Did Joseph Smith Use Psychedelic Substances to Facilitate Visionary Experiences? [pdf]
I once worked for a Jewish think-tank.[1] People would regularly send all manner of material with dubious--i.e. racially prejudiced--connections to Israel or Jews. I remember someone once sent a huge tome--literally hundreds of pages, if not more than 1000--which purported to show that Muhammed was schizophrenic. At the time I just assumed the author was possibly schizophrenic himself, or otherwise possessed of some mental disorder as was so often the case. (Your run-of-the-mill anti-semite or Islamophobe doesn&#x27;t have the stamina to write such a long work.) Only later in life would I learn and realize that the whole idea of prophets as schizophrenics is rooted in (or at least could be rooted in) an interesting, legitimate hypothesis. But my opinion of such inquiries, particularly when focused at established religions, was largely the same then as it is now: it feels disrespectful and pointless, like a physicist accosting a group of Catholics with literature about how transubstantiation is impossible, or a biologist explaining the implausibility of a virgin birth. It&#x27;s far more likely that the itch being scratched is some kind of animus toward or other peculiar interest in the group; not a serious, scientific pursuit. And indeed if you read the above paper or Google the author, it&#x27;s obvious that he does have an ulterior motive regarding what he believes should have been the rightful evolution of Mormon theology and practice. In other words, for whatever scientific merit this paper might have, it&#x27;s probably better to approach it as a theological squabble. Or don&#x27;t approach it at all--the &quot;spiritual&quot; potential of hallucinogenic compounds is hardly in dispute by anyone, and so subjecting oneself to such a work is merely to dive into a theological dispute, of which there are countless and counting.<p>[1] It was principally concerned with fostering U.S.-Israeli military ties. Most of it&#x27;s members didn&#x27;t identify as Jewish, though the name of the organization had &quot;Jewish&quot; in it, and most of the staff identified as such.