After we reported the elimination of racist theology from chapter headings in the online edition of the Book of Mormon here at RD late last week, readers have written to point out that verses linking dark skin to accursedness remain in the Book of Mormon itself. Which is entirely true.
Look deep into the Book of Mormon, even the newly-updated on-line version, and you will still find verses like Alma 3:6 reporting that "the skins of the Lamanites were dark, according to the mark that was set upon their fathers, which was a curse upon them because of their transgression." Pick any Mormon wardhouse, sit in the pews for a year of Sundays, and you'll never hear that verse cited. And with good reason.
The changing of official, Church-authored chapter headings in the Book of Mormon signifies a contemporary LDS decertification (from the top of the food chain in Salt Lake City!) of the arcane folk belief that dark skin signifies accursedness. I found that significant when I wrote about it last week, and I still do.
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