The "updated" irrational, lacking-evidence belief is that they are "among the /principal/ ancestors of the American Indians."
(edit: I had to update that, they removed "principal" in 2006. Now they just say they are "among the ancestors of the American Indians.")
And then, of course, the hidden part of that is that since nobody can find any DNA or archeology linking "Lamanites" to anybody or anything, you have to just take that on "faith." 'Cause the Book of Mormon is true, you know. Their feelings said so.
Don't feel bad for not getting it. They don't, either :)
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/26/2018 03:02PM by ificouldhietokolob.
Okay, so it's exclusive to the Native Americans. Hmm.
See, this is where it's confusing as hell.
There are tons of different groups of people around the world with dark skin. The "curse" is pretty doctrinal in the Book of Mormon and Doctrine and Covenants, despite all of the backtracking over the years... so how did those people get cursed? How do they explain Africans, Polynesians, Melanesians, Latinos, Asians, Arabs. Or what about groups like the Chukchi, Inuit.... it makes no sense.
Thanos Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > ... so how did those > people get cursed? How do they explain Africans, > Polynesians, Melanesians, Latinos, Asians, Arabs. > Or what about groups like the Chukchi, Inuit.... > it makes no sense.
Melanesians, in particular, are among the darkest-skinned humans on the planet...and they fairly often have genetically blonde hair, and blue (and I think green also, if I am remembering correctly) eyes.
If I was inventing a new world history to be the base of a new religion, and I wanted to postulate something like Mormon religion's "Lamanites," I would definitely choose the Melanesians as my "root" group...perhaps, in particular, those Melanesians with intensely black skin/blonde hair/blue or green eyes as examples of those who were only "partially" cursed???
On the other hand, in the 1800s, probably no one being preached to in North America knew what a Melanesian was...
...so maybe this wouldn't have worked out after all. ;)
Nah, it was already edited once, although only to remove a fraction of the unnecessary commas (and clear references to Trinitarian doctrine). It can be edited again.
Josephina Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > In the end, the whole Book of Mormon story will > have to be explained as "Allegory".
Good question because they are invisible in the present day. The title page of the Book of Mormon says it was "Written to the Lamanites, who are a remnant of the house of Israel; and also to Jew and Gentile".
It has been years since I've seen anything from the church mentioning the Lamanites. I've seen many quotes from the title page in conferences, news articles etc., but it always leaves out the part about the Lamanites. Now days all they say is that the Book of Mormon was written for the Jew and gentile.
John Delhin did a Mormon Stories episode with Brent Metcalfe. He and other researchers did a pretty thorough job destroying the veracity of the Book of Mormon. He goes into the very question you ask "who are the lamanites?"