Did anyone have a hard time leaving Joseph Smith, even after leaving the church?

At some point in my life, the weight of evidence became overwhelming against the church: Lamanite DNA and the Book of Abraham, institutional racism, sexism, and homophobia, along with a bizarre devotion to right wing politics. It became clear that the church was not divine, so I left.

But even after reaching the conclusion that the church was not true, it was still hard for me to reject Joseph Smith outright. In my mind, I saw him as a sincere, but mistaken man, or perhaps even a fallen prophet. But try as as I might, I could not bring myself to criticize him directly.

I've since changed. These days, I think I see him pretty clearly, but when I look back, I wonder why it was so hard to simply identify him as the perverted, power-hungry, con man that he was. What is this pull Joseph had over my mind, even years after leaving the church? Am I the only one this happened to?

Joseph Smith has no pull over anything. The way the church presents him is naive and ludicrous. So after many years of pounding these ideas into our heads, that Smith was "a young man seeking answers" and "honestly wanting to know which church to join" we buy into it. These ideas and feelings settle in deeply in our minds and they're hard to shake. But looks like we both got over it.

Well said.

Many times during our years in the church, we heard fervent testimonies about the inspired, almost God-like qualities of the "prophet" Joseph Smith. For example, what about that story of the mob who tarred and feathered Joseph, but then he got up the next day and preached forgiveness. It makes him seem above the rest of us, but only later did we discover that he married 14 year old girls and other men's wives. The image of Joseph produced by the myth-makers at LDS Inc. is far different from the reality.

Never.

In fact I have difficulty letting go of some doctrine and some historical teachings... but as soon as they are tied back to Joseph Smith I dismiss the matters immediately.

I cannot sing "Praise to the Man" and find any reference to Joseph Smith abrasive.

My doubt set in the moment someone I heard a very well-read member tell me that "Joseph Smith was a whoremonger." The next question I asked lead me down a path of difficult truth and enlightenment... "why do you say that?"

For the first time in 35 years of membership in the TSCC I was schooled in the fact that Smith had 30 plus wives, some were very young and most offensive, some were married to other men.

I reject him and the foundations he laid that other corrupt men built the current church upon.

God, Jesus Christ (or simply the message of Christ) and the ability to feel the truth through the Holy Ghost still seem true to me. Simply because I have prayed to God, wish I could be like Christ and have felt the confirmation of a spiritual power.

Those three things have nothing to do with the LDS Church. They stand alone and apart from Joseph Smith and the so-called priesthood of God.

DT

My exit from the church would have been easier if I had gotten information about Joseph's "whoremongering" a little earlier in the process. For me, the Lamanite DNA evidence was the opener. I didn't even encounter information about Joseph's 30+ wives until after I already left the church.

In 2007 I saw [was dragged to on a vacation to Utah] a movie the cult had put out about old horndog Joseph's myth in a fancy building across from T Square...in it he is a blonde handsome sweet cutie pie MARRIED TO ONE WIFE. I asked a TBM relative where is the mentiin of his other wives...he said they didn't have time to mention them! Yeah, that's the ticket!

He was an evil power and babe hungry CON MAN with a cult built around him. There have been other cult figures like him, nowadays and in the 19th century there were a lot. He is one whose cult followers managed to isolate themselves [Utah] long enough to build a lasting cult [otherwise known as a religion]. That is all he was.

He was also a COWARD, but that's a whole other thread.

No. Joseph Smith was the first thing that I left with purpose.

My father was a Marine Corps Drill Sergeant. He was your basic man's man. His biggest flaw, that I could see, was that he couldn't mention the name of Joseph Smith without doing one of two things; one, he would get that 'mormon frog' in his throat that let you know he was close to crying out loud because of the spirit, or two, he would use a string of beautifying titles such as 'our most humble, blessed, and honored servant, Joseph Smith'.

When I let go of mormonism I let go of it all, almost at once. But not all things were equal, I let Joe go first.