Naked Mormonism Podcast

On this episode, we take the opportunity to examine an enigmatic figure of Nauvoo Mormon history, Joseph H. Jackson. He visited the settlement in late 1842 where he was branded a Missouri spy and a Danite attempted to assassinate him. From that point forward he vowed revenge on the man responsible for nearly taking his life, Joseph Smith. Jackson ingratiated himself into the highest ranks of Nauvoo leadership and even participated in multiple secretive Danite missions to Missouri to break Porter Rockwell out of prison and kidnap two people who were set to testify against Joseph Smith in a Missouri court hearing. Jackson’s chief source of income during 1843-44 was manufacturing bogus coins (counterfeit) and his story is stranger than fiction as he himself stands as a wonderful personification of counterfeit. We discuss his dealings, misdealings, and maneuvers which illustrate a strong sense of self-preservation. Links: Joseph H. Jackson June 1844 expose http://www.sidneyrigdon.com/dbroadhu/IL/sign1844.htm Coun

On this episode, we examine the immediate impact and fallout of the destruction of the Nauvoo Expositor. The media throughout Illinois explodes at the overt act of Mormon tyranny and fascism. Joseph Smith is arrested by a constable from Carthage on a warrant issued by a judge from Carthage, but he dodges a hearing at the Carthage courthouse by holding his own kangaroo court hearing in Nauvoo. He exchanges letters among various church leaders all over Illinois. Meanwhile, the anti-Mormons in Carthage and Warsaw hold various meetings in reaction to every development in Nauvoo and pass resolutions in response. A “war of extermination” is inevitable and imminent. Both groups funnel affidavits, letters, and resolutions to the office of Governor Thomas Ford who seeks to balance the desires and fury of both groups while maintaining peace in his state. Links: History of Illinois by Governor Thomas Ford https://archive.org/details/ahistoryillinoi00shiegoog/page/n342/mode/2up/search/nauvoo JS 1844 Nauvoo Journal http

On this episode, the Nauvoo City Council spends all day 10 June 1844 deliberating about how to deal with the Nauvoo Expositor. The push through the council a new ordinance concerning libelous publications then spend the rest of the day discussing whether or not the Expositor should be declared a “public nuisance,” and therefore necessary to remove. They side with Joseph Smith in his calls for vote in favor and the marshal, John P. Greene, obeys the Mayor’s orders and destroys the printing press and ransack the office. The Nauvoo Legion were also called to assist the marshal and martial law is declared by the prophet, priest, king, lieutenant-general, and presidential candidate, Joseph Smith. Links: City Council minutes https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/nauvoo-city-council-rough-minute-book-february-1844-january-1845/28#full-transcript Show links: Website http://nakedmormonismpodcast.com Twitter @NakedMormonism Facebook https://www.facebook.com/pages/Naked-Mormonism/370003839816311 Patreon htt

Audio from Q&A livestream on Apr 6, 2020. Happy quarantine, everybody!

On this episode, we examine the immediate aftermath of the Nauvoo Expositor being published. The Council of Fifty had some wonderfully grand plans for themselves and America. We spend a bit of time with the minutes to get a sense of what they had in mind. There were a lot of irons in the fire and many members of the Council of Fifty were all over the United States electioneering and taking high-level meetings for Joseph Smiths POTUS campaign. Once the Nauvoo Expositor was published, the city council deliberated for 5 hours about how to handle it. The contents of the Expositor were a great threat, but the greatest threat was that which was unknown. What would the next edition contain? Links: Council of Fifty Minutes https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/council-of-fifty-minutes-march-1844-january-1846-volume-1-10-march-1844-1-march-1845/98#full-transcript Memorial to Congress https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/memorial-to-the-united-states-senate-and-house-of-representatives-26-march-1

On this episode, yes, it is finally time to discuss the Nauvoo Expositor. What is the Nauvoo Expositor? Why is it so important to Mormon history? Why was it published? These are all questions we’ll answer by the end of the episode today. This is a story that’s been told a hundred times and they all end the same way. We spend a lot of time going through the Expositor from top to bottom and teasing out subtle points and lessons made in the garnish of the paper. After that, we debut the pilot episode of Zion, a Mormon History themed D&D campaign. If you want more, share the show and show your work via social media tags or email to nakedmormonism@gmail.com Links: Text of Nauvoo Expositor http://solomonspalding.com/docs/exposit1.htm#pg1c1b How to find Chris Smith: https://www.facebook.com/ccsmith3 https://twitter.com/christophcsmith @christophcsmith Show links: Website http://nakedmormonismpodcast.com Twitter @NakedMormonism Facebook https://www.facebook.com/pages/Naked-Mormonism/370003839816311 Patreon http

On this episode, we discuss the Law family. William, his wife Jane, and his brother Wilson, converted to the church in the mid-1830s and moved to the burgeoning city of Nauvoo in 1839. From that point forward, William and Jane were elevated to high-ranking levels of Mormon and city leadership. Joseph Smith and William Law became good friends and coworkers in Nauvoo government and military duties. But, something changed. By late 1843, William began to bristle about how much political influence Joseph Smith was gaining. By January of 1844, William was dropped from the Presidency of the church (Jo’s left-hand man). William, Jane, and Wilson Law eventually became looped together with the dissenter movement within the kingdom. They finally chose to act and formed their own sect of Mormonism in Nauvoo, collected affidavits of those wronged by the Nauvoo leadership and Joseph Smith, and established an adversarial printing press. The Higbees, the Fosters, and the Laws establishing this rival church and expose printin

On this episode, the Fosters, the Higbees, and the Laws in May of 1844 continue at the forefront of our examination. This week we focus in on the Higbee brothers, Chauncey and Francis (Frank). The Higbee families joined the church in 1832 during the Kirtland era before moving to Jackson County, Missouri to join the Mormon settlement there. They were forcefully removed from the county with the rest of the Mormons in late 1833 through early 1834. Francis helps with the Kirtland Temple construction then returns to Missouri to rejoin the rest of the Higbee families. When Joseph Smith, Sidney Rigdon, and the Quorum of Apostles are removed from the Kirtland leadership, Francis and Chauncey join their families in defending the Mormon settlements during the 1838 Missouri-Mormon conflict. Francis Higbee even joins the Danites (Joseph’s underground enforcement squad). Francis and two of his uncles are arraigned in the November Court of Inquiry when the Mormon settlements surrendered. The Higbees were released and helpe

On this episode, we talk about the Fosters, Robert D. and Charles A. Who are they? Why are they important? What did they do? Charles Foster, unfortunately, is a rather obscure historical figure. His brother Robert, however, figures prominently in the Mormon kingdom of Nauvoo from its inception. We talk about the growing divide between Joseph Smith and Robert D. Foster as the Nauvoo church expanded and grew until Charles Foster pulls a pistol on the prophet in broad daylight. What does it all mean? Help us start our Mormon-themed D&D campaign by supporting the show! https://www.patreon.com/nakedmormonism Robert D. Foster https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/person/robert-d-foster Charles A. Foster https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/person/charles-ambrose-foster Robert Foster Duty assignment https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/assignment-from-robert-d-foster-1-july-1842/1 Nauvoo Legion roles https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/back/nauvoo-legion-officers-1841-1844?p=1&highlight=nauvoo%20legion%2

On this episode, we examine the times around General Conference of April 1844. Yes, the King Follett Discourse had been given, among many other interesting talks, but what was going on that may have contributed to it falling out of grand recognition we give it today? We examine the concomitant events of scandal after scandal burning the emptying fuel of the outrage machine. The Higbees, Fosters, and Laws create some problems for the prophet, most notably, they devise an assassination plot for Joseph Smith. Another man, Augustine Spencer, refused arrest by the city marshal, John P. Greene, and Charles A. Foster, one of the conspirators, draws a pistol on Joseph in broad daylight. With everything going on, it’s no wonder the King Follett Discourse wasn’t more noticed at the time it was given. Links: Do you want a Mormon D&D Campaign?! Support the show right here: https://www.patreon.com/nakedmormonism A Voice of Innocence From Nauvoo https://www.churchhistorianspress.org/the-first-fifty-years-of-relief-soc

On this episode, now that we know the man behind the discourse, let’s finally discuss the King Follett Discourse. This is widely known as one of Joseph Smith’s greatest theological sermons culminating 14 years of an evolving and expanding doctrine. From the days of early Mormonism, based on the Book of Mormon and basic Protestant tenets, Joseph Smith had vacuumed up and acquired many fields of philosophy and religious studies and harmonized them with his own. The King Follett Discourse articulated the deepest points of his latest version of Mormon doctrine and taught mysteries which we kept secret from most by 1844. The long-term impact of this discourse has set Mormon doctrine into a class of its own and generated decades of speculative theology from generations of Mormon scholars and historians. Links: Do you want a Mormon D&D Campaign?! Support the show right here: https://www.patreon.com/nakedmormonism King Follett Discourse source material http://www.boap.org/LDS/Parallel/1844/7Apr44.html https://w

On this episode, we take on the remainder of King Follett from his internment in the Columbia, Missouri jail to his death in Nauvoo. He’s acquitted of his robbery charges, arriving in Quincy, Illinois in October 1839 in a completely overcrowded and destitute state. He works with the Mormon refugees to help build Commerce into Nauvoo, build public works projects, construct houses, staff on city committees, and a litany of other services. The Follett family become regular attendees of many active church leadership groups. Louisa Follett joins the Relief Society on its second meeting. Two of King and Louisa’s sons join important missions and the ranks of a Quorum of Seventies. King Follett donates his tithing of time to the Temple Building Committee in addition to being paid by the Temple Committee in vouchers for additional work on the Nauvoo Temple. He, like many others, exchanged his temple vouchers for goods at the Temple Store. Finally, we discuss King Follett’s untimely death at age 55 in March of 1844. He

On this episode, we begin our series about King Follett and the discourse named after him. Who is he? What discourse did he write? Why does every Mormon know the name but not the guy? Very little documentation of his life survives to this day, however, fragmentary evidence has been pieced together to form a biography of King Follett which follows him through the life and times of the Follett family in the early Mormon church under Joseph Smith’s leadership. This series will discuss the man behind the discourse and the theological treatise given at his funeral known as “The King Follett Discourse”. Part one examines the lives of the Folletts from birth, to joining the church, to their life in Missouri, ending with King Follett locked in a Missouri jail while his family made the trip to Quincy, Illinois through the winter of 1838-39. Links: The Man Behind the Discourse: The Biography of King Follett by Joann Follett Mortensen https://gregkofford.com/products/the-man-behind-the-discourse Show links: Website http

On this episode, propaganda flies all directions about the Mormons. A New York Tribune article from January 1844 made waves across the nation with some vicious claims about the Mormon empire in Nauvoo. The article was picked up and reprinted in many news outlets, especially in the cities neighboring Nauvoo. In answer to this, the Quincy Whig received pushback from Mormons for publishing the Tribune article, but the Whig made a commitment to journalistic integrity. A Mormon wrote a letter to the editor of the Whig which they indulged him by publishing it. After all of this, Hyrum Sidekick-Abiff Smith, in the midst of a legal dispute over polygamy and slander, published an article in the Times and Seasons which carved out a future of Mormonism that openly practiced polygamy. Links: COME TO THE #BICYCLEDAY EVENT IN SALT LAKE CITY APRIL 19, 2020!!! https://www.eventbrite.com/e/psychedelics-and-early-mormonism-what-hides-in-plain-sight-tickets-86967244369 Quincy Whig http://www.sidneyrigdon.com/dbroadhu/IL/whig18

On this episode, money issues in Nauvoo become the springboard for a discussion of the Book of the Law of the Lord. What is contained in the enigmatic pages of this unique artifact? What was the purpose of creating it? What happened with the controversy surrounding it? Find out the answers to these questions and more about a rare Mormon artifact you didn’t know you needed to know about! Yes, I know that was clickbaitish, but it’s a really cool book more people should talk about! Also, Apostle Boyd K. Packer didn’t want the world to see it so you know it has to be good! Links: Book of the Law of the Lord (BoLoL) full text https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/the-book-of-the-law-of-the-lord/45 JS 1842 journal included as part of BoLoL https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/journal-december-1841-december-1842/1#full-transcript The Book of the Law of the Lord by Alex D. Smith https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/23292635.pdf?refreqid=excelsior%3A46913c1b0a3f9d0ca5e5348d325ec76d Confessions of a

On this episode, we discuss Joseph Smith’s public and private denials of polygamy. It was a controversial practice in Victorian-era America and he had concluded by the final year of his life that it would lead to the next mass-exodus of Mormons, or possibly the ruin of the sect altogether. Some have used his statements to claim he never engaged in polygamy. We deal with a few of the arguments and discuss the context surrounding his multiple statements against polygamy to inform a skeptical reading of the sources. Yes, he fought polygamy, but only when it got out of his control. We also discuss Jacob Cochran and the free-love sect referred to as the Cochranites, as well as the many parallels between it and Mormonism. Links: Joseph Smith polygamy denials https://faenrandir.github.io/a_careful_examination/joseph-smith-polygamy-denials/ Cochranites https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacob_Cochran Publications about Cochranites http://olivercowdery.com/gathering/JCochran.htm#1834-000 Jacob Cochran legal troubles 1819

On this episode, we get back into our historical timeline. It’s a busy time in Nauvoo, constant accusations of polygamy rage inside and outside the kingdom on the Mississippi. The Council of Fifty are scrambling to name a good Vice President for Jo’s POTUS campaign. Money problems affect every project in the city and more resources are being funneled into the Temple construction project. Church leader, King Follett, was just crushed by a bucket of rocks while digging in a well. Tensions between Nauvoo and the neighboring cities of Carthage and Warsaw were reaching a fever pitch. Property values were skyrocketing but nobody was buying with gold and silver, everything was bartered for or purchased with stocks in failing Nauvoo Companies like the House Association. Crime was at an all-time high and the city court system seemed to exist only to protect those who would obey the prophet and disobey the laws. Laws and ordinances were passed not based on what was best for the city, but upon what Joseph Smith or his c

On this episode, we conclude reading through our recently-published paper in the Journal of Psychedelics Studies on psychedelics in early Mormonism. Parts 1 and 2 established the foundation for what will be discussed in this part 3. We examine entheogens in the early church, the Kirtland-era, and Nauvoo-era endowment practices. Joseph Smith sending missionaries to Texas is viewed through the psychedelic lens in attempting to acquire a steady supply of peyote. After Smith’s death, the sharp drop off of visionary experiences in factions of Mormonism is particularly noteworthy. Frederick M. Smith, grandson of Joseph, practiced use of peyote and even advocated for their use, serving as a direct influence on the early 20th-century psychedelic movement coming out of Harvard. Peyote and entheogen use in modern factions of Mormon-related religions also present some interesting ethical and legal questions. The paper is wrapped up with a conclusion after which we bring on a guest to discuss an event coming 19 April 202

On this episode, we continue reading through our recently published article in the Journal of Psychedelics Studies titled “The Entheogenic Origins of Mormonism: A Working Hypothesis”. In this segment of the paper, we discuss many candidate entheogens Joseph Smith may have employed in the early church as well as the symptomology commonly associated with these various candidates. Also discussed is Luman Walters, an occult mentor of Joseph Smith in the 1820s. We utilize the information established in the candidate psychedelics section to inform a discussion of the first-vision experience in the early 1820s. An entheogenic-lens offers an interesting view into certain passages in the Book of Mormon including multiple instances of death and rebirth symbology, easily interpreted as the common experience of ego-dissolution when using entheogens. Further, the therapeutic effects of mitigating PTSD and depression symptoms may have provided a unique allure to these plant medicines by Joseph, the entire Smith family, and

On this episode, we begin reading through the academic paper recently published in a special edition of the Journal of Psychedelics Studies authored by Robert Beckstead, Bryce Blankenagel, Cody Noconi, and Michael Winkelman. This segment of the paper covers the background of the Smith family, magic and 19th-century American occultism, herbalism, medicine, Indigenous medicine, Free Masonry, and the entheogenic influence in all these fields. It also discusses psychedelics in the Word of Wisdom, the Book of Mormon, and early Mormon sacramental rituals. The increased need for secrecy was realized by Joseph Smith and the entheogenic practices became closed off to non-initiates. Please send any feedback to nakedmormonism@gmail.com. We’d love to hear anything you have to say about the paper. Find the paper here: https://www.academia.edu/40786304/The_entheogenic_origins_of_Mormonism_A_working_hypothesis https://akademiai.com/doi/pdf/10.1556/2054.2019.020 Show links: Website http://nakedmormonismpodcast.com Twitter