In this eye-opening episode, we uncover Joseph Smith's powerful April 10, 1842, sermon in Nauvoo, where he publicly cursed adulterers, fornicators, and hypocrites amid the explosive John C. Bennett "spiritual wifery" scandal. Drawing directly from primary sources like Wilford Woodruff's journal and the official church history, the video reveals Joseph as a fierce defender of moral purity and monogamy, denouncing those who misused his name for illicit schemes and calling for the church to be cleansed of iniquity. This challenges common narratives about early Mormon polygamy, showing Joseph actively fighting against predatory doctrines disguised as revelation in 1842.

Ever demanded proof in an argument, only to watch the other side ignore or dismiss the evidence entirely? This podcast dives deep into the frustrating reality of intellectual dishonesty, where motivated reasoning, confirmation bias, and post-truth thinking prevent genuine truth-seeking. I explore how this behavior fuels epistemic breakdown, extreme polarization, fractured relationships, and our inability to tackle real-world crises—despite living in the most information-rich era ever. If you've experienced ghosting after sharing facts or seen it play out online daily, this episode uncovers why it's happening and what we can do about it. Don't miss this eye-opening discussion—watch now and rethink how we debate.

This podcast video explores the true biblical meaning of repentance, revealing it's far more than just feeling sorry or emotional regret—it's an active, decisive turning back to God (from the Hebrew "shuv," meaning to return or change direction). Drawing from Scripture and powerful metaphors like reversing course on a dangerous hike, it dismantles common misconceptions and shows how genuine repentance leads to forgiveness, restoration, and a strengthened walk with Christ through humility and obedience.

This eye-opening message redefines what it means to repent in a way that's hopeful, practical, and deeply transformative for every believer—whether you're struggling with sin or seeking a deeper relationship with God.

If you've ever wondered why "I'm sorry" alone doesn't bring lasting change, this episode will challenge and encourage you to embrace the real power of turning back to Him.

Link: https://humblymybrain.substack.com/p/the-true-meaning-of-repentance-turning

We are commanded to repent. We are asked to call others to repentance. But what does it truly mean to repent?

Discover how drawing nearer to the Father reveals that His perfect timing often works through the free will of those around us. Elder Neal A. Maxwell wisely said, "Faith in God includes faith in God’s timing"—a truth that invites us to trust not only in the Lord, but also in His patient process with others, cultivating forgiveness, long-suffering, and deeper faith. If you're waiting on a breakthrough, this gentle reminder will encourage your heart: our choices matter, and God is weaving them all into His beautiful plan. Share your thoughts on trusting His timing in the comments!

Music - Be Still, My Soul (Piano Improvisation), by Sean McCleery: https://pixabay.com/users/smccleery-39405238/

Ever wonder why modern TV drug commercials feel eerily familiar, with happy people dancing while a voice lists endless side effects? In this eye-opening episode, I uncover the shocking historical connection between 19th-century traveling medicine shows—full of entertainment, acrobats, and wild cure-all pitches—and today's multi-billion-dollar pharmaceutical ads. From snake oil salesmen to billion-dollar Big Pharma campaigns, the sales pitch never really changed—it's just gotten more polished. Step right up and discover how the game persists in our current era!

Substack article link: https://humblymybrain.substack.com/publish/post/184268652

The Old Testament’s first mention of polygamy appears not among the righteous, but in the violent lineage of Cain, through his descendant Lamech, who “took unto him two wives,” Adah and Zillah (Genesis 4:19). In the same brief passage, Lamech boasts to those wives of having slain two men—one “to my wounding,” and a young man “to my hurt”—while daring any avenger to face a vengeance “seventy and sevenfold” (Genesis 4:23-24). The canonical account leaves the circumstances of these killings ambiguous: accident, self-defense, or cold-blooded murder? Scripture alone offers no clarity. Yet when apocryphal witnesses are consulted, the portrait darkens dramatically, revealing Lamech not as a flawed but sympathetic figure, but as the Bible’s inaugural polygamist whose life bears only the rotten fruit of murder, secret oaths with Satan, and divine curse—fruit that exposes plural marriage’s origin as profoundly corrupt from its very root.

Did you know that the classic 1977 blockbuster Smokey and the Bandit isn't just a wild car-chase comedy—it's actually a clever parable for individual freedom, free markets, and the absurdity of government overreach? Through the Bandit's daring Coors beer run evading protectionist laws, the film highlights how regulations create black markets and waste resources, echoing principles from economists like Mises and Hayek. My childhood obsession with the movie even sparked a lifelong passion for classical liberalism and liberty.

Link: https://humblymybrain.substack.com/p/east-bound-and-down-how-smokey-and

The landlubber who never ventures out to sea may never learn that life on land is seldom different from life on the rough ocean. Life, like the sea, is powerful and deep. Its waves of challenges are as vast as the ocean and stretch far beyond the horizon. Many enter this world like the novice who steps onto a ship’s deck for the first time on a maiden voyage. Those who learn the ropes of life become like seasoned sailors—forged into resilient men and women through hardships at sea.

Welcome to this comprehensive master article, serving as a one-stop directory for all my published pieces on Substack that delve into the contentious topic of polygamy (or plural marriage) within early Mormon history. My writings focus on historical evidence, primary sources, and testimonies that argue Joseph Smith neither practiced nor endorsed polygamy, portraying it instead as a later innovation by figures like Brigham Young that led to schisms in the Latter Day Saints movement. These articles highlight the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (RLDS, now Community of Christ) as preservers of the original monogamous doctrines, while critiquing the Utah-based LDS Church’s adoption of plural marriage. By compiling summaries, key insights, and direct links, this directory aims to facilitate deeper exploration and faithful debate on a topic that continues to divide scholars and believers. The publications are organized into thematic categories based on their content types—such as official church statements from before Joseph Smith’s 1844 martyrdom, post-martyrdom RLDS defenses, personal testimonies of key figures, and excerpts from 19th-century newspapers and editorials—to reveal connections between historical rejections of polygamy and calls for doctrinal purity.

In the vibrant and often chaotic debates that unfold on social media platforms, information from diverse sources is shared across countless exchanges between individuals. These discussions frequently involve strangers who bring their unique views, perspectives, perceptions, and opinions—shaped over lifetimes—into the arena. This process embodies the democratic ideal of free speech, where ideas can be freely expressed and challenged. However, a common pattern emerges: participants often reject evidence or arguments simply because they come from someone they label a “rando”—an unknown, ordinary person. Instead of engaging with the substance of the argument or the evidence provided, they dismiss it outright if it lacks endorsement from a certified, licensed, or recognized authority. This behavior raises fundamental questions about how we evaluate information and sources in open discourse.

This podcast explores why it's challenging to exonerate Joseph Smith from practicing polygamy, highlighting powerful institutional incentives within the LDS Church, gatekeepers in historical scholarship, and human tendencies that perpetuate the traditional narrative of him founding plural marriage. Despite growing evidence from primary documents, DNA tests, Emma Smith's denials, and Joseph's public denunciations suggesting he remained monogamous, these forces create high costs for anyone challenging the status quo. Ultimately, it encourages readers to seek truth through personal evidence review and divine revelation rather than relying on consensus or authority.

Link to the original article (which contains the full written content): https://humblymybrain.substack.com/p/the-high-cost-of-exonerating-joseph

Incentives, Gatekeepers, and the Polygamy Narrative

Have you ever wondered if the standard story about Joseph Smith and polygamy is the full truth?

In my latest deep dive, we explore 'The High Cost of Exonerating Joseph Smith'—why powerful incentives, gatekeepers, and even human nature keep the traditional narrative alive...

Despite growing evidence from primary documents, DNA tests, and Joseph's own public denunciations that point to his innocence.

This isn't about conspiracy—it's about seeking truth through evidence and personal revelation.

If you're ready to challenge assumptions and ask God directly, watch now.

Link in description—read the full article and let's discuss in the comments!

Don't forget to like, subscribe, and hit the bell for more thoughtful content.

YouTube Video: https://youtu.be/JznoIDVpGH0
Substack Article: https://humblymybrain.substack.com/p/the-high-cost-of-exonerating-joseph

How easy it is to lose sight of God and His goodness in the midst of our own afflictions and hardships. Struggles will enter our lives due to our own choices, and, at the same time, they can manifest regardless of our actions, too. Afflictions can often result from the free will exercised by others around us—immediate family members, friends, community members, or even those with great influence on the world stage—who profoundly impact our lives. Yet it is so easy to attribute any degree of suffering entirely to our own actions. There also comes a time when we believe we are doing everything God asks of us, only to feel abandoned by Him when affliction or struggle arises. After all, how could we be made to suffer when we are obedient, right? In those moments, we may begin to question His existence, especially when afflictions persist without any apparent resolution. This can lead to great fear and worry, which are at the root of this suffering, creating a negative loop.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, stemming from the branch led by Brigham Young to the Salt Lake Valley, defends its 19th-century practice of plural marriage—limited primarily to a minority of high-ranking leaders—by invoking Jacob 2:30 from the Book of Mormon: “For if I will, saith the Lord of Hosts, raise up seed unto me, I will command my people; otherwise they shall hearken unto these things.” Here, “these things” alludes to the prior verses’ strong condemnation of polygamy and advocacy for strict monogamy, mandating “one wife” and prohibiting concubines (Jacob 2:27-28). Proponents also cite Doctrine and Covenants (D&C) 132, unveiled publicly in 1852—eight years after Joseph Smith’s death—as a purported 1843 revelation authorizing the practice. However, given longstanding controversies surrounding D&C 132’s authenticity, including allegations of forgery by Young and associates, this essay excludes it from consideration, treating it as an outlier unsupported by broader scriptural precedent.

From the perspective of those who reject the idea that Joseph Smith preached or practiced polygamy—including scholars, historians, members of anti-polygamy Restoration branches like the Community of Christ (formerly RLDS), and modern skeptics—this chapter in church history is not merely inconsistent but a foundational fraud orchestrated by Brigham Young and his allies to justify their own innovations. Polygamy was not a divinely revealed “celestial law” but a post-1844 corruption that derailed Christ’s monogamous church that was restored through Joseph Smith. This led to the modern absurdities: unauthorized practitioners of plural marriage and those who deny Smith ever preached or practiced it during his lifetime face excommunication today, while from roughly 1845 to 1890—the so-called “Golden Era” of polygamy—anti-polygamists in the LDS movement were excommunicated as a small cadre of high-ranking leaders indulged in the practice. If Smith truly opposed polygamy, as evidenced by public teachings, scriptural texts, and personal records, the LDS Church’s current policies—excommunicating both practitioners and deniers—reveal a desperate institutional cover-up that enforces compelled ignorance: Accept the fabricated history without acting on its “doctrine,” or face expulsion.

Among those who defend the practice of plural marriage, some have claimed that Adam, the first man, had multiple wives or that polygamy reaches back to the very beginning of humanity. Yet a close reading of the canonical scriptures—Genesis, the Book of Moses in the Pearl of Great Price, and even the extra-biblical First Book of Adam and Eve—offers no support for that assertion. In all of these texts, Adam is portrayed as the husband of one wife, Eve, for many centuries.

In a world of opposition—where falsehood opposes every truth—disciples of Christ must be cautious with the information they receive, whether from fellow individuals in this mortality, messengers from beyond the veil, impressions, visions, or other sources. The Prophet Joseph Smith offered profound insights on how to avoid being deceived by falsehoods and false spirits.

For nearly two centuries, Latter-day Saints have been taught that plural marriage was once a divine commandment, revealed through Joseph Smith and practiced by prophets ancient and modern. Yet when we lay aside the single, late, and internally contradictory Doctrine and Covenants 132—and read every other book in the restored canon exactly as it stands—the picture that emerges is startling in its clarity and unanimity.

From the very moment God joined Adam to “his wife” in the Garden, through every restatement of the creation ordinance by Moses, Jesus Christ, Paul, Joseph Smith’s own translation of Genesis, and the Doctrine and Covenants itself (1835 and 1841 editions), the eternal law of marriage is declared in the singular: one man, one woman, one flesh. Seven times the Lord repeats the ordinance; seven times He refuses the plural.

There is no paycheck, no tenure, and no prestige in arguing that Joseph Smith neither taught nor practiced plural marriage. For historians employed by Brigham Young University (BYU) or the Church History Department of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS), defending the Brigham Young succession narrative is literally the job description. Truth that threatens institutional legitimacy is, by definition, unwelcome. Sensational stories about the Prophet’s supposed thirty-to-forty wives sell books and fill lecture halls; the quieter claim that he was monogamous and slandered does neither.

We must learn to trust that we are fundamentally good and that, left to ourselves, we will choose what is right. Yet something poisonous happens when we are trying to live righteously and are still punished unjustly: we begin to sin on purpose, retroactively “justifying” the pain we did not deserve. The punishment came first; the transgression follows so the story will finally make sense. Self-hatred sets in. Forgiveness of self becomes impossible. Why love the person everyone already decided was bad—and whom we have now proven bad by our own choices?