I just wanted to point out that the ambiguous nature of the passage you quoted above does not necessarily mean that Mormons can only eat meat in times of winter or famine. The original version of the Word of Wisdom published as Section LXXX in the 1835 edition of the Doctrine and Covenants punctuates the passage you quoted above a little differently than the version you provided above. It says:
"Nevertheless, they are to be used sparingly; and it is pleasing unto me, that they should not be used only in times of winter or of cold, or of famine."
One comma really can change the meaning of a whole sentence. If you put a comma after "not be used," then it implies Mormons can only eat meat in the winter, but if you drop the comma, suddenly it means that Mormons should eat meat not only in winter/famine, but in other times as well. The modern version of the Word of Wisdom you used puts the comma after "not be used," implying you can only eat meat in winters etc, but the original 1835 version of the D&C does not use a comma there at all, implying that you can eat meat at times outside of winter/famine so long as it's eaten sparingly. You could thus argue that that this insertion of a comma in the later editions of the Doctrine and Covenants amounts to a doctrinal change in the LDS scriptures.
By the way with regards to Catholics not eating meat on Friday, the Catholic Church does not claim, that the Scriptures say that you can't eat meat on Friday. The Church says that it is spiritually helpful to do penance every Friday to remind Catholics of the Sacrifice of Christ on the Cross. The normative way the Church has asked Catholics to do this is by abstaining from all flesh, meat on Friday as both an offering of penance to Almighty God for their failings and as a reminder of the Cross. Under present Church practice, Catholics may also substitute this abstention from meat with other acts of love/sacrifice as well.
What?
The MORMON god didn't make sure it was transcribed right the FIRST time?
(Or is it the SECOND that is right?)
How about the BATHING in strong liquor?
Is THAT part still right? (or WRONG??)
WRT eating meat on Friday, if Scripture doesn't say it shouldn't be done, then why did the Church teach for so long that it was a sin to do it?
The Church never *asked* people to do it as penance. It was a dictate and Catholics were told it was a sin if they did.
There was no choice. It's not as innocuous as you're making it sound.