I attended sacrament meeting with my TBM wife on Easter Day. The speaker recommended we spend the next 40 days reading 3rd Nephi.

So Ex-Mormon me picked up the Book of Mormon for the first time in years and got to 3rd Nephi 2 and read the following verses:

“14 And it came to pass that those Lamanites who had united with the Nephites were numbered among the Nephites;

“15 And their curse was taken from them, and their skin became white like unto the Nephites;

“16 And their young men and their daughters became exceedingly fair, and they were numbered among the Nephites, and were called Nephites. And thus ended the thirteenth year.”

What magical thinking. God changed the skin from dark to white because they were righteous? There are several black people in the ward who are quite faithful, but their skin is still black. How can anyone believe such drivel? Are the current black and brown members failing because they haven’t become white and “fair”? Mormons should never recommend reading the Book Of Mormon.

I am skipping it.

"How can anyone believe such drivel?"

Easy. It's magic. Magic barges, magic demographics, magic anthropology. Anything not physically possible happened by magic. Cuz God.

What made the magic stop working in modern times? Not believing hard enough? Oh, the trials of being Mormon.

I have to wonder how many people know it's all made up but play along for social reasons.

The verses condemn Lamanites who seem to be faithful, like showing up weekly at church and MIA, blessing the Snackerment, perfect attendence at early AM seminary, etc., but still haven't turned White!

I think there are some verses that don't comport with the current version of churchCo as ChurchCo is currenly administered, I can't think of any just now (lack of practice, ja ja).

The main 'appeal' of the book is the miraculous story of Joe finding the plates and being its Author (first ed. witness statement)

OOPS! Joe was the TRANSLATOR!

I went to the Hill Cumorah as a kid, super stoked at getting to see the stone box. Alas, they didn't keep such ancient artifacts (or any ancient artifacts) on display. The angel Moroni really did take everything.

What, you don't believe me?

“their skin became white”

Of course, that doesn’t literally mean that their skin changed color, or that white skin is better. It means that their countenance changed, or that their tattoos went away, or they adopted a different style of clothing. I mean, the most correct book on the face of the earth certainly couldn’t be racist, could it?

I think it's all about acne...

That makes sense, Jesus!

I once heard a mutual friend angrily describe you as "the acme" of human evolution. But given the context, I clearly misheard what he was saying.

Thank you for straightening me out.

Likely the most meaningful scripture….3 nephi 7735…..and it came to pass I nephi went forth in the tradition of my fathers seeking the first fool….I being born of goodly conmen….and I saw in vision an awakening when y he king of the world would beguile many and call them mormons….and after many years of bs and turmoil many fell away from the builders of large and spacious buildings yet they mourned greatly for those still beguiled by the serpent Rusty and his mctemple program…for the profit rusty had heaped great piles of filthy lucre against the days when heads would be extracted from orifices and the mormons dwindled in unbelief….then a great blackness fell upon them and haysus lead many into the desert seeking mammon….this was in the 9006 year since the judges…hahaha….sheeeeiiiiittt

In 1830 this kind of racism was perfectly acceptable.

It's not much more complicated than that.

See also https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2177700