JS Polygamy deniers?

[alas]

Either way one picks to look at the polygamy problem, there is a problem. It is a pick your poison proposition if one wants to believe the church is true. We are told the Lord will never allow the prophet to lead the church astray, then we have to pick who to throw under the bus.

The church picks God. Both with the racial problem and the polygamy problem. They claim”God commanded,” us to act like racist sexist pigs. My response to them is Well, then Your God is an a**hat.

Some claim it was Joseph Smith himself who came up with the idea, or at least approved it and acted on it after he saw other religious nut-jobs doing it. This is where the historical evidence really lies. We have the whole Fanny Alger thing, where Joseph apparently was caught in a very compromising situation. At the time, Joseph just tried to sweep it under the rug. Never claiming to anyone he had married the girl or saying anything except to level accusations at anyone who mentioned it. Then she was sent away to relatives in shame. Then there is the tar and feathering incident where he was accused of trying to seduce the Johnson girl, that the church covers up as being about doctrine. But the Johnsons were followers of his, so “doctrine” is pure bs. He later “married” the girl, so looks like seduction to me. These are both before there was any hint of polygamy. And the polygamy deniers pretend Fanny never happened and go with the official church coverup of the real reason behind the tar and feathering. They want Joseph to be this perfect loving husband to Emma, so they can claim a “true prophet” because they cannot throw God under the bus and accept a God who doesn’t care that women have a real husband instead of a sperm donor. Polygamy is only a tiny bit better for children than sperm donor is and probably harder on women because if a woman is choosing a sperm donor, she knows what she is getting into and doesn’t get her heart broken by falling in love with said sperm donor. This version you hear about with the “Joseph was a fallen prophet” or “he wasn’t perfect” or “it was all a big mistake that he tried to put a stop to when it got out of hand.”

Then there are those who throw Brigham under the bus. He was the one who instituted polygamy then made it look like it was Joseph. They are accusing him, not only of being a false prophet and horndog, but also of a huge conspiracy to make it look like it was Joseph.

Throwing God under the bus and saying polygamy was commanded make a lot of women just reject the truth claims. Polygamy was a violation of society even when started. It was seen as evil right along with slavery. And by our modern standards, where we see what the Fundamentalist Mormons are as far as treating wives like property and marrying children and even the incest rate among polygamists, we are horrified, and see it as obviously evil. So, makes women hate God. Not a good idea throwing God under the bus.

So, next they take their pick f which prophet to throw under the bus. But if we pick Joseph, then maybe nothing else was really of God either. If he is going to lie about that, he probably lied about it all.

Then if we pick Brigham, well, “the prophet will never be allowed to lead the church astray” and line of succession, and maybe one of the other branches of Mormonism is really the right one. Most likely Emma’s branch because they never accepted polygamy.

The best person or thing to throw under the bus turns out to be “the church.” Just decide Joseph made it all up and pull God out from under the bus. Stop trying to justify polygamy or figure out if Joseph or Brigham “made a big mistake.” But people don’t want to go there

[moksha]

It’s telling that the modern church says we don’t practice it anymore, but refuses to actually remove it all.

It’s doctrine. Plain and simple.

Makes you think they plan to start up polygamy again at some future date.

I would imagine members would feel more secure if no future Church Authorities went out wife hunting. TBMs would be powerless to resist when they demanded, "Give me your wife, cuz God commands it."

[deacon blues]

I believe the goal of the Church is to maintain the maximum power over members that is possible. This goal means they will omit, so far as is possible any information, or discussion that will damage that control. It is not unlike what the Pharisees and Sadducees were trying to accomplish during the Roman Era in the Near East.