Yearly Archives: 2025

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Joseph Smith’s Polygamy Denials: Carefully Worded Lies, Loopholes, and Lasting Damage

One of the most unsettling aspects of Mormon history is the secret practice of polygamy. Joseph Smith publicly denied practicing polygamy while secretly marrying between 30 and 40 women, including teenagers and other men’s wives, as the church’s published essay confirms (in a footnote). The exact number of women to whom he was sealed in …

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Rumors prompted members and leaders to issue carefully worded denials that denounced spiritual wifery and polygamy but were silent about what Joseph Smith and others saw as divinely mandated “celestial” plural marriage. [Footnote: In the denials, “polygamy” was understood to mean the marriage of one man to more than one woman but without Church sanction.] LDS Church Website, Gospel Topics Essays: Plural Marriage in Kirtland and Nauvoo | wasmormon.org
Rumors prompted members and leaders to issue carefully worded denials that denounced spiritual wifery and polygamy but were silent about what Joseph Smith and others saw as divinely mandated “celestial” plural marriage. [Footnote: In the denials, “polygamy” was understood to mean the marriage of one man to more than one woman but without Church sanction.] - LDS Church Website, Gospel Topics Essays: Plural Marriage in Kirtland and Nauvoo
The statements emphasized that the Church practiced no marital law other than monogamy while implicitly leaving open the possibility that individuals, under direction of God’s living prophet, might do so. [Footnote: See, for example, “On Marriage,” Times and Seasons, Oct. 1, 1842, 939–40; and Wilford Woodruff journal, Nov. 25, 1843, Church History Library, Salt Lake City; Parley P. Pratt, “This Number Closes the First Volume of the ‘Prophet,’” The Prophet, May 24, 1845, 2. George A. Smith explained, “Any one who will read carefully the denials, as they are termed, of plurality of wives in connection with the circumstances will see clearly that they denounce adultery, fornication, brutal lust and the teaching of plurality of wives by those who were not commanded to do so” (George A. Smith letter to Joseph Smith III, Oct. 9, 1869, in Journal History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Oct. 9, 1869, Church History Library, Salt Lake City).] LDS Church Website, Gospel Topics Essays: Plural Marriage in Kirtland and Nauvoo | wasmormon.org
The statements emphasized that the Church practiced no marital law other than monogamy while implicitly leaving open the possibility that individuals, under direction of God’s living prophet, might do so. [Footnote: See, for example, “On Marriage,” Times and Seasons, Oct. 1, 1842, 939–40; and Wilford Woodruff journal, Nov. 25, 1843, Church History Library, Salt Lake City; Parley P. Pratt, “This Number Closes the First Volume of the ‘Prophet,’” The Prophet, May 24, 1845, 2. George A. Smith explained, “Any one who will read carefully the denials, as they are termed, of plurality of wives in connection with the circumstances will see clearly that they denounce adultery, fornication, brutal lust and the teaching of plurality of wives by those who were not commanded to do so” (George A. Smith letter to Joseph Smith III, Oct. 9, 1869, in Journal History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Oct. 9, 1869, Church History Library, Salt Lake City).] - LDS Church Website, Gospel Topics Essays: Plural Marriage in Kirtland and Nauvoo

Mormon Leadership On Women

The LDS or Mormon Church has long articulated clear and restrictive expectations for women. Framed as divinely inspired guidance, these teachings portray a woman’s highest calling as homemaking, motherhood, and submission to traditional gender roles. While many women in the church find meaning in family life, the rigid and one-dimensional framework leaves little room for …

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You are to become a career woman in the greatest career on earth—that of homemaker, wife, and mother. It was never intended by the Lord that married women should compete with men in employment. They have a far greater and more important service to render - Spencer W. Kimball, Faith Precedes the Miracle, Page 128, 1972 | wasmormon.org
You are to become a career woman in the greatest career on earth—that of homemaker, wife, and mother. It was never intended by the Lord that married women should compete with men in employment. They have a far greater and more important service to render - Spencer W. Kimball, Faith Precedes the Miracle, Page 128, 1972
“This congregation is unique. I don’t see any mothers. Not one of us could be here without a mother, yet we are all here... Where are their mothers? Gathered in the kitchen of our home!” - Russell M. Nelson, as LDS Apostle, Our Sacred Duty to Honor Women, 1999 | wasmormon.org
“This congregation is unique. I don’t see any mothers. Not one of us could be here without a mother, yet we are all here... Where are their mothers? Gathered in the kitchen of our home!” - Russell M. Nelson, as LDS Apostle, Our Sacred Duty to Honor Women, 1999
I say to you young men, rise up and discipline yourself to take advantage of educational opportunities. Do you wish to marry a girl whose education has been far superior to your own? - Gordon B. Hinckley, LDS Church President, Rise Up, O Men of God, 2006 | wasmormon.org
I say to you young men, rise up and discipline yourself to take advantage of educational opportunities. Do you wish to marry a girl whose education has been far superior to your own? - Gordon B. Hinckley, LDS Church President, Rise Up, O Men of God, 2006
“ My dear sisters... Many of you are mothers, and that is enough to occupy one’s full time. You are companions—the very best friends your husbands have or ever will have. You are housekeepers. That doesn’t sound like much, does it? But what a job it is to keep a house clean and tidy.” - Gordon B. Hinckley, LDS Church President, To the Women of the Church, 2003 | wasmormon.org
“ My dear sisters... Many of you are mothers, and that is enough to occupy one’s full time. You are companions—the very best friends your husbands have or ever will have. You are housekeepers. That doesn’t sound like much, does it? But what a job it is to keep a house clean and tidy.” - Gordon B. Hinckley, LDS Church President, To the Women of the Church, 2003
“Young mothers and fathers, with all my heart I counsel you not to postpone having your children... have your children and have them early.” - Ezra Taft Benson, LDS Church President, To the Mothers in Zion, 1987 | wasmormon.org
“Young mothers and fathers, with all my heart I counsel you not to postpone having your children... have your children and have them early.” - Ezra Taft Benson, LDS Church President, To the Mothers in Zion, 1987
“The counsel of the Church has always been for mothers to spend their full time in the home in rearing and caring for their children.” - Ezra Taft Benson, LDS Church President, To the Mothers in Zion, 1987 | wasmormon.org
“The counsel of the Church has always been for mothers to spend their full time in the home in rearing and caring for their children.” - Ezra Taft Benson, LDS Church President, To the Mothers in Zion, 1987
Joseph Smith wrote this [coherent and well-worded] letter from Harmony, Pennsylvania, to Oliver Cowdery, who was overseeing the printing of the Book of Mormon in Palmyra, New York. - Joseph Smith letter to Oliver Cowdery, 22 October 1829, Joseph Smith Papers | wasmormon.org
Joseph Smith wrote this [coherent and well-worded] letter from Harmony, Pennsylvania, to Oliver Cowdery, who was overseeing the printing of the Book of Mormon in Palmyra, New York. - Joseph Smith letter to Oliver Cowdery, 22 October 1829, Joseph Smith Papers
The young man, however, had very little formal education and was incapable of writing a book on his own, let alone translating an ancient book written from an unknown language, known in the Book of Mormon as “reformed Egyptian.” Joseph’s wife Emma insisted that, at the time of translation, Joseph “could neither write nor dictate a coherent and well-worded letter, let alone dictat[e] a book like the Book of Mormon.” - LDS Church, Gospel Topics Essays: Book of Mormon Translation | wasmormon.org
The young man, however, had very little formal education and was incapable of writing a book on his own, let alone translating an ancient book written from an unknown language, known in the Book of Mormon as “reformed Egyptian.” Joseph’s wife Emma insisted that, at the time of translation, Joseph “could neither write nor dictate a coherent and well-worded letter, let alone dictat[e] a book like the Book of Mormon.” - LDS Church, Gospel Topics Essays: Book of Mormon Translation

Nathanael Was a Mormon, an Ex-Mormon Profile Spotlight

Meet Nathanael, whose story demonstrates the profound courage required to choose integrity over comfort, even when it means dismantling the very foundation upon which you’ve built your life. As a descendant of Mormon pioneers with deep ancestral roots in the faith, Nathanael’s journey represents one of the most authentic and thoughtful deconversion stories we’ve encountered. …

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I didn’t begin to learn about the critical historical and contemporary issues the church has until several months after I left. I didn’t read, listen to, or watch anything that the church would classify as “anti-Mormon” prior to my resignation. For some reason, it was very important to me to make the decision to leave without any outside influences steering my thinking. Learning about the many unflattering facts that had been deliberately withheld from me, and others, ensured that I wouldn’t be able to come back. - Nathanael's "I was a Mormon" story. Read more at https://wasmormon.org/profile/nathanael-davenport/
I didn’t begin to learn about the critical historical and contemporary issues the church has until several months after I left. I didn’t read, listen to, or watch anything that the church would classify as “anti-Mormon” prior to my resignation. For some reason, it was very important to me to make the decision to leave without any outside influences steering my thinking. Learning about the many unflattering facts that had been deliberately withheld from me, and others, ensured that I wouldn’t be able to come back. - Nathanael's "I was a Mormon" story. Read more at https://wasmormon.org/profile/nathanael-davenport/
This is a spotlight on a profile shared at wasmormon.org. These are just the highlights, so please find the full story at https://wasmormon.org/profile/nathanael-davenport/. There are stories of Mormon faith journeys contributed by hundreds of users like you. Come check them out and consider sharing your own story at wasmormon.org!
This is a spotlight on a profile shared at wasmormon.org. These are just the highlights, so please find the full story at https://wasmormon.org/profile/nathanael-davenport/. There are stories of Mormon faith journeys contributed by hundreds of users like you. Come check them out and consider sharing your own story at wasmormon.org!
Of course life is still hard, and in some ways, it's harder, mainly because it's difficult to navigate relationships with the many people in my life who still choose to believe, who are understandably incapable of understanding what I and others like me have been through. And life is still fundamentally unfair. Especially when contemplating the very likely reality that there is no benevolent deity pulling the strings for us, who will make everything right in a future eternal life that very likely won't happen. But now more than ever, the small joys of living mean so much more than they used to, now that I can feel in my bones how precious, temporary, and fleeting they are. And I feel much more urgency about the need to help others experience those same joys on their own terms, and to pursue justice for them to the extent that I can. There is still so much more that I could do. If nothing else, I have learned that a joyful, moral life is possible outside of the belief that I once had, in spite of the great lengths my former church went to convince me otherwise. - Nathanael's "I was a Mormon" story. Read more at https://wasmormon.org/profile/nathanael-davenport/
Of course life is still hard, and in some ways, it's harder, mainly because it's difficult to navigate relationships with the many people in my life who still choose to believe, who are understandably incapable of understanding what I and others like me have been through. And life is still fundamentally unfair. Especially when contemplating the very likely reality that there is no benevolent deity pulling the strings for us, who will make everything right in a future eternal life that very likely won't happen. But now more than ever, the small joys of living mean so much more than they used to, now that I can feel in my bones how precious, temporary, and fleeting they are. And I feel much more urgency about the need to help others experience those same joys on their own terms, and to pursue justice for them to the extent that I can. There is still so much more that I could do. If nothing else, I have learned that a joyful, moral life is possible outside of the belief that I once had, in spite of the great lengths my former church went to convince me otherwise. - Nathanael's "I was a Mormon" story. Read more at https://wasmormon.org/profile/nathanael-davenport/
To be able to shape my beliefs around evidence, instead of ignoring evidence when it conflicts with a received belief that others had defined for me, has been the single greatest benefit of leaving the church. I didn't realize how much cognitive dissonance had been weighing me down until it wasn't there any more. It's allowed me the space to truly put people in front of ideas; where as a member of the church, I was expected to show my loyalty to "god" (the leaders of the church) above all else, when push came to shove. - Nathanael's "I was a Mormon" story. Read more at https://wasmormon.org/profile/nathanael-davenport/
To be able to shape my beliefs around evidence, instead of ignoring evidence when it conflicts with a received belief that others had defined for me, has been the single greatest benefit of leaving the church. I didn't realize how much cognitive dissonance had been weighing me down until it wasn't there any more. It's allowed me the space to truly put people in front of ideas; where as a member of the church, I was expected to show my loyalty to "god" (the leaders of the church) above all else, when push came to shove. - Nathanael's "I was a Mormon" story. Read more at https://wasmormon.org/profile/nathanael-davenport/