The BRUTAL Truth About The Founder of Mormonism, Joseph Smith ft.  

I’m so glad I got to see this!! I left this church when I was 35. I’m 51 now and I’ve never regretted walking away!!

"... If Joseph came back today he wouldn't recognized the church..." And then demand his cut of the plunder.

Excellent show. In 1967 my husband and I took a vacation from Michigan and ended up in Salt Lake on our way to Yellowstone. For some strange reason we went to the Mormon information center and watched the story of Joseph Smith and thought it was ridiculous and wondered how anyone could believe it. My husband, a secular Jew, was amazed he was considered a gentile.

“We aren’t stupid. We were tricked”. THANK YOU.

Joseph Smith was on the forefront of the 19th century US Spiritualism Movement. The population was primed for his fantasical claims & it's fascinating how he tapped into that.

I was a 5 time Young Woman President and very devoted convert for decades. When I discovered that my leadership had knowingly lied to me about EVERYTHING I was completely devastated 💔

I’m walking out THIS WEEK! Finally 🎉

THE THING THAT REALLY GOT ME THE FIRST TIME i WENT TO THE TEMPLE WAS THAT SATAN TOLD ADAM AND EVE TO PUT ON APRONS WHEN GOD CAME LOOKING FOR THEM, THEN THE NARRATOR HAD THE CONGRAGATION PUT ON THE GREEN APRON. IT WAS LIKE TAKING ORDERS FROM SATAN, NOT GOD. NO ONE COULD EXPLAIN IT ENOUGH TO SATISFY ME WHEN I WOULD ASK.

Ex-Mo, here. It's hard to leave a cult, but you'll never know real contentment unless you do. It is liberating to be in control of yourself without that "still, small voice" making you question your every thought. It just keeps getting better. I was a Mormon. Did a mission and everything. None of the Mormons who filled my world are really a part of it now. I don't hate them, and I don't miss them. They think they don't hate me, and they don't miss me. Leaving a cult is really hard when you have no support from outside the cult. You can do it. There are lots of good people who aren't Mormons, and they have no reason to hate you.

Break the silence. Break the cycle.

It's not surprising people fell for this when nobody had ways of fact checking anything. And I know generations have just been born into it. But it's strange to me that anybody joins it now.

Why am I a never-mormon totally fascinated with mormonism???

I was dragged up in a mormon family and never believed any of it. My earlieat memories are of knowing Im being lied to but having to go along with it as my parents were/are physically, mentally spirituly abusive, so I toed the line out of self preservation. Being 7 of 8 kids my parents didnt put up a fight and saw me as a lost cause anyway, when I was old enough to stay home every Sunday and I stated it wasnt for me and moved out of their house as a young teen. I am, no surprises, the shunned black sheep/ family scapegoat unless they want to appear as a loving co hesive family in public and then Im expected to appear but keep my mouth shut while they all shit on me and my life choices. Ive never ever second guessed my choice to not go along with lies to be accepted or fit in. But the programming as a vulnerable developing child is still deeply embedded in me as a 53 year old woman. I have spent 50 years just living in a reactive trauma bubble but the way am healing myself is to learn and discover why certain things occured and make some logical sense of it all and discover why I was treated so appallingly and why my seemilngly intelligent, seemingly successful parents could fall for such utter nonsense even though I as a young child could see it for what it was. Listening to this it sounds like narcissism is a big factor as they think they are the chosen few going to heaven. And both my parents are raging narcs! These podcasts are a great help to me to understand and make sense of it all which helps to undo destructive programming inflicted on me that I have to work at nearly every minute of every day to mot fall back into a black hole! So THANKYOU so so very much! 💗

Hi, back when I was attending Cerritos College,I meant a girl who was Hindu. She told me one time some Mormon missionary came to her door. She said these Missionaries asked her if she knew who Joseph Smith was? She responded with "Is Joseph Smith one of your Christian gods? The two people walked away.

Joseph Smith was made Master Mason (the 3rd step up in Freemason ) and 7ish weeks later introduced the temple endowment ceremony which is all but the exact same thing.

Three things that I learned that broke it for me: 1. Translating by rock and hat. 2. Book of Abraham. 3.Polyandry. Thanks Gospel Topics Essays :)

I love that phrase, “oceans of trauma.” There is a BIG difference between “ human frailty” and strong patterns of abuse. If we are to believe in agency, then we MUST accept accountability. I am also in my thirties, and I’m just glad you guys provided a sounding board for me to question my religion. I love the idea of families being together forever( I say ‘idea’ because I’ve read doctrine and covenants 132), but I cannot condone the harm that has been done based on this one chapter of doctrine. How can we preach free will and forgiveness, when it DOES NOT reflect in the actions of the early leaders? (Or arguably current) 😢. I just wish I had noticed earlier.

How do Mormons justify marriage for time and all eternity when the Bible says, in the resurrection we will neither marry or be given in marriage but are like the angels in heaven. I’ve always wondered about that.

always ready to learn more about the Rocky Mountain Bible Fanfiction Sex Cult founder.

I broke from christianity to atheism many years ago and did so by what i call Einstein Method of Religious Deprogramming . That is space time. It took space away from the church, complete separation over a period of time. After that time passed, i looked over my shoulder and thought what in the hell was i thinking? But when you are in the middle of it, you just dont see it.

👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻 63 years old here. Withdrew mentally in my mid-late teens and physically by early 20’s mostly due to sexual shaming and patriarchal superiority. Never deconstructed or considered the truth of the church until recently. I had moved on but not healed. Thank you for being part of helping people understand themselves and moving through and past this. I went through years of guilt and depression before beginning to cope in my 40’s with energy medicine techniques and meditation. Thank you for all you do Shelise by bringing many types of stories into the open.

L. Ron Hubbard was definitely a fanboy.

Awesome show, ladies! I was disfellowshipped from the church when I was 23, partially for questioning these exact perversions. I was upset when i found out the older dude marriages with young women weren't for economic reasons, etc etc. as we were told. I questioned all this back in seminary, and they just told me to 'trust god.' Yeah ok. We are the warned about 'feminists' they touted would come. Well duh, we are protectors of women and children. It's all so imbalanced. Many cults start with pervy dudes wanting all the hot women for himself. Gross af

Don't forget, you can support exmos by requesting their books (look up every book they published) to be stocked at your local library. It costs nothing, you can check out the books cost free, help others seeking answers AND provides financial support to the authors!! 😊 please share this information ❤

42:58 🎵”Lucy Harris smart smart smart, Martin Harris dumb, dumb-dumb” 🎵 😂

Thank you for bringing up how insane the angel with a flaming sword story is. Besides the huge things you mentioned like slavery and the Holocaust, even if you limit the angel's power to just the church's history, there were so many real problems Joseph and the early church faced where an actual angel could have saved the day. But instead this one time an angel supposedly appears, it's to give Joseph a terrifying story to manipulate a vulnerable girl with.

You understate the threat to Aunt Lucy Walker. If she marries him, she AND ALL HER FAMILY will be exalted. If she doesn't, the gates of heaven will be sealed up against her AND ALL OF HER FAMILY. FOREVER. Oh, and she has 24 hours to make up her mind. I am a direct descendant of her older brother William; had she said "Nope", would those gates be closed to me, too? Let's never let Aunt Lucy's story be forgotten!

The servant girl in their home Fanny was 14 when Joseph’s wife found him having sex with her in the barn. Author of In Polygamy’s Shadow

When i was a child, and being dragged along to unwanted church services i would have nightmares of black smoke billowing out the doors of our new LDS chapel. I would scream and scream within the slow motion dreamscape, begging friends and neighbors to see the danger and not go in.

This was one of my favorite Mormon history videos of all time! You guys have great chemistry and I love when the history can be translated into modern language. Thank you!

I saw a movie that claimed that Brigham Young ordered the murder of settlers and tried to blame it on local Indians.

It’s getting old…. People should be more upset about Brigham young

Hi Shelise! Loved your guest today! So, I live in Cleveland and it's SUPER common for missionaries to come here (and actually go through really crime ridden neighborhoods) to preach and get you to join. I have a huge heart, so I often let these kids in for a chat and a snack and I just can't help but notice how they can't answer super basic questions. It's all the same answer about getting to church and talking to God for the answer.

The church has actually released gospel essays admitting Joseph Smith's polygamy and it's wild how they try to discount it

Yay! Two of my favorite exmo’s!

I wish I could support the good work you are doing here on this channel. But because of my own experience being tr**ficked and worse from the time I was in diapers by this cult...its FAR too triggering and I have to focus on my own healing. But to anyone watching, I want to add my own voice to validate the truthfulness of what this channel is doing. Please help share and raise awareness so that together we can finally stop this criminal enterprise and hold all of these horrible people accountable.

We were told in the church growing up that many would be deceived in the last days. I didn't think it would actually be the church that would be doing the deceiving.

BRigham and Emma hated each other. She felt like he had way too much control, and he hated she was a strong minded woman. Emma felt that the church should go to her son, with someone basically being a regent until Joseph Smith Jr. III was of age to take over.

I remember doing a project about Mormonism in high school. During the presentation, since I was covering how it started, felt the need to tell the class "I know what you're thinking, but South Park did not make this up." It's wild that was just scratching the surface.

You know it's a good episode when CtC and nuancehoe are together 🙌

I just spoke to my ex husband about the video you guys put out a couple days ago. He grew up in the RLDS church and his father was an elder of their church. His mother was born in independence MO with her family line in the sect. He knew it was bogus as a kid inside himself. We have been through a lot that his father did to the family, and others in the community. Monster of a man. I find a lot of abuse that goes back generations in these cults. It’s quite sad and scary.

Bring her back. I could listen to you both for hours. She had me googling like crazy

I did a deep dive on Mormonism and its history around 10 years ago and must have read 8 or more books written by ex-Mormons both in the 19th and 20th centuries. What I read is that Joseph Smith often married women that were ALREADY MARRIED. These women and their spouses were given mafia-like choice in the matter (as in if you don't go along with this, then such and such is going to happen to you). Many went along with it -- but NOT all (which is why those books are even in existence). Many believed that he was killed by men who were outraged at how he had basically raped their wives. Also, Smith was a member of a freemason secret society where if they were ever in great need they were to yell out, "Is there no help for the widow's son?!" (something like that), and Joseph Smith did that and, nope, nobody helped him! I only bothered too search out this false religion because one of my sisters (much younger than me and with a different mother) grew up mostly in Utah and ended up marrying into a Mormon family. I can't say what I told her was any help, but to keep it really short I told her that the Angel Moroni is/was a FALLEN angel. I actually DO believe that is the case and I believe Smith was getting guidance from a fallen angel (and whatever other spirits) regarding the Book of Mormon, etc. Smith didn't write it -- he was probably what today is called "channeling" it. This is why it sounds like something he could never have written. Smith was not enough of a Christian to avoid conning people and doing divination or other sins expressly forbidden in the Bible, so it is NO BIG SURPRISE that he did not test the spirits, as we are told to do in the King James Bible, which also warns of those who teach "another Jesus" which is NOT the Jesus of Matthew through Revelation (and who shows up, once you know how to spot Him in the Old Testament as well). This whole Lori Vallow and Chad Daybell thing is something I didn't really learn about until about a month ago -- but I can't say I am surprised that a "church" with such a rotten foundation cannot produce good fruit, as Jesus told us. I see the "Church of the Firstborn" as one of its fruits. And from what I can glean there were a LOT more followers of Daybell's cult than has been reported. A lady named Bernadine who was a neighbor in Daybell's neighborhood said she learned from someone who I believe is a relative of hers in a nearby town from Rexburg and who is a law enforcement officer told her that somewhere in the neighborhood of a thousand (whether people or homes I do not know) scattered and disappeared from that town RIGHT AFTER THE BODIES WERE FOUND ON DAYBELL'S PROPERTY. They went into hiding (hopefully more from shame than from escaping embarrassing controversy). The Daybell children are important. There are many who have been programmed in other "churches" as well, perhaps most especially those who have a big "shunning" rule where if a person questions the religion they are kicked out and even their own immediate family members are not to speak to them again -- and for the most of them, that includes everyone they have ever known! (Jehovah's Witnesses and Scientologists being other examples, though I am certain there are many more.)

I was raised in what is now called Communities of Christ (was The Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints). We were raised being taught that Joseph Smith was not a polygamist and the Elders were so adamant about it, and would get so angry no matter the evidence produced for them. I left the church 23 yrs ago when i realized we literally had a different Bible then main stream Christianity and following a huge project compairing the LDS and RLDS views and history of Joseph Smith. Some crazy stuff out there, too much for more to keep embracing those beliefs

Being raised in that religion, iwas taught same reasons for polygamy and was never told JS practiced it. Ileft church after taking a church history institutes class and when i asked questions about the massacre, i was told it "didn't matter"..... so i started researching and more and more things came to light.

Than you for clear and concise talking points as the Mormons are already walking around our town !!!! And I want to have a clear and helpful way to chat with them…😊

Yall been busy as hell! ❤ Love all the content and sharing the message of getting free from cults!

I was already in the process of deconstructing and leaving for other, modern reasons....but THIS makes it MUCH easier. Thank you for putting this infirmation where people like me can access it.

My Granfa taught me the area of western New York where these movements started in the 19th century was called "The burned over land" referring not to the land itself, but to how the churches and movements fought each other for congregants.

Oh my god!! I am 5 seconds into the video, and I have to stop and tell you how much I LOVE your sweater! ❤️❤️❤️

I feel like I've learned a lot about trauma and started recognizing things in myself, from these stories. I was a JW as a teen, but my siblings were born in Salt Lake, and my folks paid lip service to the LDS church. My best friend growing up was from a big mormon family, we'd join them at morning prayers because we all walked to school together. I still have this vivid memory of my mom drinking wine in a plastic cup with a straw to hide the fact that it was wine from the neighbors. I was sure it was juice and insisted she share. 😂 She did not. I think they were glad when he was transfered to Oregon.

The technical term for a leader making proclamations that the peons only have to follow is "bamboozle."

technological comment--I wish other great content creators I follow would learn how to use their microphones (the mics they already have bought!) so well. Have you ever thought of doing a tiny tutorial video to help them out? This also makes better podcasts! Anyways. Excited for the new video!!!

I was born LDS, so I was manipulated into following this religion. I was a missionary when I broke. I finished the mission and played along without offering anything. When I got married it was over. It was all but forced until I was an adult.

This is one of my favourite videos to date. I go through phases of diving into what cult practice and preach and the atrocities carried out in each cults name. The two major ones that never out of the main stream are the LDS and Scientology. I spent months looking into L Ron trying to piece all the information together from different sources. Rarely do I find all the valuable information in one place. I just recently decided I was going to deep dive into the dark history of Joseph Smith and what followed after his death in Carthage. So this video saves me flicking through a whole series of videos trying to extrapolate what small amounts of information i can. Thanks ladies I hope to see more videos created by you both in the future

Fun fact: Joseph Smith was arrested in Norwich, NY for treasure hunting, which was Norwich speak for being a con man. I grew up 45 minutes from Norwich.

I learned so much listening to this. I was raised in a mainstream Christian denomination. I didn't understand why Mormon was listed as a cult. Donnie and Marie Osmond seemed like lovely people. I remember my Dad telling us, what the Mormons do to each other in their temple is beyond belief. It wasn't until I started reading books written by survivors of polygamy that I began to get an understanding of the betrayal of good people. Thank you for helping us to understand.

What a great episode! I also want to add I love your crocheted top. Did you make it?

"I don't wanna live forever in someone else's heaven so let 'em close the gates." I love David Archuleta's new song ❤

So, good old Joey WAS the Keith Raniere (Nxivm) of his day. And love your talks with Carah! More LDS history would be great!

Yay, I'm tucked in for the night and can't wait to listen to you two! 😊

"Book of Mormon stories that my teacher tells to me...." I remember that from when a Mormon family took me in. But now "Mormon" isn't ok?

For me it was the Book of Mormon and DNA Evidence essay. It didn’t fit with what I was taught. It didn’t fit with what Joseph wrote in the Book of Mormon. If that wasn’t true, the rest couldn’t be either. They told me the Book of Mormon was the cornerstone of the religion. That if it wasn’t true the whole of it isn’t true. I followed what they taught me.

congrats on hitting 200,000 subscribers!!! I have learned SO MUCH from your channel. SO much! Your channel has changed my life.

What a mind blowing episode 🤯! Loved learning all this!!!

I just built a barn in Lewiston, Illinois, where the Navoo Indian burial museum is. They have striken American religious principles and completely disenvoued the religion.

Thank you so much for educating us!

From those of us on the outside looking in, it is at least as wacky as scientology w a pedo twist

I really enjoyed this episode!! Thanks to both of you!

What happened to all the "wives" after Joseph died?

"Ima prophet. Send me your daughters".... Timeless. Rarely fails.

This was so interesting!!! I'm not connected with the LDS religion, but found this fascinating.

1:12:09 This sounds like parties at 19 in my first apartment... Way too much fireball

I left about 10 years ago after spending the first 30 years of my life in the Church. From the outside looking in i can see now how bizarre the whole thing is, yet i defended it tooth and nail when i was in. The programming is strong.

It would be so interesting for you two and oh no Nora to discuss Tim Ballard and to see where he connects with mormonism and Scientology

This is a fascinating interview! You were just discussing how Mormonism has specific doctrine explaining how Joseph Smtih didn’t just want to be the leader of the religion, but also wanted to take over the United States of America. Today’s Christian Nationalists want to do the same thing. I would love for you to interview former Christian Nationalists who has deconstructed.

Which episode of South Park was this on, I want to watch it

My family is deep rooted in Mormonism, all the way back to the Organ Trial. I broke away when I was 20. Grew up in the religion through the 80s and 90s. I and was supposed to go on my mission. I couldn’t get over the amount of racism plaguing the religion, not to mention how I was treated by family and friends. Being free from the religion is life changing.

I have something to add about Porter Rockwell. If you drive through Eureka Utah in Juab County on US 6 they have Porter's cabin that was moved there and restored. Porter had a ranch further West in the desert in the Cherry Creek / Sheeprock Mountain area.

Double-standards: no different than almost every major religion and any world power, even/especially the USA.

My Mom was raised LDS, and though she left when she was 17, and I was not raised in the church, she still contends JS was a prophet and there’s nothing wrong with him or what he did. I strongly disagree. She never raised me exposed to the church, and does not answer questions (nor does her family who are still in the church), so I’m thankful for this kind of content so that I’m able to learn more.

I've seen Carah in this granny square top several times now, I have to know if she made it herself! I started crocheting because of Mary's (ex-Amish) interview on this channel

Omg I love this woman. She talks fast and just spits out truth. I love it. Thank you for sharing this with us

YES!!! I thought South Park was lying too!!!! Is this Tim Ballard on ketamine!?! 😂😂😂😂 Thank you two for always being the BEST!! ❤

I left several years ago. One of the biggest questions I have had was how much Joseph Smith and the current leaders of the church actually believe the things they are teaching and how much is willful deception. There are a lot of people that genuinely believe things that I’m fairly certain aren’t true. It probably doesn’t matter but I feel there must be a convincing of oneself as much as a convincing others.

Well done! I enjoyed this so much! As a SCL native, never Mo-but-related-to-all-the-church-higher-ups (Young, Spencer, Kimball, Whitney all in my family tree) I've always known how koo koo Mormonism is, but this was the cherry on top. Evil teachings lead to evil actions and yes, we are all still witnessing the whole "by their fruits shall ye know them" in Daybell, Franke, and Ballard, not to mention Tribedeau and who was that manic dude posting on YT about HIM being THE ONE with a prophecy from God...look at ALL the fruits of Joseph's teachings.

I'm glad you brought up Mormon true crime in the modern era... I can't help wondering if Chad Daybell is found guilty (I hope he is as seems more than guilty to me), if he does suffer the death penalty, will it cause him to become a martyr and actually add to the people who believe in the kind of nonsense in visions of glory?

Never Mormon, but love history. I’m listening to podcast multi-episode Legends of the Old West about Porter Rockwell. Also listening to podcast American Criminal about Mark Hofmann and his forgeries and bombs. I love both you podcasts.

Great interview. I'm a never Mormon, but I used to think about polygamy (especially non-FLDS people) "What's the harm if everyone is an adult? I don't agree with it, but people do plenty of things I don't agree with". But as I began to learn more about Mormon theology and doctrine, I changed my view. Because the beliefs around it are so inherently coercive, it can't be practiced in a safe way. Once you understand Mormon doctrine and history, you realize men like Warren Jeffs are not an aberration, they're Mormonism working exactly as it was supposed to. Mormon Stories did a really great episode comparing Warren and Joseph that I would highly recommend. They've also done episodes on the treasure digging. It's the same thing with Chad Daybell. Why is he able to convince people to follow his beliefs that are blatantly plagiarized? Because Joseph Smith did. A lot of these problems we are seeing now are rooted in fundamental Mormon doctrine.

It is so painful to me a Lutheran that Mormons can’t see through the falsehoods they have been taught. I grew up in western Montana, where there is a polygamous colony, and my cousins that are enmeshed in Mormonism.

Freemason here, he did indeed steal/copy acts of our craft for his own ends. It's why we kicked him out of our fraternity. It's also probably why Masons didn't come to his aid when he appealed to us for help at his death.

Whenever I listen to Carah, I think that she should be a professor at a university somewhere! Her knowledge astounds me. I had never heard til today that joseph had a bodyguard. Glad to be out of that church!

Great, great, great discussion! Thanks, ladies!

More like this. The historical information is so fascinating. .

Thank you both!!❤❤

W0W !!! That was very interesting, thank you.

Liked. Shared. Commented. Up the algorithm!

Smith’s stone in the hat was a knock off of early circus freak shows it seems 😢 and to add insult to injury he was very successful at it 🤦🏼‍♀️🤷🏼‍♀️

The way that Joseph Smith "claimed" to translate the Book of Mormon with a hat and seer stone is NOT the way the Bible came to be. First of all, Moses is credited with composing/assembling the first five books of the Old Testament (Torah). Later the prophets and priests wrote other books in the Hebrew canon of Scripture. Scribes copied and re-copied parchments by hand over the centuries of pre-history. They were given "tradition" in written form. The Seat of Moses (occupied by rabbis and teachers of the Law) interpreted Scripture to the people of Israel. The New Testament was given to us by the Catholic Church from the apostles and their associates. Catholic monks translated the ancient Greek texts into Latin originally, and then later into more common languages as time passed. In both cases (Judaism and Catholicism), "tradition" was passed on to others in writing. These writings became known as "Scripture" after they were received, inspected, and studied meticulously by leaned scribes, priests, rabbis, and teachers. What becomes obvious from even a cursory study of biblical history is that neither Judaism or Christianity are "American religions." The events in the Bible took place long before America ever existed in another part of the world. 😊😊😊😊

I remember accidentally traumatizing a Mormon guy by asking him about the time the Mormons went to war against the United States.