Christian
Polynesian LDS / Mormon Pacific communities (mainstream)
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Substantial Polynesian LDS / Mormon communities especially in Tonga, Samoa, French Polynesia, Hawaii. Mainstream LDS with cultural-distinctive context.
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Moderate Control
BITE breakdown
Behavior Control4/10
Information Control3/10
Thought Control3/10
Emotional Control4/10
Modifiers (+0)
0 — substantial Polynesian LDS communities; mainstream LDS with cultural-distinctive context.
Profile facts
Founded
Mid-19th c. missions
Members
Substantial across Pacific Islands; ~50% of Tongans LDS-affiliated
Active in
Oceania
In context
LDS Church missions to Polynesia (1844 Tahiti, 1850 Hawaii, 1850s Tonga / Samoa) produced substantial Polynesian LDS communities. Tonga has the highest LDS population concentration globally. Mainstream LDS practice with strong cultural integration.
Recovery resources
- ICSA (International Cultic Studies Association) — General referral and cult-aware therapist directory.
- INFORM (Information Network on Religious Movements) — LSE-founded UK research-based information service covering new religious movements.
- Freedom of Mind Resource Center — Steven Hassan's organisation; BITE-model resources and family-side exit guidance.
See the full curated list at /resources.
Evidence by BITE axis
Information Control
- mainstream LDS with cultural-distinctive context
Timeline
- 1844First LDS mission to Tahiti
- 1850sTonga / Samoa missions
Evidence matrix
Structured sources cross-linked to the claims they document. Tiered per the source hierarchy. For free-text citations see the Sources section below.
Sources
- Various LDS Pacific historical studies search ↗
- Religion of a Different Color (2015) — https://doi.org/10.1093%2Facprof%3Aoso%2F9780199754076.001.0001 open ↗
- The Diverse Sheep of Israel: Should the Shepherds Resemble Their Flocks? — Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought (2005) — https://doi.org/10.2307%2F45227340 open ↗
- Black Mormons Assess Church's Racial Progress — https://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/11/us/black-mormons-assess-churchs-racial-progress.html open ↗
- Century of Black Mormons: A Preliminary Interpretation of the Data — Current Research in Digital History (2019) — https://doi.org/10.31835%2Fcrdh.2019.03 open ↗
- Mormons grappling with race issues 40 years after church's ban on Black leaders was lifted — https://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-mormon-church-black-members-20180601-story.html open ↗
- A Brief Introduction to Mormonism in Africa — https://research.cgu.edu/mormonism-migration-project/study-resources/mormonism-in-africa/ open ↗
- Break Off the Shackles From the Poor Black Man: Joseph Smith's Abolitionist Rhetoric in the 1844 Presidential Campaign — https://www.academia.edu/1545972 open ↗
- Why Race Is Still a Problem for Mormons — https://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/19/opinion/sunday/racism-and-the-mormon-church.html open ↗
- Race, the Priesthood, and Temples — https://rsc.byu.edu/sites/default/files/pub_content/pdf/Race_the_Priesthood_and_Temple.pdf open ↗
- Raising the Standard of Truth: Exploring the History and Teachings of the Early Restoration — https://rsc.byu.edu/book/raising-standard-truth open ↗
- A More Powerful Effect upon the Body': Early Mormonism's Theory of Racial Redemption and American Religious Theories of Race — https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/church-history/article/abs/more-powerful-effect-upon-the-body-early-mormonisms-theory-of-racial-redemption-and-american-religious-theories-of-race/6B910C6575F406655F36313AB5815270 open ↗
- “A More Powerful Effect upon the Body”: Early Mormonism's Theory of Racial Redemption and American Religious Theories of Race — Church History (2018) — https://doi.org/10.1017%2FS0009640718001580 open ↗
- When Mormons Aspired to Be a 'White and Delightsome' People — https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/09/mormons-race-max-perry-mueller/539994/ open ↗
- Choosing to Stay in the Mormon Church Despite Its Racist Legacy — https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/08/black-and-mormon/497660/ open ↗
- Curses and Marks: Racial Dispensations and Dispensations of Race in Joseph Smith's Bible Revision and the Book of Abraham — https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5406/jmormhist.41.3.22 open ↗
- Curses and Marks: Racial Dispensations and Dispensations of Race in Joseph Smith’s Bible Revision and the Book of Abraham — Journal of Mormon History (2015) — https://doi.org/10.5406%2Fjmormhist.41.3.22 open ↗
- Joseph Fielding Smith's Evolving Views on Race: The Odyssey of a Mormon Apostle-President — Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought (2022) — https://doi.org/10.5406%2F15549399.55.3.01 open ↗
- Mormons and Lineage: The Complicated History of Blacks and Patriarchal Blessings, 1830–2018 — Dialogue: a Journal of Mormon Thought (2018) — https://doi.org/10.5406%2Fdialjmormthou.51.3.0083 open ↗
- Debunking the Curse of Ham and its Generational Impact on the Black Race — https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1849&context=masters open ↗
- The color of Christ: How has art affected racism in the Church? — https://universe.byu.edu/2020/07/21/the-color-of-christ-how-has-art-affected-racism-in-the-church/ open ↗
- The Development of the Mormon Temple Endowment Ceremony — Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought (2001) — https://doi.org/10.2307%2F45226771 open ↗
- The Genesis of a church's stand on race — https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/the-genesis-of-a-churchs-stand-on-race/2012/02/22/gIQAQZXyfR_story.html open ↗
- Slavery in Utah Involved Blacks, Whites, Indians, and Mexicans — https://collections.lib.utah.edu/details?id=419212 open ↗
- Century of Black Mormons: Flake, Green — https://exhibits.lib.utah.edu/s/century-of-black-mormons/page/flake-green open ↗
- Green Flake: His Life and Legacy — https://search.lib.byu.edu/byu/record/lee.3073452?holding=ad2wvimxwgpznx6l open ↗
- Abandoning an Unpopular Policy: An Analysis of the Decision Granting the Mormon Priesthood to Blacks — https://www.jstor.org/stable/3710400 open ↗
- Abandoning an Unpopular Policy: An Analysis of the Decision Granting the Mormon Priesthood to Blacks — Sociological Analysis (1980) — https://doi.org/10.2307%2F3710400 open ↗
- "This Time of Crisis": The Race-Based Anti-BYU Athletic Protests of 1968-1971 — Utah Historical Quarterly (2013) — https://doi.org/10.2307%2F45063320 open ↗
- ADR in youth and intercollegiate athletics — https://digitalcommons.law.byu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=http://findarticles.com/find?noadc=1&q=Adr+in+youth&httpsredir=1&article=2771&context=lawreview open ↗
- Mormon leader Russell M. Nelson to speak at NAACP convention — https://apnews.com/article/fdc90c85a99742188ec0ec27ac1e3b67 open ↗
- Mormon president calls on members to help end racism — https://apnews.com/article/race-and-ethnicity-racial-injustice-utah-archive-7d1255d94d393d343a8578bc539857b1 open ↗
- The Persecutions of the Saints – Their Loyalty to the Constitution – The Mormon Battalion – The Laws of God Relative to the African Race — http://scriptures.byu.edu/jod/pdf/JoD10/JoD10_0110.pdf open ↗
- Blacks Eligible for LDS Temple Rites — https://newspapers.lib.utah.edu/details?id=28727961 open ↗
- Why its time for the Mormon Church to revisit its diverse past — https://theconversation.com/why-its-time-for-the-mormon-church-to-revisit-its-diverse-past-75376 open ↗
- Mormon Church Celebration Of 40 Years Of Black Priesthood Brings Up Painful Past — https://www.npr.org/2018/05/31/615911082/mormon-church-celebration-of-40-years-of-black-priesthood-brings-up-painful-past open ↗
- Integrating Religious and Racial Identities: An Analysis of LDS African American Explanations of the Priesthood Ban — https://www.jstor.org/stable/3511536 open ↗
- Integrating Religious and Racial Identities: An Analysis of LDS African American Explanations of the Priesthood Ban — Review of Religious Research (1995) — https://doi.org/10.2307%2F3511536 open ↗
- Official Declaration 2: Revelation on the Priesthood — https://rsc.byu.edu/sperry-symposium-classics-doctrine-covenants/official-declaration-2 open ↗
- Sperry Symposium Classics: The Doctrine and Covenants — https://rsc.byu.edu/book/sperry-symposium-classics-doctrine-covenants-0 open ↗
- Mormons add call to eradicate prejudice, racism to handbook — https://apnews.com/article/race-and-ethnicity-coronavirus-pandemic-1122b62368dbabb8b0ae3b1499220b95 open ↗
- Century of Black Mormons: Ball, Joseph T. — https://exhibits.lib.utah.edu/s/century-of-black-mormons/page/ball-joseph-t#?c=&m=&s=&cv=&xywh=-1529%2C-215%2C5566%2C4288 open ↗
- Mormon Church Strikes Down Ban Against Blacks in Priesthood — https://www.nytimes.com/1978/06/10/archives/new-jersey-pages-mormon-church-strikes-down-ban-against-blacks-in.html open ↗
- Mormons can finally say 'we got it wrong' over black priest ban — https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/belief/2013/mar/05/mormons-black-priests-ban open ↗
- The Mormon Priesthood Revelation and the São Paulo, Brazil Temple — Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought (1990) — https://doi.org/10.2307%2F45225842 open ↗
- Critics Still Question 'Revelation' on Blacks — https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1988-06-02-8801040230-story.html open ↗
- The End of Bruce R. McConkie's 'Mormon Doctrine — https://www.jstor.org/stable/43201315 open ↗
- Mormon past steeped in racism — https://www.chicagotribune.com/chi-blackmormons-story.html open ↗
- The Next Mormons: How Millennials Are Changing the LDS Church — https://byustudies.byu.edu/content/next-mormons-how-millennials-are-changing-lds-church open ↗
- The Next Mormons: How Millennials are Changing the LDS Church — https://academic.oup.com/book/35290 open ↗
- Mormonism and Secular Attitudes toward Negroes — https://www.jstor.org/stable/1388243 open ↗
- Mormonism and Secular Attitudes toward Negroes — The Pacific Sociological Review (1966) — https://doi.org/10.2307%2F1388243 open ↗
- The Saints Go Marching In — https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/09/AR2007050901770.html open ↗
- How a Charlottesville Speaker Forced the Mormon Church to Condemn 'Sinful' White Supremacists — https://www.newsweek.com/charlottesville-mormons-white-supremacists-651747 open ↗
- The Mormon Church Condemned White Supremacists, and This Mormon White Supremacist Mom Is Very Mad About It — http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx_factor/2017/08/18/the_mormon_church_condemned_white_supremacists_and_this_mormon_white_supremacist.html open ↗
- Effective Science Advising — Science (1974) — https://doi.org/10.1126%2Fscience.186.4162.393-a open ↗
- Mindful of history, Mormon Church reaches out to minorities — https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/mindful-of-history-mormon-church-reaches-out-to-minorities/2012/02/13/gIQAZKJrKR_story.html open ↗
- The Fading of the Pharaohs’ Curse: The Decline and Fall of the Priesthood Ban Against Blacks in the Mormon Church — Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought (1981) — https://doi.org/10.2307%2F45224996 open ↗
- Helvécio Martins: First Black General Authority — https://www.jstor.org/stable/23291159 open ↗
- Helvécio Martins: First Black General Authority — Journal of Mormon History (2010) — https://doi.org/10.2307%2F23291159 open ↗
- Letting Go: Understanding Mormon Growth in Africa — http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1058&context=mormonhistory open ↗
- A PRIESTLY ROLE FOR A PROPHETIC CHURCH: THE RLDS CHURCH AND BLACK AMERICANS — Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought (1979) — https://doi.org/10.2307%2F45224770 open ↗
- Dissatisfied liberal Mormons find refuge in the Community of Christ — https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/oct/01/women-lgbt-mormons-community-of-christ open ↗
- Polygamist 'prophet' to serve at least 10 years in prison — https://www.cnn.com/2007/US/law/11/20/jeffs.sentence/ open ↗
- The twisted world of Warren Jeffs: Former FLDS members speak out — https://abcnews.go.com/US/twisted-world-warren-jeffs-former-flds-members-speak/story?id=107493397 open ↗
- The Concept of a 'Rejected Gospel' in Mormon History, Part 1 — https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/mormonhistory/vol34/iss2/1/ open ↗
- MORMONISM’S NEGRO DOCTRINE: AN HISTORICAL OVERVIEW — Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought (1973) — https://doi.org/10.2307%2F45227533 open ↗
- publications.maxwellinstitute.byu.edu — http://publications.maxwellinstitute.byu.edu/fullscreen/?pub=1457&index=10 open ↗
We cite sources by name and outlet rather than fabricating links. Where a source includes its own URL, the open ↗ link opens it directly; otherwise search ↗runs a Google Scholar query for the cited title — useful for verifying academic sources. For news outlets, search the outlet's own archive.
Change history
Substantive edits logged per the score-updates policy.
- 2026-05-29Phase 1 Batch J: per-group recovery resources applied via programmatic palette (closest-fit by category + subCategory + score). Palette: Mainstream-comparator lighter.
- 2026-05-20Score band scheme migrated from 4 bands to 5 (Minimal 0–5 / Low 6–12 / Moderate 13–20 / High 21–30 / Extreme 31–40). No CLCI value changed; the new Minimal band was carved out of the bottom of the previous Low band.
Relevant hubs
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Disclaimer. This profile is an educational summary based on publicly available reports. Many members of this group do not experience the patterns described. Individual congregations and chapters vary widely. If you or someone you know needs support, contact a licensed therapist or the International Cultic Studies Association.