Criticism of Mormonism/Books/Nauvoo Polygamy/Chapter 5

Chapter 4

A FAIR Analysis of: Criticism of Mormonism/Books A work by author: George D. Smith

Chapter 6

Page	Claim	Response	Author's sources
325	After Joseph's death, Rhoda Richards was sealed to "her cousin Brigham Young."	Here the author again relies on presentism to provide a hostile interpretive lens. It was not unusual for first cousins to marry. Nineteen of the present-day states permit unrestricted marriage between first cousins, and most countries have no restrictions at all on marriage between cousins. In its exploitation of the presentist fallacy, G. D. Smith’s remark is utterly irrelevant in its historical context. Criticism of Mormonism/Books/Presentism	No source provided.
327	"Orson Hyde reported seeing a 'wonderful lustful spirit' on his visit to the polygamous Cochranite community….In 1834 he acquired his own lustful spirit in Marinda Johnson…."	Criticism of Mormonism/Books/Misrepresentation_of_sources#.22wonderful_lustful_spirit.22 Gregory L. Smith, A review of Nauvoo Polygamy:...but we called it celestial marriage by George D. Smith. FARMS Review, Vol. 20, Issue 2. (Detailed book review)	No source provided.
333	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…."	G.D. Smith again relies on presentism. Practices regarding marriage and divorce differed substantially from the 20th or 21st century. Smith also tells us nothing about McComb's tyrannical and abusive husband, making him appear the wronged party. Polygamy/Parley P. Pratt's marriage and murder Polygamy/Remarrying without civil divorce Criticism of Mormonism/Books/Presentism Gregory L. Smith, A review of Nauvoo Polygamy:...but we called it celestial marriage by George D. Smith. FARMS Review, Vol. 20, Issue 2. (Detailed book review)	No source provided.
333	The murder of Parley P. Pratt was "the proximate cause of the Mountain Meadows Massacre."	Criticism of Mormonism/Books/Misrepresentation_of_sources#PP_Pratt.27s_murder_.22the_proximate_cause_of_MMM.22 Polygamy/Parley P. Pratt's marriage and murder	Scott F. and Maurine J. Proctor, Autobiography of Parley P. Pratt (1874; Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2000), 586-99.
334	Parley P. Pratt engaged in "theological philanderings."	Criticism of Mormonism/Books/Loaded and prejudicial language Gregory L. Smith, A review of Nauvoo Polygamy:...but we called it celestial marriage by George D. Smith. FARMS Review, Vol. 20, Issue 2. (Detailed book review)	No source provided.
345	"though she [Louisa Chapin Rising] was not divorced from her legal husband, she agreed to marry [Edwin Woolley]" in polygamy.	Polygamy/Remarrying without civil divorce Criticism of Mormonism/Books/Presentism Gregory L. Smith, A review of Nauvoo Polygamy:...but we called it celestial marriage by George D. Smith. FARMS Review, Vol. 20, Issue 2. (Detailed book review)	No source provided.
351	Ezra Taft Benson was "a correspondent of FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover…."	It is not clear what relevance this has to Benson, plural marriage, or anything else, save perhaps that it associates the church president with a figure now regarded as repressive, megalomaniacal, and something of a sexual deviant. Criticism of Mormonism/Books/Loaded and prejudicial language	No source provided. Gregory L. Smith, A review of Nauvoo Polygamy:...but we called it celestial marriage by George D. Smith. FARMS Review, Vol. 20, Issue 2. (Detailed book review)