An article about cartoon videos is in today's LDS Church News
http://www.ldschurchnews.com/articles/61434/New-Book-of-Mormon-cartoons.html

The videos can be watched here
http://lds.org/library/display/0,4945,8187-1-4473-2,00.html

Chapter 9 was entertaining. The narrator said: "Laman and Lemuel’s followers called themselves Lamanites. They became a dark-skinned people. God cursed them because of their wickedness. The Lamanites became lazy and would not work."

Here is the link for a pdf version of chapter 9
http://media.ldscdn.org/pdf/scripture-stories/book-of-mormon-stories/2010-12-11-chapter-9-a-new-home-in-the-promised-land-eng.pdf

Apologists try to give answers to Mormon problems. Here is an older attempt about the dark skin:

http://fairmormon.org/Book_of_Mormon/Lamanites/Curse

"White-skinned Nephites and black-skinned Lamanites are metaphors for cultures, not for skin colour."

"Although the curse of the Lamanites is often associated directly with their skin color, it may be that this was intended in a far more symbolic sense than modern American members traditionally assumed."

Is it even possible to explain the apologist spin to a child while showing them the video?

Less than a year ago the LDS church had changed chapter headings to tone down the racism.

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/home/50882900-76/mormon-book-church-lamanites.html.csp?page=1

They did not change the text in the BofM. It is still repeated, even in the video cartoons for children.

From the heading on BoM Stories: "As you read these stories, remember that they are about real people who lived in America long ago."

But, but, but, the official spokesman of the church said it's NOT primarily a history! What's a kid to believe..?

> "Although the curse of the Lamanites is often associated directly with their skin color, it may be that this was intended in a far more symbolic sense than modern American members traditionally assumed."<

Huh?


I don't think Mops ever really read the Book of Mormon.



2 Nephi 5:21
21 And he had caused the cursing to come upon them, yea, even a sore cursing, because of their iniquity. For behold, they had hardened their hearts against him, that they had become like unto a flint; wherefore, as they were white, and exceedingly fair and delightsome, that they might not be enticing unto my people the Lord God did cause a skin of blackness to come upon them.

AGAIN
the Lord God did cause a skin of blackness to come upon them.

I watched Chapter 9 and the Lamanites definately looked alot darker skin wise.

So FAIR are suggesting that LDS.org the official site has got it wrong?

Maybe they should do a FAIR Inspired Translation of The Book of Mormon.

They should do something. A new generation of LDS children are being taught that the American Indian have dark skin because God cursed them. They were lazy. They wanted to kill good people. The stereotype continues and Mormons get away with it in the name of their religion.

michaelm (not logged in) Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> Apologists try to give answers to Mormon problems.
> Here is an older attempt about the dark skin:
>
> http://fairmormon.org/Book_of_Mormon/Lamanites/Cur
> se
>
> "White-skinned Nephites and black-skinned
> Lamanites are metaphors for cultures, not for skin
> colour."

What about this: the whole Book of Mormon is a metaphor, a parable, it never really happened but it was given by inspiration to Joseph Smith who wrote it down using the knowledge he had of his day.

This is what a lot of LDS scholars and intellectuals have been driven to by the evidence and their desire to believe. This is also what Dallin Oaks' talk at the F.A.R.M.S. dinner railed against. However I think this will be an acceptable viewpoint in the future, although no GA will declare it TRUE, just acceptable.

That sounds about right. I don't think they will ever have the intellectual honesty to completely discard their precious fiction.

Wow...Just got finished watching some of those.

If you take those cartoons, and change the place from Earth to let's say Tatoonie, and change the time frame to say post-nuclear war civilization. Then you have a great science fiction movie in the works!!

Has anyone thought about doing a movie loosely based on something like this?

Oh wait...Star Wars started it....Complete with the force (of course Angels stand in for the unknown force)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/17/2011 08:48PM by tsawyer2.

Not to mention the original Battlestar Galactica series. Choc-full of Morg mythology! (Due to the fact the creator was a Mormon).

From the FAIR-wiki article: "...virtually all other uses of the white/black terminology reflects symbolic or spiritual states, not literal color. It is likely that Nephites would not have had the modern American "preoccupation" with skin color, and so would not be burdened with our tendency to see references about skin to automatically imply race."

Wait a minute, WHO is preoccupied with race?

Gee whiz, a whole FAIR page devoted to debunking what is CLEARLY STATED in the BoM, and of course doesn't realize how silly it is that they don't realize they are still talking about a whole race of people who were CURSED BY GOD for turning they're backs on him, a race of people that the church is now trying to say was already here when the various BoM seafarers arrived!

I wonder why doesn't God curse apostates with a skin of blackness these days, eh? I wonder if people back in the Joe Smith days were afraid they might become dark-skinned if they quit the church...