1794: Did Joseph Smith engage in Human Trafficking?

<p>Over the past several years faithful Mormon Tim Ballard has brought much attention to the topic of human trafficking via his work with Operation Underground Railroad and the new movie "Sound of Freedom." During Ballard's fundraisers he often invokes his LDS faith as the foundation for his anti-trafficking. One possible problem with Ballard's Mormon-based anti-trafficking advocacy is that the founder of his religion - Joseph Smith - would very possibly qualify by today's standards as a human trafficker. In today's episode we use The Nauvoo Expositor - published by LDS Church 1st Presidency Member William Law - as the jumping off point to explore the question: was Joseph Smith involved in human trafficking? Joining us will be Julia Sanders, Nemo, and Samantha Shelley.</p> <p><a href="https://www.mormonstories.org/podcast/joseph-smith-human-trafficking/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Episode Show Notes</a></p> <p><a href="https://youtube.com/live/9NCpRqSCJ8s" rel="noopener" target="_blank">YouTube Link</a></p> <hr /> <h2><span style="font-weight: 400;">Mormon Stories Thanks Our Generous Donors!</span></h2> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Help us continue to deliver quality content by becoming a donor today:</span></p> <ul> <li><a href="https://donorbox.org/mormon-stories?default_interval=m" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: 400;">One-time or recurring donation through Donorbox</span></a></li> <li><a href="https://www.patreon.com/mormonstories" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Support us on Patreon</span></a></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><a href="https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/mormonstories" rel="noopener" target="_blank">PayPal</a></li> <li><a href="https://account.venmo.com/u/mormonstories" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Venmo</a></li> </ul> <hr /> <h3><span style="font-weight: 400;">Our Platforms:</span></h3> <ul> <li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/mormonstories?sub_confirmation=1" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Youtube</span></a></li> <li><a href="https://www.patreon.com/mormonstories" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Patreon</span></a></li> <li><a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/4sDzk7dRjODTSEqzZKZJzk?si=148b0efc1ccc4404" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Spotify</span></a></li> <li><a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mormon-stories-lds/id312094772" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Apple Podcasts</span></a></li> </ul> <hr /> <h3><span style="font-weight: 400;">Contact us:</span></h3> <p><a href="mailto:MormonStories@gmail.com" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: 400;">MormonStories@gmail.com</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">PO Box 171085,</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">Salt Lake City, UT 84117 </span></p> <hr /> <h3><span style="font-weight: 400;">Social Media:</span></h3> <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><a href="https://www.instagram.com/mormstories" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Insta: @mormstories</span></a></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@mormonstoriespodcast" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Tiktok: @mormonstoriespodcast</span></a></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><a href="https://discord.com/invite/kuX5p6yyjF" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Join the Discord</span></a></li> </ul> <hr />