that ye may learn to be more wise than we have been

"Condemn me not because of mine imperfection, neither my father, because of his imperfection, neither them who have written before him; but rather give thanks unto God that he hath made manifest unto you our imperfections, that ye may learn to be more wise than we have been." (Mormon 9:31)

The scriptures are typically trotted out as examplars of how to live, how to behave, how to be.  Of course, one does not have to read these texts all that closely to be quickly confronted with horrific...