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Claim
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Response
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Author's sources
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205
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- The 1835 edition of the Doctrine and Covenants had a section denouncing polygamy.
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- Doctrine and Covenants (1835), Section 101
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207
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Section 101 was replaced with Section 132 in 1876
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- Author(s) impose(s) own fundamentalism on the Saints
- The Saints believe in on-going revelation—Church policy may change from time to time.
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207
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A revelation on plural marriage given in 1831 was "suppressed" which said that the Indians would become "white and delightsome" though intermarriage with the Mormons. |
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- Letter from W. W. Phelps to Brigham Young. August 12, 1861
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208
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It was taught that the skin color of the Indians would change if they joined the Church.
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209
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Spencer Kimball believed that the Indians were becoming a "white and delightsome" people. |
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- Improvement Era, December 1960, pp.922-23
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212
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Brigham Young believed that the Indians skin would become white through intermarriage. |
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- The Abominations of Mormonism Exposed, Cincinnati, 1852, pp.58-59
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214
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Church leaders did not approve of interracial marriage.
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- Church leaders have discouraged any marriage in which the social or cultural differences will prove serious obstacles to a successful marriage. Unfortunately, that was often the case with inter-racial marriages in the United States until quite recently.
- Interracial marriage condemned?
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215
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Oliver Cowdery believed that Joseph had an improper relationship with Fanny Alger. |
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- Letter written by Oliver Cowdery and recorded by his brother Warren Cowdery;
- This source is vague and not much help to the reader. The actual source is: Oliver Cowdery to Warren A. Cowdery, "Dear Br. Warren," Far West, Missouri (21 Jan 1838); reproduced in "Letters of Oliver Cowdery." In New Mormon Studies CD-ROM (Salt Lake City, Utah: Signature Books, 1998).
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219
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Lorenzo Snow said that anyone who had a plural marriage prior to the date of the revelation (July 12, 1843) was living in adultery. |
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219
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It is claimed that Mormon leaders say that the 1843 revelation was actually received earlier, but History of the Church says that this was the date the revelation was received. |
- The revelation was recorded on this date, but it is clear that Joseph knew and was teaching it earlier.
- First teaching about plural marriage
- Danel W. Bachman, "A Study of the Mormon Practice of Polygamy before the Death of Joseph Smith" (Purdue University, 1975).
- Danel W. Bachman, "New Light on an Old Hypothesis: The Ohio Origins of the Revelation on Eternal Marriage," Journal of Mormon History 5 (1978): 19–32.
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- History of the Church 5:500-501
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220
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Brigham Young said that he lived "above the law." |
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- Journal of Discourses 1:361
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220
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Polygamy is forbidden by the Book of Mormon |
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220-221
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Joseph F. Smith said that the Book of Mormon forbid polygamy. |
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221
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Orson Pratt said that the Book of Mormon condemned polygamy. |
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222
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Joseph took wives without his first wife's consent. |
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225
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- It is claimed that LDS leaders were worried that the missionaries would "take the best women."
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- Misrepresentation of source: The quote says nothing about choosing women. Heber C. Kimball warns them simply that they are on the Lord's errand, and should allow the Lord to choose his sheep. They are not to decide who is worthy of the gospel, they are merely to bring home those whom the Lord (as master shepherd) chooses:
- "Let truth and righteousness be your motto; and do not go into the world for anything else but to preach the Gospel, build up the kingdom of God, and gather the sheep into the fold. You are sent out as shepherds to gather the sheep together; and remember that they are not your sheep: they belong to Him that sends you. Then do not make a choice of any of those sheep; do not make selections before they are brought home and put into the fold. You understand that. Amen."
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- Journal of Discourses 6:256
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226
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Heber C. Kimball remarked on the "great sorrow" of plural marriage. |
[needs work]
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- Journal of Discourses 4:178
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226
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Brigham Young spoke of the "problems" of plural marriage. |
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- Journal of Discourses 9:195
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228
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Brigham Young offered to let any wife go who wanted to. |
- Brigham would not keep any woman in a marriage against her will. Utah had some of the most liberal divorce laws in the Union. Many polygamous women who divorced a husband entered into polygamy again.[1]
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- Journal of Discourses 4:55-57;
- Deseret News, vol. 6, pp.235-36
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230-231
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Joseph and Emma fought about plural marriage. |
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- Journal and autobiography, Joseph Lee Robinson
- Wilhelm Wyl, Mormon Portraits Volume First: Joseph Smith the Prophet, His Family and Friends (Salt Lake City: Tribune Printing and Publishing Co., 1886), 57-58.
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231
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Joseph had between 27 to "sixty or more" wives. |
- The higher number is exaggerated. Many women were sealed to Joseph after his death, but he was probably married to around 33 wives in life.
- Joseph Smith and polygamy
- Relying on Brodie's figures is foolish; her standard of evidence was low, and she has been shown to be wrong in many cases.
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231
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There is a rumor that Emma beat Eliza Snow with a broomstick and caused her to fall down the stairs, preventing her from having Joseph's child. |
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- Wilhelm Wyl, Mormon Portraits Volume First: Joseph Smith the Prophet, His Family and Friends (Salt Lake City: Tribune Printing and Publishing Co., 1886), 57-58.
- Intimate Disciple, a Portrait of Willard Richards, 1957, p.407
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232
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Joseph was sealed to a large number of women after his death. |
- This is certainly true, and may explain some of the underlying theology of plural marriage—sealing the faithful into one extended family.
- Joseph Smith and polygamy
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- Joseph Smith and Polygamy, p.47
- Widtsoe, Evidences and Reconciliations, Single Volume Edition, 1960, pp.342-43
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233
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Brigham Young had "fifty or sixty" wives, and boasted of his ability to obtain more. |
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- Journal of Discourses 6:180-81
- Journal of Discourses 8:178
- Journal of Discourses 5:210 [citation needed]
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234
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Mormon men believed that they "could have all the wives they wanted." Heber C. Kimball said that in the resurrection, he could have "thousands" of wives. |
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236
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Joseph asked for other men's wives, such as the wife of Heber C. Kimball |
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- Journal of Discourses 2:13-14
- Wilhelm Wyl, Mormon Portraits Volume First: Joseph Smith the Prophet, His Family and Friends (Salt Lake City: Tribune Printing and Publishing Co., 1886), 70-72.
- Life of Heber C. Kimball, pp.333-35
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237
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Joseph married Heber C. Kimball's daughter, Helen. |
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- Life of Heber C. Kimball, pp.339
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239
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Joseph married Zina, the wife of Henry Jacobs.
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239
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Brigham Young publicly told Henry Jacobs to find another wife? |
- The author's claim is false: historical evidence does not support this claim.
- Zina and Henry Jacobs
- Allen Wyatt, "Zina and Her Men: An Examination of the Changing Marital State of Zina Diantha Huntington Jacobs Smith Young," FAIR presentation transcript, 2006. FAIR link
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239-240
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Some women who were associated with Joseph claimed that they did not know who the father of their children were. |
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- Wife No. 19, 1876, pp.70-71
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243
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Joseph performed a "pretended" marriage for time for Sarah Ann Whitney to Joseph Kingsbury. |
- Prejudicial or loaded language: Joseph was sealed to Sarah Ann. Kingsbury agreed to act as a "surrogate" husband to spare Sarah the difficulty of refusing suitors while plural marriage was still a secret in Nauvoo.
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- The History of Joseph C. Kingsbury
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245-246
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The Bible prohibited a man from marrying sisters or mothers and daughters, therefore Mormon polygamy was not Biblical. |
- Latter-day Saint plural marriage did not rely on biblical authority or interpretation (though they used biblical parallels to explain and understand the command which they believed they had received from God via a modern prophet.)
- Marrying two sisters was quite frequent, possibly because sisters had already learned to get along together, which made for more harmonious plural families. One researcher noted:
- Marriage to the wife's sister, defined as incest only by Anglican canon law, is the only form of polygamous marriage of the [potentially 'incestuous] categories...that occurs in significant numbers.[2]
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- Millennial Star vol. 19, pp.473-74
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246-247
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Joseph sealed brothers and sisters together. |
- History unclear or in error: The authors do nothing to explain this practice. They want it to appear bizarre or repulsive.
- Presentism or anachronism: Joseph seems to have used marriage in the way that we know use "sealing." Thus, a 'marriage' did not imply a sexual or marital relationship.
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248
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Brigham said that monogamy was a "fruitful source of prostitution and whoredom" |
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249
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Some Mormons believed that Joseph taught that Adam had two wives. |
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- Journal of Discourses 26:115
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249-251
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Early Church leaders taught that Jesus was married to more than one wife. |
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- Journal of Discourses, vol. 1, pp.345-46
- Journal of Discourses, vol. 4, pp.259-60
- Journal of Discourses, vol. 2, p.210
- The Seer, p. 172"
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258
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Brigham Young said that the "only men who become Gods, even the Sons of God, are those who enter into polygamy." |
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289
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Modern Church leaders teach that polygamy is not essential for exaltation. |
[[The only men who become gods are those that practice
polygamy?]]||
- Mormon Doctrine, 1958, p.523
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