[pby]

We’ve been down this road before. It’s the same thing over and by the same people over and over, besmirching a man who is not here to defend himself or his spirituality and prophetic calling.

If one would look at historical facts, Joseph Smith was "besmirched" by his peers (from within the LDS Church and from those outside of the Church).

History shows that Smith, among his peers, had his chance to defend himself and his alleged prophetic calling....Any defense he could offer ended disasterously and was ineffective, at best.

All that said, I do find it interesting that these same detractors never look to the fruit of the tree...

In part, Jospeh Smith's fruit:

- multiple versions of the first vision

- missing gold plates

- the "Three Witnesses" (Harris, Whitmer, Cowdrey) of the alleged gold plates all left their association with Joseph Smith and the Mormon Church. Cowdrey joined a Methodist Church.

- fraudulent seer stones, which resulted in a Joseph Smith court conviction

- a proven fraudulent Reformed Egyptian language

- the missing Book of Lehi

- "As man is, God once was. As God is, man may become."

- Mormon racism - black men were Satan's army in Heaven

- polygamy

- marriages to other mens' wives

- marriage to teenage wives

- many, many failed prophecies, including when Jesus Christ would return (Smith said that Jesus would return in 1890)

- fraudulent banking practices, which the Ohio legislature charged and fined Joseph Smith for

- a Mormon Temple Ritual that is, in part, borrowed from Masonic ceremonies (secret handshakes, secret names, ceremonial aprons, and etc.)

- the Kinderhook Plates, and further translation fraud by Joseph Smith

- Joseph Smith was jailed for treason against the state of Illinois

- Smith was accussed, by Mormons, of heresy, adultery and fornication

- Smith died shortly after uttering a Masonic distress call

[MHGinTN]

Well done list. I’m lifting it to feed to resty on occasion.

[sevenbak]

Yep, this is the same road. It’s all been tossed around ad nauseum. But I do stand corrected on one thing, it’s not only the same people, you are a relative newcomer to the Mormon bashing threads.

And your list is spot on... spot on half truths and sometimes outright misrepresentations. If you’ve been following these discussions for months, you would know that. Relying on lifted talking points long ago discredited will not help.

Someone with more time than I can “enlighten” you as to your list on by one. I’ve done that already, search my history if you must.