In December 2024, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) released a children’s lesson supporting the polygamous history of the church as a hard commandment the leaders and members were blessed for following, even though they did not want to. Then in February 2025, the church updated the lesson to remove some of the most blatant manipulative parts, cutting the story from 8 sections to 5. Nearly half of the content was simply removed.
The original lesson taught that the Lord blesses those who obey His commandments—even when those commandments go against personal judgment and conscience. It specifically cited polygamy, or “plural marriage,” as an example, reinforcing the idea that early church members sacrificed their own moral compasses to follow a prophet’s decree. These segments were changed or completely removed from the lesson:
In its first rendition, the chapter on plural marriage begins with church founder Joseph Smith and other Latter-day Saint leaders’ initial reluctance to take additional wives, followed by their ultimate “obedience” to what Smith said was a “commandment from the Lord.”
It goes on to explain the struggles Emma Smith, his first wife, had with polygamy and that outsiders “made laws against it,” imprisoning Latter-day Saint leaders for following their prophet’s instructions.
It also depicted Smith’s successor, Brigham Young, who went on to become the most famous polygamist of the American West, praying and deciding to obey this commandment of plural marriage.
The main message: God blesses those who heed him, even when it’s hard.
LDS Church changes its polygamy cartoons for children — including the message, Peggy Fletcher Stack
https://www.sltrib.com/religion/2025/02/21/lds-church-changes-polygamy
This framing is dangerous. It exemplifies how the church uses coercion to instill obedience, training members from a young age to suppress their own critical thinking in favor of prophetic or correlated dictates. The underlying message is clear: personal conscience must yield to church authority, even when the commandment is troubling or morally ambiguous. The lesson subtly conditions children to accept blind obedience as a virtue, a tactic that has historically been used to justify abuses and control adherents.
Quietly Updated Curriculum
Facing backlash from dissenters and critics, the church quietly updated the lesson. The revised version removes the manipulative premise that polygamy was a test of faith requiring unquestioning obedience and that members are blessed when obeying a prophet’s words even if it is hard or contrary to their morals. Instead, it now simply states that polygamy was a commandment from God, was only practiced temporarily, and ended when God commanded it in 1890.
The revised site is much shorter and states that “usually a man should have only one wife. But sometimes the Lord commanded” otherwise.
The section eliminates mentions of Emma Smith or Brigham Young.
As before, the final cartoon notes the beginning of the end of polygamy in 1890, when “the Lord told Wilford Woodruff, the president of the church, that men should not marry more than one wife anymore.”
It concludes: “This is still the Lord’s commandment today — a man should be married to only one wife.”
Even the subhead on the new page is different: “Plural Marriage: A commandment for a time.”
This chapter “has been simplified to help the intended audience, specifically children, to understand that plural marriage was practiced for a time by some in the church,” spokesperson Irene Caso said Thursday in a statement, “and was discontinued in 1890.”
LDS Church changes its polygamy cartoons for children — including the message, Peggy Fletcher Stack
https://www.sltrib.com/religion/2025/02/21/lds-church-changes-polygamy
This revision, however, removes one manipulation while retaining others—like blatant historical whitewashing. The claim that polygamy ended in 1890 when God commanded it is demonstrably false. The practice continued secretly for years, with church leaders sanctioning additional plural marriages well into the early 20th century. Even today, the theological framework of celestial polygamy persists within the church. Men can be sealed to multiple wives for eternity, but women are not afforded the same privilege. Current LDS President Russell M. Nelson and First Counselor Dallin H. Oaks are both sealed to multiple women, reinforcing the belief that plural marriage is still an eternal principle, even if not openly practiced on earth.
Elder Oaks and the “Temporary Commandment” Justification
This curriculum shift aligns with a broader effort by the church to introduce the concept of “temporary commandments,” a doctrine recently promoted by Elder Oaks. This idea suggests that some commandments are given for specific periods and later rescinded. This seems like a convenient theological workaround, plus it conveniently ignores the pain and suffering inflicted on those who were coerced into polygamy under the belief that rejecting it meant eternal damnation. Women were pressured into marriages against their will, families were torn apart, and countless individuals suffered under a system that prioritized institutional control over individual agency.
The Danger of Manipulative Teachings
By continuing to sanitize its history and manipulate members into prioritizing obedience over conscience, the LDS Church perpetuates a culture of suppression and control. The recent curriculum changes do not reflect transparency or accountability but rather a calculated effort to quell dissent while maintaining the same fundamental message: trust the prophet, even when it doesn’t make sense. This dangerous precedent discourages critical thinking and fosters a blind faith that is easily exploited.
Members and outsiders alike must recognize these tactics for what they are—tools of manipulation designed to enforce compliance and shield the church from scrutiny. The LDS Church’s historical and present-day relationship with polygamy is far more complex and troubling than its lesson manuals would suggest. The curriculum’s continued distortions highlight the importance of independent thought and the necessity of questioning religious authority, especially when that authority demands unwavering obedience at the cost of personal integrity.
Corrected, Yet Still Incorrect
Despite the church’s efforts to frame polygamy as a temporary commandment given by God for a specific time, the official narrative remains riddled with inaccuracies. The story that polygamy was instituted as a divine commandment, reluctantly followed by faithful members, is not based on verifiable doctrine or revelation but rather on assumptions and speculation. One of the most glaring examples of this is the claim that Joseph Smith received a revelation on polygamy because God commanded it. In reality, early accounts suggest that Smith’s first known polygamous relationship was not the result of divine instruction but rather an extramarital affair.
The story of Fanny Alger, a teenage girl who worked in the Smith household, is often described as Joseph Smith’s first plural wife. However, there is no contemporary evidence to confirm this marriage was religiously sanctioned at the time. The idea that it was an early polygamous union stems largely from B.H. Roberts, a historian and church leader who, decades later, speculated that there must have been a religious justification for the relationship. His assumption became widely accepted and was later adopted into church teachings as fact, despite the lack of any evidence.
The contemporary evidence shows that Joseph was not receiving revelation about plural marriage or sealings. Emma caught Joseph and Fanny in the barn and immediately threw Fanny out. She was so distressed that a prominent contemporary LDS figure, Oliver Cowdery was needed to mediate the situation with Emma. Oliver was even later excommunicated because he refused to deny that Joseph Smith had adulterous relations with Fanny. Oliver referred to Joseph and Fanny Alger’s relationship as a “dirty, nasty, filthy affair,” suggesting that those closest to the situation did not view it as a commandment from God. The only historical evidence for Joseph’s questions on polygamy stems from B. H. Roberts, who pulled this out of thin air to justify both Joseph’s early polygamy and his affair with Fanny Alger. Even when the church claims Oliver never denied his testimony of the church, which he at least stated he was ashamed of his involvement, he also never denied his testimony that Joseph was guilty of adultery.
The whole thing is a lie. The very first paragraph gives the impression that JS prayed about polygamy while working on his translation of the bible and got an answer instructing him to practice it.
That did not happen.
That claim is based on an egregious assumption B. H. Roberts made in the History of the Church, volume 5.
Roberts realized from the timeline that JS had been practicing polygamy for years before D&C 132 came about. To rationalize it, Roberts assumed that JS surely must have had a revelation to practice it early on, because surely he just didn’t start doing it on his own… surely… Oh Roberts. Bless your ridiculously gullible heart.
There are zero references or indications in the JS papers that JS got any kind of “revelation” that authorized him to practice polygamy prior to 1843, after he’d already been sealed to more than half his wives.
Here is BH Robert’s claim:
“There is indisputable evidence that the revelation making known this marriage law was given to the Prophet as early as 1831. In that year, and thence intermittently up to 1833, the Prophet was engaged in a revision of the English Bible text under the inspiration of God, Sidney Rigdon in the main acting as his scribe. As he began his revision with the Old Testament, he would be dealing with the age of the Patriarchs in 1831. He was doubtless struck with the favor in which the Lord held the several Bible Patriarchs of that period, notwithstanding they had a plurality of wives. What more natural than that he should inquire of the Lord at that time, when his mind must have been impressed with the fact—Why, O Lord, didst Thou justify Thy servants, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; as also Moses, David, and Solomon, in the matter of their having many wives and concubines (see opening paragraph of the Revelation)? In answer to that inquiry came the revelation, though not then committed to writing.”
https://byustudies.byu.edu/online-chapters/volume-5-introduction/This “indisputable evidence” he talks of is JS’s affair with Fanny Alger. Really – his “evidence” is the affair itself.
u/Beneficial_Math_9282
https://www.reddit.com/r/mormon/comments/1itgkuj/comment/mdpevsc/
https://www.reddit.com/r/mormon/comments/1itgkuj/the_church_has_changed_its_title_again_for_its/
So, though the church has updated this lesson on polygamy to be more truthful, the whole premise and teaching on polygamy is still not correct. There is no evidence that Joseph studied these ancient patriarchs and has questions about their polygamy. There is no evidence that Joseph received any revelations about the practice until years after he was already allegedly practicing it, but more likely it evolved as a means to religiously justify his sexual escapades.
This pattern of rewriting history to justify past behaviors continues in modern LDS curriculum. Rather than addressing the historical record honestly—including the secrecy, coercion, and ethical concerns surrounding early Mormon polygamy—the church continues to sanitize its history, presenting polygamy as a difficult but righteous trial of faith even if temporary. The recent updates to the children’s lesson on polygamy, while removing some of the more blatant manipulation tactics, still reinforce a false narrative. The church’s refusal to acknowledge the full history—including Joseph Smith’s secret marriages, the lack of consent from Emma Smith, and the continued practice of polygamy well beyond 1890—shows that the institutional priority remains faith preservation over truth.
Breaking the Silence: Share Your Story
If you have experienced the effects of correlated curriculum, the pressure to obey at all costs, or the consequences of faith transition, consider sharing your story. Raising awareness about the trauma inflicted by religious manipulation is essential in fostering understanding and healing. The church will continue to rewrite its history, but those who have lived it know the truth—and it’s time for that truth to be heard.
More reading:
- Church Teaches Children Eternal Polygamy
- Censoring ‘The Gospel and the Church’ Talk
- Facts vs Beliefs – No Limit At All On What Church Is Required To Teach Or Not Teach
- Mormon Polygamy: Taking Wives Akin to Buying Cows
- The Drawn Flaming Sword of Polygamy – Spiritual Abuse and Manipulation
- Oaks’ Temporary Commandments and The Shifting Sands of “Permanent” Laws
- https://www.sltrib.com/religion/2025/02/21/lds-church-changes-polygamy
- Original article: https://web.archive.org/web/20250118030136/https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/doctrine-and-covenants-stories-2025/44-plural-marriage?lang=eng
- Latest article: https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/doctrine-and-covenants-stories-2025/44-plural-marriage?lang=eng
- https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/gospel-topics-essays/plural-marriage-in-kirtland-and-nauvoo?lang=eng
- https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/gospel-topics-essays/plural-marriage-and-families-in-early-utah?lang=eng
- Mormon Stories: Mormon Church Changes Children’s Polygamy Lesson After Online Criticism | Ep. 1995