What happens next...

[_jon]

Just for fun let's speculate on the next iteration of who exactly the Lamanites are...

First they were: The literal ancestors of the native Americans
(This is an absolute. All native Americans descended from Lamanites)

Then they became: The principal ancestors of the native Americans
(This one subtly introduces the possibility of some native Americans being descended from someone other than a Lamanite)

Next it was :Among the ancestors of the native Americans
(This one shifts the emphasis along a little to suggest that native Americans are descended from lots of differing peoples but some come from Lamanites)

So what's the next version going to say....

[_Infymus]

Does it really surprise you?

Mormon Apostles used to be special witnesses of Jesus Christ. Now that has changed too.

"The calling of an apostle is to be a special witness of the name of Jesus Christ in all the world, particularly of his divinity and of his bodily resurrection from the dead (Acts 1:22; D&C 107:23)."

See?

Smoke and mirrors my friend. Pull out all the excuses. Can't trust photographs, speaking as a man, multiple theories, attack the critics.

Control of information. Plain and simple.

In the end it is still all about one thing : Keep the rank and file members paying and obeying. In a few years, the old members who knew it differently will die off or be told to STFU and obey - and the new, younger members will never know the difference.

Remember, nobody ever got naked in the temple and wore a poncho with a hole cut in the top for your head. Workers never touched your naked body. Those are anti-Mormon lies.

[_harmony]

n the end it is still all about one thing : Keep the rank and file members paying and obeying. In a few years, the old members who knew it differently will die off or be told to STFU and obey - and the new, younger members will never know the difference.

I don't think so. I think the internet makes it impossible for LDS Inc to control what the members see. So the new, younger members will know the difference. They may not care, which is a different argument, but they will know.

[_Buffalo]

Just for fun let's speculate on the next iteration of who exactly the Lamanites are...

First they were: The literal ancestors of the native Americans
(This is an absolute. All native Americans descended from Lamanites)

Then they became: The principal ancestors of the native Americans
(This one subtly introduces the possibility of some native Americans being descended from someone other than a Lamanite)

Next it was :Among the ancestors of the native Americans
(This one shifts the emphasis along a little to suggest that native Americans are descended from lots of differing peoples but some come from Lamanites)

So what's the next version going to say....

"Good friends with the principal ancestors of the native Americans."

"Frenemies with the principal ancestors of the native Americans."

"Barely acquainted with the principal ancestors of the native Americans."