Quote:
Originally Posted by Indy Coug
Well, the biggest issue is simply the sheer numbers involved. How many experienced AND worthy African-American members are there for this kind of consideration? I'm not saying they don't exist, but it's not likely there are hundreds upon hundreds of them out there, unlike with the current cohort of American Caucasians.
It's going to change soon, there is no doubt in my mind. If you look at many parts of America, the Caucasians aren't the ones that are joining the church, it's the Hispanic immigrants and people from Africa or are of African descent.
I taught mostly West Indians and West Africans on my mission in England. They are fantastic people and their time will shortly come.
What I object to is the implied suggestion you seem to be making that the church purposely seek out minority candidates to satisfy some sort of political purpose.
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It isn't to satisfy a "political purpose," though they will be under some intense political scrutiny in the near future.
The reason I am sensitive to this is the same reason I am sensitive about the fact that the church didn't extend the priesthood to blacks until about 30 years ago. It just doesn't feel right. There are close to a million blacks in the church, and not a single full time GA called from their ranks. We have members of the 12 serving in the Phillipines and South America, but none in Africa (and, perhaps not by coincidence, the GAs just called are from the Phillipines and South America for the most part).
You overstate the importance of "experience" in calling someone to be a GA. How much experience did the original 12 apostles have? How much experience did the original 12 apostles in the restored church have? How much experience does one actually need to be a servant of the Lord? Missionaries get 2 months of training maximum, and they are the front lines of the church's communication network.