John Turner contends that Joseph Smith's behavior in his final year was characterized by an increasingly combative, reckless, and unpredictable approach to conflict.

“I think one thing we can say for sure is the heat is turned up on Joseph Smith for the last year of his life. And he does become more combative. Um I think a little bit more desperate um and unpredictable.”

Joseph Smith's decisions, particularly the authorization of violence and his insistence on staying in Missouri despite warnings, led to catastrophic outcomes for the Latter-day Saints.

“If you think about all the deaths or murders that happened as a result of Joseph Smith's decisions, you could come up with a number of 80 or more. And that's not counting Mountain Meadows.”

Joseph Smith acted with extreme recklessness and deceit by proposing plural marriage to the daughter of his own loyal associate while keeping that associate in the dark.

“It's incredibly brazen. It's selfdestructive. Um, you would think with rumors ramping up and anyone with some foresight could have seen that the issues with John C. Bennett were about to explode. You would think Joseph would want to back off a little bit, proceed a little bit more cautiously.”

Joseph Smith was a charlatan who created the Book of Mormon based on fraudulent claims and occult activities rather than divine revelation.

“I'm starting to feel like you think he was a charlatan. He absolutely was. Yeah, I'm getting that impression. Absolutely. Well, that's the funny thing. Most people don't know and also Mormons don't know this, either, that he was a treasure-digging con man before he became a prophet.”

Joseph Smith demonstrated a consistent pattern of dishonesty and moral failing throughout his life that is inconsistent with his claim to be a prophet of God.

“Most Mormons don't understand that it's the insiders that came out with the accusations against him. The reason he destroyed the printing press.”

Stacy Lee asserts that the origin story of Joseph Smith and the golden plates is a fraudulent narrative created by a con artist.

“He was arrested for writing bad bank notes, selling magic rocks and crystals. He was a con artist. This is literally how every cult starts.”