In NAACP Speech, Mormon Leader Urges Love For All

SALT LAKE CITY (CBS DETROIT/AP) — The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' top leader urged people to love one another no matter their differences during a speech at the NAACP convention.

President Russell M. Nelson said Sunday night in Detroit that everyone has a God-given responsibility to help make life better for those around them. He pointed to a passage from the faith's signature scripture, the Book of Mormon, that says, "all are unlike unto God."

Nelson's invitation to speak illustrated a growing partnership between the two organizations.

He did not mention the religion's past ban on blacks from the lay priesthood that stood until 1978. That ban was rooted in the belief that black skin was a curse, and lingers as one of the most sensitive topics in the religion's history.