View source for Criticism of Mormonism/Books/Nauvoo Polygamy/Preface

{{Main Page}} 
{{H1
|L=Criticism of Mormonism/Books/Nauvoo Polygamy/Preface
|H=Response to claims made in "Preface"
|T=[[../../|Nauvoo Polygamy: "... but we called it celestial marriage"]]
|A=George D. Smith
|<=
|>=[[../Chapter 1|Chapter 1]]
}}	
<onlyinclude>
{{H2
|L=Criticism of Mormonism/Books/Nauvoo Polygamy/Preface
|H=Response to claims made in Nauvoo Polygamy, "Preface"
|S=
|L1=Response to claim: flyleaf - The book claims that Bishop Edwin Woolley married a plural wife without having her first divorce her legal husband
|L2=Response to claim: ix - Joseph Smith proposed a "tryst" with his plural wife Sarah Ann Whitney
|L3=Response to claim: ix - Joseph Smith was age 36, versus Sarah Ann Whitney at age 17
|L4=Response to claim: ix - The book presents Joseph's letter to Sarah Whitney's parents as analogous to Napoleon's passionate love letter to Josephine
|L5=Response to claim: x - Did Joseph Smith have a "predilection" to "take an interest in more than one woman?"
|L6=Response to claim: x - The author posits that Napoleon's Egyptian findings "lit a fire in Smith that inspired even the language of his religious prose"
|L7=Response to claim: xi - "Little did Napoleon dream that by unearthing the Egyptian past, he would provide the mystery language of a new religion"
|L8=Response to claim: xii - The author discusses Joseph Smith's "quest for female companionship...."
|L9=Response to claim: xii - "...Smith utilized plural marriage to create a byzantine structure of relationships intended for successive worlds"
|L10=Response to claim: xii - After the Nauvoo Expositor was destroyed, Joseph Smith was arrested for "destroying a local press"
|L11=Response to claim: xii - The book claims that it is not known whether or not Joseph's wife Emma consented to plural marriages, and that this "remains a mystery"
|L12=Response to claim: xiii - None of Joseph's plural wives are mentioned in History of the Church
|L13=Response to claim: xiii - "...today, in official Mormon circles, Smith's granting of favors to chosen followers, allowing them to take extra women into the home, is rarely mentioned"
|L14=Response to claim: xiv - It became "difficult to access" Church records regarding polygamy after the 1890 Manifesto was issued
|L15=Response to claim: xiv - "The cyclical nature of this suppression of information, first in Illinois and later in Utah, left a brief window in Mormon history from which most of the documentation has been recovered"
|L16=Response to claim: xiv - "because the history of polygamy in Nauvoo was never officially rewritten, even during the period of openness, Joseph Smith's initiation of the practice has remained in an historical penumbra to this day"
|L17=Response to claim: xiv - Joseph "courted and eloped with his first wife"
|L18=Response to claim: xiv - The author claims that the topic of polygamy was already on Joseph's mind as early as the 1820s
|L19=Response to claim: xv - "...these same polygamists continued marrying to the point that they had acquired an average of nearly six wives per family"
|L20=Response to claim: xv - The Church "suppressed" its history
|L21=Response to claim: xv - Nauvoo was "a more or less insignificant river town"
|L22=Response to claim: xvi - Mormon grandparents considered polygamy "requisite for heaven"
}}
</onlyinclude>

==Response to claim: flyleaf - The book claims that Bishop Edwin Woolley married a plural wife without having her first divorce her legal husband==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=Nauvoo Polygamy
|claim=
The book claims that Bishop Edwin Woolley married a plural wife without having her first divorce her legal husband.	
|authorsources=<br>
#No source provided
}}
{{propaganda|
|spin=On the flyleaf and on page 345, we see a claim that Bishop Edwin Woolley married a plural wife without having her first divorce her legal husband. On page 333 we see that Parley P. Pratt's "last wife, Eleanor McComb McLean…was sealed to him without divorcing her legal husband, who fatally shot Parley near Van Buren, Arkansas…." 
|facts=The author does not note that practices regarding marriage and divorce differed substantially from the 20th or 21st century. The author also tells us nothing about McComb's tyrannical and abusive husband, making him appear the wronged party.
}}
*[[../../Presentism]]
{{GDS-See also|5|345}}
{{GLS-Nauvoo Polygamy-FARMS}}
{{:Question: Was it normal not to obtain a formal civil divorce in 19th century America?}}
{{:Question: How were divorces formalized among Mormons on the frontier in the 19th century?}}

==Response to claim: ix - Joseph Smith proposed a "tryst" with his plural wife Sarah Ann Whitney==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=Nauvoo Polygamy
|claim=
Did Joseph propose a "tryst" with his plural wife Sarah Ann Whitney?
|authorsources=<br>
*Joseph Smith to "Brother and Sister, [Newel K.] Whitney, and &c. [Sarah Ann,] Nauvoo, Illinois, August 18, 1842, Joseph Smith Collections, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS), Salt Lake City, Utah
*Full text of the letter may be viewed at [http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Letter_from_Joseph_Smith_to_the_Whitneys_(18_August_1842) Letter from Joseph Smith to the Whitneys (18 August 1842)] (Wikisource)
}}
{{propaganda|
|spin=How does one have a "tryst" with someone to whom they are married?
|facts=The letter referred to was written to Sarah Ann's parents, not Sarah Ann.
}}
{{CriticalWorks:Smith:Nauvoo_Polygamy:See_also:Love_letters_Whitney}}
{{GLS-Nauvoo Polygamy-FARMS}}
{{:Question: Did Joseph Smith write a "love letter" to his plural wife Sarah Ann Whitney to request a secret rendezvous?}}

==Response to claim: ix - Joseph Smith was age 36, versus Sarah Ann Whitney at age 17==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=Nauvoo Polygamy
|claim=
The point is made that Joseph was age 36, versus Sarah Ann Whitney at age 17.
|authorsources=<br>
# No source provided
}}
{{propaganda|
|spin=The author commonly exploits the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presentism_(literary_and_historical_analysis) presentist fallacy] in the matter of Joseph's wives' ages.
}}
{{CriticalWorks:Smith:Nauvoo_Polygamy:See_also:Age_wives}}
*[[../../Presentism]]
{{:Question: Was Joseph Smith a "serial practitioner of statutory rape?"}}

==Response to claim: ix - The book presents Joseph's letter to Sarah Whitney's parents as analogous to Napoleon's passionate love letter to Josephine==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=Nauvoo Polygamy
|claim=
The book presents Joseph's letter to Sarah Whitney's parents as analogous to Napoleon's passionate love letter to Josephine.
*{{GLS-Nauvoo Polygamy-FARMS}}
|authorsources=<br>
#Author's opinion.
}}
{{propaganda}}
{{CriticalWorks:Smith:Nauvoo_Polygamy:See_also:Love_letters_Whitney}}
{{CriticalWorks:Smith:Nauvoo_Polygamy:See_also:Womanizing and romance}}
{{:Question: How do critics of the Church portray Joseph Smith's letter to the Whitney family as a "love letter"?}}

==Response to claim: x - Did Joseph Smith have a "predilection" to "take an interest in more than one woman?"==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=Nauvoo Polygamy
|claim=
Did Joseph Smith have a "predilection" to "take an interest in more than one woman?"
|authorsources=<br>
#Author's opinion.
}}
{{propaganda}}
*[[../../Loaded and prejudicial language]]
*[[../../Romance]]
*[[../../Mind reading]]
{{CriticalWorks:Smith:Nauvoo_Polygamy:See_also:Womanizing and romance}}

==Response to claim: x - The author posits that Napoleon's Egyptian findings "lit a fire in Smith that inspired even the language of his religious prose"==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=Nauvoo Polygamy
|claim=
*The author posits that Napoleon's Egyptian findings "lit a fire in Smith that inspired even the language of his religious prose."
|authorsources=<br>
#No source provided.
}}
{{misinformation|
|mistake=The author provides no evidence for this claim, aside from the Book of Mormon's use of the term "Reformed Egyptian."
}}
* [[../../Mind reading]]
{{CriticalWorks:Smith:Nauvoo_Polygamy:See_also:Egypt}}

==Response to claim: xi - "Little did Napoleon dream that by unearthing the Egyptian past, he would provide the mystery language of a new religion"==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=Nauvoo Polygamy
|claim=
*{{AuthorQuote|"Little did Napoleon dream that by unearthing the Egyptian past, he would provide the mystery language of a new religion."}}
|authorsources=<br>
#Author's opinion.
}}
{{propaganda|This is simply the author's opinion.
}}
{{CriticalWorks:Smith:Nauvoo_Polygamy:See_also:Egypt}}

==Response to claim: xii - The author discusses Joseph Smith's "quest for female companionship...."==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=Nauvoo Polygamy
|claim=
{{AuthorQuote|"Beyond [Joseph's] quest for female companionship...."}}
|authorsources=<br>
#Author's opinion.
}}
{{propaganda}}
*[[../../Mind reading]]
*[[../../Loaded and prejudicial language]]
{{CriticalWorks:Smith:Nauvoo_Polygamy:See_also:Womanizing and romance}}

==Response to claim: xii - "...Smith utilized plural marriage to create a byzantine structure of relationships intended for successive worlds"==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=Nauvoo Polygamy
|claim=
*{{AuthorQuote|"...Smith utilized plural marriage to create a byzantine structure of relationships intended for successive worlds."}}
|authorsources=<br>
#No source provided.
}}
{{misinformation|
|mistake=There is no evidence that Joseph intended the relationship structure to be "byzantine."  
|facts=He ''did'' however, want all believers connected into one family.
}}
*[[../../Loaded and prejudicial language]]

==Response to claim: xii - After the ''Nauvoo Expositor'' was destroyed, Joseph Smith was arrested for "destroying a local press"==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=Nauvoo Polygamy
|claim=
After the ''Nauvoo Expositor'' was destroyed, Joseph Smith was arrested for "destroying a local press."
|authorsources=<br>
#No source provided.
}}
{{misinformation|
|mistake=The destruction of the press was a decision ordered by Joseph as mayor with the approval of the Nauvoo city council.  
|facts=Joseph was charged with riot because of the press' destruction, released on bail, and offered to pay a fine if necessary.  He was rearrested on a capital charge of treason.
}}
{{CriticalWorks:Smith:Nauvoo_Polygamy:See_also:Expositor}}
{{:Question: Was the destruction of the ''Nauvoo Expositor'' legal?}}

==Response to claim: xii - The book claims that it is not known whether or not Joseph's wife Emma consented to plural marriages, and that this "remains a mystery"==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=Nauvoo Polygamy
|claim=
The book claims that it is not known whether or not Joseph's wife Emma ''consented'' to plural marriages, and that this "remains a mystery," although she is known to have "sent away" at least five of Joseph's plural wives.
|authorsources=<br>
#No source provided.
}}
{{misinformation|
|mistake=This is not a mystery. 
|facts=We know Emma consented to at least four marriages.
}}
{{:Question How did Emma Hale Smith react to Joseph's practice of plural marriage?}}

==Response to claim: xiii - None of Joseph's plural wives are mentioned in History of the Church==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=Nauvoo Polygamy
|claim=
None of Joseph's plural wives are mentioned in ''History of the Church''.
|authorsources=<br>
#No source provided.
}}
{{information}}
*[[../../Censorship]]
{{CriticalWorks:Smith:Nauvoo_Polygamy:See_also:Necessary_for_salvation}}
{{:Question: Has the Church "whitewashed" some of the information about its origins to appear more palatable to members and investigators?}}

==Response to claim: xiii - "...today, in official Mormon circles, Smith's granting of favors to chosen followers, allowing them to take extra women into the home, is rarely mentioned"==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=Nauvoo Polygamy
|claim=
{{AuthorQuote|"...today, in official Mormon circles, Smith's granting of favors to chosen followers, allowing them to take extra women into the home, is rarely mentioned."}}
|authorsources=<br>
#No source provided.
}}
{{propaganda|The author provides no information to support this claim.}}
{{CriticalWorks:Smith:Nauvoo_Polygamy:See_also:Censorship}}

==Response to claim: xiv - It became "difficult to access" Church records regarding polygamy after the 1890 Manifesto was issued==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=Nauvoo Polygamy
|claim=
It became "difficult to access" Church records regarding polygamy after the 1890 Manifesto was issued.
|authorsources=<br>
#No source provided.
}}
{{propaganda|The author provides no evidence to support this claim.
}}
{{CriticalWorks:Smith:Nauvoo_Polygamy:See_also:Censorship}}

==Response to claim: xiv - "The cyclical nature of this suppression of information, first in Illinois and later in Utah, left a brief window in Mormon history from which most of the documentation has been recovered"==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=Nauvoo Polygamy
|claim=
{{AuthorQuote|"The cyclical nature of this suppression of information, first in Illinois and later in Utah, left a brief window in Mormon history from which most of the documentation has been recovered."}}
|authorsources=<br>
#No source provided.
}}
{{propaganda|The author provides no evidence to support this claim.
}}
{{CriticalWorks:Smith:Nauvoo_Polygamy:See_also:Censorship}}

==Response to claim: xiv - "because the history of polygamy in Nauvoo was never officially rewritten, even during the period of openness, Joseph Smith's initiation of the practice has remained in an historical penumbra to this day"==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=Nauvoo Polygamy
|claim=
*{{AuthorQuote|"because the history of polygamy in Nauvoo was never officially rewritten, even during the period of openness, Joseph Smith's initiation of the practice has remained in an historical penumbra to this day."}}
|authorsources=<br>
#No source provided.
}}
{{propaganda}}
{{CriticalWorks:Smith:Nauvoo_Polygamy:See_also:Censorship}}

==Response to claim: xiv - Joseph "courted and eloped with his first wife"==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=Nauvoo Polygamy
|claim=
Joseph "courted and eloped with his first wife."
|authorsources=<br>
#No source provided.
}}
{{information|''Nauvoo Polygamy'' mentions that Joseph and Emma eloped whenever their marriage is mentioned.  Perhaps this is intended to demonstrate Joseph's disregard for authority or propriety in all romantic matters.
}}
{{CriticalWorks:Smith:Nauvoo_Polygamy:See_also:Eloped}}
*[[../../Loaded and prejudicial language]]

==Response to claim: xiv - The author claims that the topic of polygamy was already on Joseph's mind as early as the 1820s==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=Nauvoo Polygamy
|claim=
The author claims that the topic of polygamy was already on Joseph's mind as early as the 1820s.
|authorsources=<br>
#No source provided.
}}
{{propaganda|
|spin=The author is attempting to read Joseph Smith's mind years after his death.}}
*{{CriticalWorks:Smith:Nauvoo_Polygamy:See_also:Early knowledge}}
*[[../../Mind reading]]
{{:Question: Is it possible to deduce Joseph Smith's thoughts and dreams years after his death?}}

==Response to claim: xv - "...these same polygamists continued marrying to the point that they had acquired an average of nearly six wives per family"==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=Nauvoo Polygamy
|claim=
{{AuthorQuote|"...these same polygamists continued marrying to the point that they had acquired an average of nearly six wives per family.  This model became the blueprint for forty years of Utah polygamy."}}
|authorsources=<br>
#No source provided.
}}
{{misinformation|
|mistake=The author gets the number wrong and contradicts himself: p. 289: "the typical Utah polygamist whose roots in the principle extended back to Nauvoo, had between three and four wives." 
|facts=The average of "nearly six wives per family" is incorrect.
}}
{{CriticalWorks:Smith:Nauvoo_Polygamy:See_also:Stats}}
{{:Source:Gospel Topics:Plural Marriage and Families in Early Utah:Although some leaders had large polygamous families, two-thirds of polygamist men had only two wives at a time}}
{{:Question: What was the prevalence of polygamy in Utah and how many wives did most polygamist males have?}}

==Response to claim: xv - The Church "suppressed" its history==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=Nauvoo Polygamy
|claim=
"suppressed history"
|authorsources=<br>
#No source provided.
}}
{{misinformation|
|mistake=The Church did not "suppress" its own history.
|facts=All of the allegedly "suppressed" Church historical information is taken from Church sources.
}}
*[[../../Censorship]]
{{CriticalWorks:Smith:Nauvoo_Polygamy:See_also:Censorship}}
{{:Question: Has the Church "whitewashed" some of the information about its origins to appear more palatable to members and investigators?}}

==Response to claim: xv - Nauvoo was "a more or less insignificant river town"==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=Nauvoo Polygamy
|claim=
Nauvoo was "a more or less insignificant river town"
|authorsources=<br>
#No source provided.
}}
{{disinformation|
|falsehood=Nauvoo was not an insignificant town.
|facts=The author himself contradicts this claim on p. 2: Nauvoo was "a bustling Mississippi River town with several thousand inhabitants."  And, ultimately only Chicago was a larger city in all of Illinois. <ref>{{MormonExperience|pages=69}}</ref>
}}

==Response to claim: xvi - Mormon grandparents considered polygamy "requisite for heaven"==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=Nauvoo Polygamy
|claim=
*Mormon "grandparents considered [polygamy] requisite for heaven."
|authorsources=<br>
#No source provided.
}}
{{misinformation|
|mistake=Regardless of whether or not these grandparents believed this, such a belief has never been a doctrine of the Church.
}}
{{CriticalWorks:Smith:Nauvoo_Polygamy:See_also:Necessary_for_salvation}}
{{:Question: Is plural marriage required in order to achieve exaltation?}}
{{:Question: Did Brigham Young believe that one could not enter the Celestial Kingdom unless they were a polygamist?}}

{{endnotes sources}}



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