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While Joseph Smith’s history as a serial sexual predator and fraud is well-documented, the sheer scale of his physical violence is startling to me. It appears Joseph had a hair-trigger temper that turned any hint of criticism into a catalyst for violence.

https://storage.googleapis.com/wzukuser ... rophet.pdf

Partial List of Violent Acts and Threats Personal Altercations and Physical Assaults

• David Patten: Slapped his face and kicked him out of his yard for questioning his relationship with Fanny Alger.
• David Stafford: Whipped Stafford and six of his friends in New York.
• Baptist Minister: Whipped him in Kirtland until he "begged," boxed his ears, and kicked him into the street.
• Josiah Butterfield: Kicked the Seventies President out of his house and into the street.
• Calvin Stoddard: Assaulted his brother-in-law in Kirtland (legal charges were filed).
• William Smith: Engaged in a "brutal fight" with his own brother, which Joseph lost.
• Wrestling Injuries: Tore Sidney Rigdon’s coat while throwing him from a ring and broke Howard Coray’s leg during a match.
• Other Fights: Engaged in a fistfight with Ezra Thayer and was defeated by a workman in a field while intoxicated.
• Tax Collector: Assaulted a tax collector from Carthage.
• Wife Beater: Beat Emma.
• Grandison Newell: Charged with conspiracy to murder Newell, allegedly telling associates his death would be "justifiable in the sight of God."
• Governor Lilburn Boggs: Reportedly claimed responsibility for sending Porter Rockwell to assassinate the Governor, stating he "wounded him instead of sending him to Hell."
• William Law & William Marks: Allegedly conspired to have these men "removed" because they had become dangerous to the church.
• Philastus Hurlbut: Issued a formal "handwritten curse" calling for his physical destruction and bones to be cast to the wind.
• Extermination Speech: Approved and published a speech threatening a "war of extermination" against Missouri neighbors.
• Justice Adam Black: Threatened Black’s life at his home with a force of over 100 armed men.
• The Danite Manifesto: Signed a death threat against former associates (including Oliver Cowdery and David Whitmer), forcing them to flee.
• Missouri War: Commanded the Danite forces during the burning and pillaging of homes and municipal buildings in Gallatin, Missouri.
• Hiram Kimball: Threatened to kill Kimball for refusing to blow up riverboats that avoided city fees.
• Nauvoo Expositor: Allegedly punched a security guard during the mob destruction of the newspaper press.
• Carthage Jail: Shot at his attackers with a pepper-box pistol during the final skirmish of his life, potentially killing or wounding more than one person.

This is why the apologists love him so much, he could do everything they can't do.

Engaged in a fistfight with Ezra Thayer and was defeated by a workman in a field while intoxicated.

sounds about right. A drunken low-life who got whooped. Oh, it was easy to beat up Emma. +1 for the apologists for that.

Gadianton wrote: ↑

Sun Apr 05, 2026 3:21 am

This is why the apologists love him so much, he could do everything they can't do.

Engaged in a fistfight with Ezra Thayer and was defeated by a workman in a field while intoxicated.

sounds about right. A drunken low-life who got whooped. Oh, it was easy to beat up Emma. +1 for the apologists for that.

You’re spot on, Dean. The Afore's hair-trigger temper is legendary. Between his decades-long grudges and his desire to physically assault Bill Maher in a restaurant, it’s clear that if he thought he could get away with it, he wouldn't hesitate to get violent with anyone he considers an enemy.

Everybody Wang Chung wrote: ↑

Sun Apr 05, 2026 7:47 pm

Gadianton wrote: ↑

Sun Apr 05, 2026 3:21 am

This is why the apologists love him so much, he could do everything they can't do.



sounds about right. A drunken low-life who got whooped. Oh, it was easy to beat up Emma. +1 for the apologists for that.

You’re spot on, Dean. The Afore's hair-trigger temper is legendary. Between his decades-long grudges and his desire to physically assault Bill Maher in a restaurant, it’s clear that if he thought he could get away with it, he wouldn't hesitate to get violent with anyone he considers an enemy.

Don't forget too, that when women abstained from becoming his new plural wife, he throttled them verbally calling them all kinds of vicious and demeaning names, and making up gossipy crap tearing them down and tearing their lives apart, Sarah Pratt being one example off the top of my head.

Philo Sofee wrote: ↑

Sun Apr 05, 2026 8:02 pm

Everybody Wang Chung wrote: ↑

Sun Apr 05, 2026 7:47 pm

You’re spot on, Dean. The Afore's hair-trigger temper is legendary. Between his decades-long grudges and his desire to physically assault Bill Maher in a restaurant, it’s clear that if he thought he could get away with it, he wouldn't hesitate to get violent with anyone he considers an enemy.

Don't forget too, that when women abstained from becoming his new plural wife, he throttled them verbally calling them all kinds of vicious and demeaning names, and making up gossipy crap tearing them down and tearing their lives apart, Sarah Pratt being one example off the top of my head.

Agreed. Joseph was a total sociopath. He manufactured baseless, disgusting and vitriolic gossip to tear these women’s lives apart and ensure they would be outcasts in the community. Sarah Pratt is just one example out of many. He didn’t just disrespect her, he try to ruin her entire reputation simply because he couldn’t control her. It was the ultimate sexual predator/douchebag move. And he did it over and over and over. If Joseph couldn’t own them, he did his best to destroy them.

“DCP” wrote:I think I've already told this story, but, given the juxtaposition of the Austrian composer Mahler and the execrable Bill Maher, it seems apropos:

My wife and I were dining in an open air restaurant in Vienna with my brother and his wife and a friend about three years ago when I heard a very familiar voice. There, standing just a few feet away and chattering with a man and a woman, was Bill Maher. I had just begun my bowl of Hungarian goulash, and I resisted the temptation to pour it over his head. Whenever people describe me as an unscrupulous and mean-sprited apologist, they should take that story into account and give me some credit, because the temptation was strong, and justified.

Have you guys considered that violence within Mormonism is completely fine as long as it’s justified in the mind of the violent person?

There is a God, and when God tells you to cut off Laban's head, you just do it.

drumdude wrote: ↑

Mon Apr 06, 2026 7:44 pm

“DCP” wrote:I think I've already told this story, but, given the juxtaposition of the Austrian composer Mahler and the execrable Bill Maher, it seems apropos:

My wife and I were dining in an open air restaurant in Vienna with my brother and his wife and a friend about three years ago when I heard a very familiar voice. There, standing just a few feet away and chattering with a man and a woman, was Bill Maher. I had just begun my bowl of Hungarian goulash, and I resisted the temptation to pour it over his head. Whenever people describe me as an unscrupulous and mean-sprited apologist, they should take that story into account and give me some credit, because the temptation was strong, and justified.

Have you guys considered that violence within Mormonism is completely fine as long as it’s justified in the mind of the violent person?

There is a God, and when God tells you to cut off Laban's head, you just do it.

This reminds me of Nibley's talk regarding Laban.

Well, I told the story of cutting off the head of Laban there, which has always shocked everybody as being immoral.

Well, it is. It shocked Nephi, too. He had to argue with himself for an hour. He wouldn't do it (I'll tell you about that when we get to it).

But anyway, these boys were worried. I could hear murmurs all over the class. They didn't like this story of cutting off Laban's head like that.

Fayek Salim raised his hand and said, "Mr. Nibley, there is something very wrong about this story; this is not a good story. When he found Laban lying in the street like that, why did he wait so long to cut off his head? That doesn't ring true—any Arab would have done it like that, of course.

Everybody Wang Chung wrote: ↑

Sun Apr 05, 2026 7:47 pm

Gadianton wrote: ↑

Sun Apr 05, 2026 3:21 am

This is why the apologists love him so much, he could do everything they can't do.

sounds about right. A drunken low-life who got whooped. Oh, it was easy to beat up Emma. +1 for the apologists for that.

You’re spot on, Dean. The Afore's hair-trigger temper is legendary. Between his decades-long grudges and his desire to physically assault Bill Maher in a restaurant, it’s clear that if he thought he could get away with it, he wouldn't hesitate to get violent with anyone he considers an enemy.

There are varieties of violence that are not physical. And I think there is some variation amongst the Mopologists in terms of the extent to which they are excited about violence (in all its forms), but there can be no question that they *do* enjoy it. Re: the tidbit concerning Emma--what was it that Schryver used to say about her? And then there are the accounts of Midgley rather viciously slapping women on the back.

As to the Afore--does he have a temper? Of course he does. One example would be him loudly telling B. Hodges to "go to hell!" at the FAIR Conference. And you can see signs of this temper in more subtle ways, too, such as the banning of various critics from the Comments section of SeN. (He often seems to reflexively ban people--like he is angry in the moment and bans them and then has to backpedal when people ask about "shadow banning.")

But I will never forget my introduction to him, and, by extension, to Mopologetics: it was watching him engage in what can really only be described as sadistic mockery of the people on RfM. You have to remember: many of the people on RfM were reeling. They'd lost their faith and were looking for answers and for support and community, and here was the Afore, yukking it up for his audience at the old FAIR board, ridiculing people who were going through one of the most painful things that a person can experience. It was quite sickening. And not only that, he had harvested a "dossier" of quotations from various RfM posters and he admitted that he kept this "archive" of quotes in the hopes of later publicly humiliating these people. In short: it was the behavior of a cruel and sadistic bully. That is, on some level, fundamentally who he is, and *that* was the initial reason why he wound up on my radar--and not some reason having "to do with race," as he said not long ago. And when he has been confronted with this kind of criticism--i.e., about his bullying and cruelty--his only real answer has been, "Golly gee, I have a sense of humor!" Yeah--no kidding. And it's a sadistic, mean-spirited, cruel kind of humor that finds satisfaction in inflicting pain on people: of cutting people down, ridiculing them, trying to make them look dumb and sub-human.

*That*, more than anything, is why he's managed to make hundreds of enemies over the years.

Rivendale wrote: ↑

Mon Apr 06, 2026 9:02 pm

drumdude wrote: ↑

Mon Apr 06, 2026 7:44 pm

Have you guys considered that violence within Mormonism is completely fine as long as it’s justified in the mind of the violent person?

There is a God, and when God tells you to cut off Labans head, you just do it.

This reminds me of Nibley's talk regarding Laban.

Well, I told the story of cutting off the head of Laban there, which has always shocked everybody as being immoral.

Well, it is. It shocked Nephi, too. He had to argue with himself for an hour. He wouldn't do it (I'll tell you about that when we get to it).

But anyway, these boys were worried. I could hear murmurs all over the class. They didn't like this story of cutting off Laban's head like that.

Fayek Salim raised his hand and said, "Mr. Nibley, there is something very wrong about this story; this is not a good story. When he found Laban lying in the street like that, why did he wait so long to cut off his head? That doesn't ring true—any Arab would have done it like that, of course.

That’s the perfect apologetic story in a nutshell. The church wins both ways. It masterfully transforms a problem into a double plus good win. The inherent contradiction from having it both ways is barely even noticeable.

Fistfights, wrestling matches, and “settling things physically” were normal male behavior in the place/time Joseph Smith grew up in. He was physically strong and competitive.

He was also quick tempered. The question is whether or not he was a violent/malevolent man in his very nature or whether or not his behaviors simply conformed with the norms of his time.

Another thing to consider. Some of the incidents referred to are disputed and/or come from hostile sources. Most people would admit to the fact that Joseph Smith was subject to and attacked by bitter ex-members and political enemies...and others...who may have had a motive(s) to exaggerate.

Also, some incidents listed are very possibly misunderstandings and/or 'reframes' by later readers (third person recreations/accounts).

Folklore comes in there somewhere too... (biggest fish!! stories).

Obviously, critics, such as those on this board, are going to paint Joseph Smith a certain way with broad brush strokes.

Oh, and wars of words were not uncommon. A little different application/format than today, however.

Joseph Smith was indeed a human being.

Regards,
MG