change their sexual orientation, entering a [[Mixed-orientation marriage|mixed-orientation opposite-sex marriage]], or lifelong [[celibacy]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Fish |first1=Jessica N. |last2=Russell |first2=Stephen T. |title=Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Change Efforts are Unethical and Harmful |journal=[[American Journal of Public Health]] |date=Aug 2020 |volume=110 |issue=8 |pages=1113–1114 |doi=10.2105/AJPH.2020.305765 |pmid=32639919 |pmc=7349462 |quote=With substantial evidence of serious harms associated with exposure to [sexual orientation and gender identity change efforts (SOGICE)] particularly for minors, 21 states (and multiple cities and counties) have passed bipartisan laws or regulations prohibiting SOGICE. ... Furthermore, compared with LGBTQ youths with no exposure, those exposed to SOGICE showed 1.76 times greater odds of seriously considering suicide, 2.23 times greater odds of having attempted suicide, and 2.54 times greater odds of multiple suicide attempts in the previous year.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Phillips|first1=Rick|title=Conservative Christian Identity & Same-Sex Orientation: The Case of Gay Mormons|date=2005|publisher=[[Peter Lang Publishing]]|location=Frankfurt, Germany| isbn=978-0-8204-7480-9 |url= https://www.researchgate.net/publication/269701629 |access-date=May 31, 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170418092803/https://www.uvu.edu/religiousstudies/docs/msc_philips_conservative.pdf|archive-date=April 18, 2017|page=11}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Cook|first1=Bryce|title=What Do We Know of God's Will for His LGBT Children? An Examination of the LDS Church's Current Position on Homosexuality|journal=[[Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought|Dialogue]] |date=Summer 2017|volume=50|issue=2 |doi=10.5406/dialjmormthou.50.2.0001| s2cid=190443414|doi-access=free}}</ref>{{rp|20–21}} Some have argued that church teachings against homosexuality and the treatment of LGBT members by other adherents and leaders have contributed to their elevated rates of [[Post-traumatic stress disorder|PTSD]] and [[Major depressive disorder|depression]],<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Galliher|first1=Renee|last2=Bradshaw| first2=William|last3=Dehlin |first3=John|last4=Crowelle|first4=Katherine|title=Psychosocial Correlates of Religious Approaches to Same-Sex Attraction: A Mormon Perspective|journal=[[Journal of Gay & Lesbian Mental Health]]|pages=301, 304 |date=April 25, 2014|volume=18|issue=3|doi= 10.1080/19359705.2014.912970|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/273248065|s2cid=144153586|quote=The major findings from the study are that non-biologically based views regarding the etiology of SSA [same-sex attraction], remaining active in the LDS Church, remaining single, and engaging in mixed-orientation marriages were all associated with higher reported levels of internalized homophobia, sexual identity distress, and depression, and lower levels of self-esteem and quality of life. ... This study does affirm and extend the existing literature by suggesting that psychosocially based beliefs about SSA etiology active participation in non-LGBT-affirming churches, being single and celibate, and mixed-orientation marriage—all of which are common beliefs and/or practices within modern, active LDS culture—are associated with poorer psychosocial health, well-being, and quality of life for LGBT Mormons. Conversely, biological beliefs about SSA etiology, complete disaffiliation from the LDS Church, legal same-sex marriage, and sexual activity are all associated with higher levels of psychosocial health, well-being, and quality of life for LGBT Mormons.|via=[[ResearchGate]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Simmons |first1=Brian |title=Coming out Mormon: An examination of religious orientation, spiritual trauma, and PTSD among Mormon and ex-Mormon LGBTQQA adults |journal=University of Georgia Theses and Dissertations |date=December 2017 |page=99 |url=https://getd.libs.uga.edu/pdfs/simmons_brian_w_201712_phd.pdf| publisher=[[University of Georgia]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Williams |first1=Brian |title=Coming out Mormon |url=https://athenaeum.libs.uga.edu/handle/10724/38227 |website=uga.edu |publisher=[[University of Georgia]] |date=December 2017}}</ref> as well as suicide and teen homelessness.<ref name="Gay Rights"/>{{rp|4, 288–301}}<ref>{{cite news|last1=Fletcher Stack|first1=Peggy |author-link=Peggy Fletcher Stack |title=Suicide fears, if not actual suicides, rise in wake of Mormon same-sex policy|url=http://www.sltrib.com/news/lds/3473487-155/suicide-fears-if-not-actual-suicides|access-date=November 29, 2016|newspaper=[[The Salt Lake Tribune]]|date=January 28, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Greene |first1=David |author-link1=David Greene (journalist) |title=Mama Dragons Try To Prevent Suicides Among Mormon-LGBT Children |url= https://www.npr.org/2016/07/07/485058737/mama-dragons-try-to-prevent-suicides-among-mormon-lgbt-children |access-date=November 29, 2016 |publisher=[[NPR]] |date=July 7, 2016}}</ref> The church's decades-long, political involvement opposing US same-sex marriage laws has further garnered criticism and protests.<ref name="Gay Rights"/>{{rp|2–3, 162–163}}<ref>{{cite news|last1=Bates|first1=Karen Grigsby|title=Gay-Marriage Ban Protesters Target Mormon Church|url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=96756702|publisher=[[NPR]]|date=November 7, 2008}}</ref> Baptismal candidates considering gender-affirming surgery are not allowed to be baptized, and those who have already had one need special clearance from the [[First Presidency]] through the local full-time [[mission president]] before baptism.<ref name=Regulation>{{cite journal |last1=Gedicks |first1=Frederick Mark |author-link1=Frederick Gedicks |title=Church Discipline and the Regulation of Membership in the Mormon Church |journal=Ecclesiastical Law Journal |date=July 31, 2008 |volume=7 |issue=32 |page=43 |doi=10.1017/S0956618X00004920 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |s2cid=143228475 |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/ecclesiastical-law-journal/article/abs/church-discipline-and-the-regulation-of-membership-in-the-mormon-church/4402CB9CD8D94750B2EC6D52BB03403A}}</ref><ref name="Handbook 2010">{{cite book|title=Handbook 1: Stake Presidents and Bishops|date=2010|publisher=LDS Church|location=Salt Lake City, Utah| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171115192147/https://www.lds.org/manual/handbook-1-stake-presidents-and-bishops/ordinance-and-blessing-policies/ordinance-and-blessing-policies?lang=eng| archive-date=November 15, 2017 |url=https://www.lds.org/manual/handbook-1-stake-presidents-and-bishops/ordinance-and-blessing-policies/ordinance-and-blessing-policies?lang=eng |quote=The mission president must conduct an interview and receive authorization from the First Presidency before a prospective convert may be baptized and confirmed if the person ... Has undergone an elective transsexual operation. ... A person who is considering an elective transsexual operation may not be baptized or confirmed. ... However, [persons who have already undergone an elective transsexual operation] may not receive the priesthood or a temple recommend.}}</ref>{{rp|145}} Undergoing a "trans-sexual {{sic}} operation," including [[gender-affirming surgery]] like chest surgery (i.e. [[Sex reassignment surgery (female-to-male)|top surgery]])<ref>{{cite web|title=The Trans Mormon Who Won't Let His Church Excommunicate Him|url=https://broadly.vice.com/en_us/article/xwvd3w/the-trans-mormon-who-wont-let-his-church-excommunicate-him|website=Vice.com |publisher=[[Vice Media]]| location=New York City|date=December 7, 2017|quote=Broadly follows Claren as he risks complete excommunication from the Mormon Church for undergoing breast removal surgery ....}}</ref> may imperil the membership of a current church member.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Allen|first1=Samantha|title=Mormon Man Risks Excommunication By Sharing His Transition|url=http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/03/16/mormon-man-risks-excommunication-by-sharing-his-transition.html|access-date=December 9, 2016|website=[[The Daily Beast]]|date=March 15, 2016}}</ref><ref name="Guardian">{{cite news|last1=Levin|first1=Sam|title=Transgender and Mormon: keeping the faith while asking the church to change|journal=[[The Guardian]]|date=March 28, 2016|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/mar/28/transgender-mormon-lgbt-rights-emmett-claren|access-date=December 9, 2016 |location=London}}</ref> Ordinances after baptism such as receiving the priesthood and [[Endowment (Mormonism)|temple endowments]] are only done according to birth sex.<ref name=Publishes>{{cite news|title=LDS Church publishes new handbook with changes to discipline, transgender policy|url=https://www.sltrib.com/religion/2020/02/19/lds-church-puts-new/|newspaper=[[The Salt Lake Tribune]]| location=Salt Lake City|date=February 19, 2020|author1-last=Fletcher Stack|author1-first=Peggy |author1-link=Peggy Fletcher Stack |author2-last=Noyce|author2-first=David}}</ref> Members that gender express through clothing or a pronoun change differing from the sex assigned at their birth will receive membership restrictions and a notation on their membership records.<ref name=Publishes/> ===Criticism of Joseph Smith=== {{see also|Joseph Smith and the criminal justice system}} In the 1830s, the church was heavily criticized for Smith's handling of a banking failure in Kirtland, Ohio.<ref name=Brodie/>{{rp|195–196}}<ref name=RoughStone/>{{rp|328, 330, 334}} After the Mormons migrated west, there was fear and suspicion about the LDS Church's political and military power in Missouri,{{efn|Bushman noted that in [[Daviess County, Missouri]], non-Mormons "watched local government fall into the hands of people they saw as deluded fanatics".<ref name=RoughStone/>{{rp|357}}}} culminating in the [[1838 Mormon War]] and the Mormon Extermination Order (Missouri Executive Order 44) by Governor Lilburn Boggs. In the 1840s, criticism of the church included its [[theodemocracy|theocratic]] aspirations in Nauvoo, Illinois. Criticism of the practice of [[plural marriage]] and other doctrines Smith taught were published in the ''[[Nauvoo Expositor]]'' in 1844.<ref name=RoughStone/>{{rp|539}}{{efn|Historian Fawn Brodie argued that given its authors' intentions to reform the church, the paper was "extraordinarily restrained" given the explosive allegations it could have raised.<ref name=Brodie/>{{rp|374}} A prospectus for the newspaper was published on May 10, and referred to Smith as a "self-constituted monarch".<ref name=Origins/>{{rp|138}}}} After Smith took a leading role in having the paper's printing press destroyed, he was charged with treason and jailed. While he awaited trial, an angry mob stormed the jailhouse and shot him fatally.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Oaks| first1=Dallin H.| author-link=Dallin H. Oaks| title=Carthage Conspiracy, the Trial of the Accused Assassins of Joseph Smith| last2=Hill| first2=Marvin S.| publisher=[[University of Illinois Press]]|year=1979| isbn=0-252-00762-X| location=Champaign, Illinois| page=52 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=18HuCwAAQBAJ |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref> In modern popular opinion, non-Mormons in the U.S. generally consider Smith a "charlatan, scoundrel, and heretic."<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Turner |first=John G. |date=May 6, 2022 |title=Why Joseph Smith Matters |url=https://themarginaliareview.com/why-does-joseph-smith-matter/ |url-status=live |magazine=Marginalia Review |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220817102528/https://themarginaliareview.com/why-does-joseph-smith-matter/ |archive-date=August 17, 2022}}</ref> ''[[The Book of Mormon (musical)|The Book of Mormon]]'' musical relentlessly mocks his account of the golden plates.<ref>[https://www.npr.org/transcripts/134803453 "On Broadway, A 'Mormon' Swipe At ... Everything," NPR. March 24, 2011. Accessed December 27, 2023.]</ref> In 2007, [[Christopher Hitchens]], writing in [[Slate (magazine)|Slate magazine]], lambasted Smith as a mountebank, charlatan, and fraud (and the church itself as a "ridiculous cult" and a "racket" that became a religion).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2007/04/god-is-not-great-mormonism-a-racket-becomes-a-religion.html|title=Mormonism: A Racket Becomes a Religion|work=[[Slate (magazine)|Slate]]|first=Christopher |last=Hitchens|author-link=Christopher Hitchens|date=April 27, 2007|access-date=December 27, 2023}}</ref> ===Financial controversy=== {{see also|Finances of the LDS Church|2023 SEC charges against the LDS Church}} The church's failure to make its finances public has drawn criticism from commentators who consider its practices too secretive.<ref>{{cite book |title= Mormon America: The Power and the Promise |last= Ostling |first= Richard and Joan |pages=113–129 |isbn= 0-06-066371-5 |url= https://archive.org/details/mormonamericapow00ostl/page/113 |publisher=[[HarperCollins]] |date= October 20, 1999 |via=[[Internet Archive]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last= Tanner|first= Jerald and Sandra|author-link= Jerald and Sandra Tanner|year= 1980|title= The Changing World of Mormonism|location= Chicago| publisher= [[Moody Publishers]]|isbn= 0-8024-1234-3|oclc= 5239408|url=http://www.utlm.org/onlinebooks/changecontents.ht |access-date= February 24, 2020 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20191008234637/http://www.utlm.org/onlinebooks/changecontents.htm|archive-date=October 8, 2019 |url-status = live|via=[[Internet Archive]]}}</ref><ref name=Shadow>{{Cite book | last= Tanner| first= Jerald and Sandra| author-link = Jerald and Sandra Tanner| year= 1987| orig-date= 1964| title = Mormonism – Shadow or Reality?| edition= 4th| location= Salt Lake City, UT | publisher = [[Utah Lighthouse Ministry]]| oclc= 15339569|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=a5vtAAAAMAAJ}} Full 1964 edition available [https://archive.org/details/mormonismshadowo00tann here].</ref>{{rp|516–528}}<ref>{{cite news| newspaper=[[The Salt Lake Tribune]]| url=https://www.sltrib.com/opinion/editorial/2023/02/19/those-who-give-lds-church-deserve/| title=Those who give to the LDS Church deserve an accounting of their money, Editorial Board writes| date=February 19, 2023}}</ref> The church has fought to keep its internal financial information out of the public record.<ref>{{cite news |newspaper=[[The Salt Lake Tribune]] |title=LDS Church seeks to keep 'extremely sensitive' financial data under wraps in fight with James Huntsman |date=March 16, 2022 |url=https://www.sltrib.com/religion/2022/03/16/lds-church-seeks-keep/}}</ref><ref name ="KUTV" /> In December 2019, a whistleblower alleged the church held over $100 billion in investment funds through its investment management company, [[Ensign Peak Advisors]] (EP); that it failed to use the funds for charitable purposes and instead used them in for-profit ventures; and that it misled contributors and the public about the usage and extent of those funds.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Swaine |first1=Jon |last2=MacMillan |first2=Douglas |last3=Boorstein |first3=Michelle |date=December 16, 2019 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |title=Mormon Church has misled members on $100 billion tax-exempt investment fund, whistleblower alleges |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/mormon-church-has-misled-members-on-100-billion-tax-exempt-investment-fund-whistleblower-alleges/2019/12/16/e3619bd2-2004-11ea-86f3-3b5019d451db_story.html |access-date=December 17, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191217190808/https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/mormon-church-has-misled-members-on-100-billion-tax-exempt-investment-fund-whistleblower-alleges/2019/12/16/e3619bd2-2004-11ea-86f3-3b5019d451db_story.html |archive-date=December 17, 2019 |url-status=live |url-access=subscription| via=[[Internet Archive]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Stilson |first=Ashley |date=December 17, 2019 |title=LDS Church leaders defend use of tithes, donations after whistleblower alleges misuse |work=[[Daily Herald (Utah)|Daily Herald]] |url=https://www.heraldextra.com/news/2019/dec/17/lds-church-leaders-defend-use-of-tithes-donations-after-whistleblower-alleges-misuse/ |access-date=June 28, 2023}}</ref> In response, the church's First Presidency stated that "the Church complies with all applicable law governing our donations, investments, taxes, and reserves," and that "a portion" of funds received by the church are "methodically safeguarded through wise financial management and the building of a prudent reserve for the future".<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Swaine |first1=Jon |last2=MacMillan |first2=Douglas |last3=Boorstein |first3=Michelle |date=January 6, 2020 |title=Mormon Church has misled members on $100 billion tax-exempt investment fund, whistleblower alleges |newspaper=[[Washington Post]] |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/mormon-church-has-misled-members-on-100-billion-tax-exempt-investment-fund-whistleblower-alleges/2019/12/16/e3619bd2-2004-11ea-86f3-3b5019d451db_story.html |access-date=June 28, 2023 |issn=0190-8286}}</ref> The church has not directly addressed the fund's size to the public, but third parties have treated the disclosures as legitimate.<ref name=Amassed>{{cite news |title= The Mormon Church Amassed $100 Billion. It Was the Best-Kept Secret in the Investment World. |newspaper= [[The Wall Street Journal]] |url= https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-mormon-church-amassed-100-billion-it-was-the-best-kept-secret-in-the-investment-world-11581138011 |access-date= June 27, 2023 |archive-date= February 15, 2021 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210215012430/https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-mormon-church-amassed-100-billion-it-was-the-best-kept-secret-in-the-investment-world-11581138011 |url-status= live |url-access=subscription|via=[[Internet Archive]]}}</ref><ref name=Receipts>{{cite news |title=LDS Church kept the lid on its $100B fund for fear tithing receipts would fall, account boss tells The Wall Street Journal |newspaper=[[The Salt Lake Tribune]] |url= https://www.sltrib.com/news/2020/02/08/lds-church-kept-lid-its-b/ |access-date=September 30, 2021 |archive-date=September 30, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210930135817/https://www.sltrib.com/news/2020/02/08/lds-church-kept-lid-its-b/ |url-status=live |via=[[Internet Archive]]}}</ref> The disclosure of Ensign Peak has led to criticism that the church's wealth may be excessive.<ref>{{cite news |newspaper=[[The Salt Lake Tribune]] |title=LDS Church insists it obeys all financial laws, but some wonder if the faith is hoarding too much money |url=https://www.sltrib.com/religion/2019/12/17/lds-church-we-obey-all/ |access-date=February 24, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200130014957/https://www.sltrib.com/religion/2019/12/17/lds-church-we-obey-all/ |archive-date=January 30, 2020 |url-status=live|via=[[Internet Archive]]}}</ref> The church has transferred more than 1 billion dollars of tithing collected in Canada, tax-free, to church universities over a 15-year period.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Angelovski |first1=Ivan |last2=Sawa |first2=Timothy |last3=Kelley |first3=Mark |title=Mormon Church in Canada moved $1B out of the country tax free – and it's legal |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/mormon-church-jesus-christ-latter-day-saints-funds-charity-1.6630190 |publisher=[[CBC News]] |access-date=November 5, 2022}}</ref> In October 2022, ''[[The Sydney Morning Herald]]'' announced that while the church publicly claimed to have donated US$1.35 billion to charity between 2008 and 2020, its private financial reports showed that it donated only US$0.177 billion.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Schneiders |first1=Ben |last2=Steinfort |first2=Tom |last3=Clancy |first3=Natalie |title=Mormon church invests billions of dollars while grossly overstating its charitable giving |url=https://www.smh.com.au/national/mormon-church-invests-billions-of-dollars-while-grossly-overstating-its-charitable-giving-20220927-p5blbc.html |access-date=October 29, 2022 |work=[[The Sydney Morning Herald]] |date=October 29, 2022}}</ref>{{efn|The Widow's Mite Report, an anonymous 3rd-party focused on analysis of church finances, evaluated SMH's claims and concluded they "offer only a partial picture" of the church's humanitarian giving during the period in question.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://widowsmitereport.wordpress.com/taxquestions/|title=Questions on Moving Money Around for Tax Reasons|date=February 8, 2023}}</ref>}} In February 2023, the [[U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission]] (SEC) issued a [[2023 Securities and Exchange Commission charges against the LDS Church and Ensign Peak Advisors|$5 million penalty to the church and its investment company, EP.]] The SEC alleged that the church concealed its investments and their management in multiple [[Shell corporation|shell companies]] from 1997 to 2019; the SEC believes these shell companies were approved by senior church leadership to avoid public transparency.<ref name = "KUTV">{{cite news |first=Elizabeth |last=McKernan |title=How the SEC believes the LDS Church hid billions of dollars from the public since 1997 |date=February 24, 2023 |work=[[KUTV]] |url=https://kutv.com/news/local/lds-church-sec-fine-5-million-dollars-church-jesus-christ-latter-day-saints-ensign-peak-advisors-securities-exchange-commission-tithing-reserve-funds-billions-assets-investments}}</ref> The church released a statement that in 2000 EP "received and relied upon legal counsel regarding how to comply with its reporting obligations while attempting to maintain the privacy of the portfolio." After initial SEC concern in June 2019, the church stated that EP "adjusted its approach and began filing a single aggregated report."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Wile |first=Rob |date=February 23, 2023 |title=Feds fine Mormon church for illicitly hiding $32 billion investment fund behind shell companies |work=[[NBC News]] |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/mormon-church-multibillion-investment-fund-sec-settlement-rcna71603 }}</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page