White supremacy in genealogy & Mormon temples, part 2

Photograph of Nauvoo temple and painting of Nauvoo temple on fire by C.C.A. Christensen. The Nauvoo temple was completed in 1846 and burned down in 1848.

Mormonism foundationally uses genealogy & temple sealings (eternally bonding family to each other) as a tool to reify their philo/antisemitic, white supremacist, mythological bloodlines–to solidify their beliefs that they are THE Chosen People. 

In Doctrine & Covenants (D&C) 132 Mormon God reveals to Joseph Smith the “new & everlasting covenant” of eternal marriage and families & simultaneously “restores” the Old Testament practice of polygamy as the ways through which Mormon men can become Gods. The Mormon eternal family and the Mormon practice of polygamy cannot be doctrinally separated. 

Verses 19 & 20 show how “Celestial marriage & a continuation of the family unit enable men to become gods”: “If a man marry a wife by my word (Mormon temple marriage)” they’ll “be gods, because they have no end” in the “continuation of (their) seeds forever & ever.” Thus, through eternal baby-making with multiple wives, Mormon men will become gods through their infinite increase of the “fruit of his loins.” 
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When God / Joseph are justifying the “restored” practice of polygamy, Joe references God’s promise to Abraham that his seed would be “as innumerable as the stars.” God / Joe then says, “This promise is yours also, because ye are of Abraham.” (Remember that Joseph also fabricated “The Book of Abraham” from Egyptian papyri). Joseph Smith claims that God tells him he is directly related to Abraham, the “first Jew.”

Kirtland temple, dedicated 1836. St. George Utah temple, dedicated 1877.

Just as eternal marriage, Godhood, & polygamy and God/Joe’s threat on his wife, Emma’s, life (D&C132:54) were a part of the same revelation—the original purpose & gravity of Mormon temple work was based in this anti/philosemitic, Chosen, white bloodline ideology.

​Temples, genealogy, priesthood, & polygamy (as well as the Lamanite-identity) were another expression of Joseph’s anit/philosemitic, supersessionist, U.S.-exceptionalist, classist, white-supremacist beliefs.

Logan Utah temple, dedicated 1884. Manti Utah temple, dedicated 1888.

Genealogy is essential to this pursuit of Godhood & an “eternal weight of glory.” Mormons must not only practice polygamy & infinitely increase the “fruit of their loins” but also “seal” themselves to each other all the way back to ancient Israel & Adam. To do so, they must do their real & imagined genealogy in order to perform post-mortem sealings in Mormon temples for dead ancestors. 

This ancestral Israelite-identity & the white-supremacy embedded in it is:
- why Mormons got along with the Nazis in their pursuit of “pure white blood,”
- why they sought the “preservation” of “pure white bloodlines” in Cuba before sending missionaries there,
- why the African Salvation Ban existed, why Mormons were openly against interracial marriage for over 150 years,
- why their scriptures mention “loins,” “blood,” and “seeds” so much,
- why one of the lyric of the Mormon hymn “If you could hie to Kolob” is “there is no end to race,”
- & why every Patriarchal blessing places you in a tribe of Israel.
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This is also why Confederate flag waving white supremacists say “Heritage not hate.”

In their minds they don’t hate the global majority, they just believe that their race / ancestry make them better / more Chosen than the global majority.

​This is why I mostly use the term “white supremacy” rather than racism. I feel it is a more accurate description of the problem.

Salt Lake temple, dedicated 1893. Laie Hawaii temple, dedicated 1919.

Part 1 was about how Mormonism foundationally used genealogy to reify its white-supremacist doctrines which teach that EuroMormons—as the keepers of the keys of THE “One True Church,” and descendants of Ephraim’s Tribe of Israel—are God’s Chosen Race and People.

In part 3 I’ll share my thoughts on motivation for doing anti-racist ancestry work.

Cardston Alberta temple, 1923. Mesa Arizona temple, 1927.

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White supremacy in genealogy

Part 1 is about how Mormonism foundationally used genealogy to reify its white-supremacist doctrines which teach that Euro-Mormons—as the keepers of the keys of THE “One True Church,” and descendants of Ephraim’s tribe of Israel—are God’s Chosen Race and People.

Part 2 is about how this shows up in Mormon temple work, eternal families, & genealogy.

Part 3 is on the classist, femicidal violences of Mormon doctrine on Eternal Families, Polygyny, and Godhood.

Part 4 shares my personal experience with using genealogy in an anti-racist way.

Part 5 is on the ways antisemitism and anti-Indigeneity overlap in Mormonism 

Part 6  builds on part 5 through a critical analysis of the art and history in the Manti temple and it's grounds.

Part 7 addresses the Baptisms for the Dead that Mormons did for Jews killed in the Holocaust  along with Hitler and other Nazis.

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