Criticism of Mormonism/Books/Nauvoo Polygamy/Chapter 6

Chapter 5

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

Chapter 7

Page	Claim	Response	Author's sources
356	"Efforts to suppress the story of Nauvoo until the 1852 announcement [of polygamy in Utah] restricted the breadth and depth of the records that were kept.	Internal contradiction: The author claims elsewhere that the History of the Church had material expurgated; we now learn that most of this material was not in the primary documents (such as Joseph's journals) because of secrecy concerns in the 1840s. Censorship_and_revision_of_LDS_history Criticism of Mormonism/Books/Censorship 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. Censorship of Church History (edit)
356	After 1890 the church tried to "phase out a practice the prophet had mandated as essential to salvation."	The author ignores the nuances of LDS thought on this, both before and after the Manifesto. Polygamy_a_requirement_for_exaltation Brigham Young: is polygamy essential to salvation?	No source provided. Necessary for salvation? (edit)
356	"Official accounts" of plural marriage have been "redacted."	Censorship_and_revision_of_LDS_history Criticism of Mormonism/Books/Censorship 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. Censorship of Church History (edit)
364-365	Joseph and Brigham admitted that the practice of polygamy meant they were "free to go beyond the normal 'bounds'" and "the normal rules governing social interaction had not applied to" Joseph.	The author misconstrues and misrepresents the statements cited. GLS FARMS paper Maybe wiki? Bounds and plural marriage	Brigham Young Manuscript History, Feb 16, 1849, LDS Archives.
366	"Elizabeth [Whitney] was arranging conjugal visits between her daughter, Sarah Ann, and [Joseph]…."	The Sarah Ann Whitney distortion makes its appearance yet again. Joseph Smith and polygamy/"Love letters" Misrepresentation of sources—Letter to Whitneys Criticism of Mormonism/Books/Loaded and prejudicial language Criticism of Mormonism/Books/Mind reading Criticism of Mormonism/Books/Romance 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. Whitney "love letter" (edit)
392	The author has a subsection in "How Plural Marriage Worked," entitled "Female subordination."	The author does nothing to compare the 19th-century LDS practice of marriage with Victorian marriage in general. Female subordination in 19th century Criticism of Mormonism/Books/Loaded and prejudicial language	No sources provided.
400	"Joseph Lee Robinson put it bluntly: 'There are some on this stand that would cut my throat or take my hearts blood,' he said, if he told them what God had revealed to him.	The statement comes from the Joseph Robinson journal, but the statement is not from Robinson—it is from Joseph Smith. The author recognized this in an earlier article.[1]	Citation error Robinson Journal, 24, Utah State Historical Society Library.
408	"Joseph had already fled three states under pressure that arose, in part, from suspicious relationships with young women."	Fanny Alger certainly caused problems in Ohio. There is no good evidence, however, that Joseph had "woman problems" in New York or Missouri.	No source provided.
408	Joseph was "arrested for violating freedom of the press."	This is presentism, and highly anachronistic—again, likely intended to bias a modern audience against someone who would threaten a cherished modern conception of liberty. As two legal scholars note: "However, in 1844, freedom of the press did not have the broad meaning we attach to it today. Early constitutional guarantees of a free press were meant only to prevent prior restraints on publications in the form of licensing and censorship. They provided no protection to those who abused their freedom by publishing irresponsible and defamatory statements and, in fact, the Illinois Constitution specifically provided that editors should be "responsible for the abuse of that liberty." "The legal authority the city council relied on for its action—Black-stone's Commentaries-supported this view. Liberty of the press, it said, consisted only "in laying no previous restraints upon publications, and not in freedom from censure for criminal matter when published" (Blackstone 2:113). At the time of the Expositor incident, the Illinois Supreme Court had not interpreted its state constitutional guarantee, but the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, in construing that state's constitutional provision (upon which the Illinois provision was based), explained the scope of the guarantee as follows: "Publish as you please in the first instance without control; but you are answerable both to the community and the individual, if you proceed to unwarrantable lengths .... The common weal is not interested in such a communication except to suppress it" (Respublica v. Dennie, Yeates 4:267, 269-70; italics added). Thus, the law of the day supported the council in taking some action against the Expositor's publishers." Joseph was arrested on a charge of riot for the destruction of the Expositor, not a freedom of the press issue. He posted bail for this charge, and was rearrested on the capital charge of treason. Smith ignores all the scholarship on this issue, save for a dismissive (and inadequate) footnote several pages later. [See also p. 435.]	No source provided.

Endnotes

1. [note]  George D. Smith, "Nauvoo Roots of Mormon Polygamy, 1841–46: A Preliminary Demographic Report," Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 27 no. 1 (Spring 1994), 26.