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The editor of Daily Wire commented on X that Mormons were not alone in having shady beginnings, which prompted a response from "Sister Slay" that Mormonism has uniquely un-shady beginnings. Then the editor compounded his "error" by suggesting that Joseph Smith's treasure digging demonstrated that he did have a shady background. This unfortunate airing of historical fact caused a mega Mormon meltdown in which numerous saints canceled their subscription to Daily Wire and deleted the app from their phones.

All of this was covered with glee by the heavyweight intellectuals at Ward Radio, who cheered on Sister Slay in her transparently obtuse response to the initial milquetoast observation that Mormonism's origins have shady aspects, and celebrated the many Mormons who canceled their subscriptions to Daily Wire. https://youtu.be/oqZmaSB146Q?si=oMJo7B9F0b0JSU_3

On the one hand, I don't give a crap. I don't give a toss about Daily Wire, and the level of stupidity that was precipitated by the editor's attempt at showing sympathy to Mormons by pointing out that it is not just Mormonism that has some controversy in its past is mind-numbing. It just goes to show you what a bunch of snowflakes these MAGA Mormons are. "How dare you suggest that anyone could call the origins of our pure, innocent, virtuous religion shady!" "Treasure digging is most definitely not a scam; you're just recycling tired anti-Mormon tropes!"

Then the Ward Radio geniuses proceed to correct the editor by mirroring his observation back to him as though they were rebutting it: "Oh yeah, well Moses was engaging in cultural appropriation!" "Oh yeah, well stupid woke people thought that Donald Trump was shady!"

O. M. G.

Watching Ward Radio is like watching Dumb and Dumber reworked into the form of a serious, and boring, documentary. I need to go wash this out of my brain lest I lose anymore grey matter to teh stoooopid. Before I take soap to my neurons, I just want to note that treasure digging was perceived to be shady in the early 19th century, and these dopes were really lucky that Cabot Phillips did not get onto the topic of polygamy. Or, rather, Daily Wire is lucky that he did not make the obvious observation that lots of people, including many Mormons, find polygamy shady. Daily Wire would have lost a lot more subscriptions if it had been taken to that length.

The editor was not dunking on Mormons by making this point. The editor was rather pointing out that people have little justification to target Mormons for having a shady origin story, when many other religions could be criticized on the same, or at least a similar, basis.

DERP.

Wow! The Daily Wire editor tossed a perfectly good life raft to the Mormon community by saying, "Hey, your beginnings might be a little weird, but so are everyone else's!" and was promptly met with a barrage of musket fire.

The fact that Ward Radio is celebrating the attacks on the editor is a perfect example of a group so blind in their insecurity they’ll happily trample a good-faith ally in the process.

Everybody Wang Chung wrote: ↑

Wed Aug 27, 2025 3:22 am

Wow! The Daily Wire editor tossed a perfectly good life raft to the Mormon community by saying, "Hey, your beginnings might be a little weird, but so are everyone else's!" and was promptly met with a barrage of musket fire.

The fact that Ward Radio is celebrating the attacks on the editor is a perfect example of a group so blind in their insecurity they’ll happily trample a good-faith ally in the process.

Exactly. And this is the kind of thing they savage the "woke mob" and their "circular firing squad" over.

I mean, imagine being that poor editor, thinking naïvely that he would inject a particle of reality into the oblivious, thick mind of "Sister Slay," only to see a mass emigration from his publication. That poor, poor oaf. Doctor Scratch should publish an article on this debacle. I think it goes without saying that had this editor read Doctor Scratch's oeuvre, he would not have mistaken the LDS MAGA folk for a group of rational, self-reflecting individuals.

The more unbelievable thing is that they could be expected to react to his comments by saying something appropriate like, "Thank you for noting that we are not alone in being persecuted for the uniqueness of our religion!" Or, "Joseph Smith may have started as a treasure digger, and it is true that some people found that shady, but we know from our spiritual witness of the Book of Mormon that it is the Word of God!"

Instead, they go apoplectic with rage and cancel their subscriptions.

Ward radio doesn’t have any reputation to put on the line. They can just spew whatever they want and know they’ll get clicks if they yell it loudly enough.

It’s the post-Trump era, and Mormonism is leaning hard into it.

drumdude wrote: ↑

Wed Aug 27, 2025 3:32 am

Ward radio doesn’t have any reputation to put on the line. They can just spew whatever they want and know they’ll get clicks if they yell it loudly enough.

It’s the post-Trump era, and Mormonism is leaning hard into it.

Indeed. Being the old fossil I am, I still find it wondrous to behold the pointless stupidity and self-defeating tribalism. Everything about the event was mired in stupidity, inaccuracy, empty rage and equally empty high-fives, and precipitous action. It was a true cluster-eff.

It will never cease to amaze me how people can get so apoplectic with rage over someone merely telling the truth.

Dr. Shades wrote: ↑

Wed Aug 27, 2025 6:50 am

It will never cease to amaze me how people can get so apoplectic with rage over someone merely telling the truth.

IKR? Now, I understand that a lot of LDS people may not know that Smith was a treasure digger, or they may have imbibed one of the apologetic explanations that seeks to mitigate the damage this fact does to Smith's memory--the Ward Radio boys doubled down on these explanations in response to Phillips, but it is silly to ignore the plain fact that treasure digging had and has a dodgy reputation. Anyone who tells you they can find your lost objects using supernatural divination of some kind is going to be viewed by many as a scammer. To deny that treasure digging has such an image is silly.

drumdude wrote: ↑

Wed Aug 27, 2025 3:32 am

Ward radio doesn’t have any reputation to put on the line. They can just spew whatever they want and know they’ll get clicks if they yell it loudly enough.

It’s the post-Trump era, and Mormonism is leaning hard into it.

After one of their host's disastrous Jubilee appearance they’ve leaned hard into being as obtuse and obnoxious as possible.

I don't think treasure-digging and glass-looking are big deals for modern non-Mormons. People just assume that everyone was really superstitious in those days, so those activities seem dumb but innocent. They don't look good on Smith's CV as a candidate for prophet, but they don't necessarily make him look like a crook.

It's the polygamy and the statutory rape that make Joseph Smith look like a total slime ball to modern non-Mormons. Abusing his authority to shut down a newspaper in order to cover up his crimes also looks really bad. Those parts of Smith's life aren't just "shady". They're despicable.

There's no point in even talking about his other failings. They're no big deal in comparison.

Physics Guy wrote: ↑

Thu Aug 28, 2025 11:06 am

I don't think treasure-digging and glass-looking are big deals for modern non-Mormons. People just assume that everyone was really superstitious in those days, so those activities seem dumb but innocent. They don't look good on Smith's CV as a candidate for prophet, but they don't necessarily make him look like a crook.

It's the polygamy and the statutory rape that make Joseph Smith look like a total slime ball to modern non-Mormons. Abusing his authority to shut down a newspaper in order to cover up his crimes also looks really bad. Those parts of Smith's life aren't just "shady". They're despicable.

There's no point in even talking about his other failings. They're no big deal in comparison.

You make a good point. While it is true that a fair number of people do see peddlers of the paranormal as con artists, it is by no means the case a universal prejudice. Some people just find them gullible or silly. The polygamy, on the other hand, is viewed with almost universal opprobrium. Which raises the question yet again, why get bent out of shape over people poking at Joseph's small-time peccadilloes? As a distraction from the real problem?