The Book of Ex-Mormon

I'm mad at Mark Twain for what he said about the Book of Mormon. At least, I'm frustrated that the account of his experience is quoted so often - then again, that proves just how effective a writer he was. All men have heard of the Mormon Bible, but few except the “elect” have seen it, or, at least, taken the trouble to read it...The book is a curiosity to me, it is such a pretentious affair, and yet so “slow,” so sleepy; such an insipid mess of inspiration. It is chloroform in print. (Roughing It, p.109-110). While this quote is endlessly humorous (and ironic to hear from mainstream Christians who seem entirely unaware of what Mr. Twain thought of their beliefs), it's also, in my opinion, entirely the wrong lens in which to read the Book of Mormon, as is the lens that believing members of the LDS church invoke. Mark Twain, by this point in his life, was already cynical of organized religion and frequently mocked what he saw as contradictions in the orthodoxy. Twain wasn...