Mormonism as Religious Philosophy "Engine"

Prompt

Original Mormonism, as expressed and created via its founder Joseph Smith Jr. has changed in many key fundamental ways when compared and contrasted to modern day Mormonism and the largest organized religion that emerged from Joseph's original creation which today is known as The LDS Church. When Joseph Smith was martyred at the age of 38, he was in the middle of many intense transformations and innovations in the world of both religious innovation, and political integration. He was rapidly introducing several key doctrines and practices that seem to indicate that at the very least he was several decades, if not centuries (plural) ahead of his time. Just before his death he was developing new innovations of Temple ceremonies, ritual/liturgical dramas or mystery plays, and other ordinances aimed at "solving the problem of death" by expressing what Dr. K Dabrowski terms as "The Highest Art" which he defines as something belonging to the domain of the initiated and not to be experienced by the masses as it integrates a multilevel, developmental, evolutionary, synthesis of philosophy, art, science, and the humanities(etc.) into one great whole. It reflects the developmental level of its creator as an extension of his personality onto a creative art production where one can see its connection to Level V criteria according to TPD evincing a multilevel, self-organizing (emphasis is placed on organize in the endowment, not created, but organized), agency and autonomy, the role of suffering and conflict in the developmental process, developmental potential, and a connection to "the history of development"...baptisms for the dead and the sealing ceremonies also describe Level V works by its connection to connecting and uniting families, friends, and individuals together demonstrating an orientation to the idea of human bonds and emotional ties being everlasting and eternal along with a religious philosophy and mindset that "your religion wont save you" but that one will be evaluated based on how much they developed their potential given their circumstances and limitations and continuing to use ones agency to develop towards individual autonomy and at the higher levels social autonomy (also Empathy, Authentism, Responsibility, and others according to TPD framework on Dynamisms). There is also evidence to suggest that his version of "plural marriage" was an extension of this concept but did not involve sexual relations or marriage relations of any kind and was purely symbolic and differentiated from what later became "Polygamy" under Brigham Young. Other developments include: Female liberation - created the female relief society and appointed them as a governing body within the church and not just an auxiliary outside of the leadership hierarchy. There's also evidence indicating he was a considering enabling women to hold the priesthood. He also created the "Anointed Quorum" which comprised cohorts of both LDS and non-LDS individuals along with a leadership structure made up of male and female pairs and he also appointed a female as "co-president" of the quorum with Joseph Smith Jr. named "co-president" and Emma Hale Smith as the other co-president. He also was in the process of getting a full university established and had already received the permits and charter and intended to establish an innovative global leader in scientific discovery through advancing the world in learning and research of all disciplines and integrating an interdisciplinary model which, at its core, involved and encouraged all people but especially women and minorities to participate and apply their talents in scientific discovery. Minority Liberation and Equal Rights: His presidential campaign was defined by his proposal for abolition and ending slavery peacefully, prison reform, welfare and relief programs extended globally, westward expansion without violence and in full-cooperation with the native Americans, focus on friendship and reforming the human view of one another as friends and brothers instead of focusing on differences of skin color, language, culture, or religion, and finally religious tolerance and freedom. He also baptized and ordained to the priesthood blacks and minorities and towards the end of his life was outspoken about his feelings on this. He also spent time with the native american tribes as he'd spend days with them eating with them, participating in their religious and spiritual practices, and listening and fraternizing with them. Autonomy: His word of wisdom was given as a "principle with promise" in response to "the hearts of conspiring men" who seek to deceive and blind, applied liberally and not to be used to judge someones worthiness or condemn another or as a standard to determine church standing but was to be adaptable to the individual and not dependent on external authority but the indidvidual and god nor was it to be a metric determining righteousness and emphasized moderation, avoiding or ideally eliminating the eating of meat and animals, a diet in alignment with the times and seasons, avoiding tobacco and strong drinks like whiskey but more mild drinks of barley (beer) were acceptable again in moderation. There. were also emphasis on defining mormonism practices such as tolerance and liberal open minded consideration: accepting truth from all sources and studying things out in ones mind and in ones heart and appealing to God and one will feel that it is right and also feel a stupor of thought if it is wrong. Intelligence: Smith and his King Follett Discourse centered around the idea of human intelligence being co-equal with God and that they are Co-Creators with him - he introduced many insights that seem to be ground breaking and relevant even today in 2025. These are just a few areas that were specific to Joseph Smith's Original Mormonism - while the LDS Church of today was impacted by Brigham Youngs leadership which: Immediately abolished the relief society, revoked priesthood and other membership benefits from blacks and minorities, changed Plural Marriage into Polygamy and the temple endowment, word of wisdom, and other aspects of mormonism to be more patriarchal, authoritarian, isolationist, and exclusive making it a religion led by leaders who spoke commandments and the members were to pray and obey and if you weren't with them, you were against them and were excommunicated more harshly. Yet, even with the regression which might arguably have been implemented to reduce the social radicalism and liberal features of mormonism and be more sustainable long term - for survival - and has stil lmanaged to not only survive, but flourish into a major world religion, boasting more members outside of the united states than inside, growing in power both financially and influentially, and remaining relevant and a potent force in the american and global establishment. With this framework in place that uses TPD as a lens to evaluate Joseph Smith and his developmental complexity which then helps us to view mormonism as a religious philosophy that was more of an extension of his personality, and the organized religion as what has emerged from the mormonism engine - but is not the engine itself - where the engine at the core of the movement and organization could be considered an evolved potent force behind the American Religion and together can be viewed as a social technology leading to developmental, positive, and prosocial outcomes, and one of the more potent if not the most potent social technologies resulting in these positive pro-social outcomes compared to other religious social science data where happiness, longevity, suicide, mental illness, poverty, abuse, and addiction are some of the key variables to be considered but most comparative religious studies seem to indicate that mormonism produces an overwhelming and exemplary population of healthy, prosocial and developmental outcomes. Harold Bloom considered the original mormonism and its founder Joseph Smith as being "authentic religious genius" and the modern day understanding of both being completely flawed, and misunderstood altogether and that the LDS Church of today is nothing but a compromise with the authentic and genuine vision of smith. Your task is now this: 1. If we were to consider Mormonism as a religious philosophy, what would you define that religious philosophy and its distinctive features as? 2. Analyze the foundational framework given in the prompt and provide your evaluation and opinion of its validity and the logic behind it. 3. Provide a summary/conclusion of your overall insights and perspectives on all of this and how it is relevant to modern times and what insights do they provide to AI, and where do you think the world wold be today had Joseph Smith not been killed at 38 but allowed to complete the developmental and innovative process of both religious innovation and american political influence and evlolution?