If the Emma Smith “biography” book being promoted is anything like the summary given by the author in this interview, it is a bold work of misinformation, strategic omissions and obfuscations. I’m going to give the interviewer the benefit of the doubt that he doesn’t know enough basic church history to challenge the patently misleading / incomplete assertions by the author. Any listener who has been exposed to even basic facts of Joseph and Emma’s history will be flabbergasted at the fact and issue avoidance modeled in this conversation. I was frequently reminded of the film Human Remains, where, as an experiment, the filmmakers documented Hitler’s life, but focused only on certain positive aspects, leaving out the key information that would be needed to have any true understanding/perspective of who he was. The podcast advertises itself as honest. This episode was anything but. Again, I’ll blame the author, not the host. The host probably has no idea why Emma’s father resolutely refused to give permission for Emma to marry Joseph, so the host thus didn’t know to ask that key question, letting the author sneak right by the issue. The answer provides important context for what was really going on. The reader is left uninformed. of course this presumes that an author of a nonfiction book wants to impart what is really going on, as opposed to draping a tarp over what was really going on. The keys to overcoming this negative review: don’t advertise the podcast as honest, and don’t classify the book as nonfiction. Better yet, dare to be honest. Much more damage is done by lying about difficult issues than is done by the difficult issues themselves. People feel betrayed, patronized and disinclined to keep believing. Plus, why jeopardize your chances to get into the premium section of Heaven by bearing false witness?? In a book purportedly about Emma Smith, go ahead and reveal what Emma and Oliver cowdry saw in the barn. It’s KEY to understanding Emma’s trauma, attitude, capacity for forgiveness, relationship with cowdry, attitudes about spiritual wifery, etc. if Mr. Baron makes further episodes, I recommend a strong effort to be honest, thus honoring the time and trust reposed by listeners in Mr. Baron. According to my relatives, he’s a great guy. So this shallow propaganda was a disappointment. Hopefully the other episodes are less laundered.
