Daniel Peterson wrote:"My" LDS Church, of course, is the Church inhabited by several million believers whose attitudes, I suspect, would be far less sympathetic to and tolerant of your views than I am.
I think this statement is completely false.
In our LDS Church, open contempt for Joseph Smith is, yes, a very negative thing.
One man's "open contempt" can be another's "legitimate criticism."
That doesn't mean being fawningly uncritical ....
That's exactly what has happened in today's institutional Church.
... but it does suggest respect.
Bedding a teenage servant girl doesn't "suggest respect," even for Joseph.
I regard Richard Bushman and his recent often-critical warts-and-all biography of the Prophet as models in is regard, and Richard has said both publicly and to me privately that his recent multiyear period of intense engagement with Joseph has, in fact, increased his respect for the man even while underlining the fact that Joseph was a man.
But it's clear from the bio that Bushman has real problems with some of Joseph's actions, and neither condones nor "respects" those actions.