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There are certain things you can count on: the rising of the sun, the ebbing of the tides and JK Rowling finding new and bizarre ways to double down on her bigotry while painting herself as a victim.
Her latest defense is truly a head-scratcher.
Last week, Rowling likened the accusations of transphobia against her to the founding story of Mormonism in a tweet that made very little sense, unless she was trying to backhandedly drag herself.
You can see her tweet here:
\u201cIt's like when Joseph Smith found the golden plates and nobody else was allowed to look at them.\u201d— J.K. Rowling (@J.K. Rowling) 1664466373
In her tweet, Rowling included a screenshot of a tweet in which a person expressed frustration that whenever someone points out Rowling's transphobia, they are asked to conjure up specific examples as proof.
Rowling then sniped about this person's frustration:
“It’s like when Joseph Smith found the golden plates and nobody else was allowed to look at them.”
Rowling's tweet was presumably in reference to the origin story of Mormonism and its holy book, The Book of Mormon.
In 1823 at the age of 18, founder Joseph Smith claimed he was visited by an angel named Moroni who told him the secret location of a set of golden tablets on which were inscribed the supposed truths Smith translated from an ancient form of Egyptian into The Book of Mormon.
But, Smith claimed, he was told he was expressly forbidden from showing the tablets to anyone else and he was commanded to return them to Moroni after translating them.
Smith did obtain statements from 11 others who claimed they too saw the tablets, though there is debate over whether this was a metaphysical or literal experience.
So ultimately followers of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints must simply take Smith's word for it his translation is the actual truth—polygamy, racism, homophobia and all.
Rowling is using this story to claim her detractors are doing the same thing Smith did—insisting people simply take their word for it when it comes to her transphobia, without offering evidence.
The difference is there's an entire internet documenting Rowling's comments, examples of her racism, homophobia and transphobia as well as an entire medical and scientific community of experts who say many of her views are flat-out incorrect.
All while she continues insisting she knows the truth and is being silenced for telling it on public forums. So maybe there is a comparison here with Joseph Smith, just not the one she thinks she's drawing.
As you might expect, Rowling's tweet did not go over very well.
\u201cNobody:\nAbsolutely no one:\nJK Rowling: Saying I'm transphobic is like saying Joseph Smith was a prophet of god.\u201d— Ryan Moore (@Ryan Moore) 1664486523
\u201c@jk_rowling Here's a thread of literally dozens of detailed articles explaining why you are transphobic. \n\nYou've been shown many of them dozens of times before, but we know you block the people who reply to you and ignore them\n\nhttps://t.co/LjQTCLWXaa\u201d— J.K. Rowling (@J.K. Rowling) 1664466373
\u201cFamous transphobe JK Rowling, frequently noted for her relentless transphobia, is currently trying to compare people discussing the many, many transphobic things she has said and done to the the golden plates of Mormonism founder Joseph Smith.\n\n#JKRvsLGBTQ\u201d— Bad Writing Takes \ud83d\udd8a\ufe0f\ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08 (@Bad Writing Takes \ud83d\udd8a\ufe0f\ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08) 1664483971
\u201cThe JK Rowling - Joseph Smith cross over was not something I was prepared for.\u201d— Philippa Juliet Meek-Smith \ud83d\udc1d (@Philippa Juliet Meek-Smith \ud83d\udc1d) 1664480851
\u201cliterally all anyone has to do is look through ur TL lmao\u201d— lava (@lava) 1664558411
None— J.K. Rowling (@J.K. Rowling) 1664466373
\u201c@jk_rowling https://t.co/x5c7gHeVy4\u201d— J.K. Rowling (@J.K. Rowling) 1664466373
\u201cSure is weird how someone who is "not transphobic" is quite happy to use rumour, assumption, and even outright fabrication as sufficient "evidence" for her claims about trans people, but not happy to admit firsthand experience as evidence for trans people's claims about her.\u201d— Catr\u00econa Faolain \ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\u26a7\ufe0f\ud83c\udff4\udb40\udc67\udb40\udc62\udb40\udc73\udb40\udc63\udb40\udc74\udb40\udc7f (@Catr\u00econa Faolain \ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\u26a7\ufe0f\ud83c\udff4\udb40\udc67\udb40\udc62\udb40\udc73\udb40\udc63\udb40\udc74\udb40\udc7f) 1664550648
\u201c@jk_rowling See here.\n\nThen look at the subtext for your unsourced "essay", as well as the people you support on Twitter.\n\nYou're welcome.\n\nhttps://t.co/mZcxvRATye\u201d— J.K. Rowling (@J.K. Rowling) 1664466373
\u201c@jk_rowling We've all seen your "golden plates."\nhttps://t.co/4OlCn0IFYS\u201d— J.K. Rowling (@J.K. Rowling) 1664466373
In the end, Rowling ended up doing her own research on Mormonism, unlike her racist stereotype representations of BIPOC.
Rowling found out she didn't have all of her facts straight on the "golden plates" origin story.
\u201cI've just gone to look it up. Eleven people claimed to have seen the plates, some of them related to Smith, but there's debate as to whether this was a metaphysical experience or they genuinely saw them. And one man was allowed to hold the box but not look inside it.\u201d— J.K. Rowling (@J.K. Rowling) 1664466373
If only she'd be willing to do this with her bigoted views on marginalized people.