smac97 Posted June 27, 2012 Posted June 27, 2012 Here: http://www.deathandtaxesmag.com/185208/mormon-founder-executed-168-years-ago-after-starting-rogue-religious-city-state/Mormon founder executed 168 years ago after starting rogue religious city-stateBy DJ PangburnMost Americans know very little of the The Church of Latter Day Saints, or the Mormon Church, and even less about its founder, the religious megalomaniac, con artist, tyrant and mentally unstable “prophet” Joseph Smith.A lovely way to start a news article, eh? The Mormons will most likely be solemnly celebrating the day in which their founder, their prophet, was killed, treating the occasion as though he were a lamb taken to slaughter like Jesus Christ. And so a little biographical detail and history lesson is in order.I'm not familiar with the "let's celebrate the murder of Joseph Smith" tendencies of Latter-day Saints. A good resource for an objective chronology of Joseph Smith’s Illinois perambulations lies in the book “A History of Illinois: From its Commencement as a State in 1818 to 1847.” The book’s author was Thomas Ford, the Governor of Illinois at the time. Ford, naturally, is not a little harsh with the Mormons, but how else could someone have responded when a treasure-hunting failed businessman attempted to set up a religious state in Navouu, Illinois. Perhaps Ford was wrong to entrust Smith and his brother Hyrum’s lives to the Carthage Greys, an anti-Mormon faction, but things then were not as they are now. Mob justice was always a possibility, especially during the time of Manifest Destiny. "Perhaps?" Another good point of reference is John Krakauer’s “Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith.” Krakauer is known for his non-fiction prowess, and what readers will not get is the Mormon white-washing and distortion of historical events. “The Maze of Mormonism” by Dr. Walter Martin is also highly useful in understanding LDS. Right. And people wanting to learn more about Jews should real The Protocols of the Elders of Zion.Skipping ahead a bit in the article, we get this: Though Smith’s end was unfortunate, credit must be given to Ford for averting all-out war by convincing Smith to surrender. Remember, Smith had raised an army of 5,000 from the Nauvoo Legion and basically invited the Illinois Governor to put down the insurrection, which he had every right to do. Smith’s actions before and during the revolution displayed a fundamental disregard for the very idea of America’s freedom from any official religion.And this:And this is the story that the LDS church has propagated—that Smith was a religious martyr. Yes, a martyr who trampled on the U.S. constitution, committed various acts of treason, engaged in censorship, all in an effort to create a militarized theocratic city-state somewhere, anywhere, and at all costs. He was the very definition of a tyrant. And tyrants, as history has so often shown, meet their ends at the hands of a mob.They can call it an “assassination” all they want, but the fact remains that Joseph Smith was a violator of the U.S. constitution. If he’d respected it and not gotten caught up in religious fanaticism, he might have lived—in which case, the Church wouldn’t have its martyr.Pretty nasty overall.And then there's this pic, which purports to be a photograph of Joseph Smith:Has anyone ever seen this one before? I have my doubts.Thanks,-Smac
Damien the Leper Posted June 27, 2012 Posted June 27, 2012 What a worthless article. The author shows an extremely disappointing amount of ignorance and misinformation.As for the picture...I've never seen it.
mosterlow Posted June 27, 2012 Posted June 27, 2012 i've seen the picture before and it has been tied to Joseph by others. they try to use it to show that he was not as fit and good looking at some today try and present him to be. Like that matters??? I could care less if he was overweight.
ERayR Posted June 27, 2012 Posted June 27, 2012 Here: http://www.deathandt...ous-city-state/A lovely way to start a news article, eh?I'm not familiar with the "let's celebrate the murder of Joseph Smith" tendencies of Latter-day Saints. "Perhaps?"Right. And people wanting to learn more about Jews should real The Protocols of the Elders of Zion.Skipping ahead a bit in the article, we get this:And this:Pretty nasty overall.And then there's this pic, which purports to be a photograph of Joseph Smith:Has anyone ever seen this one before? I have my doubts.Thanks,-SmacNever seen that photo before but it does resemble the paintings.
bluebell Posted June 27, 2012 Posted June 27, 2012 Wow. It's amazing what a little malice can produce when a person really puts their mind to it. 3
Bob Crockett Posted June 27, 2012 Posted June 27, 2012 Just as a legal aside. The US Constitution did not apply to the acts of individuals or municipalities at the time.
Verum Posted June 27, 2012 Posted June 27, 2012 Wow. That is a nasty article and pretty worthless I have to say.Very interested though in this picture though. This is the first time I have seen it.
thesometimesaint Posted June 27, 2012 Posted June 27, 2012 Only a dim wit and the commensurate bad manners can be an excuse. But then if you're looking for an excuse any will do.
Avatar4321 Posted June 27, 2012 Posted June 27, 2012 I expect this type of vitriol to get worse in the next few months.I also am unaware of our tendency to celebrate the murder of Joseph Smith.
JackNimble Posted June 27, 2012 Posted June 27, 2012 "...than to open your mouth and remove all doubt." 1
Bernard Gui Posted June 27, 2012 Posted June 27, 2012 (edited) This may be an example of ignorant bias, but that bias lurks just underthe surface of the current fascination with things Mormon. From facetiouslycalling the garment "magic underwear" to the ubiquitous preface, " All the Mormons I know are decent honest people and caring neighbors, but.........",(fill in the blank with the slur of the day), even our best friends take a step backwhen Joseph is brought up. He cannot under any circumstance be givena crumb of credibility. The stakes are too high.Bernard Edited June 27, 2012 by Bernard Gui
Deborah Posted June 27, 2012 Posted June 27, 2012 I've seen the picture before and I'm sure it's been discredited. As far as I know Joseph never had any photos taken.As to the article I couldn't even bring myself to read it after seeing the excerpts in the OP. Even if one doesn't accept Joseph Smith as a prophet it seems he would write about him with a little more respect, especially when a man who is running for president believes in him. Unless of course there is a political agenda in writing such trash.
CASteinman Posted June 28, 2012 Posted June 28, 2012 Regarding the picture:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Hugh_Holmes_Stuart 3
bluebell Posted June 28, 2012 Posted June 28, 2012 Regarding the picture:http://en.wikipedia....h_Holmes_StuartEven more proof that the guy knows absolutely nothing about his topic.
Aquilifer Posted June 28, 2012 Posted June 28, 2012 The terrifying thing is that the nasty little highlights you excerpted are just a fraction of the garbage. Wow!
bu11fr0g Posted June 28, 2012 Posted June 28, 2012 Regarding the picture:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Hugh_Holmes_StuartHow did you identify such an obscure pic?
Weston Krogstadt Posted June 28, 2012 Posted June 28, 2012 Anyone with that style of hair would look suspect, just like anyone with Don King's hair would look like Don King. They only chose that picture because the guy in it has a big ol' booty. Many Antis (which this author clearly is) have been pushing for a Joe Smith with a beer-belly and a walking cane for many years now, just out of pure spite. Good article, thanks for posting it.
Weston Krogstadt Posted June 28, 2012 Posted June 28, 2012 Anyone with that style of hair would look suspect, just like anyone with Don King's hair would look like Don King. They only chose that picture because the guy in it has a big ol' booty. Many Antis (which this author clearly is) have been pushing for a Joe Smith with a beer-belly and a walking cane for many years now, just out of pure spite. Good article, thanks for posting it.OOOPs, sorry, I forgot we wern't supposed to call him "Joe Smith". I wasn't calling him that to be disrespectful, but was using the phrase because that's what Anti's call him.
CASteinman Posted June 28, 2012 Posted June 28, 2012 (edited) How did you identify such an obscure pic?I have an interest in these pictures and have seen that one before. I presently do not believe that any of the daguerreotypes currently reviewed as being pictures of Joseph Smith are valid. The closest ones are very possibly pictures of paintings (its a bit hard to tell, but seems likely). I really wish the The Scannel Daguerrotype could be him but I think that is a younger man, probably much thinner than the prophet and somehow I don't quite think the clothing is right. Edited June 28, 2012 by CASteinman
Hayds Posted June 28, 2012 Posted June 28, 2012 (edited) A horrible article done by a two bit insignificant blog. Did this guy even do any research? Where is all his anger coming from. Maybe he was dumped by a Mormon girl and still harbors angst over it. The photo is interesting though. I have never seen it, but it does bear a resemblance of some JS paintings. Edited June 28, 2012 by Hayds
smac97 Posted June 28, 2012 Author Posted June 28, 2012 Interesting. I just visited the URL and the picture has changed to a familiar painting of Joseph.-Smac
CASteinman Posted June 28, 2012 Posted June 28, 2012 Interesting. I just visited the URL and the picture has changed to a familiar painting of Joseph.-SmacPerhaps he is profitably informed in some of this thinking by our humble critiques here.
halconero Posted June 28, 2012 Posted June 28, 2012 I almost feel like we're giving this way more intention than it really deserves.Good old-fashioned Demagoguery.
Ron Beron Posted June 28, 2012 Posted June 28, 2012 While the article brought up all the old canards the one major difference is that we had more defenders than detractors writing in the comment section. All these articles really do is to bring the independent thinkers to our doors. The "kool-aid drinkers" are lost so why worry about them?
why me Posted June 28, 2012 Posted June 28, 2012 This should all make us have empathy for the early saints who had to read such articles over and over again from the antimormon newspapers. These newspapers were full of such stories and 'facts' to rile up the mobs at that time that were living near the saints. Can we imagine what the early members were thinking and feeling when such articles were printed in the newspapers? And why the early saints had the mentality that they did? I look upon this article as an article that we can all learn from: to have empathy for the early lds saints.
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