Whitewashing the destruction of the printing press

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Everybody Wang Chung
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Re: Whitewashing the destruction of the printing press

Post by Everybody Wang Chung »

Kishkumen wrote:
Sun Apr 19, 2026 11:55 am
Destroying the printing press was a huge mistake. Polygamy was bad enough. That led to the Expositor. Destroying the press of the Expositor was fatal.
It’s a tragic irony that in a movement built on revelation, nobody saw that particular ending coming.
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Kishkumen
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Re: Whitewashing the destruction of the printing press

Post by Kishkumen »

Everybody Wang Chung wrote:
Mon Apr 20, 2026 5:23 pm
It’s a tragic irony that in a movement built on revelation, nobody saw that particular ending coming.
I think it is difficult to avoid the conclusion that, in the later Nauvoo period, Joseph Smith had become somewhat megalomaniacal and paranoid.
"He disturbs the laws of his country, he forces himself upon women, and he puts men to death without trial.” ~Otanes on the monarch, Herodotus Histories 3.80.
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Res Ipsa
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Re: Whitewashing the destruction of the printing press

Post by Res Ipsa »

Didn't Oakes write a law review article justifying the destruction as the abatement of a public nuisance?
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Re: Whitewashing the destruction of the printing press

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Res Ipsa wrote:
Mon Apr 20, 2026 10:07 pm
Didn't Oakes write a law review article justifying the destruction as the abatement of a public nuisance?
Oaks, D. H. (1965). The suppression of the Nauvoo Expositor.
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Re: Whitewashing the destruction of the printing press

Post by Kishkumen »

Res Ipsa wrote:
Mon Apr 20, 2026 10:07 pm
Didn't Oakes write a law review article justifying the destruction as the abatement of a public nuisance?
Yep, he sure did. Groan. Imagine what the country would be like if this kind of opinion prevailed.

What am I saying? We are living through something not that dissimilar.
"He disturbs the laws of his country, he forces himself upon women, and he puts men to death without trial.” ~Otanes on the monarch, Herodotus Histories 3.80.
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Re: Whitewashing the destruction of the printing press

Post by Equality »

drumdude wrote:
Mon Apr 20, 2026 10:28 pm
Res Ipsa wrote:
Mon Apr 20, 2026 10:07 pm
Didn't Oakes write a law review article justifying the destruction as the abatement of a public nuisance?
Oaks, D. H. (1965). The suppression of the Nauvoo Expositor.
Worse. He turned it into an entire book, which I read and used to own in the Before Times.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carthage_Conspiracy
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Re: Whitewashing the destruction of the printing press

Post by Res Ipsa »

drumdude wrote:
Mon Apr 20, 2026 10:28 pm
Res Ipsa wrote:
Mon Apr 20, 2026 10:07 pm
Didn't Oakes write a law review article justifying the destruction as the abatement of a public nuisance?
Oaks, D. H. (1965). The suppression of the Nauvoo Expositor.
Thanks, drumdude.
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Re: Whitewashing the destruction of the printing press

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Kishkumen wrote:
Tue Apr 21, 2026 12:05 pm
Res Ipsa wrote:
Mon Apr 20, 2026 10:07 pm
Didn't Oakes write a law review article justifying the destruction as the abatement of a public nuisance?
Yep, he sure did. Groan. Imagine what the country would be like if this kind of opinion prevailed.

What am I saying? We are living through something not that dissimilar.
I'd say that one could reasonably draw parallels with the current attempt to brand the American left as international terrorists.
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Re: Whitewashing the destruction of the printing press

Post by Kishkumen »

Res Ipsa wrote:
Tue Apr 21, 2026 4:37 pm
I'd say that one could reasonably draw parallels with the current attempt to brand the American left as international terrorists.
Indeed. In my delightful state, the legislature has empowered the governor with the unilateral power to label any group a terrorist organization.

The LDS Church could not shut up Dehlin by ex-communicating him, so now they are advancing their fight to the courts to get him to shut up.

We probably need to face the fact that many people cannot handle reasonable freedom of speech. Their insecurity and intolerance push them to take whatever measures they can to shut up those who disagree with them.
"He disturbs the laws of his country, he forces himself upon women, and he puts men to death without trial.” ~Otanes on the monarch, Herodotus Histories 3.80.
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