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== Life == | == Life == | ||
===Early years (1805–1827) {{WikipediaUpdate|1 | ===Early years (1805–1827) {{WikipediaUpdate|7/1/2010}}=== | ||
{{Main|Early life of Joseph Smith, Jr.}} | {{Main|Early life of Joseph Smith, Jr.}} | ||
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{{WikipediaPassage | {{WikipediaPassage | ||
|claim= | |claim= | ||
Joseph Smith, Jr. was born on December 23, 1805, in [[Sharon, Vermont]] to [[Joseph Smith, Sr.|Joseph]] and [[Lucy Mack Smith]], a | Joseph Smith, Jr. was born on December 23, 1805, in [[Sharon, Vermont]], to [[Joseph Smith, Sr.|Joseph]] and [[Lucy Mack Smith]], a working class couple. | ||
|authorsources= | |authorsources= | ||
*{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|pp=9, 30}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1832|p=1}}. | *{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|pp=9, 30}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1832|p=1}}. | ||
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Stricken with a crippling bone infection at age eight, he hobbled on crutches as a child. | Stricken with a crippling bone infection at age eight, he hobbled on crutches as a child. | ||
|authorsources= | |authorsources= | ||
*{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp= | *{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=62–65}}; {{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|pp=20–22, 29}}. | ||
|response= | |response= | ||
*{{WikipediaCorrect}} | *{{WikipediaCorrect}} | ||
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{{WikipediaPassage | {{WikipediaPassage | ||
|claim= | |claim= | ||
In | In 1816–17, the Smith family moved west to the [[Palmyra (village), New York|village of Palmyra]] in western [[New York]]. | ||
|authorsources= | |authorsources= | ||
*{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=30}}. | *{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=30}}. | ||
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{{WikipediaPassage | {{WikipediaPassage | ||
|claim= | |claim= | ||
By July 1820, the family obtained a mortgage for a {{convert|100|acre|ha|adj=on}} farm in the nearby [[Manchester (town), New York|town of Manchester]], | |||
|authorsources= | |authorsources= | ||
*{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|pp= | *{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|pp=32–33}}. From about 1818 until after the July 1820 purchase, the Smiths [[squatting|squatted]] in a [[log home]] adjacent to the property. ''Id.'' | ||
|response= | |response= | ||
*{{Detail|First Vision/Smith family place of residence in 1820}} | *{{Detail|First Vision/Smith family place of residence in 1820}} | ||
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{{WikipediaPassage | {{WikipediaPassage | ||
|claim= | |claim= | ||
an area that had | an area that had been the scene of repeated [[Christian revival|religious revivals]] during this time known as the [[Second Great Awakening]]. | ||
|authorsources= | |authorsources= | ||
*{{Harvtxt|Shipps| | *{{Harvtxt|Shipps|1985|p=7}}. | ||
|response= | |response= | ||
*{{WikipediaCorrect}} | *{{WikipediaCorrect}} | ||
*{{Detail|First Vision/Religious revivals in 1820|First Vision/Accounts/1832/Doesn't mention a revival}} | *{{Detail|First Vision/Religious revivals in 1820|First Vision/Accounts/1832/Doesn't mention a revival}} | ||
}} | |||
===== ===== | |||
{{WikipediaPassage | |||
|claim= | |||
Smith and his family participated in the sectarian fervor of their day. | |||
|authorsources= | |||
*{{Harvtxt|Brooke|1994|p=129}} ("Long before the 1820s, the Smiths were caught up in the dialectic of spiritual mystery and secular fraud framed in the hostile symbiosis of divining and counterfeiting and in the diffusion of Masonic culture in an era of sectarian fervor and profound millenarian expectation."). | |||
}} | }} | ||
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Although he may never have joined a church in his youth, | Although he may never have joined a church in his youth, | ||
|authorsources= | |authorsources= | ||
*Smith said that he decided in 1820, based on his [[First Vision]], not to join any churches {{Harv|Smith| | *Smith said that he decided in 1820, based on his [[First Vision]], not to join any churches {{Harv|Smith|Mulholland|Thompson|Phelps|Richards|1839–1843|p=4}}. However, {{Harv|Lapham|1870}} said that Smith's father told him his son had once become a [[Baptist]]). | ||
|response= | |response= | ||
*{{WikipediaCorrect}} | *{{WikipediaCorrect}} | ||
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{{WikipediaPassage | {{WikipediaPassage | ||
|claim= | |claim= | ||
Joseph Smith participated in church classes< | |||
|authorsources= | |authorsources= | ||
*Smith is known to have attended Sunday school at the Western Presbyterian Church in Palmyra {{Harv|Matzko|2007}}. Smith also attended and spoke at a Methodist probationary class in the early 1820s, but never officially joined ({{Harvnb|Turner|1852|p=214}}; {{harvnb|Tucker|1876|p=18}}). | *Smith is known to have attended Sunday school at the Western Presbyterian Church in Palmyra {{Harv|Matzko|2007}}. Smith also attended and spoke at a Methodist probationary class in the early 1820s, but never officially joined ({{Harvnb|Turner|1852|p=214}}; {{harvnb|Tucker|1876|p=18}}). | ||
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and read the Bible. With his family, he took part in [[folk religion|religious folk magic]], | and read the Bible. With his family, he took part in [[folk religion|religious folk magic]], | ||
|authorsources= | |authorsources= | ||
*{{harvtxt|Quinn|1998|p=30}}("Joseph Smith's family was typical of many early Americans who practiced various forms of Christian folk magic."); {{harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p= | *{{harvtxt|Quinn|1998|p=30}}("Joseph Smith's family was typical of many early Americans who practiced various forms of Christian folk magic."); {{harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=51}} ("Magic and religion melded in the Smith family culture."); {{Harvtxt|Shipps|1985|pp=7–8}}; {{Harvtxt|Remini|2002|pp=16, 33}}. | ||
|response= | |response= | ||
*{{WikipediaCorrect}} | *{{WikipediaCorrect}} | ||
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{{WikipediaPassage | {{WikipediaPassage | ||
|claim= | |claim= | ||
a common practice but one | a common practice but one condemned by many clergymen. | ||
|authorsources= | |authorsources= | ||
*{{harvtxt|Quinn|1998|p=31}} | *{{harvtxt|Quinn|1998|p=31}}; {{Harvtxt|Hill|1977|p=53}} ("Even the more vivid manifestations of religious experience, such as dreams, visions and revelations, were not uncommon in Joseph's day, neither were they generally viewed with scorn."). | ||
|response= | |response= | ||
*{{WikipediaCorrect}} | *{{WikipediaCorrect}} | ||
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{{WikipediaPassage | {{WikipediaPassage | ||
|claim= | |claim= | ||
Like many people of that era, | |||
|authorsources= | |authorsources= | ||
*{{harvtxt|Quinn|1988|pp= | *{{harvtxt|Quinn|1988|pp=14–16, 137}}. | ||
|response= | |response= | ||
*{{ | *{{WikipediaCorrect}} | ||
* | *Quinn quotes Bushman on page 137: | ||
<blockquote> | <blockquote> | ||
Standing on the margins of instituted churches, they [the Smiths] were as susceptible to the neighbors' belief in magic as they were to the teachings of orthodox ministers. | Standing on the margins of instituted churches, they [the Smiths] were as susceptible to the neighbors' belief in magic as they were to the teachings of orthodox ministers. | ||
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{{WikipediaPassage | {{WikipediaPassage | ||
|claim= | |claim= | ||
both his parents and his maternal grandfather had visions or dreams that they believed communicated messages from God. | both his parents and his maternal grandfather had [[Christian mysticism|mystical]] visions or dreams that they believed communicated messages from God. | ||
|authorsources= | |authorsources= | ||
*{{ | *{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=26, 36}}; {{Harvtxt|Brooke|p=1994|pp=150–51}}; {{Harv|Mack|1811|p=25}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=54–59, 70–74}}. | ||
|response= | |response= | ||
*{{ | *{{WikipediaNPOV}}The use of the term "mystical" to describe dreams or visions is pejorative. | ||
*{{Detail|Book of Mormon/Plagiarism accusations/Joseph Smith, Sr.'s dream and Lehi's vision}} | *{{Detail|Book of Mormon/Plagiarism accusations/Joseph Smith, Sr.'s dream and Lehi's vision}} | ||
}} | }} | ||
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{{WikipediaPassage | {{WikipediaPassage | ||
|claim= | |claim= | ||
Smith said that he had his own [[First Vision|first vision]] in 1820, in which God told him his sins were forgiven | Smith later said that he had his own [[First Vision|first vision]] in 1820, in which God told him his sins were forgiven | ||
|authorsources= | |authorsources= | ||
*{{Harvtxt|Smith|1832}}; {{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=39}}. | *{{Harvtxt|Smith|1832}}; {{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=39}} (When Smith first described the vision twelve years after the event, "[h]e explained the vision as he must have first understood it, as a personal conversion".) | ||
|response= | |response= | ||
*{{WikipediaCorrect}} | *{{WikipediaCorrect}} | ||
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{{WikipediaPassage | {{WikipediaPassage | ||
|claim= | |claim= | ||
and | and that all churches were false. | ||
|authorsources= | |authorsources= | ||
*{{Harvtxt|Smith| | *{{Harvtxt|Smith|Mulholland|Thompson|Phelps|Richards|1839–1843|p=3}}. This vision was generally unknown to early Latter Day Saints. ''See'' {{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=39}} (story was unknown to most early converts); {{Harvtxt|Allen|1966|p=30}} (the first vision received only limited circulation in the 1830s). However, the vision story gained increasing theological importance within the [[Latter Day Saint movement]] beginning roughly a half century later. ''See'' {{Harvtxt|Shipps|1985|pp=30–32}}; {{Harvtxt|Allen|1966|p=43–69}}; {{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|p=176}} ("Smith's first vision became a missionary tool for his followers only after Americans grew to regard modern visions of God as unusual."). | ||
|response= | |response= | ||
*{{Detail|First Vision/Accounts/1832/Doesn't forbid joining a church}} | *{{Detail|First Vision/Accounts/1832/Doesn't forbid joining a church}} | ||
*{{Detail|First Vision/No reference to First Vision in 1830s publications|First Vision/No mention in non-LDS literature before 1843}} | *{{Detail|First Vision/No reference to First Vision in 1830s publications|First Vision/No mention in non-LDS literature before 1843}} | ||
*{{Detail|First Vision/Seldom mentioned in LDS publications before 1877}} | *{{Detail|First Vision/Seldom mentioned in LDS publications before 1877}} | ||
}} | }} | ||
===== ===== | ===== ===== | ||
{{WikipediaPassage | {{WikipediaPassage | ||
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To do so, Smith would put a stone in a white [[stovepipe hat]] and would then see the required information in reflections given off by the stone. | To do so, Smith would put a stone in a white [[stovepipe hat]] and would then see the required information in reflections given off by the stone. | ||
|authorsources= | |authorsources= | ||
*{{Harvtxt|Brooke|1994|p=152–53}}; {{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|pp=43–44}}; {{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|pp=45–52}}. ''See also'' the following primary sources: {{Harvtxt|Harris|1833|pp= | *{{Harvtxt|Brooke|1994|p=152–53}}; {{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|pp=43–44}}; {{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|pp=45–52}}. ''See also'' the following primary sources: {{Harvtxt|Harris|1833|pp=253–54}}; {{Harvtxt|Hale|1834|p=265}}; {{Harvtxt|Clark|1842|p=225}}; {{Harvtxt|Turner|1851|p=216}}; {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=164}}; {{Harvtxt|Tucker|1867|pp=20–21}}; {{Harvtxt|Lapham|1870|p=305}}; {{Harvtxt|Lewis|Lewis|1879|p=1}}; {{Harvtxt|Mather|1880|p=199}}. | ||
|response= | |response= | ||
*{{Detail|Joseph Smith/Seer stones}} | *{{Detail|Joseph Smith/Seer stones}} | ||
*{{SeeCriticalWork|author=D. Michael Quinn|work=Early Mormonism and the Magic World View}} | *{{SeeCriticalWork|author=D. Michael Quinn|work=Early Mormonism and the Magic World View}} | ||
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{{WikipediaPassage | {{WikipediaPassage | ||
|claim= | |claim= | ||
In 1823, while praying for forgiveness from his "gratification of many appetites" | In 1823, while praying for forgiveness from his "gratification of many appetites," | ||
|authorsources= | |authorsources= | ||
*{{Harvtxt|Smith| | *{{Harvtxt|Smith|Mulholland|Thompson|Phelps|Richards|1839–1843|p=5}} (writing that he "displayed the weakness of youth and the <del>corruption</del> <ins>foibles</ins> of human nature, which I am sorry to say, led me into divers temptations <del>to the gratification of many appetites</del> offensive in the sight of God," deletions and interlineations in original); {{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|p=136-38}} (arguing that Smith was praying for forgiveness for a sexual sin to maintain his power as a seer); {{Harvtxt|Smith|1994|pp=17–18}} (arguing that his prayer related to a sexual sin). ''But see'' {{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=43}} (noting that Smith did not specify which "appetites" he had gratified, and suggesting that one of them was that he "drank too much"). | ||
|response= | |response= | ||
*{{WikipediaCorrect}} | *{{WikipediaCorrect}} | ||
*Note that D. Michael Quinn postulates that Joseph "once made an extraordinarily candid reference to his sexual struggle from 1820 to 1823" based upon the "gratification of many appetites" quote in Joseph's 1838 account, but the account says nothing about a "sexual struggle." | *Note that D. Michael Quinn postulates that Joseph "once made an extraordinarily candid reference to his sexual struggle from 1820 to 1823" based upon the "gratification of many appetites" quote in Joseph's 1838 account, but the account itself says nothing about a "sexual struggle." | ||
*{{SeeCriticalWork|author=D. Michael Quinn|work=Early Mormonism and the Magic World View}} | *{{SeeCriticalWork|author=D. Michael Quinn|work=Early Mormonism and the Magic World View}} | ||
}} | }} | ||
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Smith said he was visited at night by an angel named [[Angel Moroni|Moroni]], who revealed the location of a buried book of [[golden plates]] as well as other artifacts, including a [[breastplate]] and a set of [[Urim and Thummim (Latter Day Saints)|silver spectacles]] with lenses composed of [[seer stone (Latter Day Saints)|seer stones]], which had been hidden in a hill named [[Cumorah]] near his home. | Smith said he was visited at night by an angel named [[Angel Moroni|Moroni]], who revealed the location of a buried book of [[golden plates]] as well as other artifacts, including a [[breastplate]] and a set of [[Urim and Thummim (Latter Day Saints)|silver spectacles]] with lenses composed of [[seer stone (Latter Day Saints)|seer stones]], which had been hidden in a hill named [[Cumorah]] near his home. | ||
|authorsources= | |authorsources= | ||
*{{Harvtxt|Smith| | *{{Harvtxt|Smith|Mulholland|Thompson|Phelps|Richards|1839–1843|p=4}}. | ||
|response= | |response= | ||
*The hill near Joseph Smith's home was not named "Cumorah" at this point in time. | *{{WikipediaCITE}}The hill near Joseph Smith's home was not named "Cumorah" at this point in time. The name was only applied later after the publication of the Book of Mormon. | ||
}} | }} | ||
===== ===== | ===== ===== | ||
{{WikipediaPassage | {{WikipediaPassage | ||
|claim= | |claim= | ||
Smith said he attempted to remove the plates the next morning but was unsuccessful because the angel | Smith said he attempted to remove the plates the next morning but was unsuccessful because the angel prevented him. | ||
|authorsources= | |authorsources= | ||
*Mormon historian Richard Bushman argues that "the visit of the angel and the discovery of the gold plates would have confirmed the belief in supernatural powers. For people in a magical frame of mind, Moroni sounded like one of | *Mormon historian Richard Bushman argues that "the visit of the angel and the discovery of the gold plates would have confirmed the belief in supernatural powers. For people in a magical frame of mind, Moroni sounded like one of the spirits who stood guard over treasure in the tales of treasure-seeking." {{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=50}}. | ||
|response= | |response= | ||
*{{WikipediaCorrect}} | *{{WikipediaCorrect}} | ||
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{{WikipediaPassage | {{WikipediaPassage | ||
|claim= | |claim= | ||
During the next four years, Smith made annual visits to Cumorah, only to return without the plates because he claimed that he had not brought with him the | During the next four years, Smith made annual visits to Cumorah, only to return without the plates because he claimed that he had not brought with him the right person required by the angel. | ||
|authorsources= | |authorsources= | ||
*{{Harvtxt| | *{{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|pp=163–64}}; {{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=54}} (noting accounts stating that the "right person" was originally Smith's brother Alvin, then when he died, someone else, and finally his wife Emma). | ||
|response= | |response= | ||
*{{ | *{{WikipediaCorrect}} | ||
*From the cited source: | |||
<blockquote> | <blockquote> | ||
Stories circulated of a requirement to bring Alvin to the hill to get the plates; and when he died, someone else. Emma, it was said, was designated as a key. The stories have a magical flavor, but other stories have the angel warning Joseph about greed and the evildoings of the money-diggers, as if the messenger was moving him away from his treasure-hunting ways. | Stories circulated of a requirement to bring Alvin to the hill to get the plates; and when he died, someone else. Emma, it was said, was designated as a key. The stories have a magical flavor, but other stories have the angel warning Joseph about greed and the evildoings of the money-diggers, as if the messenger was moving him away from his treasure-hunting ways. | ||
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{{WikipediaPassage | {{WikipediaPassage | ||
|claim= | |claim= | ||
Meanwhile, Smith continued to travel western New York and Pennsylvania | Meanwhile, Smith continued to travel western New York and Pennsylvania, being paid to search for precious metals; | ||
|authorsources= | |authorsources= | ||
*{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=51–53}}. | *{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=51–53}}. | ||
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{{WikipediaPassage | {{WikipediaPassage | ||
|claim= | |claim= | ||
in 1826, he was tried in [[Chenango County, New York|Chenango County]], New York, for the crime of pretending to find lost treasure. | |||
|authorsources= | |authorsources= | ||
*{{Harvtxt|Hill| | *{{Harvtxt|Hill|1977|p=1–2}}; {{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=51–52}}; {{Citation|title=Revised Statutes of the State of New York|volume=1|year=1829|publication-place=Albany, NY|publisher=Packard and Van Benthuysen|page=638: part I, title 5, § 1|url=http://books.google.com/?id=RX84AAAAIAAJ&pg=RA1-PA638|author1=(state), New York|author2=Butler, Benjamin Franklin|author3=Spencer, John Canfield}} ("[A]ll persons pretending to tell fortunes, or where lost or stolen goods may be found,...shall be deemed [[vagrancy (people)|disorderly persons]].") | ||
|response= | |response= | ||
*{{WikipediaCITE}}Joseph never claimed to have ''found'' lost treasure. He was tried for ''attempting'' to find lost treasure using a stone. | |||
*{{Detail|Joseph Smith/Legal trials/1826 glasslooking trial}} | *{{Detail|Joseph Smith/Legal trials/1826 glasslooking trial}} | ||
}} | }} | ||
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{{WikipediaPassage | {{WikipediaPassage | ||
|claim= | |claim= | ||
During one of these treasure quests, he met [[Emma Hale Smith|Emma Hale]] and, on January 18, 1827, eloped with her because her parents disapproved of the match. | |||
|authorsources= | |authorsources= | ||
*{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=53}}. | *{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=53}}. | ||
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Claiming his stone told him that Emma was the key to obtaining the plates, | Claiming his stone told him that Emma was the key to obtaining the plates, | ||
|authorsources= | |authorsources= | ||
*{{Harvtxt| | *{{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|pp=163–64}}; {{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=54}} (noting accounts stating that Emma was the key). | ||
|response= | |response= | ||
*{{WikipediaCITE}}Joseph never claimed that his stone "told" him anything. He used to stone to obtain information. | |||
*Bushman, p. 54: | *Bushman, p. 54: | ||
<blockquote> | <blockquote> | ||
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{{WikipediaPassage | {{WikipediaPassage | ||
|claim= | |claim= | ||
Smith went with her to the hill on September 22, 1827. This time, he said he retrieved the plates and placed them in a locked chest. | Smith went with her to the hill on September 22, 1827. This time, he said, he retrieved the plates and placed them in a locked chest. | ||
|authorsources= | |authorsources= | ||
*{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|pp=60}}. | *{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|pp=60}}. | ||
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He said the angel commanded him not to show the plates to anyone else but to publish their translation, reputed to be the religious record of [[indigenous Americans]]. | He said the angel commanded him not to show the plates to anyone else but to publish their translation, reputed to be the religious record of [[indigenous Americans]]. | ||
|authorsources= | |authorsources= | ||
*{{Harvtxt|Smith| | *{{Harvtxt|Smith|Mulholland|Thompson|Phelps|Richards|1839–1843|pp=5–6}}. | ||
|response= | |response= | ||
*{{WikipediaCorrect}} | *{{WikipediaCorrect}} | ||
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{{WikipediaPassage | {{WikipediaPassage | ||
|claim= | |claim= | ||
Although Smith had left his treasure hunting company | Although by then Smith had left his treasure hunting company, | ||
|authorsources= | |authorsources= | ||
*{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|pp=54}}. | *{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|pp=54}} (Smith had assured Emma's father Isaac Hale that his treasure-seeking days were behind him). | ||
|response= | |response= | ||
*{{Detail|Joseph Smith/Money digging}} | *{{Detail|Joseph Smith/Money digging}} | ||
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{{WikipediaPassage | {{WikipediaPassage | ||
|claim= | |claim= | ||
his former associates believed | his former associates believed he had double-crossed them by taking for himself what they considered joint property. | ||
|authorsources= | |authorsources= | ||
*{{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=167}}. | *{{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=167}}; {{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=61}}. | ||
|response= | |response= | ||
*{{Detail|Joseph Smith/Money digging}} | *{{Detail|Joseph Smith/Money digging}} | ||
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They ransacked places where a competing treasure-seer said the plates were hidden, | They ransacked places where a competing treasure-seer said the plates were hidden, | ||
|authorsources= | |authorsources= | ||
*{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|pp=54}} | *{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|pp=54}} (treasure seer Sally Chase attempted to find the plates using her seer stone). | ||
|response= | |response= | ||
*{{WikipediaCorrect}} | |||
*{{Detail|Joseph Smith/Money digging}} | *{{Detail|Joseph Smith/Money digging}} | ||
}} | }} | ||
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and Smith soon realized that he could not accomplish the translation in Palmyra. | and Smith soon realized that he could not accomplish the translation in Palmyra. | ||
|authorsources= | |authorsources= | ||
*{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|pp=60–61}}. | *{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|pp=60–61}}; {{Harvtxt|Remini|2002|p=55}}. | ||
|response= | |response= | ||
*{{Detail|Book of Mormon/Translation}} | *{{Detail|Book of Mormon/Translation}} |
A FairMormon Analysis of Wikipedia: Mormonism and Wikipedia/Joseph Smith, Jr. A work by a collaboration of authors (Link to Wikipedia article here)
|
Founding a new religion (1827–30) |
The name Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.. Wikipedia content is copied and made available under the GNU Free Documentation License. |
The article has remarkable balance right now. Any attempts to deliberately add Mormon POV will both spark an edit war and in the end degrade the literary quality of the current article because of the difficulty of clearing the corpses from the battlefield when it concludes. Improvements in this article are more likely to come from deletions than additions.
—John Foxe, 13 January 2009 off-site
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Wikipedia references for "Joseph Smith, Jr." |
FairMormon regularly receives queries about specific LDS-themed Wikipedia articles with requests that we somehow "fix" them. Although some individual members of FAIR may choose to edit Wikipedia articles, FairMormon as an organization does not. Controversial Wikipedia articles require constant maintenance and a significant amount of time. We prefer instead to respond to claims in the FAIR Wiki rather than fight the ongoing battle that LDS Wikipedia articles sometimes invite. From FAIR’s perspective, assertions made in LDS-themed Wikipedia articles are therefore treated just like any other critical (or, if one prefers, "anti-Mormon") work. As those articles are revised and updated, we will periodically update our reviews to match.
Editors who wish to participate in editing LDS-themed Wikipedia articles can access the project page here: Wikipedia:WikiProject Latter Day Saint movement. You are not required to be LDS in order to participate—there are a number of good non-LDS editors who have made valuable contributions to these articles.
FAIR does not advocate removing any references from Wikipedia articles. The best approach to editing Wikipedia is to locate solid references to back up your position and add them rather than attempting to remove information. Individuals who intend to edit should be aware that posting information related to the real-world identities of Wikipedia editors will result in their being banned from editing Wikipedia. Attacking editors and attempting to "out" them on Wikipedia is considered very bad form. The best approach is to treat all Wikipedia editors, whether or not you agree or disagree with their approach, with respect and civility. An argumentative approach is not constructive to achieving a positive result, and will simply result in what is called an "edit war." Unfortunately, not all Wikipedia editors exhibit good faith toward other editors (see, for example, the comment above from "Duke53" or comments within these reviews made by John Foxe's sockpuppet "Hi540," both of whom repeatedly mocked LDS beliefs and LDS editors prior to their being banned.)
Although there exist editors on Wikipedia who openly declare their affiliation with the Church, they do not control Wikipedia. Ironically, some critics of the Church periodically falsely accuse Wikipedia editors of being LDS simply because they do not accept the critics' desired spin on a particular article.
Again, the answer is no. The truth is that Wikipedia is generally self-policing. Highly contentious articles do tend to draw the most passionate supporters and critics.
Although some LDS-related Wikipedia articles may appear to have a negative tone, they are in reality quite a bit more balanced than certain critical works such as One Nation Under Gods. Although many critical editors often accuse LDS-related Wikipedia articles of being "faith promoting" or claim that they are just an extension of the Sunday School manual, this is rarely the case. Few, if any, Latter-day Saints would find Wikipedia articles to be "faith promoting." Generally, the believers think that the articles are too negative and the critics believe that the articles are too positive. LDS Wikipedia articles should be informative without being overtly faith promoting. However, most of the primary sources, including the words of Joseph Smith himself, are "faith promoting." This presents a dilemma for Wikipedia editors who want to remain neutral. The unfortunate consequence is that Joseph's words are rewritten and intermixed with contradictory sources, resulting in boring and confusing prose.
We examine selected Wikipedia articles and examine them on a "claim-by-claim" basis, with links to responses in the FairMormon Answers Wiki. Wikipedia articles are constantly evolving. As a result, the analysis of each article will be updated periodically in order to bring it more into line with the current version of the article. The latest revision date may be viewed at the top of each individual section. The process by which Wikipedia articles are reviewed is the following:
The ability to quickly and easily access literature critical of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has been made significantly easier through the advent of the Internet. One of the primary sites that dominates search engine results is Wikipedia, an online encyclopedia that “anyone can edit.” Wikipedia contains a large number of articles related to Mormonism that are edited by believers, critics, and neutral parties. The reliability of information regarding the Church and its history is subject to the biases of the editors who choose to modify those articles. Even if a wiki article is thoroughly sourced, editors sometimes employ source material in a manner that supports their bias. This essay explores the dynamics behind the creation of Wikipedia articles about the Church, the role that believers and critics play in that process, and the reliability of the information produced in the resulting wiki articles.
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