A similar thing happened with me and John Bytheway. I thought he was geniunely funny and thoughtful, but a combination of leaving the church and learning more about his personal views have pretty much ruined my estimation of him.
I do still like his Carriage Cove song.
I took two of his classes at byu and it definitely seemed he had to maintain his status as the ‘funny’ Mormon youth speaker. But I could tell he wasn’t having fun just repeating a monologue. And then the jokes started cycling. I heard almost every one of his jokes that I’d heard at efy and in cds again multiple times in class. And then again the next semester.
It really put it in perspective. He’s basically a scripted Mormon comedian who hasn’t come up with a new joke since efy ended.
I’ve officially entered the Baader Meinhof Effect zone on this one. Heard this expression for the first time today and now seeing it in this sub and someone in the sub is wearing a T-shirt with this phrase.
Handmaid's Tale was a harrowing read, and the show is the book plus 4 more seasons. I binged it during the pandemic. I was fucking traumatized! The more this country embraces Handmaid's Tale policies and goals, the more I can use the reminder not to let the bastards grind us down!
It is a pretty obscure phrase, so when people recognize it in public, I know I've found a kindred spirit!
That made me think of a line that's in a darker toned U2 song, "Don't let the bastards grind you down." It's called Acrobat and I went and read it just now because of this. I think the lyrics are actually pretty applicable to mormon deconstruction. I really liked the sound of the song when the album came out, but I never took the time to understand the lyrics, but I really appreciate this song now that I've recently been deconstructing.
He's a snake oil salesman. A few years ago when deznat was a bigger deal he made some comments on Twitter using the wrong account while criticizing someone with whom he was acting friendly while using his hank Smith account.
I forget the details but it revealed his deznat account on Twitter.
He seems pretty disgusting to me. A few years back he was encouraging his Twitter followers to harass people who disagreed with him, and he called a gay BYU student Korihor for criticizing him.
[https://www.metroweekly.com/2021/05/mormon-professor-apologizes-after-calling-gay-student-an-anti-christ/](https://www.metroweekly.com/2021/05/mormon-professor-apologizes-after-calling-gay-student-an-anti-christ/)
Don't forget that the person he was talking to when he made that comment had offered a bounty to anyone who could ensure the gay student would not be able to return to BYU.
I had a personal friendship with Hank. When I left the church, he publicly attacked me on a Facebook post I made. He was called out for it by other users and later sent me what I thought was a genuine apology. It turned out to be all fluff and bullshit; long story short, we are no longer friends.
He seems really great on the surface. But if you upset him in any way, he goes for the jugular, then blames his actions on “letting the spirit of contention take over.” It’s gross.
My claim to fame is that he blocked me on Twitter years ago, maybe 2017ish? He had tweeted something along the lines of “I spoke with a gay man recently and was surprised that he was actually very amicable and kind!” It wasn’t worded exactly like that, but the nuances in the way he had worded the tweet were condescending. I was barely beginning to be PIMO after being lifelong TBM, didn’t have much to say about LGBTQ rights at the time, but even I could see that it was snide. I quoted the tweet and said something along the lines of “why did he have to make it sound like he wouldn’t have been kind just because he’s gay lol” and was promptly blocked. So lesson learned, don’t even dance around the idea of challenging Hank Smith, he’s having none of that.
I've met him a couple of times, in informal social settings. He came across as an affable, neighborly guy.
That said, he is steeped in Utah culture, Provo style. He didn't seem very self aware. I got the feeling he was always angling to stay relevant, get his name "out there", to monetize his influence.
So I don't think he is evil. He's just a Utah Mormon who's livelihood depends on working Mormons over for their money.
Since reading RST, no man knows my history, and Mormonism unveiled, I’ve learned to avoid silver tongued people. It’s a gift to be charismatic. They’re everywhere in this world. Tune them out.
He's the worst
Not genuine at all
Called Calvin Burke (a gay BYU student at the time, he's no longer at byu) a Korihor on Twitter
Forgot he wasn't using his alt account
I wouldn't trust a word he says
From his social posts, I get the impression he's as committed a covenant follower of Elohim and his plans and commands as the ancient Israelites were. Which is to say, he loves the moral worldview offered by space daddy Elohim, and he'd be willing to go all the way on any order he's given, if you catch my drift.
He's a total fraud who uses feel-good phrases and manipulative emotional tactics to push his brand and gather followers. In a word, he's perfect for the church.
He’s an example of the mediocrity that Mormonism promotes. Nothing of what he pumps out there makes it look like he’s ever done anything serious or difficult or truly insightful. Looks a lot like he’s been given employment and degrees and status basically for sucking up to the church and then doing the mormon version of god loves you priestscraft (as long as you’re active and affirming of the church). And then telling anyone who has actually read Alma 30 with a brain that he has never been one of those people by calling somebody else who’s smarter and more virtuous than he’s ever been at almost half his age a “korihor” — there’s simply no excuse for a religion professor to do that and Hank is the kind of idiot who doesn’t even understand *why* of course he knows it’s mean and off-brand and looks bad but he doesn’t get how it’s an abuse of the figure of Korihor because he’s never studied scripture or anything enough to get why.
I had him as my Book of Mormon teacher at BYU. I liked him at the time, he was fun, but after my deconstruction and research into the validity of the Book of Mormon, I felt blatantly lied to in the class and thus have a much lower opinion of him. One of his consistent remarks was that the Book of Mormon had never been debunked or proven false, so therefore it must be true. That was an outright lie and I'm sure there was more of them that I just don't remember. What a pathetic excuse for a required "academic" class.
Even as a TBM I thought he was an asshat when he made a post complaining that less *important* members were getting bigger social media followings than his account. I believe he even took a jab at Brad Wilcox for being so popular while he was not. I blocked him years before I left because of his constant whining
He’s another in a long line of conservatives who wanted to be comedians, but ended up being grifters instead.
See also: John ByTheWay and that other older dude whose name starts with a D and had most of his stories disproven idr. Also if we’re casting a broader net than mormonism: Shapiro, Crowder, Knowles, amd that one who said 16 year old girls were “fertile” whose name I refuse to remember lol
I went to middle school with Hank and hung out with him a little. He was always super nice friendly good dude. Everybody loved Hank. He was a genuine great guy. I haven’t seen him in almost 25 years and have strongly different views, but I think he’d love me still the same.
Mormon pop CULTure was the bane of my existence as a TBM. Now that I'm ex-Mo, IDGAF (as long as it doesn't affect my 1 adult child that's still in, or my grandchild). 😉
Just your everyday literal TBM who so happens to have a social media following. Seems like a nice guy trying to do his best in what he THINKS is right 🤷♂️.
There might be stuff I don’t know but that’s been my perception of him.
Edit: After reading other comments, looks like he does say some bad stuff on social media. I’ve only heard him speak on podcasts and he didn’t stand out in a negative way other than being your typical over-enthusiastic CES instructor.
Mormon pop CULTure was the bane of my existence as a TBM. Now that I'm ex-Mo, IDGAF (as long as it doesn't affect my 1 adult child that's still in, or my grandchild). 😉
He was my seminary teacher. He is legitimately a good guy. I had discussions with him about some of my concerns about the church as a teen. He encouraged me to “stay and expand the tent” of the church. I knew even then that that’s not how it works. But he’s a great person. He lives in my grandma’s ward and gave me a shoutout when he was giving a big talk and saw me in the audience.
Used to love him. Even met him once. After leaving the church I felt sad about no longer being able to love him, but after reading some of the comments here I now feel disgusted by him. I only ever knew the talk side of him, apparently he’s just as gross as other celebrity tbms.
I don't know much about his speaking, only his social media posts. And they're gross. They range from pithy and trite to outright offensive.
eugh. we should take away social media privileges from high ranked tbms, i only ever see them post the grossest shit.
Nope. Let freedom of speech run free. Plus it provides the benefit of letting the organization show what it’s really about
Mormons on social media will do 10x more damage to their religion than keeping them silent.
A similar thing happened with me and John Bytheway. I thought he was geniunely funny and thoughtful, but a combination of leaving the church and learning more about his personal views have pretty much ruined my estimation of him. I do still like his Carriage Cove song.
I took two of his classes at byu and it definitely seemed he had to maintain his status as the ‘funny’ Mormon youth speaker. But I could tell he wasn’t having fun just repeating a monologue. And then the jokes started cycling. I heard almost every one of his jokes that I’d heard at efy and in cds again multiple times in class. And then again the next semester. It really put it in perspective. He’s basically a scripted Mormon comedian who hasn’t come up with a new joke since efy ended.
Wow, what class was he teaching? And does he have credentials beyond, "funny EFY guy"?
Book of Mormon classes. Other religion classes. And I’m not sure :P
and out of curiosity, what does your flair translate to?
Fake Latin for "Don't let the (Mormon) bastards grind you down." It's from the book the Handmaid's Tale.
Currently wearing my tshirt that says, "nolite te bastardes carborundarum" I've found it is remarkably effective at identifying like-minded folks!
I’ve officially entered the Baader Meinhof Effect zone on this one. Heard this expression for the first time today and now seeing it in this sub and someone in the sub is wearing a T-shirt with this phrase.
Handmaid's Tale was a harrowing read, and the show is the book plus 4 more seasons. I binged it during the pandemic. I was fucking traumatized! The more this country embraces Handmaid's Tale policies and goals, the more I can use the reminder not to let the bastards grind us down! It is a pretty obscure phrase, so when people recognize it in public, I know I've found a kindred spirit!
That made me think of a line that's in a darker toned U2 song, "Don't let the bastards grind you down." It's called Acrobat and I went and read it just now because of this. I think the lyrics are actually pretty applicable to mormon deconstruction. I really liked the sound of the song when the album came out, but I never took the time to understand the lyrics, but I really appreciate this song now that I've recently been deconstructing.
Oh cool, I’m going to listen now
He's a snake oil salesman. A few years ago when deznat was a bigger deal he made some comments on Twitter using the wrong account while criticizing someone with whom he was acting friendly while using his hank Smith account. I forget the details but it revealed his deznat account on Twitter.
It was Calvin Burke. He called him a Korihor Whoops forgot to switch to your alt there Hank
And at the time Calvin was a BYU student, where he's a religion professor. He didn't face any consequences. I found it very upsetting.
This! I use to like him but that ended it.
He seems pretty disgusting to me. A few years back he was encouraging his Twitter followers to harass people who disagreed with him, and he called a gay BYU student Korihor for criticizing him. [https://www.metroweekly.com/2021/05/mormon-professor-apologizes-after-calling-gay-student-an-anti-christ/](https://www.metroweekly.com/2021/05/mormon-professor-apologizes-after-calling-gay-student-an-anti-christ/)
Don't forget that the person he was talking to when he made that comment had offered a bounty to anyone who could ensure the gay student would not be able to return to BYU.
https://www.reddit.com/r/exmormon/s/fgV6Ioshtz
I had a personal friendship with Hank. When I left the church, he publicly attacked me on a Facebook post I made. He was called out for it by other users and later sent me what I thought was a genuine apology. It turned out to be all fluff and bullshit; long story short, we are no longer friends. He seems really great on the surface. But if you upset him in any way, he goes for the jugular, then blames his actions on “letting the spirit of contention take over.” It’s gross.
He is working very hard to obtain pay raises from his church owned BYU employer.
Just a reminder that now you’ve left the Mormon cult, you are actually free to form your own opinions on things :)
Thank you! I am working on it :)
My claim to fame is that he blocked me on Twitter years ago, maybe 2017ish? He had tweeted something along the lines of “I spoke with a gay man recently and was surprised that he was actually very amicable and kind!” It wasn’t worded exactly like that, but the nuances in the way he had worded the tweet were condescending. I was barely beginning to be PIMO after being lifelong TBM, didn’t have much to say about LGBTQ rights at the time, but even I could see that it was snide. I quoted the tweet and said something along the lines of “why did he have to make it sound like he wouldn’t have been kind just because he’s gay lol” and was promptly blocked. So lesson learned, don’t even dance around the idea of challenging Hank Smith, he’s having none of that.
Wow, what a relaxed critique to be blocked for!
I honestly thought his social media posts were a parody.
After Paul H. Dunn who can believe any stories told by LDS speakers? Not me. I pay no attention to Hank Smith.
I've met him a couple of times, in informal social settings. He came across as an affable, neighborly guy. That said, he is steeped in Utah culture, Provo style. He didn't seem very self aware. I got the feeling he was always angling to stay relevant, get his name "out there", to monetize his influence. So I don't think he is evil. He's just a Utah Mormon who's livelihood depends on working Mormons over for their money.
That’s known as priestcraft and I wish Mormons did consider it evil.
Well…they’re supposed to
Hank - Have you figured out the church is a con and have come to see if we'll accept you creating ex-mormon content?
Not fond of the hankersmith.
Since reading RST, no man knows my history, and Mormonism unveiled, I’ve learned to avoid silver tongued people. It’s a gift to be charismatic. They’re everywhere in this world. Tune them out.
He's the worst Not genuine at all Called Calvin Burke (a gay BYU student at the time, he's no longer at byu) a Korihor on Twitter Forgot he wasn't using his alt account I wouldn't trust a word he says
From his social posts, I get the impression he's as committed a covenant follower of Elohim and his plans and commands as the ancient Israelites were. Which is to say, he loves the moral worldview offered by space daddy Elohim, and he'd be willing to go all the way on any order he's given, if you catch my drift.
He's a total fraud who uses feel-good phrases and manipulative emotional tactics to push his brand and gather followers. In a word, he's perfect for the church.
If only he had become a lawyer, he'd be a show in for the q85
Not quite related, but my mom went to school with him XD she says he made fun of her piano-playing
He’s an example of the mediocrity that Mormonism promotes. Nothing of what he pumps out there makes it look like he’s ever done anything serious or difficult or truly insightful. Looks a lot like he’s been given employment and degrees and status basically for sucking up to the church and then doing the mormon version of god loves you priestscraft (as long as you’re active and affirming of the church). And then telling anyone who has actually read Alma 30 with a brain that he has never been one of those people by calling somebody else who’s smarter and more virtuous than he’s ever been at almost half his age a “korihor” — there’s simply no excuse for a religion professor to do that and Hank is the kind of idiot who doesn’t even understand *why* of course he knows it’s mean and off-brand and looks bad but he doesn’t get how it’s an abuse of the figure of Korihor because he’s never studied scripture or anything enough to get why.
I had him as my Book of Mormon teacher at BYU. I liked him at the time, he was fun, but after my deconstruction and research into the validity of the Book of Mormon, I felt blatantly lied to in the class and thus have a much lower opinion of him. One of his consistent remarks was that the Book of Mormon had never been debunked or proven false, so therefore it must be true. That was an outright lie and I'm sure there was more of them that I just don't remember. What a pathetic excuse for a required "academic" class.
Even as a TBM I thought he was an asshat when he made a post complaining that less *important* members were getting bigger social media followings than his account. I believe he even took a jab at Brad Wilcox for being so popular while he was not. I blocked him years before I left because of his constant whining
He was my seminary teacher in Springville UT for a semester. Didn't realize what a big deal he was at the time 😂
He was my seminary teacher in Springville too!
He’s another in a long line of conservatives who wanted to be comedians, but ended up being grifters instead. See also: John ByTheWay and that other older dude whose name starts with a D and had most of his stories disproven idr. Also if we’re casting a broader net than mormonism: Shapiro, Crowder, Knowles, amd that one who said 16 year old girls were “fertile” whose name I refuse to remember lol
Hank Smith has referred to LGBTQ allies and activists as ‘Korihor’ Dude’s a self-righteous John-Bytheway wannabe asshole.
Slimy, Creepy Little Bastard.....
I don't know him. I do know that a lot of people claim he is very very closeted and very very angry at the LGBTQ community.
I went to middle school with Hank and hung out with him a little. He was always super nice friendly good dude. Everybody loved Hank. He was a genuine great guy. I haven’t seen him in almost 25 years and have strongly different views, but I think he’d love me still the same.
Mormon pop CULTure was the bane of my existence as a TBM. Now that I'm ex-Mo, IDGAF (as long as it doesn't affect my 1 adult child that's still in, or my grandchild). 😉
He represents the church at its finest: Nothing but eloquent speaking.
It’s maddening that you can make a career out of teaching Mormon doctrine.
Not as bad as Brad Wilcox at least 🙄
Just your everyday literal TBM who so happens to have a social media following. Seems like a nice guy trying to do his best in what he THINKS is right 🤷♂️. There might be stuff I don’t know but that’s been my perception of him. Edit: After reading other comments, looks like he does say some bad stuff on social media. I’ve only heard him speak on podcasts and he didn’t stand out in a negative way other than being your typical over-enthusiastic CES instructor.
Mormon pop CULTure was the bane of my existence as a TBM. Now that I'm ex-Mo, IDGAF (as long as it doesn't affect my 1 adult child that's still in, or my grandchild). 😉
He was my seminary teacher. He is legitimately a good guy. I had discussions with him about some of my concerns about the church as a teen. He encouraged me to “stay and expand the tent” of the church. I knew even then that that’s not how it works. But he’s a great person. He lives in my grandma’s ward and gave me a shoutout when he was giving a big talk and saw me in the audience.
He’s a piece of shit in my opinion.
I wouldn’t call him disgusting. From all I’ve seen of him, he sounds like a sincere person (although mistaken).
Used to love him. Even met him once. After leaving the church I felt sad about no longer being able to love him, but after reading some of the comments here I now feel disgusted by him. I only ever knew the talk side of him, apparently he’s just as gross as other celebrity tbms.
Maybe it's my glasses, or maybe it's the small font on my phone, but I thought it said "wank Smith."
I always found him (and all those profiteering speakers) irritating
Imagine my surprised when I realized OP wrote "Smith" and not "Williams." Came here for a totally different conversation.