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Heroism at the Martyrdom

Just a short post today (funny how even when I say that I end up pushing 1500 words)…

I found it incredibly odd that in the account of Joseph Smith's martyrdom PBS chose not to include a detail that they could have exploited to great effect to forward their framing of the man as a power-hungry con artist: at the time of his martyrdom he was in possession of a handgun. Of course it is highly illegal to have smuggled a pistol into the jail where he was being held when he was shot, so this could have been good incriminating evidence not only to frame JS as fundamentally unethical, but also to frame the church leadership (who never mention this detail in the official account either) as secretive, exploitative, and cult-like.

On the other hand, however, they do miss a great opportunity to understand the man via analysis of his last act in mortality. They DO correctly state, and surprisingly word-for-word from the official account, that JS died exclaiming "O Lord, my God" falling out of the window, struck by multiple balls. What they didn't think much of, apparently, was how incredibly heroic an act that was. An armed mob in blackface was milling around the jail from the outside, and elements of it had climbed the stairs and forced gun barrels through the door opening as the cell's four occupants scrambled to either hide or keep the door shut and/or knock the barrels away to as harmless a trajectory as possible. Hyrum Smith, brother to Joseph was one at the door. He was hit first, through the door, in the head. In the milliseconds that intervened, Joseph Smith moved to the most visible location in the room both to the bloodthirsty eyes assembled outside, and to those peering in room the now opening door. From there he did not fall, but rather LEAPED out the window. The Church never trumps these facts up either, but it seems quite clear that JS was seeking to spare the others as much as it were possible by sacrificing himself to the violence of the throng. In an effort to save friends, family, and community, JS leapt from a second story window and was dead before he hit the ground from multiple shots. Besides his already dead brother, the two cellmates were spared their lives.

Given the hypothesis that JS was a megalomaniac, such heroic self-sacrifice would tend to be disproving evidence. The hypothesis might be recuperated slightly by claiming that he must have known how his martyrdom would solidify the power of his memory in the hearts of his deluded followers, and therefore this evidence could be seen as one last grab for power. But you and I can both see how this is now pushing verisimilitude slightly beyond the boundaries of impartiality.

On the other hand, given the hypothesis that he was who he said he was--a Prophet; a witness; a spokesperson for the Most High--such an act of heroism is completely confirmatory.

Interesting Multimedia presentation on the events of the day with zoomable photos and text at this link.
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