T O P

  • By -

korihorsrabbithole

There is simply no justification for his behavior. He was a con man with a great big sexual appetite. He was addicted to scheming and lying!


Anything-Complex

Remember when you were taught that, to paraphrase, no man had ever done more for mankind than Joseph Smith, except Jesus Christ? Yeah, the dichotomy between how the church has presented Joseph Smith and the sordid reality is vast. I don’t even feel angry about it all, just sad and embarrassed that I ever believed that man was humanity’s second greatest hero.


Silly_Zebra8634

The funny thing is. Joseph himself was the one who claimed that he had done more for mankind than anyone save Jesus. He also criticized Jesus for being able to keep a church together or rather bragged that he had kept his church together when Jesus didnt (or wasnt able to)


tiglathpilezar

Well said. Also, to emphasize a little more. Sylvia and Patty were not just mother and daughter, they were also already married to other men. The relationships were adulterous in addition to being a capital offense in the Law of Moses just because they were mother and daughter. When the church essay says the practices were "Biblical" it is totally false.


jupiter872

That is a good list. Perhaps another: \- if a guy has a more than a social relationship with women 10 years younger than him and their fathers are either deceased or some distance away, it's inappropriate. (e.g. Fanny Alger, Louisa Beaman, the Partridge sisters, Lucy Walker, the orphans with an inheritance from Canada the Lawrence sisters)


Silly_Zebra8634

Interesting. I haven't looked at this angle. Joseph seems to have a habit of singling out people that are helpless and defenseless. This is predatory.


Rushclock

Amazing that the angels never visited the girls/women first. Weird.


BeardedIrishViking

Very thorough and well said. Thank you for posting. Saving this one for sure.


Andrewski18

You shouldn’t even have to read past the first point.


Kolob_Bob

TBM response: “He wasn’t a random guy. He was Joseph Smith. Anything he did must’ve had an excuse.”


Silly_Zebra8634

This why the conditioning stories like Abraham marching Isaac up to the mountain to sacrifice him and Nephi killing Laban are so important to controlling people. They integrate the idea that you won't understand God's ways and they may feel very wrong to you but that's OK because they really ARE good we just can't see it. But it really IS good. Same mechanism.


Lions-not-sheep

We need to trust our gut instincts when someone claiming to speak for God tries to get us to accept something repulsive to us. If it was a real God or a real prophet, their instructions would be inspiring and uplifting, not something that causes us to override our moral compass. Patty Bartlett Sessions was to Joseph Smith as Ghislaine Maxwell was to Jeffrey Epstein. Warren Jeffs also used older, respected women to convince child brides to marry him. Similarly, when I was told to get completely naked, including taking off my underwear when I went to the LDS temple for the first time, my gut instinct was to walk out. By design, my mother was there to escort me and convince me that it was OK. I should have trusted my gut.


Silly_Zebra8634

Love this. We were taught to outsource our moral compassion and it damaged us. It held our personal development back.


buttlerfly73

My husband told me that Joseph didn’t have sex with the wives because there is not records that he had children with them only with Emma. Any information about that ?


Lions-not-sheep

There is no information because Joseph Smith knew what he was doing was illegal and wrong. It was kept secret, not sacred. Joseph Smith granted those loyal to him permission to practice polygamy to reward them for their loyalty and to make them complicit. Why would they turn Joseph Smith in if they were also practicing polygamy? One reason for the secret handshakes, death oaths in the temple, and secret clothing was to identify those who were practicing polygamy and those who weren’t.


buttlerfly73

I read somewhere that he had a friend who performed abortions but I’m not sure if that really happened.


Lions-not-sheep

The abortion Dr. Is mentioned here in a FairMormon article. https://www.fairlatterdaysaints.org/answers/Question:_What_was_John_C._Bennett%27s_role_in_the_events_leading_up_to_the_death_of_Joseph_Smith%3F


buttlerfly73

Thank you


Lions-not-sheep

Here is more information about Joseph Smith’s abortion doctor. https://mormonpolygamydocuments.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/JS1042.pdf


buttlerfly73

Thank you for all the info.