Joseph used a hat to translate because his eyes were tired...

[drumdude]

What's the big deal about a hat?

Ask Rusty Nelson and Daniel Peterson what the problem is. They can't seem to bear actually putting the face inside the hat. If the faithful can't be asked to take it seriously, why should the rest of the world?

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[Shulem]

It's silly and stupid and has no place in our society today when we are enlightened against such trickery and madness. Welcome to the year 2021. Get with it!

I get it, I guess. But this was the 1800s, not 2021.

Also do you know how hard it is to make up a coherent, internally consistent story when your head is in a hat?

I'm glad you get it and guess right because it's crazy cultish stuff to be doing in any age especially by someone who claims to be enlightened -- whether it be 1800's or 2000's, it's crazy and irrational behavior. It's a sure sign of fraud. The gold plates (there were none) were NOT really translated. He didn't translate anything! He told stories while he breathed in his own air and got higher than a kite doing it. His hat was quite the trick and he used it as a prop and no doubt to store notes that he could read with light seeping in to illuminate the paper.

Smith was not normal. He's was an obsessive liar and made up anything and everything in order to dupe and con his listeners.

And no, I don't know how hard it is to make up a story with my head in a hat. I've never done that and never will. That's what crazy people do.

[drumdude]

According to LDS depictions on the translation, Joseph had plenty of light to be able to read pieces of paper inside the hat.

[Shulem]

According to LDS depictions on the translation, Joseph had plenty of light to be able to read pieces of paper inside the hat.

Indeed, it was lighted according to his needs. It was his prop and tool in which to help construct and tell his story.

DCP is not concerned with how many "millimeters" when nobody is talking about millimeters but an actual representation of what really happened. DCP is trying to get his listeners to take the eye off the ball (hat) because he is a natural born liar. That is what he does. That is what he loves. DCP loves to lie just like Joseph Smith did. They are the same in that respect.

[Craig Paxton]

Consider a smartphone or e-reader, for instance. Their screens are very difficult to read out in the sunlight and need to be shaded. Or consider your personal computer. You probably don’t place it directly in front of a window where bright light will be streaming into your face. You need contrasting darkness so that you can see the screen without strain, and especially so if you’ll be working on it for lengthy periods. Otherwise, your eyes will tire and your head will ache.

<snip>

Evidence indicates that Joseph dictated the Book of Mormon over the course of three months (or perhaps somewhat less). His scribes needed light in order to work, but it’s quite understandable that Joseph sought to reduce the fatigue of his eyes by using a hat to exclude the ambient light.

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/danpeters ... atter.html

I've heard it all now.
What a shame the Exec. Co. Prod. of "Witnesses" chose not to embrace this explanation for why Joseph always had his face in a hat when using the rock with the hat. Nor did they choose to show Joseph with his face actually in the hat, nor did they choose to use a white hat as Joseph did. Why is the Exec. Co. Prod. afraid to put their money where their mouth is?

If the Movie had actually shown Smith with face buried in Hat as history records...it would have looked even more bizarre for believing movie goers and damaged faith. The whitewash continues. As Jack Nicholson said You can't handle the Truth

[Shulem]

These are factors in which surely helped Smith conjure up his stories by using the white hat:

• Quietly hyperventilate through self-asphyxia in order to relax and get high.

• Refer to notes in the bottom of the WHITE hat specially prepared with a slot/slit to work at will.

[Shulem]

• Refer to notes in the bottom of the WHITE hat specially prepared with a slot/slit to work at will.

For example: The introduction of the Nephite money system.

[drumdude]

Placing and removing the rock from the hat was a natural time to turn to the next cheat sheet.

Also ignore the stories from Joseph's family that he could make up endless stories about ancient people to entertain them for hours at night when he was a child.


Chiasmus! We can still believe in Chiasmus, right?? Put that in the missionary handbook to impress all the new members we're gaining in Africa.

[Doctor Steuss]

Interestingly, my phone has a daylight brightness setting that allows me to see the screen perfectly fine outside in direct sunlight. It also has an anti-fatigue setting that filters out the spectrums of light that generally contribute to eye fatigue.

Hopefully if there’s a need for another seer stone at some point, the deity development team will outsource the technology to Samsung.

[Equality]

It's silly and stupid and has no place in our society today when we are enlightened against such trickery and madness. Welcome to the year 2021. Get with it!

I get it, I guess. But this was the 1800s, not 2021.

Also do you know how hard it is to make up a coherent, internally consistent story when your head is in a hat?

I imagine it would be exceedingly difficult, which may explain why the Book of Mormon is so incoherent and internally inconsistent.

Wait, you're not arguing that the Book of Mormon is coherent and internally consistent, are you?