I've been reading it, and while he seems thorough, he definitely sugar coats. I'm only about 1/4 of the way into it, and I'm not sure I want to finish it. Anyone found anything worthwhile in it?

My wife found it testimony building..

outofthere Wrote:

> he definitely sugar coats.

That is why I haven't read it. Just give me the facts. I will add my own sugar. And I take my coffee black.

I wanted the truth too. I was hoping there was actually someone in the Church who could be objective, but I got really mad when he explained (as fact, not as theory) that the Book of Abraham transcription manuscripts were created by O. Cowdery and W.W. Phelps as a means of understanding Egyptian and had nothing to do with Joe Smith's translation. There is zero evidence for that. Smith always used scribes. But this time there is this great big story about how Smith was giving the brethren interested a chance to translate and work things out for themselves. What a load of waffle!

I read about half of it. I felt like I was wasting my time. It was very obvious that he was sugar coating anything that might make the church or JS look bad. I was looking for the truth, the whole truth. I can go to church and get sugar, fluff, and half truths.

Tried to talk a few TBM friends into reading it and they refused simply becuase I found it at the local library.

Sure there's a fair amount of sugar coating but I didn't find it nearly as bad as some of the other "faith promoting" fluff books.

I did. It has been awhile, since I read that drivel. I used it on the mission to destroy other missionaries testimonies.

Oooh. A missionary busting other missionaries' BS buttons. Right on.

I got about halfway through. I underlined alot of the parts that made Joseph Smith seem like an asshole. It's there, but it's hidden in the language. If you're reading for content you just get this poor sob story about how he has this horrible, persecuted life. I stopped reading that crap; there's so much more interesting books out there on the topic.

...when you can read a scholarly history book like NMKMH instead.

Unless you want to please the Bretheren, of course.

I finally got my own copy last year, and I was surprised how much information it contains for a book published in 1945. I don't know what Bushman's book offers that you can't get from Brodie. Why settle for a whitewash?

I think Bushman is trying to "innoculate" the TBM masses by bringing up the more disturbing issues of Smith's behavior. He goes to the edge but never looks over to address the implications.

This way TBMs can dismiss concerns with "Oh, I know all that stuff and it doesn't bother my testimony."

Here is a fun read:

http://www.postmormon.org/exp_e/index.php/pomopedia/Rough_Stone_Rolling/return

Yes I read it. Confirmed to me that Smith was a sleaze ball con artist!

I prefer GA and Seventy essays of BH Roberts entitled " Studies of The Book of Mormon"


No sugar coating here. Couldn't put it down at all until I got to the end!

I stopped reading after I got to the description of Martin Harris. He simply said that Martin Harris was one of the most well-respected men in the area, the end.

What he failed to mention was that those very reports say that people trusted Martin Harris in business matters, but in religious matters they thought him completely devoid of character. Bushman also failed to mention the report by Harris' wife and a few others that he abused her on a regular basis, and probably even cheated on her.

Not worth mentioning, right?

I couldn't read it anymore after the part where he claims that the treasure seeking was a "preparatory gospel." WTF??

I couldn't read anymore after Bushman claimed all of Joseph's treasure hunting was a "preparatory gospel."

...but it's the "plain and simple" BS is the LDS sriptures themselves that make me sure.

Once I saw the falsehoods that were right under my nose the whole time, I no longer needed to know facts about Joseph Smith.

For example, no matter WHAT I know about Smith, it's qualitative BS that God turned a race black-skinned as a curse. It's BS that He deliberately swept Native Americans out of the way by war and disease because their ancestors rejected Jesus, and to make room for a proper christian nation. It's BS that the Jews were persecuted because "none other nation would crucify their god". It's BS that there was a curse of Cain, a flood, and any number of other Old Testament travesties...but the Book of Mormon and companion scriptures supposedly confirm all these falsehoods.
The Book of Mormon and companions have been called "bible fan-fiction". They presuppose the bible is true. It isn't. Therefore the Mormon scriptures are, by definition, exposed for what they are...fakes...without even knowing WHO wrote them.

I've Never Read a better book review, not in my entire life.
I'm curious to find out if any of it is posted on Amazon.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/21/2012 12:28AM by guynoirprivateeye.

If you want to read a thick, in-depth bio of JS you'd be better advised to go with Brodie's classic "No Man Knows My History." Your time will be better spent.

I bought is as a gift for my TBM father in law. I've heard it's a covert way to weaken a testimony. Not sure if it worked, but it was worth a shot. If father in law's testimony ever broke, my husband would be sure to follow - but it's all wishful thinking on my part. I know it won't happen.

This is a test to see if we are working

it was a present from my super-tbm mother. I had already read No Man Knows My History, so RSR came across as a heavily watered down version. The author did mention some of the controversial episodes in Joe's history, but they were heavily sugar coated.

For example, we all know that Joe was sleeping around with any girl/woman he could get his hands on. He was sleeping around a good ten years before the "revelation" on polygamy. Bushman tells it this way....The principle of plural marriage was known to Joseph well before it was made public.

It never ceases to amaze me what excuses a tbm will come up with to justify Joe's actions...there is literally nothing Joe could have done that some tbm today could not justify. Playing the "god-told-me-to" card is a great way to justify anything...literally anything. Doesn't work for me.

I like how Mormons say that were the Book of Mormon false, it would be good for others to make the error clear to the Mormons. Of course, all the strenuous attempts to do so fail, because the Mormons won't listen to reason.

For this same reason, of course Mormons justify anything that Joey did. In their eyes, he could do no wrong. But why do people who do great good in the world get the book slammed at them by the Church, e.g. Lyndon Lamborn?

Joey Smith was a fraud, liar, confidence man, incredibly lustful sexual predator, and an all-around nut job. There is no reasonable way to sugarcoat or whitewash that and still write a true history.

I have to put in a good word for the book, even though I agree that it whitewashes furiously in an attempt to explain away the history.

But the book was instrumental in my exit story: as I read it, I realized that Bushman, even in an apologetical role, had to admit that there were a multitude of problems with lds history. He tries to spin them away, but I ignored the spin and took away the revealing bits of history. (thinking to myself: "really, is that the best you can do to try and explain this?")

Reading Rough Stone Rolling, I finally accepted that I didn't have to believe something that didn't make sense.

I don't think it would be a great book for someone who was never exposed to standard, accepted (read: misleading) church history. But for a skeptically minded lifetime member, it was an eye-opening experience.

I'm surprised that zeezrom didn't mention the very nice detailed report on RSR at PoMo:



http://www.postmormon.org/exp_e/index.php/pomopedia/Rough_Stone_Rolling/%22%20%20title=%22Rough_Stone_Rolling



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/22/2012 09:07AM by 3X.

I really liked it because it helped get the ball rolling on my exit (yes pun intended--i'm super funny).

His book confirmed that the troublesome events, TBMs have been denying since the beginning, really did happen. Although I considered the conclusions Bushman alluded to, I arrived at my own.

I think it is a landmark book in Mormon History because it is acceptable for TBM's to read and it fuels cognitive dissonance like no other.

I had originally bought the book for my wife as a gift before I started doubting. She usually really like these types of books and I was confused when she stopped reading it after a few chapters.

A while later I started having doubts but had a hard time confirming what I had been reading on the web. I started reading Rough Stone Rolling when a non-mormon said it was probably the best biography of Joseph Smith ever written in terms of being fair.

Even though I have never made it even half way through the book, it was enough to confirm my doubts. This was the book that led me out of the church for good.