Church spokesperson Bruce L. Olsen refutes the idea that the priesthood revelation had anything to do with "federal tax policy or any other secular law."
Bruce L. Olsen, "Distorted History," The Salt Lake Tribune, April 5, 2001, A24
Distorted History
It’s one thing to distort history, quite another to invent it. Kathy Erickson (Forum, March 11) claims that the federal government threatened The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints with its tax-exempt status in 1978 because of the church’s position regarding blacks and the priesthood.
We state categorically that the federal government made no such threat in 1978 or at any other time. The decision to extend the blessings of the priesthood to all worthy males had nothing to do with federal tax policy or any other secular law. In the absence of proof, we conclude that Ms. Erickson is seriously mistaken.
BRUCE L. OLSEN
Public Affairs Department
The Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter-day Saints