Imagine a world where Joseph Smith had chosen to lean into his undeniable skills as a writer of historical fiction.
Instead he chose the path of religious charlatan, and western literature is all the lesser for it.
Instead he chose the path of religious charlatan, and western literature is all the lesser for it.
ps: The Church that Joseph Smith led now has 17.5 million members around the world and is a great thing in my life. My ancestors knew Joseph Smith and were convinced he was not a charlatan. They helped build schools and cities. Now there are programs like https://justserve.org to freely coordinate efforts between charitable organizations with volunteers in many locations; BYU Pathway Worldwide (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BYU_Pathway_Worldwide), which provides English instruction and accredited higher education far less expensively than traditional universities for those who could never afford it otherwise; extensive worldwide humanitarian efforts; https://familysearch.org for free genealogy tools, etc, etc. One can be happy about all the good that is being done.