I have been studying the life of this unique American religious leader for over 30 year.. Most of those years I have viewed him, as most non-LDS do, as a charlatan and a fraud. I often viewed him as the "Moriarty" to my "Holmes" (A delusion of grandeur to be sure, but it was a fun delusion). Over the past 10 years or so, I've rethought my understanding of Joseph Smith. There were a couple things about Joseph that really stood out to me. First was his capacity for forgiveness. One of the hardest things for a person to do is to forgive someone who has wronged them. Yet Christians are commanded to do it. Actually, we are one of the few religions that command us to practice forgiveness. Joseph freely forgave several men who had betrayed him--W.W. Phelps, Orson Hyde come to mind right off the top of my head. These men testified against him in Missouri and as a result (at least in part) of their testimonies, Joseph spent 4 1/2 months in a dungeon. Yet, when these men asked for forgiveness, Joseph granted it freely. Speaking for myself, that would be a hard thing to do. And I think it is pretty strong evidence that Joseph wasn't merely a charlatan.
Another reason has to do with Joseph's death. History is filled with religious charlatans—men and women, deceivers, who claimed to have “the truth”. Their movements make a big splash and then they disappear. A few create organizations that survive their deaths--Ellen G. White, Charles Taze Russel, Mary Baker Eddy come to mind. Most of these alleged visionaries lived relatively long lives and died in relative prosperity. Indeed, many of the modern day false prophets of the so-called “prosperity gospel” live in the lap of luxury with tremendous wealth. A few have gone out in a “blaze of glory” so to speak—Jim Jones, Marshall Applewhite (Heaven's Gate/Hale-Bopp) and David Koresh. Throughout history, these leaders have milked their people for their money and at times have demanded their lives. Jones and Applewhite ordered the death of their people and killed themselves. Koresh ordered his people to resist Federal agents and died with them in the ensuing inferno (some, including Koresh, died by suicide). But there is one alleged “false-prophet” that stands apart from his fellow deceivers—Joseph Smith, the founder of the LDS (Mormon) Church. How is Joseph different? He was the only one who ever died FOR his people. Tensions were high in Hancock County Illinois in 1844. Throughout their history (and for various reasons) the Mormons had a hard time getting along with their neighbors. The citizens of Illinois, which had initially provided a refuge for the Latter-day Saints, were rapidly becoming hostile to them. In June of 1844, Joseph Smith, Mayor of Nauvoo, and the city council ordered the destruction of a newspaper (the Nauvoo Expositor) critical of Smith and his leadership. The owners of the press went to the county seat, Carthage, IL, and swore out warrants for the arrest of Smith and the other town leaders. But this was not enough for many of the old citizens of Hancock county who were enraged with Smith. Years of perceived favoritism by politicians, Smith's ability to circumvent county and state laws through the courts of Nauvoo, rumors of polygamy and sexual immorality served as dry tinder for the spark that was the destruction of the Expositor press. Consider the words of Thomas Sharp, the editor of a neighboring community's newspaper, The Warsaw Signal, just before and after the Expositor incident. “ We have seen and heard enough to convince us that Joe Smith is not safe out of Nauvoo, and we would not be surprised to hear of his death by violent means in a short time. He has deadly enemies -- men whose wrongs have maddened them...The feeling of this country is now lashed to its utmost pitch, and will break forth in fury upon the slightest provocation...” “We have only to state, that this is sufficient! War and extermination is inevitable! Citizens ARISE, ONE and ALL!!! -- Can you stand by, and suffer such INFERNAL DEVILS!! to ROB men of their property and RIGHTS, without avenging them. We have no time for comment, every man will make his own. LET IT BE MADE WITH POWDER AND BALL!!!” Joseph was worried for his own life and those of his people. He was being warned that mobs were amassing and if Smith and his city councilors did not surrender the city would be attacked. Now, Smith had at his call the Nauvoo Legion a militia with over 2,000 men. He could have easily called up the Legion, fortified Nauvoo and engaged in a bloody civil war with the neighboring militias. But he did not do that. It became obvious to Smith, that he was the primary target of the legal action and the antagonism of the neighboring communities. He felt that if he were to leave town things would calm down and the residents of Nauvoo would be safe. So he left for the west. He didn't get very far when a delegation of leaders from Nauvoo sought him out. Some of his followers thought he was deserting them, others accused him of cowardice. Smith is reported as saying, “If my life is of no value to my friends, it is of no value to me.” Smith did return, assisted in the disarming of the Nauvoo legion, surrendered to officials in Carthage and was murdered at the hands of an angry mob in Carthage, Illinois on June 27, 1844. Smith reportedly made another comment as he was preparing to leave for Carthage, “I am going like a lamb to the slaughter, but I am as calm as a summer’s morning I have a conscience void of offense toward God and toward all men.” Some witnesses dispute that Joseph ever said these things. They argue that Smith was confident he would again escape from the long arm of the law. But given the warnings of Thomas Sharp and the Warsaw Signal, he had to know that if the mobs were to get a hold of him, he would be lynched. And that is what happened. Yes, Joseph had a gun, and yes, he used it (as I think any of us would if we were in his situation). Was he a martyr for his faith? Scholars can debate that. But when faced with impending doom, he didn't order his followers to kill themselves or to fortify the city and prepare for battle, he did what he thought he needed to do to save his people, not just his own skin, which is pretty odd behavior for a huckster don't you think. As a matter of fact I can't think of any other known “false-prophet” in the history of Christendom who sacrificed himself for his people.
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