Thread by @LDSdiscussions

Now that we've had three major attacks on doubters and critics by church leaders in recent weeks/months, I wanted to outline #WhyILeftMormonism and why the problems are real and why the church is working so hard to keep members from looking beyond correlated church materials.

If Joseph Smith was a prophet and the Mormon church is true, the following would have happened:

1. We would see that his Book of Abraham translation matches the papyrus.

Instead we learn that we have the source material, and it's almost entirely wrong.

ldsdiscussions.com/bookofabraham

If Joseph Smith was a prophet and the LDS church is true, continued:

2. DNA from Native Americans would prove they were from Israel and thus Lamanites as Joseph claimed God told him in the Book of Mormon *and* revelation.

Native Americans came from Asia.
ldsdiscussions.com/ldsessay-dna

If Joseph Smith was a prophet and the LDS church is true, continued:

3. There would not be the Deutero-Isaiah writings in the Book of Mormon that were written after Lehi left with the 'gold plates.'

Joseph didn't know there were multiple Isaiah authors.

ldsdiscussions.com/deuteroisaiah

If the LDS church is true, continued:

4. We would not have a *BYU study* that shows Joseph Smith plagiarized Adam Clarke's Bible commentaries for his 'Translation of the Bible.'

Joseph used that translation as justification for polygamy, by the way.

ldsdiscussions.com/jst-problems

If Joseph Smith was a prophet and the LDS church is true, continued:

5. The priesthood restoration would not have been retrofitted years later to add the story of John the Baptist and the introduction of the Melchizedek priesthood, an idea from Campbell.

ldsdiscussions.com/priesthood-tim…

If Joseph Smith was a prophet and the LDS church is true, continued:

6. We would not be able to track almost every idea Joseph introduced to a source he was familiar with, including the multiple levels of heaven, temple ceremony, word of wisdom, etc
ldsdiscussions.com/summary (#22)

If Joseph Smith was a prophet and the LDS church is true, continued:

7. Leaders today would have some sense of discernment. Instead they claimed the Kinderhook Plates were real until science proved they were a hoax in *1981* to protect Joseph's legacy.

ldsdiscussions.com/kinderhook-pla…

If Joseph Smith was a prophet and the LDS church is true, continued:

8. The church would not need to teach the story of the transfiguration of Brigham Young, which was such a monumental event that not a single person or paper wrote about it for a decade.

ldsdiscussions.com/faithpromoting

If Joseph Smith was a prophet and the LDS church is true, continued:

9. Joseph would have received a revelation about polygamy and polyandry before he started practicing it. He was married to over 20 women without Emma's knowledge before the revelation.

ldsdiscussions.com/polygamy-nauvoo

If Joseph Smith was a prophet and the LDS church is true, continued:

9a. He would've never violated his own revelation on polygamy by marrying the wives of faithful, living members. Taking away someone's wife *for eternity* is the greatest punishment you can do and is abhorrent.

If Joseph Smith was a prophet and the LDS church is true, continued:

10. The church would be ahead of society on equality and love for all. The church claimed the ban on blacks was *doctrine from God* until after the Civil Rights movement. So sickening.

ldsdiscussions.com/priesthood-ban…

If the Mormon church is true:

11. They would be honest. Their Gospel Topics essays wouldn't throw out possibilities that they know can't hold up to scrutiny, and they'd never punish gays/blacks/women with harmful policies when they themselves admit they do not speak to God.

I hope this thread outlines #WhyILeftMormonism and gives enough links and info that you can see the church sources for yourself.

If the church is true, it will still be true when you do the deep dive into these issues. If it's not, you're still better off finding out the truth.