Feeling betrayed by the Mormon church

The Anatomy of Betrayal: When the Carthage Narrative Cracks

The first time a Mormon encounters the full historical account of Joseph Smith’s death, something breaks. It is not the sadness of losing a prophet. It is the vertigo of realizing the story you memorized in Primary was edited for children, and the adult version was waiting behind a locked door you did not know existed. For thousands of former believers, this is the precise moment of feeling betrayed by the Mormon church: the discovery that the martyrdom at Carthage Jail was not the passive surrender they were taught, but a violent shootout involving wine, a