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FAIR is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing well-documented answers to criticisms of the doctrine, practice, and history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
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− | |L= | + | |L=Detailed response to CES Letter, Polygamy and Polyandry |
− | |H= | + | |H=Detailed response to CES Letter, Polygamy and Polyandry |
|S= | |S= | ||
|L1= | |L1= | ||
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|L1=Response to claim: "Joseph Smith was married to at least 34 women" | |L1=Response to claim: "Joseph Smith was married to at least 34 women" | ||
|D1=Letter to a CES Director: Why I Lost My Testimony, April 2013 | |D1=Letter to a CES Director: Why I Lost My Testimony, April 2013 | ||
− | |L2=Response to claim: "Most members of the Church are completely unaware that this alleged...1831 revelation Joseph F. Smith is referring to was a secret (and still uncanonized) 'revelation'" | + | |L2=Response to claim: "Most members of the Church are completely unaware that this alleged...1831 revelation Joseph F. Smith is referring to was a secret (and still uncanonized) 'revelation' that Joseph and other men were to marry the descendants of the Lamanites" |
|D2=Debunking FairMormon, July 2014 | |D2=Debunking FairMormon, July 2014 | ||
|L3=Response to claim: "Of those 34 women, 11 of them were married women of other living men" | |L3=Response to claim: "Of those 34 women, 11 of them were married women of other living men" | ||
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|L9=Response to claim: "Some of the marriages to these women included promises by Joseph of eternal life to the girls and their families" | |L9=Response to claim: "Some of the marriages to these women included promises by Joseph of eternal life to the girls and their families" | ||
|D9=Letter to a CES Director: Why I Lost My Testimony, April 2013 | |D9=Letter to a CES Director: Why I Lost My Testimony, April 2013 | ||
− | |L10=Response to claim: "Some of the marriages to these women included | + | |L10=Response to claim: "Some of the marriages to these women included...threats of loss of salvation" |
|D10=Letter to a CES Director: Why I Lost My Testimony, April 2013 | |D10=Letter to a CES Director: Why I Lost My Testimony, April 2013 | ||
|L11=Response to claim: "threats that he (Joseph) was going to be slain by an angel with a flaming sword if the girls didn’t marry him" | |L11=Response to claim: "threats that he (Joseph) was going to be slain by an angel with a flaming sword if the girls didn’t marry him" | ||
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|D30=Debunking FAIR's Debunking, July 2014 | |D30=Debunking FAIR's Debunking, July 2014 | ||
|L31=Brian Hales: CES Letter 31 to 34 Polyandry | |L31=Brian Hales: CES Letter 31 to 34 Polyandry | ||
+ | |D31=Letter to a CES Director, March 2015 | ||
|L32=LDS Truth Claims: Criticism from Polygamy/Polyandry | |L32=LDS Truth Claims: Criticism from Polygamy/Polyandry | ||
}} | }} | ||
</onlyinclude> | </onlyinclude> | ||
+ | {{Back to top}} | ||
==Response to claim: "Joseph Smith was married to at least 34 women"== | ==Response to claim: "Joseph Smith was married to at least 34 women"== | ||
{{IndexClaimItemShort | {{IndexClaimItemShort | ||
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|L=Criticism of Mormonism/Online documents/Letter to a CES Director/Polygamy & Polyandry Concerns & Questions | |L=Criticism of Mormonism/Online documents/Letter to a CES Director/Polygamy & Polyandry Concerns & Questions | ||
}} | }} | ||
+ | |||
'''Longer response(s) to criticism:''' | '''Longer response(s) to criticism:''' | ||
*[[Improvement Era (1946): "That Joseph Smith actually was the person who introduced plural marriage into the Church and that he practised it himself are amply proved by existing facts"]] | *[[Improvement Era (1946): "That Joseph Smith actually was the person who introduced plural marriage into the Church and that he practised it himself are amply proved by existing facts"]] | ||
*[[Joseph Smith/Polygamy/Plural wives]] | *[[Joseph Smith/Polygamy/Plural wives]] | ||
+ | {{Back to top}} | ||
− | ==Response to claim: "Most members of the Church are completely unaware that this alleged...1831 revelation Joseph F. Smith is referring to was a secret (and still uncanonized) 'revelation'"== | + | ==Response to claim: "Most members of the Church are completely unaware that this alleged...1831 revelation Joseph F. Smith is referring to was a secret (and still uncanonized) 'revelation' that Joseph and other men were to marry the descendants of the Lamanites"== |
{{IndexClaimItemShort | {{IndexClaimItemShort | ||
|title=Debunking FairMormon, July 2014 | |title=Debunking FairMormon, July 2014 | ||
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|L=Criticism of Mormonism/Online documents/Letter to a CES Director/Polygamy & Polyandry Concerns & Questions | |L=Criticism of Mormonism/Online documents/Letter to a CES Director/Polygamy & Polyandry Concerns & Questions | ||
}} | }} | ||
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'''Longer response(s) to criticism:''' | '''Longer response(s) to criticism:''' | ||
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*[[Question: Was Ezra Booth commanded to take a wife from among the Indians?]] | *[[Question: Was Ezra Booth commanded to take a wife from among the Indians?]] | ||
*[[Question: When did Joseph Smith receive the revelation on plural marriage?]] | *[[Question: When did Joseph Smith receive the revelation on plural marriage?]] | ||
+ | {{Back to top}} | ||
==Response to claim: "Of those 34 women, 11 of them were married women of other living men"== | ==Response to claim: "Of those 34 women, 11 of them were married women of other living men"== | ||
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|L=Criticism of Mormonism/Online documents/Letter to a CES Director/Polygamy & Polyandry Concerns & Questions | |L=Criticism of Mormonism/Online documents/Letter to a CES Director/Polygamy & Polyandry Concerns & Questions | ||
}} | }} | ||
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'''Longer response(s) to criticism:''' | '''Longer response(s) to criticism:''' | ||
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*[[Question: Did Joseph Smith consummate any of these marriages with married women?]] | *[[Question: Did Joseph Smith consummate any of these marriages with married women?]] | ||
*[[Question: Did Joseph Smith have any children through any of his polyandrous marriages?]] | *[[Question: Did Joseph Smith have any children through any of his polyandrous marriages?]] | ||
+ | {{Back to top}} | ||
==Response to claim: "Among them being Apostle Orson Hyde who was sent on his mission to dedicate Israel when Joseph secretly married his wife, Marinda Hyde"== | ==Response to claim: "Among them being Apostle Orson Hyde who was sent on his mission to dedicate Israel when Joseph secretly married his wife, Marinda Hyde"== | ||
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*[[Question: Did Joseph Smith send men on missions so that he could secretly marry their wives while they were gone?]] | *[[Question: Did Joseph Smith send men on missions so that he could secretly marry their wives while they were gone?]] | ||
*[[Question: Was Apostle Orson Hyde sent on a mission to dedicate Israel so that Joseph Smith could secretly marry his wife, Marinda Hyde, while he was away?]] | *[[Question: Was Apostle Orson Hyde sent on a mission to dedicate Israel so that Joseph Smith could secretly marry his wife, Marinda Hyde, while he was away?]] | ||
+ | {{Back to top}} | ||
==Response to claim: "Joseph was 37-years-old when he married 14-year-old Helen Mar Kimball"== | ==Response to claim: "Joseph was 37-years-old when he married 14-year-old Helen Mar Kimball"== | ||
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|L=Criticism of Mormonism/Online documents/Letter to a CES Director/Polygamy & Polyandry Concerns & Questions | |L=Criticism of Mormonism/Online documents/Letter to a CES Director/Polygamy & Polyandry Concerns & Questions | ||
}} | }} | ||
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'''Longer response(s) to criticism:''' | '''Longer response(s) to criticism:''' | ||
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*[[Question: What were Helen Mar Kimball's views on plural marriage?]] | *[[Question: What were Helen Mar Kimball's views on plural marriage?]] | ||
*[[Helen Mar Kimball: "I have encouraged and sustained my husband in the celestial order of marriage because I knew it was right"]] | *[[Helen Mar Kimball: "I have encouraged and sustained my husband in the celestial order of marriage because I knew it was right"]] | ||
+ | {{Back to top}} | ||
==Response to claim: "Even by 19th century standards, this is pedophilia"== | ==Response to claim: "Even by 19th century standards, this is pedophilia"== | ||
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'''Longer response(s) to criticism:''' | '''Longer response(s) to criticism:''' | ||
*[[Question: Was Joseph Smith's marriage to 14-year-old Helen Mar Kimball indicative of "pedophilia"?]] | *[[Question: Was Joseph Smith's marriage to 14-year-old Helen Mar Kimball indicative of "pedophilia"?]] | ||
+ | {{Back to top}} | ||
==Response to claim: "The Church now admits that Joseph Smith married 14-year-old Helen Mar Kimball in its October 2014 Plural Marriage in Kirtland and Nauvoo essay"== | ==Response to claim: "The Church now admits that Joseph Smith married 14-year-old Helen Mar Kimball in its October 2014 Plural Marriage in Kirtland and Nauvoo essay"== | ||
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|L=Criticism of Mormonism/Online documents/Letter to a CES Director/Polygamy & Polyandry Concerns & Questions | |L=Criticism of Mormonism/Online documents/Letter to a CES Director/Polygamy & Polyandry Concerns & Questions | ||
}} | }} | ||
+ | |||
+ | {{Back to top}} | ||
==Response to claim: "Among the women was a mother-daughter set and three sister sets"== | ==Response to claim: "Among the women was a mother-daughter set and three sister sets"== | ||
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|L=Criticism of Mormonism/Online documents/Letter to a CES Director/Polygamy & Polyandry Concerns & Questions | |L=Criticism of Mormonism/Online documents/Letter to a CES Director/Polygamy & Polyandry Concerns & Questions | ||
}} | }} | ||
− | |||
'''Longer response(s) to criticism:''' | '''Longer response(s) to criticism:''' | ||
*[[Question: Does the Bible prohibit polygamous marriages involving a mother and daughter?]] | *[[Question: Does the Bible prohibit polygamous marriages involving a mother and daughter?]] | ||
*[[Question: Did Joseph Smith being sealed to mothers, daughters and sisters violate a biblical prohibition?]] | *[[Question: Did Joseph Smith being sealed to mothers, daughters and sisters violate a biblical prohibition?]] | ||
+ | {{Back to top}} | ||
==Response to claim: "Some of the marriages to these women included promises by Joseph of eternal life to the girls and their families"== | ==Response to claim: "Some of the marriages to these women included promises by Joseph of eternal life to the girls and their families"== | ||
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|L=Criticism of Mormonism/Online documents/Letter to a CES Director/Polygamy & Polyandry Concerns & Questions | |L=Criticism of Mormonism/Online documents/Letter to a CES Director/Polygamy & Polyandry Concerns & Questions | ||
}} | }} | ||
− | |||
'''Longer response(s) to criticism:''' | '''Longer response(s) to criticism:''' | ||
*[[Question: Were plural wives forced into the marriage?]] | *[[Question: Were plural wives forced into the marriage?]] | ||
+ | {{Back to top}} | ||
− | ==Response to claim: "Some of the marriages to these women included | + | ==Response to claim: "Some of the marriages to these women included...threats of loss of salvation"== |
{{IndexClaimItemShort | {{IndexClaimItemShort | ||
|title=Letter to a CES Director (April 2013 revision) | |title=Letter to a CES Director (April 2013 revision) | ||
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|L=Criticism of Mormonism/Online documents/Letter to a CES Director/Polygamy & Polyandry Concerns & Questions | |L=Criticism of Mormonism/Online documents/Letter to a CES Director/Polygamy & Polyandry Concerns & Questions | ||
}} | }} | ||
− | |||
'''Longer response(s) to criticism:''' | '''Longer response(s) to criticism:''' | ||
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*[[Question: Did any woman suffer consequences for turning down Joseph's proposal?]] | *[[Question: Did any woman suffer consequences for turning down Joseph's proposal?]] | ||
*[[Question: Were women put under "tremendous pressure" to accept a proposal of plural marriage?]] | *[[Question: Were women put under "tremendous pressure" to accept a proposal of plural marriage?]] | ||
+ | {{Back to top}} | ||
==Response to claim: "threats that he (Joseph) was going to be slain by an angel with a flaming sword if the girls didn’t marry him"== | ==Response to claim: "threats that he (Joseph) was going to be slain by an angel with a flaming sword if the girls didn’t marry him"== | ||
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|L=Criticism of Mormonism/Online documents/Letter to a CES Director/Polygamy & Polyandry Concerns & Questions | |L=Criticism of Mormonism/Online documents/Letter to a CES Director/Polygamy & Polyandry Concerns & Questions | ||
}} | }} | ||
− | |||
'''Longer response(s) to criticism:''' | '''Longer response(s) to criticism:''' | ||
*[[Question: Did Joseph claim that an angel threatened him with a "drawn sword" or "flaming sword" if a woman refused to marry him?]] | *[[Question: Did Joseph claim that an angel threatened him with a "drawn sword" or "flaming sword" if a woman refused to marry him?]] | ||
+ | {{Back to top}} | ||
==Response to claim: "President Hinckley publicly stating that polygamy is not doctrinal"== | ==Response to claim: "President Hinckley publicly stating that polygamy is not doctrinal"== | ||
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|L=Criticism of Mormonism/Online documents/Letter to a CES Director/Polygamy & Polyandry Concerns & Questions | |L=Criticism of Mormonism/Online documents/Letter to a CES Director/Polygamy & Polyandry Concerns & Questions | ||
}} | }} | ||
− | |||
'''Longer response(s) to criticism:''' | '''Longer response(s) to criticism:''' | ||
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*[[Question: How can President Hinckley claim that polygamy is "not doctrinal" if it was a required practice in the 19th-Century Church?]] | *[[Question: How can President Hinckley claim that polygamy is "not doctrinal" if it was a required practice in the 19th-Century Church?]] | ||
*[[Gospel Topics: "Today, any person who practices plural marriage cannot become or remain a member of the Church"]] | *[[Gospel Topics: "Today, any person who practices plural marriage cannot become or remain a member of the Church"]] | ||
+ | {{Back to top}} | ||
==Response to claim: "D&C 132 is unequivocal on the point that polygamy is permitted only 'to multiply and replenish the earth' and 'bear the souls of men'"== | ==Response to claim: "D&C 132 is unequivocal on the point that polygamy is permitted only 'to multiply and replenish the earth' and 'bear the souls of men'"== | ||
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*[[Question: Was the only purpose of polygamy to "multiply and replenish the earth" and "bear the souls of men"?]] | *[[Question: Was the only purpose of polygamy to "multiply and replenish the earth" and "bear the souls of men"?]] | ||
*[[Question: If the only purpose of polygamy was to "raise up seed," then why did Joseph not have children by his plural wives?]] | *[[Question: If the only purpose of polygamy was to "raise up seed," then why did Joseph not have children by his plural wives?]] | ||
+ | {{Back to top}} | ||
==Response to claim: "These married women continued to live as husband and wife with their prior husband after marrying Joseph"== | ==Response to claim: "These married women continued to live as husband and wife with their prior husband after marrying Joseph"== | ||
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|L=Criticism of Mormonism/Online documents/Letter to a CES Director/Polygamy & Polyandry Concerns & Questions | |L=Criticism of Mormonism/Online documents/Letter to a CES Director/Polygamy & Polyandry Concerns & Questions | ||
}} | }} | ||
− | |||
'''Longer response(s) to criticism:''' | '''Longer response(s) to criticism:''' | ||
*[[Question: Since Joseph Smith "married" the wives of 11 other men, why were those women not "destroyed" as specified in the Doctrine and Covenants since they continued to live with their "previous" husbands?]] | *[[Question: Since Joseph Smith "married" the wives of 11 other men, why were those women not "destroyed" as specified in the Doctrine and Covenants since they continued to live with their "previous" husbands?]] | ||
+ | {{Back to top}} | ||
==Response to claim: "What a thing it is for a man to be accused of committing adultery, and having seven wives, when I can only find one"== | ==Response to claim: "What a thing it is for a man to be accused of committing adultery, and having seven wives, when I can only find one"== | ||
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|L=Criticism of Mormonism/Online documents/Letter to a CES Director/Polygamy & Polyandry Concerns & Questions | |L=Criticism of Mormonism/Online documents/Letter to a CES Director/Polygamy & Polyandry Concerns & Questions | ||
}} | }} | ||
− | |||
'''Longer response(s) to criticism:''' | '''Longer response(s) to criticism:''' | ||
*[[Question: Why did Joseph Smith say "I had not been married scarcely five minutes...before it was reported that I had seven wives"?]] | *[[Question: Why did Joseph Smith say "I had not been married scarcely five minutes...before it was reported that I had seven wives"?]] | ||
+ | {{Back to top}} | ||
==Response to claim: "Emma was unaware of most of Joseph’s plural marriages, at least until after the fact"== | ==Response to claim: "Emma was unaware of most of Joseph’s plural marriages, at least until after the fact"== | ||
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'''Longer response(s) to criticism:''' | '''Longer response(s) to criticism:''' | ||
*[[Question: Did Joseph hide his plural marriages from Emma, his first wife?]] | *[[Question: Did Joseph hide his plural marriages from Emma, his first wife?]] | ||
+ | {{Back to top}} | ||
==Response to claim: "She certainly did not consent to most of them as required by D&C 132"== | ==Response to claim: "She certainly did not consent to most of them as required by D&C 132"== | ||
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'''Longer response(s) to criticism:''' | '''Longer response(s) to criticism:''' | ||
*[[Question: Was Emma aware of the possibility that Joseph could take additional wives even without her consent?]] | *[[Question: Was Emma aware of the possibility that Joseph could take additional wives even without her consent?]] | ||
+ | {{Back to top}} | ||
==Response to claim: "The Church’s new October 2014 Plural Marriage in Kirtland and Nauvoo essay acknowledges that Joseph Smith was a polygamist"== | ==Response to claim: "The Church’s new October 2014 Plural Marriage in Kirtland and Nauvoo essay acknowledges that Joseph Smith was a polygamist"== | ||
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|L=Criticism of Mormonism/Online documents/Letter to a CES Director/Polygamy & Polyandry Concerns & Questions | |L=Criticism of Mormonism/Online documents/Letter to a CES Director/Polygamy & Polyandry Concerns & Questions | ||
}} | }} | ||
− | |||
'''Longer response(s) to criticism:''' | '''Longer response(s) to criticism:''' | ||
*[[Improvement Era (1946): "Did Joseph Smith Introduce Plural Marriage?...It is also possible, though the Church does not now permit it, to seal two living people for eternity only, with no association on earth"]] | *[[Improvement Era (1946): "Did Joseph Smith Introduce Plural Marriage?...It is also possible, though the Church does not now permit it, to seal two living people for eternity only, with no association on earth"]] | ||
+ | {{Back to top}} | ||
==Response to claim: "The following 1835 edition of Doctrine & Covenants revelations bans polygamy"== | ==Response to claim: "The following 1835 edition of Doctrine & Covenants revelations bans polygamy"== | ||
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|L=Criticism of Mormonism/Online documents/Letter to a CES Director/Polygamy & Polyandry Concerns & Questions | |L=Criticism of Mormonism/Online documents/Letter to a CES Director/Polygamy & Polyandry Concerns & Questions | ||
}} | }} | ||
− | |||
'''Longer response(s) to criticism:''' | '''Longer response(s) to criticism:''' | ||
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*[[Question: Was Oliver Cowdery aware that some in the Church were practicing polygamy in 1835 at the time he authored the "Article on Marriage"?]] | *[[Question: Was Oliver Cowdery aware that some in the Church were practicing polygamy in 1835 at the time he authored the "Article on Marriage"?]] | ||
*[[Question: Was the practice of polygamy general knowledge among Latter-day Saints in 1835 when the "Article on Marriage" was published?]] | *[[Question: Was the practice of polygamy general knowledge among Latter-day Saints in 1835 when the "Article on Marriage" was published?]] | ||
+ | {{Back to top}} | ||
==Response to claim: "Unions without the knowledge or consent of the husband, in cases of polyandry"== | ==Response to claim: "Unions without the knowledge or consent of the husband, in cases of polyandry"== | ||
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|L=Criticism of Mormonism/Online documents/Letter to a CES Director/Polygamy & Polyandry Concerns & Questions | |L=Criticism of Mormonism/Online documents/Letter to a CES Director/Polygamy & Polyandry Concerns & Questions | ||
}} | }} | ||
− | |||
'''Longer response(s) to criticism:''' | '''Longer response(s) to criticism:''' | ||
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*[[Question: What did the husband of Sarah Ann Whitney know about her sealing to Joseph Smith for eternity?]] | *[[Question: What did the husband of Sarah Ann Whitney know about her sealing to Joseph Smith for eternity?]] | ||
*[[Question: What did the husband of Mary Heron know about her sealing to Joseph Smith for eternity?]] | *[[Question: What did the husband of Mary Heron know about her sealing to Joseph Smith for eternity?]] | ||
+ | {{Back to top}} | ||
− | ==Response to claim: "Joseph’s marriage to Fanny Alger was described by | + | ==Response to claim: "Joseph’s marriage to Fanny Alger was described by Oliver Cowdery as a 'dirty, nasty, filthy affair'"== |
{{IndexClaimItemShort | {{IndexClaimItemShort | ||
|title=Letter to a CES Director | |title=Letter to a CES Director | ||
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|L=Criticism of Mormonism/Online documents/Letter to a CES Director/Polygamy & Polyandry Concerns & Questions | |L=Criticism of Mormonism/Online documents/Letter to a CES Director/Polygamy & Polyandry Concerns & Questions | ||
}} | }} | ||
− | |||
'''Longer response(s) to criticism:''' | '''Longer response(s) to criticism:''' | ||
*[[Question: Did Joseph Smith marry Fanny Alger as his first plural wife in 1833?]] | *[[Question: Did Joseph Smith marry Fanny Alger as his first plural wife in 1833?]] | ||
*[[Question: Did some of Joseph Smith's associates believe that Joseph Smith had an affair with Fanny Alger?]] | *[[Question: Did some of Joseph Smith's associates believe that Joseph Smith had an affair with Fanny Alger?]] | ||
+ | {{Back to top}} | ||
==Response to claim: "Joseph was practicing polygamy before the sealing authority was given"== | ==Response to claim: "Joseph was practicing polygamy before the sealing authority was given"== | ||
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'''Longer response(s) to criticism:''' | '''Longer response(s) to criticism:''' | ||
*[[Question: How could Joseph and Fanny have been married in 1831 if the sealing power had not yet been restored?]] | *[[Question: How could Joseph and Fanny have been married in 1831 if the sealing power had not yet been restored?]] | ||
+ | {{Back to top}} | ||
==Response to claim: "A union with a newlywed and pregnant woman (Zina Huntingon)"== | ==Response to claim: "A union with a newlywed and pregnant woman (Zina Huntingon)"== | ||
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|L=Criticism of Mormonism/Online documents/Letter to a CES Director/Polygamy & Polyandry Concerns & Questions | |L=Criticism of Mormonism/Online documents/Letter to a CES Director/Polygamy & Polyandry Concerns & Questions | ||
}} | }} | ||
− | |||
'''Longer response(s) to criticism:''' | '''Longer response(s) to criticism:''' | ||
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*[[Question: Did Joseph Smith and Brigham Young steal Henry Jacobs' family?]] | *[[Question: Did Joseph Smith and Brigham Young steal Henry Jacobs' family?]] | ||
*[[Question: What did the husband of Zina D. Huntington know about her sealing to Joseph Smith for eternity?]] | *[[Question: What did the husband of Zina D. Huntington know about her sealing to Joseph Smith for eternity?]] | ||
+ | {{Back to top}} | ||
==Response to claim: Zina "married Joseph after being told Joseph’s life was in danger from an angel with a flaming sword"== | ==Response to claim: Zina "married Joseph after being told Joseph’s life was in danger from an angel with a flaming sword"== | ||
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|L=Criticism of Mormonism/Online documents/Letter to a CES Director/Polygamy & Polyandry Concerns & Questions | |L=Criticism of Mormonism/Online documents/Letter to a CES Director/Polygamy & Polyandry Concerns & Questions | ||
}} | }} | ||
− | |||
'''Longer response(s) to criticism:''' | '''Longer response(s) to criticism:''' | ||
*[[Question: Did Joseph claim that an angel threatened him with a "drawn sword" or "flaming sword" if a woman refused to marry him?]] | *[[Question: Did Joseph claim that an angel threatened him with a "drawn sword" or "flaming sword" if a woman refused to marry him?]] | ||
+ | {{Back to top}} | ||
==Response to claim: "there is no such thing as an insane polygamist god who demanded such sadistic, immoral, adulterous, despicable, and pedophilic behavior"== | ==Response to claim: "there is no such thing as an insane polygamist god who demanded such sadistic, immoral, adulterous, despicable, and pedophilic behavior"== | ||
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|L=Criticism of Mormonism/Online documents/Letter to a CES Director/Polygamy & Polyandry Concerns & Questions | |L=Criticism of Mormonism/Online documents/Letter to a CES Director/Polygamy & Polyandry Concerns & Questions | ||
}} | }} | ||
− | |||
'''Longer response(s) to criticism:''' | '''Longer response(s) to criticism:''' | ||
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*[[Question: Was Joseph Smith ever charged with adultery under Illinois law?]] | *[[Question: Was Joseph Smith ever charged with adultery under Illinois law?]] | ||
*[[Question: Were there any similar cases under Illinois adultery statute which demonstrate that Joseph was not breaking the law?]] | *[[Question: Were there any similar cases under Illinois adultery statute which demonstrate that Joseph was not breaking the law?]] | ||
+ | {{Back to top}} | ||
==Response to claim: "Joseph’s desire to keep this part of his life a secret is what ultimately contributed to his death when he ordered the destruction of the printing press"== | ==Response to claim: "Joseph’s desire to keep this part of his life a secret is what ultimately contributed to his death when he ordered the destruction of the printing press"== | ||
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|L=Criticism of Mormonism/Online documents/Letter to a CES Director/Polygamy & Polyandry Concerns & Questions | |L=Criticism of Mormonism/Online documents/Letter to a CES Director/Polygamy & Polyandry Concerns & Questions | ||
}} | }} | ||
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'''Longer response(s) to criticism:''' | '''Longer response(s) to criticism:''' | ||
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*[[Question: How was the decision reached to destroy the ''Nauvoo Expositor''?]] | *[[Question: How was the decision reached to destroy the ''Nauvoo Expositor''?]] | ||
*[[Question: Did Joseph Smith or his associates attempt to reconcile with William Law before he published the ''Nauvoo Expositor''?]] | *[[Question: Did Joseph Smith or his associates attempt to reconcile with William Law before he published the ''Nauvoo Expositor''?]] | ||
+ | {{Back to top}} | ||
==Response to claim: "The Many Wives of Joseph Smith: 11 Polyandrous Marriages"== | ==Response to claim: "The Many Wives of Joseph Smith: 11 Polyandrous Marriages"== | ||
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{{:Response: Mormoninfographic:Elizabeth Davis}} | {{:Response: Mormoninfographic:Elizabeth Davis}} | ||
*[[Question: What did the husband of Elizabeth Davis know about her sealing to Joseph Smith for eternity?]] | *[[Question: What did the husband of Elizabeth Davis know about her sealing to Joseph Smith for eternity?]] | ||
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==Response to claim: "Why is there no mention of God commanding Adam or Noah and/or their immediate male children to have many wives?"== | ==Response to claim: "Why is there no mention of God commanding Adam or Noah and/or their immediate male children to have many wives?"== | ||
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'''Longer response(s) to criticism:''' | '''Longer response(s) to criticism:''' | ||
*[[Question: If polygamy was commanded of God in order to "raise seed," then why were Adam and Noah not commanded to practice polygamy?]] | *[[Question: If polygamy was commanded of God in order to "raise seed," then why were Adam and Noah not commanded to practice polygamy?]] | ||
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==Response to claim: "Latter-day 'prophet, seer, and revelator' Lorenzo Snow strongly disagrees with FairMormon"== | ==Response to claim: "Latter-day 'prophet, seer, and revelator' Lorenzo Snow strongly disagrees with FairMormon"== | ||
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*[[Question: Are the original Temple Lot Case transcripts available online?]] | *[[Question: Are the original Temple Lot Case transcripts available online?]] | ||
*[[Question: I've seen Temple Lot court transcripts online. Are these not accurate?]] | *[[Question: I've seen Temple Lot court transcripts online. Are these not accurate?]] | ||
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==Brian Hales: CES Letter 31 to 34 Polyandry== | ==Brian Hales: CES Letter 31 to 34 Polyandry== | ||
<embedvideo service="youtube">6qu5TRo79qU</embedvideo> | <embedvideo service="youtube">6qu5TRo79qU</embedvideo> | ||
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==LDS Truth Claims: Criticism from Polygamy/Polyandry== | ==LDS Truth Claims: Criticism from Polygamy/Polyandry== | ||
<embedvideo service="youtube">Wfw4jCebFAE</embedvideo> | <embedvideo service="youtube">Wfw4jCebFAE</embedvideo> | ||
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+ | |title=[[../|Letter to a CES Director]] | ||
+ | |author=Jeremy Runnells | ||
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+ | |section=Polygamy & Polyandry Concerns & Questions | ||
+ | |previous=[[../Book of Abraham Concerns & Questions|Book of Abraham Concerns & Questions]] | ||
+ | |next=[[../Prophets Concerns & Questions|Prophets Concerns & Questions]] | ||
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[[Category:Letter to a CES Director]] | [[Category:Letter to a CES Director]] |
[[../Book of Abraham Concerns & Questions|Book of Abraham Concerns & Questions]] | A FAIR Analysis of: [[../|Letter to a CES Director]], a work by author: Jeremy Runnells
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[[../Prophets Concerns & Questions|Prophets Concerns & Questions]] |
Summary: Regarding Joseph's practice of polygamy, the author states that "Joseph Smith’s pattern of behavior or modus operandi for a period of at least 10 years of his adult life was to keep secrets, be deceptive, and be dishonest – both privately and publicly."
Jump to details:
Joseph Smith was married to at least 34 women.
Longer response(s) to criticism:
It’s unfortunate that the Church is not as open, straightforward, and transparent to their members and investigators today as Joseph F. Smith and the 1912 First Presidency were on Joseph Smith’s polygamy.“…plural marriage was first revealed to Joseph Smith in 1831, but being forbidden to make it public, or teach it as a doctrine of the Gospel, at the time…”[the author is quoting FairMormon here]
Most members of the Church are completely unaware that this alleged (it was written down 30 years later in 1861 by William W. Phelps) 1831 revelation Joseph F. Smith is referring to was a secret (and still uncanonized) “revelation” that Joseph and other men were to marry the descendants of the Lamanites, or the Native Americans, to raise seed so “that their posterity may become white and delightsome.”
In addition to being written down 30 years after the fact, being an uncanonized revelation, and concerning the marrying of only Lamanite women, this 1831 revelation is also contradicted by passages in the 1835 Doctrine and Covenants (101:4, 13.7, and 65:3). Thus, FairMormon's position requires us to believe in a seemingly schizophrenic god who gave explicit commands against polygamy in revelations but who just a few years earlier told Joseph Smith that plural marriage is legitimate but to keep it a secret? Despite giving Joseph Smith contrary and opposite revelations a short time later? That this polygamy revelation in 1831 is for the purpose of raising seed with the Indians so that their posterity would “become white and delightsome”?
Longer response(s) to criticism:
Of those 34 women, 11 of them were married women of other living men.
Longer response(s) to criticism:
Among them being Apostle Orson Hyde who was sent on his mission to dedicate Israel when Joseph secretly married his wife, Marinda Hyde.
Longer response(s) to criticism:
Joseph was 37-years-old when he married 14-year-old Helen Mar Kimball, twenty-three years his junior. Even by 19th century standards, this is pedophilia.
Longer response(s) to criticism:
[Regarding the sealing of Joseph to 14-year-old Helen Mar Kimball]: Even by 19th century standards, this is pedophilia.
Longer response(s) to criticism:
The Church now admits that Joseph Smith married 14-year-old Helen Mar Kimball in its October 2014 Plural Marriage in Kirtland and Nauvoo essay
Among the women [who were Joseph Smith's polygamous wives] was a mother-daughter set and three sister sets.
Longer response(s) to criticism:
Some of the marriages to these women included promises by Joseph of eternal life to the girls and their families.
Longer response(s) to criticism:
Some of the marriages to these women included...threats of loss of salvation.
Longer response(s) to criticism:
Some of the marriages to these women included...threats that he (Joseph) was going to be...
slain by an angel with a flaming sword if the girls didn’t marry him. (April 2013)
in danger from an angel with a drawn sword. (October 2014)
slain by an angel with a drawn sword if the girls didn't marry him.(October 2014)
[Zina Diantha Huntington Jacobs] was married for 7.5 months and was 6 months pregnant with her first husband, Henry Jacobs, when she married Joseph after being told Joseph’s life was...
in danger from an angel with a flaming sword. (April 2013)
Longer response(s) to criticism:
A lot of members don’t realize that there is a set of very specific and bizarre rules outlined in Doctrine & Covenants 132 (still in LDS canon despite President Hinckley publicly stating that polygamy is not doctrinal) on how polygamy is to be practiced.
Longer response(s) to criticism:
D&C 132 is unequivocal on the point that polygamy is permitted only 'to multiply and replenish the earth' and 'bear the souls of men'. .... D&C 132:63 very clearly states that the only purpose of polygamy is to 'multiply and replenish the earth' and 'bear the souls of men'. Why did Joseph marry women who were already married? These women were obviously not virgins, which violated D&C 132. Zina Huntington had been married seven and a half months and was six months pregnant with her first husband’s baby at the time she married Joseph; clearly she didn’t need any more help to 'bear the souls of men'.
Longer response(s) to criticism:
Joseph married 11 women who were already married. Multiple husbands = Polyandry. These married women continued to live as husband and wife with their prior husband after marrying Joseph.....Also, [D&C 132] verse 63 states that if the new wives are with another man after the polygamous marriage, they will be destroyed. Eleven of Joseph’s wives lived with their prior husbands after marrying Joseph Smith. Most of them lived on to old age. Why weren’t they “destroyed”?
Longer response(s) to criticism:
Joseph Smith said “…What a thing it is for a man to be accused of committing adultery, and having seven wives, when I can only find one. I am the same man, and as innocent as I was fourteen years ago; and I can prove them all perjurers.” – History of the Church, Vol. 6, Chapter 19, p. 411
Longer response(s) to criticism:
How about the consent of the first wife, which receives so much attention in D&C 132? Emma was unaware of most of Joseph’s plural marriages, at least until after the fact, which violated D&C 132.
Longer response(s) to criticism:
[Emma] certainly did not consent to most of them as required by D&C 132
Longer response(s) to criticism:
The Church’s new October 2014 Plural Marriage in Kirtland and Nauvoo essay acknowledges that Joseph Smith was a polygamist
Longer response(s) to criticism:
The following 1835 edition of Doctrine & Covenants revelations bans polygamy:1835 Doctrine & Covenants 101:4:
“Inasmuch as this Church of Christ has been reproached with the crime of fornication, and polygamy: we declare that we believe, that one man should have one wife; and one woman, but one husband, except in case of death, when either is at liberty to marry again.”
Longer response(s) to criticism:
Joseph’s polygamy also included...Unions without the knowledge or consent of the husband, in cases of polyandry.
Longer response(s) to criticism:
Joseph’s marriage to Fanny Alger was described by his cousin, Oliver Cowdery, as a “dirty, nasty, filthy affair." (April 2013)
Joseph’s marriage to Fanny Alger was described by Oliver Cowdery as a “dirty, nasty, filthy affair” (October 2014)Author's sources:
- Richard L. Bushman, Rough Stone Rolling, p. 323.
Longer response(s) to criticism:
Joseph was practicing polygamy before the sealing authority was given
Longer response(s) to criticism:
[Joseph Smith married] a newlywed and pregnant woman (Zina Huntingon)....Zina Huntington had been married seven and a half months and was six months pregnant with her first husband’s baby at the time she married Joseph; clearly she didn’t need any more help to “bear the souls of men”.
Longer response(s) to criticism:
Zina "married Joseph after being told Joseph’s life was in danger from an angel with a flaming sword" (April 2013)
Zina "married Joseph after being told Joseph’s life was in danger from an angel with a drawn sword" (October 2014)
Longer response(s) to criticism:
there is no such thing as an insane polygamist god who demanded such sadistic, immoral, adulterous, despicable, and pedophilic behavior
The secrecy of the marriages and the private and public denials by Joseph Smith are not congruent with honest behavior. Emma was unaware of most of these marriages. The Saints did not know what was going on behind the scenes as polygamy did not become common knowledge until 1852 when Brigham Young revealed it in Utah. Joseph Smith did everything he could to keep the practice in the dark.
Longer response(s) to criticism:
Joseph’s desire to keep this part of his life a secret is what ultimately contributed to his death when he ordered the destruction of the printing press (Nauvoo Expositor) that dared expose his behavior in June 1844
Longer response(s) to criticism:
A "mormoninfographic" called "The Many Wives of Joseph Smith" is used in the Letter to a CES Director to illustrate Joseph Smith's "11 Polyandrous Marriages"
Longer response(s) to criticism:
If God commands polygamy in situations where a high birth rate is necessary, why is there no mention of God commanding Adam or Noah and/or their immediate male children to have many wives? (April 2013)
--Claim Deleted-- (October 2014)
Longer response(s) to criticism:
Latter-day “prophet, seer, and revelator” Lorenzo Snow strongly disagrees with FairMormon. Snow states:A man that violated this law in the Doctrine and Covenants, 1835 edition, until the acceptance of that revelation by the church, violated the law of the church if he practiced plural marriage. Yes sir, he would have been cut off from the church, I think I should have been if I had. Before the giving of that revelation in 1843 if a man married more wives than one who were living at the same time, he would have been cut off from the church. It would have been adultery under the laws of the church and under the laws of the state, too. – Temple Lot Case, p.320-322
Longer response(s) to criticism:
[[../Book of Abraham Concerns & Questions|Book of Abraham Concerns & Questions]] | A FAIR Analysis of: [[../|Letter to a CES Director]] A work by author: Jeremy Runnells
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[[../Prophets Concerns & Questions|Prophets Concerns & Questions]] |
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