All it takes...

...to make sense of all the confusing, cloudy doctrine and policies is to consider for a moment that it might- might- be something other than it claims.
All it takes is to step back one little baby step, take a deep breath and do the following:
take off your MoGoggles and set them down on the table. They'll be right there if you need them again. Look at all the chaotic elements of the church with the assumption that he made it up.
If you do this with a clear conscience, a fair amount of critical reasoning and an open heart, you will certainly see the truth.
The various accounts of the first vision, the numerous attempts to sell the Book of Mormon, the near 100% loss of church leadership over 'the principle' - all these things can be clearly explained by the following statement: Joseph Smith Jr. fabricated the revelations, visions and doctrine of the early church. All of it. There was no restoration (this is an easy one... If this is Christ's restored church, why aren't Mormons Jewish?)
There was absolutely not any kind of divine guidance in the actions of Brother Joseph, he did what he did for personal gain.
Suddenly the vanishing evidence of massive battles makes sense. Of course it can vanish- it never existed. DNA science has proven that the Native Americans are not the 'Lamanites' spoken of in the BofM. The Book of Abraham was not translated from the manuscripts that Smith claimed. All of these things and more are troublesome to members of the church, and for good reason. You're given one version of the story as fact, but the evidence piles up to the contrary. Just step back for a second and consider that it might not be true. Just for a minute. The evidence is overwhelming that it's fraudulent.
It's that easy.

I can go into extreme detail. I can cite primary sources and timelines that are 'approved.' The church's own websites hold the information to show that JS was a fraud.

Numerous church leaders have given us the clues: it's either all right or all wrong. It either happened or this is a fraud. Black and white. All or nothing. I'll present that since it isn't all of what it claims to be, then it is completely false. *

Suddenly things come into focus.

*both Joseph Fielding Smith and Gordon B Hinckley were fond of making claims like this. I can cite sources if you'd like. Or you can find them for yourself.