I want to draw to everyone’s attention some particularly worthwhile Mormon Stories podcasts. Recently John Dehlin posted his interview with Kathleen Kimball Melonakos, author of a book on counterfeiting and Early Mormonism.
Here is a link to the first installment on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/AHY_HD6lBwQMelonakos lays out some intriguing possibilities for Early Mormonism. She contends something that I have long thought: Mormonism was an extension of Smith family counterfeiting and moneydigging. She has really done the nuts and bolts research, however, and brings some interesting threads and angles into the argument of which I was completely unaware.
I warn you in advance, however, that she does not present her material in a straightforward narrative. She has so much, but she struggles to get it out in a succinct and flowing narrative. Be on the look out for really juicy bits of information. They take you by surprise as you struggle to follow her.
I would be interested in grindael’s take on her work. My impression as a podcast listener is that she really reaches at points, neglecting important context and contradictory pieces of evidence when it suits her overall thesis, which is that the Smiths were cynical con artists involved in an organized criminal enterprise to fleece people of their money. The Church was just part of the evolution of the scheme.
She rejects Vogel’s idea of a pious fraud, believing that piety and fraud are fundamentally incompatible. In short, she seems to have a somewhat simplistic view of human psychology that is moralistic and traditionally Christian, which is odd given the fact that she is aware of the intersection of religious radicalism and other marginal activities. She appears to believe being a criminal means you can’t be genuinely religious.
In any case, check it out. Whether you agree with her thesis or not, you are sure to learn quite a bit, unless you are someone like grindael or Vogel.
Oh, you want someone to write to you about counterfeit churches, do you? How about all these counterfeit families and counterfeit humans, those who spat upon Heavenly Father and tossed their assigned gender back in His face. THOSE are the counterfeits we, as a religion, should battle.
The only counterfeit religion is any one but The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They are whores of the earth, as a wise man once said.
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