I have been more than vocal about my issues regarding the translation of the Book of Mormon and how I wasn't taught the truth when I was growing up in the church. Many times I was told that Joseph Smith had the golden plates in front of him. There was a sheet or blanket of some kind put between him and the scribe, and Joseph would speak word after word as he translated the ancient writing.
Little did I know that the golden plates weren't even in the room. Joseph Smith had his head in a hat, covered the hat with his hands to keep out the light, and read word after word that supposedly glowed from a magical stone. Why wasn't I taught the truth? Well, it might have something to do with this...
Joseph Smith had more than one seer stone in his lifetime. Joseph Capron testified that Joseph Smith could see things like, "ghosts, infernal spirits, mountains of gold and silver." Joseph Smith was known for using these seer stones to help locals look for buried treasure on their properties.
In a court record dated on March 18, 1826, Joseph Smith was on trial for being "a disorderly person and an impostor." Lets not forget that this happened in BainBridge, New York, six years after Joseph Smith had his first vision.
There is much disagreement over the details of the court trial. Most Mormons argue that Joseph Smith wasn't actually convicted of these crimes, and that it's still unclear who brought the charges against Joseph Smith in the first place. One thing everyone does agree on is that Joseph Smith used a seer stone, and the seer stone was a part of the court proceedings. Another term used in the trial was "glass-looker."
Here is a quote from A.W. Benton in 1831 about Joseph Smith:
"…was about the country in the character of a glass-looker: pretending, by means of a certain stone, or glass, which he put in a hat, to be able to discover lost goods, hidden treasures, mines of gold and silver, &c.... At length the public,... had him arrested as a disorderly person, tried and condemned before a court of Justice." (Evangelical Magazine and Gospel Advocate, April 9, 1831, p. 120)
So my question is this:
Why would a prophet of God be out looking for buried treasure?
If he was a prophet of God, shouldn't he have been able to find the buried treasure?
Why isn't this whole story shared with members of the church?
There are no more excuses. Lying by omission is still lying.