During his show yesterday, prominent conservative radio host Glenn Beck, who is a member of the Mormon Christian cult, explained to Dream City Church pastor Josh McPherson that evangelical Charlie Kirk and the LDS prophet Joseph Smith were the only people he considered “Christian martyrs” in American history:
McPherson: “Charlie’s political theory was anchored in biblical theology, and he, like, no one I’ve ever met had the ability to connect those dots in all of life. And so, as I’ve been talking with those guys all this long, they didn’t kill Charlie because he was a big personality. They didn’t kill Charlie because he was merely a big conservative voice. They killed Charlie Kirk because he was talking and the next generation was listening. He was pointing them to the glory of Jesus, the good news of the gospel, anchored in the truth of God’s Word. and that’s why they had to kill him.
So he is absolutely in every sense, I believe, a Christian martyr and maybe potentially the first public figure Christian martyr on American soil. We have the Jim Elliot-“
Beck: “Joseph Smith. I know we disagree, I know we disagree on theology, but I would have to throw in, because I thought about this. [McPherson laughs “yes, yes”] Joseph Smith and Charlie Kirk are probably the only Christian martyrs in American history.”
McPherson. “Yep. Can we have Christian martyrs- you know, Jim Elliot goes to a jungle somewhere, you know, those kinds of (unintelligible) have gone away, but on American soil, at an American university, captured by 3,000 cell phones from every possible angle, this one was just different.”
Beck: “Yeah, it was. It was.”
Kirk and Smith’s death are not the same at all however. Let’s review Smith’s death, as summarized by Wiki and redditor negative_60, which we’ve amalgamated in this explainer:
William Law, a former member of the 1st Presidency, became disaffected when Joseph Smith attempted to make his wife, Jane Law, one of his polygamous brides.
William had disagreed with polygamy from the beginning, but had kept it confidential in order to protect Joseph. That all went out the window when Joseph approached Jane for a polygamous marriage behind Williams back. He decided to go public, and did so in a big way.
He purchased a printing press and started plans for a new newspaper, the Nauvoo Expositor. The newspaper’s first (and only) issue criticized Smith and other church leaders, correctly reporting that Smith was practicing polygamy, marrying the wives of other men, teaching a “plurality of Gods”, and alleging that he intended to set himself up to be crowned King by the Council of Fifty (an act seen as treasonous in America at the time)
In fact, based on sworn statements, the Expositor alleged that Smith married at least eight other men’s wives, and he had tried to marry the wives of some of the Expositor’s publishers.
Joseph was livid. He testified before the Nauvoo City Council that the Expositor was evil and warranted destruction. The council approved his use of force, and he called out the Nauvoo Legion to enact the smashing of the press.
This was seen as an attack on ‘freedom of the press’ by the Illinois state government. Governor Ford called for Joseph’s arrest, and after a bit of cat and mouse, Joseph surrendered. Joseph went to Carthage Jail.
He seems to have been under the impression that he could escape: at the time of his arrest he had over $30,000 (adjusted for inflation) in cash and promissory notes on his person.
Before he could go to trial, a mob of around 150 men surrounded the jail. The morning of the attack, Smith acquired a pistol that was smuggled in, as did his brother, Hyrum, who was in prison with him. The mob attacked the jail. Hyrum was killed almost instantly and after a brief shootout, which saw Smith wound multiple members of the mob, he was also riddled with bullets and killed.
Not quite like Charlie Kirk.
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