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Quote by Hannah More

“He seemed evidently more fond of controversy than of truth, and the whole turn of his conversation indicated that he derived his religious security rather from the adoption of a party, than from the implantation of a new principle.”

Quote by Hannah More

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Coelebs in Search of a Wife

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Hannah More

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“They set about reversing all the changes that had been made since the break with Rome . . . The only thing that wasn't put back was the monasteries - this was deemed unworkable as the aristocracy, catholic and Protestant alike, had bought those lands from the crown, were really enjoying them and, if it came down to it, gave much more of a shit about their vast new properties than they did about the difference between the mass and holy communion. Weird, isn't it? People were willing to die for these religious differences, but they wouldn't sacrifice real estate.”

“That was his father's way---beloved, tough old Preacher Jackson: hellfire and fear. That had always been his way, and Llewellyn had no use for it. He had no use for his father or the kind of people who listened to him, holding fast to his every damning word; finding assurance in being better. I'm better than...At least I'm not...I'm better than... Llewellyn had no use for it.”

“[T]he debate between Orson Pratt and Brigham Young continued long after the legislative session ended. The two men gave life to the two competing explanations for the racial priesthood restrictions in the Church... Both explanations were grounded in an underlying assumption that Black people were inferior to white people and that white skin was normal and black skin was somehow cursed---a deterioration away from whiteness. Rather than trusting Jesus Christ when He told Joseph Smith, 'All flesh is mine, and I am no respecter of persons,' these various explanations favored white flesh over other shades of flesh and implied that Jesus Christ was in fact a respecter of persons.”

“[Orson Pratt] argued that only God could administer curses and that they were specific to a given time and place. In his estimation, enslavers who suggested that biblical curses were still in force had taken it upon themselves 'to execute the curse of Almighty upon that race without being commanded to do it and they will have to be punished for rising up and inflicting this curse upon [the] descendants of Adam.' Even if God did curse Ham or Canaan or Cain in the Bible, Pratt did not believe that such curses passed down to anyone else. He rejected the notion that nineteenth-century enslavers, including Latter-Day Saints, had any authority from God to enslave Black people. 'Shall we assume the right without the voice of [the] Lord speaking to us and commanding us to [introduce] slavery into our territory?' Pratt queried. He was dismayed by such a prospect... People of African descent were not guilty of some premortal sin for which slavery was the penalty, Pratt said. 'Shall we take then the innocent African that has committed no sin and damn him to slavery and bondage without receiving any authority from heaven to do [so]? That they and their children shall be servants to us and our children? The idea is preposterous in my mind,' he demanded. 'For us to bind the African because he is different from us in color [is] enough to cause the angels in heaven to blush![']... 'We have no proof that the Africans are the descendants of old Cain who was cursed, and even if we had that evidence we have not been ordered to inflict that [curse] upon that race.”

“In John Taylor's assessment, Joseph Smith had erred in allowing Able [a member of African descent] the priesthood, and Brigham Young had revealed God's will when he declared Black people to be cursed descendants of Cain. With each new decision, the racial restrictions hardened in place, especially as each succeeding generation became reluctant to violate the precedent established under Brigham Young, even though Brigham Young's precedent violated the open priesthood and temple policies put in place under Joseph Smith.”

“As President J. Reuben Clark explained, Jesus taught Peter through example about the gospel's universal message, but it still took 'a thrice-repeated vision to convince him that God is no respecter of persons.' As President Clark noted, the Savior's 'acceptance of the Samaritans, the race hated by Judah, left Peter untaught.' Instead of following the Savior's example, he 'kicked against the pricks,' especially 'against the principle of the universal salvation of men---men of all creeds, races, and colors.' Peter still resisted even after the Lord commanded His disciples to 'go ye into the world.'... He thus offers a lesson in how hard it can be for good people, even prophets, to overcome their cultural assumptions and biases, even when the Lord gives them very direct instructions.”