It's the ten year anniversary of my exodus from Mormonism. Part of what led me out of it was an attempt during my last year as a Mormon to live by the rules as perfectly as possible. In that year I discovered so many internal conflicts in the various Mormon scriptures and other teachings that I nearly drove myself crazy. It was the worst year of my life, and the best religious thing that ever happened to me.

To celebrate, I decided to read A. J. Jacobs' book The Year of Living Biblically. I realize I'm behind the times, since this was a bestseller six years ago. It's entertaining, though, and makes me wonder:

What actions would I need to take, including deeds that today would be morally or legally questionable, if I were going to spend a year living like the people described in the Book of Mormon stories?

Were I the head of a competitive corporation, and I took
Teancum as my role model, I might think nothing of sneaking
into a rival company's CEO's bedroom and assassinating him.

I won't even begin to get into the Nephi-Laban story...

UD

But wasn't Teancum at least a bit justified, at least in theory, because he was killing an enemy leader in a time of war? I agree with surgical strikes, during war time, because I think it is better to just kill the King, and let the pawns go on living. That said, since Teancum was fictional, it doesn't matter.

Nephi on the other hand was just strange. Laban's murder was just that, a cold blooded murder. Laban wasn't commanding an army that was about to attack Jerusalem. What he was, had he been real, was an important part of Jerusalem's defenses, at a time it was about to be attacked, so Nephi actually punished an entire nation, because his family had never bothered using their vast wealth to secure a set of scriptures in all the years they were not living in the wilderness.

Can you imagine a short film starting when Nephi kills Laban where there is no context to what is happening. The killer steals Laban's property, and disappears into the night and then we see the impact it had on Laban's family, his children, and the fall of Jerusalem. That would probably be religious porn to the faithful.

How about just a BoM theme park with rides like:

Cut off Laban's head
Cut off Shiz's head
Cut off attacker's arms, and smite kings arms with a sword too
Cut off some one's scalp
Harpoon the opposing army's leader, do it again and die
Hide in a cave and watch 2 whole civilizations die off
Solve murders with spiritual guidance
Drive the cart that kills korihor
Hang a bad guy then chop the tree down
Stand by and let children and women be burned and not go back on your stories about mythology

Tell stories to a king and try to get him to pass out

And many others

Too funny!

Don't forget the liahona scavenger hunt and the steel bow archery game.

~Tillie

well, the BoM people didn't eat food that was available to them and instead supposedly ate food wasn't available to them (not on their continent and no trade/shipping)

so... I guess you could starve to death

also, trade in your Honda for a Cummom

good luck!

Wouldn't want to do it. Too much weightlifting and working out... haven't you SEEN those Friburg pantings of the Nephites and Lamanites?

I read that book. Great fun. The Woman's version is

A Year of Biblical Womanhood by Rachel Held Evans.

Just think, you could have TV ads for your Used Tapir Lot!!!

You could mass-manufacture lights for boating underwater.

You wouldn't waste time on the computer because you would be hunched over golden plates, chipping away all day.

On the down side, I don't think any of them used deodorant.

Good luck carrying those gold plates all the way from central America to new york to bury them...

yikes...

I've been living like Korihor for a couple of decades now; does that count?

say "and it came to pass" all the damn time.


Another thing you'd need to do is move to foreign land where you and 20 or so friends take over the government of the indigenous, have them make you their king, have them speak your language, have them fight you wars but the manage to not leave a single trace of you being there for future archeologists.

Yeah, that should do it.