Could we please have a censored version of the Book of Mormon?

[Sunday21]

Could we please have a censored version of the Book of Mormon? A Women and Children's version? I just made it through Ammon collecting the arms of slain sheep rustlers (hey, my ancestors stole sheep!), now I have former Lamanities (anti nephi Lehi ites) being slaughtered by their former associates. No doubt, brothers and cousins. I have enforced cannabalizism to come. This plot would never get a PG rating. Surely this material is not suitable for a Sunday? There was a chap called Balder who produced versions of Shakespeare suitable for women and children. Could I please have a bawdlerized version of the Book of Mormon? I am trying the audio version as I cannot bear to read it! 

Edited July 6, 2016 by Sunday21

[james12]

What about Shiz trying to breath with his head cut off. I'm pretty sure a movie version would be rated "R". But, I doubt we will ever see an authorized edited version  of the BofM. 

[Sunday21]

3 minutes ago, james12 said:

What about Shiz trying to breath with his head cut off. I'm pretty sure a movie version would be rated "R". But, I doubt we will ever see an authorized edited version  of the BofM. 

Yikes! Well when they film the bible they look away from the gory bits...oh, wait a minute, no they don't!

[Sunday21]

Still trying to get through Alma 25-29. The violence is unearthly! 

[Jane_Doe]

1 hour ago, Sunday21 said:

Could we please have a censured version of the Book of Mormon? A Women and Children's version? I just made it through Ammon collecting the arms of slain sheep rustlers (hey, my ancestors stole sheep!), now I have former Lamanities (anti nephi Lehi ites) being slaughtered by their former associates. No doubt, brothers and cousins. I have enforced cannabalizism to come. This plot would never get a PG rating. Surely this material is not suitable for a Sunday? There was a chap called Balder who produced versions of Shakespeare suitable for women and children. Could I please have a bawdlerized version of the Book of Mormon? I am trying the audio version as I cannot bear to read it! 

Are you looking for something like this: https://www.amazon.com/Book-Mormon-Latter-Day-Saint-Families/dp/1570086842

It's an abridged Book of Mormon, geared towards kids, has pictures, defines hard words, and things like that.

(Note: has you ever read the Old Testament cover-to-cover?  That violence shocked me as a kid).

 

[Latter-Day Marriage]

Life is not G rated, that's just a reality and while there is violence, it is not glamorized at all.  There are lessons to learn from those parts.  You have some pretty wild stuff in the Bible too.

But yes, little kids don't need those lessons till they are older.  There are versions for children though:
https://deseretbook.com/p/book-mormon-stories-beginning-reader-lds-distribution-center-7489?variant_id=102982-paperback

https://deseretbook.com/p/book-of-mormon-for-young-readers?variant_id=116986-paperback

[Sunday21]

1 hour ago, Jane_Doe said:

Are you looking for something like this: https://www.amazon.com/Book-Mormon-Latter-Day-Saint-Families/dp/1570086842

It's an abridged Book of Mormon, geared towards kids, has pictures, defines hard words, and things like that.

(Note: has you ever read the Old Testament cover-to-cover?  That violence shocked me as a kid).

 

Wow! The pictures in this edition are amazing. Thanks!

[Sunday21]

45 minutes ago, Latter-Day Marriage said:

Life is not G rated, that's just a reality and while there is violence, it is not glamorized at all.  There are lessons to learn from those parts.  You have some pretty wild stuff in the Bible too.

But yes, little kids don't need those lessons till they are older.  There are versions for children though:
https://deseretbook.com/p/book-mormon-stories-beginning-reader-lds-distribution-center-7489?variant_id=102982-paperback

https://deseretbook.com/p/book-of-mormon-for-young-readers?variant_id=116986-paperback

Thanks! These are beautifully put together.

[Guest MormonGator]

Something to remember Sunday: The Book of Mormon is history, and sometimes history can be pretty graphic. Doesn't mean I like reading about the graphic violence but I accept it was a totally different world back then. It's a bit different than going out of your way to watch the most violent movies you can get.

[Sunday21]

1 hour ago, MormonGator said:

Something to remember Sunday: The Book of Mormon is history, and sometimes history can be pretty graphic. Doesn't mean I like reading about the graphic violence but I accept it was a totally different world back then. It's a bit different than going out of your way to watch the most violent movies you can get.

Okay. But couldn't the narrator write something like. "The Lamanities were very disagreeable to the Antinephi Lehites. Loss of life was considerable on both sides. Forty thousand lamanities out of an original fifty thousand were left standing." Seriously. How does anyone sleep after reading Alma!

[Guest]

From "The Book of Mormon- Keystone of Our Religion" (Ezra Taft Benson) 

Link to talk

Quote

Mormon himself said, “Yea, I speak unto you, ye remnant of the house of Israel” (Morm. 7:1). And Moroni, the last of the inspired writers, actually saw our day and time. “Behold,” he said, “the Lord hath shown unto me great and marvelous things concerning that which must shortly come, at that day when these things shall come forth among you.

“Behold, I speak unto you as if ye were present, and yet ye are not. But behold, Jesus Christ hath shown you unto me, and I know your doing” (Morm. 8:34–35).

If they saw our day and chose those things which would be of greatest worth to us, is not that how we should study the Book of Mormon? We should constantly ask ourselves, “Why did the Lord inspire Mormon (or Moroni or Alma) to include that in his record? What lesson can I learn from that to help me live in this day and age?”

Quote

 in the Book of Mormon we find a pattern for preparing for the Second Coming. A major portion of the book centers on the few decades just prior to Christ’s coming to America. By careful study of that time period, we can determine why some were destroyed in the terrible judgments that preceded His coming and what brought others to stand at the temple in the land of Bountiful and thrust their hands into the wounds of His hands and feet.

From the Book of Mormon we learn how disciples of Christ live in times of war. From the Book of Mormon we see the evils of secret combinations portrayed in graphic and chilling reality. In the Book of Mormon we find lessons for dealing with persecution and apostasy. We learn much about how to do missionary work. And more than anywhere else, we see in the Book of Mormon the dangers of materialism and setting our hearts on the things of the world. Can anyone doubt that this book was meant for us and that in it we find great power, great comfort, and great protection?

 

 

[Sunday21]

42 minutes ago, Eowyn said:

From "The Book of Mormon- Keystone of Our Religion" (Ezra Taft Benson) 

Link to talk

 

Thank you. It is comforting to know that the material included had a wise purpose. Bless you.

Edited July 4, 2016 by Sunday21

[LeSellers]

11 hours ago, Sunday21 said:

couldn't the narrator write something like. "The Lamanities were very disagreeable to the Antinephi Lehites. Loss of life was considerable on both sides.

"Disagreeable"? C'Mon: they were bloodthirsty, murderous reprobates with none of the common compassion of humanity.

As Eowyn quoted, the Book of Mormon exists to warn us of the evils of fallen man. If we are to learn anything (beyond the primary lesson, i.e, that Jesus Christ is the  Savior and Redeemer of mankind), it is that pride and political greed for power lead to civil war, destruction and unfathomable suffering.

No, a Women's and Children's Edition is not going to be able to teach that lesson. And it is a lesson sorely needed.

Lehi

Edited July 4, 2016 by LeSellers

[tesuji]

Of course you can just skip over things, if you know they are coming. Someone should make a list of objectionable passages with a summary of each.

 The violent passages are evidence that the record is authentic. A novelist writing in Joseph Smith's day probably would not have written the graphic descriptions.

Ancient life was violent. These are people who faught with swords, and slaughtered animals every day for food and religious sacrifice. 

 

[LeSellers]

BTW, the word you wanted in the topic title is "Censored" not "Censured".

Censor:

Quote

to delete (a word or passage of text) in one's capacity as a censor.

  Censure:

Quote

to criticize or reproach in a harsh or vehement manner

Lehi

[Guest]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned the Book of Mormon Reader.  But it still has the story of Ammon and the arms.

And there's the Book of Mormon Stories.

But I'll tell you that I read the Book of Mormon as a kid.  That passage didn't really seem violent to me.  Yes, if I were to use a vivid imagination and go wild with every word, then it would have been very bloody and gory.  But the fact is that it really only says very general terms like "Ammon smote his arm off".  Somehow to my violent childish mind, I didn't even envision blood in that narrative.

[Latter-Day Marriage]

6 hours ago, Carborendum said:

I'm surprised no one has mentioned the Book of Mormon Reader.  But it still has the story of Ammon and the arms.

And there's the Book of Mormon Stories.

But I'll tell you that I read the Book of Mormon as a kid.  That passage didn't really seem violent to me.  Yes, if I were to use a vivid imagination and go wild with every word, then it would have been very bloody and gory.  But the fact is that it really only says very general terms like "Ammon smote his arm off".  Somehow to my violent childish mind, I didn't even envision blood in that narrative.

We grew up watching Bugs Bunny cartoons.

[SilentOne]

 

On 7/4/2016 at 8:13 AM, LeSellers said:

BTW, the word you wanted in the topic title is "Censored" not "Censured".

...

 Censure:

On 7/4/2016 at 8:13 AM, LeSellers said:

to criticize or reproach in a harsh or vehement manner

Lehi

I'm pretty sure the 1981 edition of The Book of Mormon has been censured by a few people, and maybe the 2013 one too. Looks like Sunday's wish has already come true.

[Southern_Bell]

Short answer, Sunday, is no.  The standard BoM is the "Women and Children's version".  It was written exactly as it is for all of us.

You should also know that the family edition of the BoM that Jane mentions is not really abridged per se.  The actual scriptural verses are exactly the same.  There are more pictures, the chapters are broken down into shorter sections, and there are more helps designed to facilitate discussion, but I wouldn't called it the Reader's Digest version by any means. Source: I have one on my kitchen table.

On another note, I kind of think about the scriptures in the same way that I think about parables.  You will get the lessons out of them that you are ready for.  Also, the scriptures record violence not just in the BoM, but also in the Old & New Testaments.  These are history books, and they would do a serious injustice to that history if they just glossed over what happened to the people and why.

[NightSG]

9 hours ago, Southern_Bell said:

Also, the scriptures record violence not just in the BoM, but also in the Old & New Testaments.

This.  If you ever get the opportunity to see someone who's good with a sling hunt with it, it'll give you a whole new appreciation for how effective they are.  It will pretty much decapitate small animals at medium range, and cave in the skulls of larger ones, so I'm sure the relatively bloodless pictures of Goliath getting hit are extremely tame compared to reality.

[Southern_Bell]

And don't forget about the lion's den.  That was anything if not messy.