Things are starting to fall apart, it seems. After several days of silence, the Church has issued a statement. At the Newsroom (formerly the Mormon Newsroom): “President Nelson Shares Social Post and Calls for Respect for Human Dignity.” Unlike the usual Official Statement format that has been used in the past, there is no attachment with a formal letter over the signature of the First Presidency. Instead, there is a link to a long post at Pres. Nelson’s Facebook page. How Trumpian. That’s why it is sort of a Church statement. It is certainly a statement by Pres. Nelson. I wonder if Pres. Oaks and Pres. Eyring will issue their own statements on Facebook?
So you can go to the Facebook post to read the text. Here are a few selections. First sentence:
We join with many throughout this nation and around the world who are deeply saddened at recent evidences of racism and a blatant disregard for human life.
Deeply saddened? I’m deeply saddened when my football team loses. I’ll bet the bishop is deeply saddened when a nice family moves out of the ward. How about “very upset”? Or maybe “righteously angry”?
Second sentence:
We abhor the reality that some would deny others respect and the most basic of freedoms because of the color of his or her skin.
I know what you’re thinking. I imagine those who draft these statements labor long and hard on the wording so people like you and me don’t immediately respond, “yeah, even though that’s more or less what they Church did for 150 years.”
Third sentence:
We are also saddened when these assaults on human dignity lead to escalating violence and unrest.
Assaults on human dignity? Evidences of racism (from the first sentence)? Referring to specific shocking acts using broad, general language serves to soften the acts. Bad things happen. Okay, but what exactly? How about: “We are appalled when black Americans continue to die while in police custody, most recently when three police officers in Minnesota pinned a handcuffed black man to the ground with a knee across his neck for eight minutes, until he died.”
There is a stronger denunciation of property damage later in the statement. My take is that LDS leaders love cops almost as much as they love farmers, so they are certainly not going to issue a sharp rebuke of any police action. But destroying property is “evil.”
Illegal acts such as looting, defacing, or destroying public or private property cannot be tolerated. Never has one wrong been corrected by a second wrong. Evil has never been resolved by more evil.
Some nicely phrased thoughts appear near the end of the text. Almost Uchtdorfian.
We need to foster a fundamental respect for the human dignity of every human soul, regardless of their color, creed, or cause.
And we need to work tirelessly to build bridges of understanding rather than creating walls of segregation.
For a more detailed review of the statement, along with some quotations from other religious leaders in the Salt Lake area, read Peggy Fletcher Stack’s article at the Salt Lake Tribune, “Racists need to repent, says LDS Church as Utah faith leaders call for end to prejudice, violence.” It’s a very nice article. I’m glad Utah faith leaders know how to speak directly and forcefully about these troubling acts, civil injustice, peaceful protest, and opportunistic looting and rioting.
And for comparison here are a couple of quotations from statements posted at the websites of other denominations. From the Vatican News, “US bishops condemn killing of George Floyd, deplore violence and destruction.” The article quotes from a statement released by the the President of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops. You can read the full statement at the USCCB website. It’s a powerful statement. Here are the first three paragraphs.
The killing of George Floyd was senseless and brutal, a sin that cries out to heaven for justice. How is it possible that in America, a black man’s life can be taken from him while calls for help are not answered, and his killing is recorded as it happens?
I am praying for George Floyd and his loved ones, and on behalf of my brother bishops, I share the outrage of the black community and those who stand with them in Minneapolis, Los Angeles, and across the country. The cruelty and violence he suffered does not reflect on the majority of good men and women in law enforcement, who carry out their duties with honor. We know that. And we trust that civil authorities will investigate his killing carefully and make sure those responsible are held accountable.
We should all understand that the protests we are seeing in our cities reflect the justified frustration and anger of millions of our brothers and sisters who even today experience humiliation, indignity, and unequal opportunity only because of their race or the color of their skin. It should not be this way in America. Racism has been tolerated for far too long in our way of life.
On the front page of the United Methodist Church website is an article, “Deconstructing White Privilege,” along with this directive:
The General Commission on Religion and Race invites United Methodist Christians to engage in conversations about race, racial identity and the challenges that come when racial prejudices and bias are combined with institutional power and privilege, typically defined as racism.
They provide a discussion guide and a video to assist those hoped-for conversations about race and the challenges of racial prejudice and institutional power. If I forwarded the link to the COB, I wonder if a similar article might appear at LDS.org, deconstructing white privilege and calling for a discussion among Mormon Christians about race, racial identity, racial prejudice, and institutional power?
Conclusion. It’s an ugly time in America. First the novel coronavirus and the direct suffering of those afflicted, then the civil and economic hardship suffered by millions as many agencies and businesses shut down and millions of jobs went away, and now civil unrest across the country. This could be a very long summer. We all need an extra dose of patience, kindness, and fortitude in coming months.
Wheat & Tares 
I have a bit of empathy for Nelson in this scenario. A statement has to be made. A strong, denouncing statement is unavailable to an organization with a questionable history and a practice of issuing statements by committee and focus group. So he posts something that ends up sounding like pearl-clutching a bit and makes no concrete suggestions as to how racial division in society might actually be addressed. He probably had few other viable options, but Susan Collins would approve.
Had this been intended for anything but a Mormon audience, it probably would have been wise to include a Bible, not Book of Mormon, passage when mentioning Christ. Also, the “I plead with us” phrase at the end is weird, kind of schizophrenic sounding. Who let that through?
Come on, Mormons. Issue the apology. Pick a side and say something with meaning. At this point you’re just an investment bank that dabbles in religion.
I have longer thoughts about some of the substance of Nelson’s post that I will share separately), but I think your commentary near the start about *how* this statement was released are interesting.
In the past, some folks have criticized the church for hiding behind anonymous Newsroom posts. Yet here, even though this is a statement from Nelson, there are still big questions — is this really written by Nelson, is this any more authoritative, or is this just another brand of plausibly un-authoritative (could just be Nelson’s personal comments rather than an official pronunciation.)
Is Nelson sure a second wrong has never corrected a first wrong? Isn’t that the entire substance of the atonement? Christ suffers (second wrong) for human sin (first wrong) making repentance (correction) possible.
I keep thinking of Jesus’s righteous anger when he overturned the tables of the money changers in the temple. I think President Nelson forgot about that scripture story when he wrote this.
I appreciate that the Church (President Nelson) issued a statement. And I know that had this not been the case we would hear a lot of criticism.
And yet, it’s a little silly frankly that every organization feels the need to do so. Every university. Every corporation. Even athletic teams within universities. I’m reminded of an old Saturday Night Live skit in which the fake Larry King denounced the Holocaust.
Daniel Smith: Your comment (with which I agree) reminded me of some of George Andrew’s other remarks on his blog Irresistible (Dis)Grace, a really great post with lots of food for thought (and in a different vein that what he’s posting here later): https://irresistibledisgrace.wordpress.com/2020/06/01/sinless-sacrifice-and-perfect-protests/
I strongly recommend a read.
Nice analysis, Dave. I don’t recall who I’m borrowing this idea from, but I think it makes sense that he words things super vaguely not only to avoid condemning the Church’s past, but also to avoid condemning some of its present members. There are clearly plenty of people who find the Church compatible with white supremacy, so if he words things nice and vaguely, then even such members can read it and say “Yeah! Look at that! He’s condemning those darn black people who are making this all about race!”
One step to fix this vagueness would be to *say* the name of the man who was brutally killed. His name is George Floyd. But it makes sense to me that Nelson wouldn’t want to say his name, because that would make the statement too pointed for the Mormon white supremacists.
Ziff, I did not even notice that he didn’t mention George Floyd’s name. Thanks for pointing out this significant omission.
Thanks for this. I read President Nelson’s statement and didn’t think it addressed the seriousness of what is going on. “Deeply saddened” was such a weak description. I liked what you wrote here.
jaredsbrother: “At this point you’re just an investment bank that dabbles in religion.” Yeah, well-stated.
Agree with this analysis. It reminds me of the statement I’ve seen going around about how perverse it is to be saying “racism is bad, but rioting and vandalism must come to an end!” when we should be saying “rioting and vandalism are bad, but cops killing black people must come to an end!”
I read the church’s statement as pretty firmly in the former line with vague statements about how racism is bad and very concrete statements about property damage. Because those come later, and are more specific, they come across as more important. And I see this being used by other members on social media more as a call against violence than a call against racism.
I know the church can’t please everyone here but I’m sure this statement was reviewed by a bunch of people and wonder if they needed to run it by a more diverse audience.
I’d put the chances of ensign articles or other official LDS materials about deconstructing white privileged a solid zero.
Historically, the Church does not have a spotless record with regard to race relations and civil rights. Just an acknowledgement of that fact (and, perhaps, an apology) would go a long way toward being part of the solution.
Better than nothing. In the past it was nothing. Seems clear to me that this generation of church authorities will need to graduate before we see genuinely different thinking. Hope I’m around for that. In the interim, we all get to choose for ourselves our own behaviour, so we need to enact what love looks like, and advocate for the oppressed.
Pres. Nelson did his surgical residency in Minneapolis and lived there for many years early in his medical career. I wish he would have made some kind of personal connection to the city in his statement.
“ It reminds me of the statement I’ve seen going around about how perverse it is to be saying ‘racism is bad, but rioting and vandalism must come to an end!’ when we should be saying ‘rioting and vandalism are bad, but cops killing black people must come to an end!’”
Thanks, Elisa, for putting that into perspective.
A couple of random thoughts. I was surprised that so many LDS members of my area posted the black screens today on social media. I thought we’d have more US flag or all lives matter posts. So maybe the rank and file members get it. The second point is that I wish we’d issue a full apology for the first 150 years of the church.
I will happily defend the statement by President Nelson versus the statement by the USCCB. The USCCB asks How it is possible…that a black man can be killed while pleading for his life?
A few questions: are police killings of unarmed people primarily a result of police racism? No, the statistics show that a majority killed are white. This instance is only a relatively huge issue because it was caught on video and fits a narrative that many media members want to push.
“We should all understand that the protests we are seeing in our cities reflect the justified frustration and anger of millions…” I doubt that many of the violent protests are justified in any way. President Nelson clearly states this.
The USCCB justifies this in part because of “unequal opportunity only because of their race or the color of their skin.” Wow! How do they know this? I see unequal outcomes due to all sorts of factors, but unequal opportunities are very difficult to measure. If racism is a significant factor, then we should see improved opportunity (and presumably outcomes) when racism is taken away. Do black children do better in schools with black teachers or administrators? No, the measured outcomes do not show that. How about other measures? I have seen no evidence anywhere for this in education.
President Nelson says: “Illegal acts such as looting, defacing, or destroying public or private property cannot be tolerated.” This is a much larger problem right now than one death of a man in police custody. The ensuing riots have caused several deaths, lots of injuries and millions in property damage. These have exposed far more racism than a single instance of police brutality. Society is much worse when the worst characteristics of thousands of “protesters”, instead of a handful of police officers, is exposed. President Nelson is preaching the greater good with his emphasis in this area. I suspect that he has more confidence in the criminal justice system of Minneapolis than many others seem to have. Does anyone want to argue that the police officer will be acquitted because of white racism?
The USCCB quote ends with: “Racism has been tolerated for far too long in our way of life.” I agree, and I think that President Nelson agrees. But, I would rather encounter racist attitudes and slogans shouted at me (which I have) than looters and rioters who destroy businesses and homes indiscriminately. There are worse things than a minority of individuals with some racists attitudes. The situation in many of the US cities right now is one of them. If this statement is aimed at their faithful, then that is great, the faithful should be self searching about the problem of racism. If it is aimed at broader society, the government cannot eliminate the racist attitudes of many of the people. They can only punish criminal acts if they hope to maintain general freedom in the country.
el oso, just because you don’t see something doesn’t mean it’s not there. You are misrepresenting facts for your own agenda. There are studies that directly contradict your claims, some even done by BYU professors, particularly on education. Unfortunately, it sounds like you would not be open to them. Finally, that you can’t see that systematic racism causes unequal opportunity is a serious problem. One of ignorant white privilege. But you could change that. Go watch Just Mercy. It’s now free to stream. Or read just about anything by Ta-Nehesi Coates. Between The World and Me is an excellent start.
Thanks for the comments, everyone.
el oso, for a more forceful LDS statement, consider Pres. Hinckley’s remarks in the April 2006 General Conference:
“Racial strife still lifts its ugly head. I am advised that even right here among us there is some of this. I cannot understand how it can be. It seemed to me that we all rejoiced in the 1978 revelation given President Kimball. I was there in the temple at the time that that happened. There was no doubt in my mind or in the minds of my associates that what was revealed was the mind and the will of the Lord.
“Now I am told that racial slurs and denigrating remarks are sometimes heard among us. I remind you that no man who makes disparaging remarks concerning those of another race can consider himself a true disciple of Christ. Nor can he consider himself to be in harmony with the teachings of the Church of Christ. How can any man holding the Melchizedek Priesthood arrogantly assume that he is eligible for the priesthood whereas another who lives a righteous life but whose skin is of a different color is ineligible?”
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/2006/05/the-need-for-greater-kindness?lang=eng
El oso,
“No, the statistics show that a majority killed are white”
Missing the point. A disproportionate number killed are black. In 2019, 24% of suspects killed by cops were black, in spite of blacks being only 13% of the US population.
“fits a narrative that many media members want to push”
You’re reducing disproportionate police violence against blacks to a media agenda? 1) Much of the media body is conservative and agrees with your point of view. 2) Denial about systemic racism is most certainly a common agenda pushed by members of conservative media outlets. Your view reflects an ideological agenda far more than the view that there is systemic racism embedded in the justice system that is leading to excessive punishment of blacks. The latter view can be backed up with strong evidence.
“The ensuing riots have caused several deaths, lots of injuries and millions in property damage. These have exposed far more racism than a single instance of police brutality.”
I don’t understand how looting and vandalism is racist. It’s wrong and criminal, sure. But racism? It’s like your phishing for instances to blame those protesting systemic racism against blacks of a sort of hidden racism that they are unaware of.
“I would rather encounter racist attitudes and slogans shouted at me (which I have)”
1) George Floyd didn’t have racist slogans being shouted at him. Today’s racism mostly isn’t overt. It is subconscious and systemic.
2) I don’t know you’re race, but if you’re white, the claim that you’ve had racist slogans shouted at you doesn’t reflect a sincere usage of the term racist, but is a mockery of it.
Lastly, you’re using the minority of bad apples among the protesters (some of them are actually linked to white supremacist groups seeking to fan the flames of race war in the US) looting and burning, clearly punishable crimes but are only happening in the context of a very rare series of protests not as a systemic problem, as an excuse to dismiss a larger problem, which is a justice system that is overly harsh against blacks. Most protesters are peaceful. Many of them have been wrongfully arrested by provocateur police officers. They have a very legitimate reason to protest.
“Does anyone want to argue that the police officer will be acquitted because of white racism?”
This rhetorical question appears a bit incoherent. But if Derek Chauvin is acquitted, that would be because of a justice system that has an extreme bias towards cops that gives them special treatment because of being law enforcers. The idea of “white racism,” which I’m guessing means racism against whites, is really a mockery of the term racism. And claiming that there is this racism on both sides or deep racism against whites that liberals are not recognizing is nothing more than an insult to the idea of systemic racism against racial minorities. At worst, some non-whites hold undue and overreactive prejudice against whites because of their skin color. This prejudice doesn’t manifest itself in any power structure or system, but affects whites only on a select, often random, individual basis. I’m sure you could find anecdotal cases of whites suffering violence resulting in injury or death at the hands of non-whites motivated by anti-white prejudice. However, these prejudices are not causing whites to suffer collective disadvantages in society, and therefore the term racism, which refers largely to a systemic phenomenon that leads to and perpetuates collective disempowerment or ethnic and racial groups, doesn’t apply. It is a false equivalence of rather large proportions.
I object to the term “violent protesters.” There is overwhelming evidence that shows the majority of damage is not being done by protesters, but by extremists who aren’t involved in the protest (both left and right wing), opportunists (here in Scottsdale, the looting of one of our most upscale malls was nowhere near where protests were taking place), and frankly, inciting by the police in many cities. Some of the police forces are putting down their riot gear and supporting the peaceful protests. In SLC, I watched as an armed to the teeth riot cop walked across an empty street to use his shield to knock down an old man with a cane. Other officers quickly came to help the old man get back up. This man they knocked down was just watching the protest. Also in SLC, police protected a man who pointed a bow and arrow at protesters. He later threatened them with a hunting knife. He is still not arrested. There have been some protesters who were bad actors. The vast majority have not been, and have been trying to stop looting or vandalism they are seeing. Conflating protesters with violence is inaccurate and appears to be motivated reasoning.
I think that the past few days have shown the prophetic nature of the note from President Nelson. How many black people and others have been killed in the rioting? President Nelson spoke out forcefully against rioting, looting and other lawless behavior for good reason. He showed that he does care about black lives and all human life.
For those who would like to see President Nelson, or other church leaders come out in full throated support for Black Lives Matter, don’t hold your breath. The organization Black Lives Matter was founded upon a lie (Michael Brown was totally innocent, and the Ferguson police are 100% guilty of murder). Also, Black Lives Matter has one of their position statements that directly contradicts core gospel teachings. They are dedicated to the break up of the nuclear family.
To answer some specific allegations made in response to my earlier post. Using the total deaths at the hands of police officers (24% was cited) and comparing that to the population ratio as a whole, proves nothing about systematic racism by law enforcement.
I have seen a similar statistic cited that women earn on average 75% of what men earn, therefore there is egregious sexism in the workplace. If you compare women with similar qualifications, experience, etc. to men in the same jobs, the earnings gap is almost totally eliminated.
For police activities, there have been numerous studies done comparing total police encounters with suspects of various types or all police encounters as a whole. There is no racial disparity in death by cop when this is taken into account. For example, national data of all armed robbery calls show that police shootings and deaths of suspects of armed robberies show no racial disparities. The racial disparity is 100% due to the racial disparity of the armed robbery suspects. The likelihood of being shot is the same for all races of armed robbery suspects. The shootings and deaths at the hands of law enforcement are the same when comparing the race of the law enforcement officer also. There is no systematic racial bias in police shootings. The National Academy of Sciences has one good study that can be referenced.
Looking at the data for all fatalities involving law enforcement officers as compiled by the Washington Post, it shows that total deaths at the hands of law enforcement are dropping across the board. There were 9 unarmed black men killed by police officers in 2019. Of those, 5 were clearly attacking the police officers and the officers involved were not charged because of the clear video evidence or witness testimony that they were acting in self-defense. There were 4 others for whom the police officers might be guilty of murder/manslaughter, let’s wait for the justice process to play out. In the mean time, there have been at least 5 black people killed in the rioting over the past week. Which is the bigger threat, rioting or over zealous, racist policing? The prophet clearly saw the truth and emphasized the correct threat in his letter.
For those who do not think that there is a massive media bias about this issue by many media outlets, can you name one of the few dozen unarmed white men killed by police since the beginning of 2019? Has any of them been named on a national news report? I have not seen it, but they may have been. Has anyone seen a story in the Washington Post about the significant decline in police killings of people of all races over the past few years? They compile the data that shows it, but for many, you are hearing it here first.
For those who cite studies of educational bias, please let me know where a good one is. Unlike many commenters, I did participate in research at BYU back in my grad school days. As I show above, getting better data may lead to different conclusions. Also, please refer to my previous comments, on a different post, on Covid-19. The CDC now completely backs up my major claim about the mortality rates, although many other commenters were doubting when I cited studies from top US research institutions which had been submitted for peer review. Some seemed incensed when I said that I believed real scientists, and not biased media reports from CNN.
Thanks for the comments, everyone.
el oso, your view that Pres. Nelson’s statement is primarily denouncing property damage by looters and a few violent opportunists who are just there to stir up trouble — and only secondarily concerned with racism and its pernicious effects — seems almost obtuse for several reasons. (1) LDS leaders regularly speak against racism, most recently in the Race and the Priesthood essay. They rarely speak out in defense of property or against looting or rioting. (2) It doesn’t even make sense that the primary aim of the statement was to defend private property. it’s not like there is a sizable chunk of the population that favors riots and property destruction. It’s not like there is a goodly percentage of LDS who are closet anarchists.
Police who are involved in violent incidents do deserve due process, like anyone else accused of a crime. It’s a tough job and officers are often placed in difficult situations. And so forth. But there are Internal Affairs divisions for a reason. There are citizen review boards for a reason. We want to improve the system. And you can’t improve the *system* without looking hard at bad incidents, disciplining officers who violate established procedures, and improving training and supervision. You can’t cite general statistics, however reassuring, as an excuse for a bad incident.
Dave B,
I agree that President Nelson’s statement is not primarily about looting, etc. I was just highlighting differences between his and other statements as referenced in the OP and in some comments. I am in full agreement with his and President Hinckley’s statements on racial issues.
I also agree that bad incidents by law enforcement must get intense scrutiny. One of my points was that it seems to have been happening fairly well due to significant declines in officer involved killings. Local officers have pointed to increased training in conflict resolution and deescalation as primary reasons for this improvement, locally. Something good has been happening in many jurisdictions across the country. BLM protests across the country, as opposed to Minneapolis, are protesting a problem that either a) does not exist in a statistically meaningful way, or b) is substantially being reduced. I believe that many of the protest organizers have an agenda that goes way beyond improved policing or elimination of systematic government racism. Some have said as much.
El oso, you sure seem to know a lot about things that you aren’t directly involved with. You don’t seem to know the extent of what either people are protesting or how it is meaningful. Clearly you are not on the ground on this issue, are not black, don’t suffer from systematic racism, and generally, are allowing the little knowledge of what is actually happening to other people blind you to their plight. I’m not sure what your point is here in making these comments, but you comments sure aren’t showing your understanding to be very deep, despite your protestations.
Lately and unfortunately everything out of the mouths of the church leaders can be labelled as best with “Meh”.
Just nothing and empty words. Lukewarm.