A Fig For Polygamy?

Early church leaders (Joseph Smith, Brigham Young, and Orson Pratt among others) allegedly had a change of heart for polygamy. At first, they reportedly resisted the practice but later on accepted it and vehemently defended it. Did they really resist in the first place or are these just retro-active stories and manipulation in order to make the practice more palatable? In the end, Orson Pratt wouldn’t give a fig for any revelations from Joseph Smith if the doctrine of polygamy is not true… Essentially, he said if polygamy is not true, the whole church is not true either. This does make sense and is something Mormons wrestle with still today, especially now that the church admits that the practice started secretly with founder Joseph Smith and that publicly, he lied repeatedly about it and that even his wife was in the dark to many of his marriages.

Joseph Smith’s Polygamy

Joseph Smith initiated the practice of Polygamy, though the church has only recently been upfront with this information and multiple factions still deny this to be true.

There are multiple stories stating that in his advances toward other women, Joseph was known to call out that God had commanded the relationship. Joseph would approach a woman (sometimes a married woman) and state he had a secret and sacred revelation about the plurality of wives and that she was to be one of his wives. She would likely refuse, because, ew. Then he would remind her that he was a prophet of God and called by God and received special revelations from God. If she still refused his advances, he would even claim that an angel with a drawn sword commanded him to obey God’s command, and if he didn’t he would lose his priesthood and likely be killed! This was all intense spiritual abuse and pressure to convince the woman first to allow him to “marry” her and most likely consummate this marriage with him. This is such manipulation and such bullshit.

Joseph here paints a story that he’s being “forced” into these relationships against his own will. He’s basically throwing God under the bus, by saying, “This isn’t what I want, but I have to, or else I’ll be in trouble with God!” It also infers that if God would remove the prophet’s priesthood for failure to comply, what evils would God do to the woman who stood in his way!? These are extreme levels of manipulation and abuse. Joseph gets to shine as a man called by God, and also get anything he wants, and can publicly deny the relationships – as he does repeatedly his whole life.

I had not been married scarcely five minutes, and made one proclamation of the Gospel, before it was reported that I had seven wives. … 

What a thing it is for a man to be accused of committing adultery, and having seven wives, when I can only find one. I am the same man.

Joseph Smith publicly denying he has multiple wives
Address of the Prophet—His Testimony Against the Dissenters at Nauvoo. May 26, 1844
History of the Church – Volume 6, Chapter 19, Page 411
https://byustudies.byu.edu/online-chapters/volume-6-chapter-19/
https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/history-1838-1856-volume-f-1-1-may-1844-8-august-1844/66

Joseph publicly denied that he was involved in polygamy, plural marriage, or polyandry. He famously claimed that he could only find one wife when he was accused of committing adultery and of having seven wives. The Gospel Topic Essays have admitted today that Joseph had many many wives during his lifetime. The essay omits how many wives, but it does hide in a footnote that “careful estimates put the number between 30 and 40”. It admits he practiced polygamy and that he denied practicing polygamy.

The gospel topic essay published by the church excuses his lies as “carefully worded denials” that were “silent” about what Joseph saw as “divinely mandated” and the statements “emphasized that the church practiced no marital law other than monogamy while implicitly leaving open the possibility” that some might still practice polygamy. What is this nonsense? The church states that Joseph practices plural marriage, and denies it publicly with “carefully worded denials” which seem to denounce the practice but also “implicitly” leaving the practice possible… And that the issues from all this were only because of the rumors that spread about the practice! Wow. They are showing their cards here, this is the same strategy used today in the “carefully worded denials” from church leadership.

Joseph married many additional wives and authorized other Latter-day Saints to practice plural marriage. … Participants in these early plural marriages pledged to keep their involvement confidential, though they anticipated a time when the practice would be publicly acknowledged.

Nevertheless, rumors spread… The 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. 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.

Gospel Topic Essay: Plural Marriage: Plural Marriage in Kirtland and Nauvoo
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/gospel-topics-essays/plural-marriage-in-kirtland-and-nauvoo

Brigham Young’s Polygamy

Brigham envied a dead man’s coffin when first introduced to the practice of polygamy by Joseph Smith. He worried about “desiring the grave more than [he] ought to.”

Some of these my brethren know what my feelings were at the time Joseph revealed the doctrine; I was not desirous of shrinking from any duty, nor of failing in the least to do as I was commanded, but it was the first time in my life that I had desired the grave, and I could hardly get over it for a long time. And when I saw a funeral, I felt to envy the corpse its situation, and to regret that I was not in the coffin, knowing the toil and labor that my body would have to undergo; and I have had to examine myself, from that day to this, and watch my faith, and carefully meditate, lest I should be found desiring the grave more than I ought to do.

Journal of Discourses, Volume 3, Discourse 39. Plurality of Wives—The Free Agency of Man Brigham Young
https://journalofdiscourses.com/3/39

After returning from England in 1841, Brigham Young faced one of the sternest tests of his life—a test that was to have sobering and far-reaching implications for himself and the structure of his family. It came when Joseph Smith privately introduced the principle of plural marriage to him as a divine commandment. None “could have been more averse to it than I was when it was first revealed,” he recalled: “If any man had asked me what was my choice when Joseph revealed that doctrine, provided that it would not diminish my glory, I would have said, “Let me have but one wife;” … I was not desirous of shrinking from any duty, nor of failing in the least to do as I was commanded, but it was the first time in my life that I had desired the grave, and I could hardly get over it for a long time. And when I saw a funeral, I felt to envy the corpse its situation, and to regret that I was not in the coffin.”

Brigham Young’s Family: The Wilderness Years, Article By Dean C. Jessee, BYU Studies Quarterly 19:4, Page 474
https://byustudies.byu.edu/article/brigham-youngs-family-the-wilderness-years/

In the end, Brigham Young would marry 56 wives. If his statements about himself are true, that’s a lot of corpse envy! He also later states that polygamy is one of the “best doctrines ever.” I wonder what would have changed his mind…

While its critics argued that polygamy encouraged male sexual excess, its defenders argued the opposite. Mormons believed that sex during pregnancy resulted in sick babies, and argued that it was better for men to have other alternatives than to force themselves upon their monogamous pregnant wives. Mormon leaders argued that men were less inclined to spiritual lives than women, so the supply of available upright husbands was limited. They also said, true to the beliefs of the day, that men were more sexually inclined than women.

Young always wanted polygamy to be part of the wider culture. He called it “one of the best doctrines ever published.” But this was not to be. Twenty years after his death, Utah was admitted into the Union, and in exchange, the Mormon leadership officially abandoned polygamy as an official practice. Today, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is a strong proponent of traditional, monogamous, heterosexual marriage.

Brigham Young and the Defense of Mormon Polygamy: Mormon leader Brigham Young tried to create a culture of polygamy in the nineteenth century. How did he justify the practice in Victorian-era America?
https://daily.jstor.org/brigham-young-and-the-defense-of-mormon-polygamy/

The principle spoken upon by brother Pratt, this morning [plural marriage], we believe in. And I tell you—for I know it—it will sail over and ride triumphantly above all the prejudice and priestcraft of the day: it will be fostered and believed in by the more intelligent portion of the world as one of the best doctrines ever proclaimed to any people.

Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, Volume 6 Discourse 52
The Sacrament—The Sabbath—Sectarian Opposition to the Doctrines and Ordinances of the Gospel, Etc
August 29, 1852
https://journalofdiscourses.com/6/52

Heber C. Kimball’s Polygamy

Heber C. Kimball was told of the practice of polygamy claims at first he wept for days. He says he was satisfied with his one, good wife. But then later found comfort after his wife shared about an experience her daughter called a vision where she came to believe that plural marriage came from God.

“I never felt more sorrowful,” he said of the moment he learned of plural marriage in 1841. “I wept days. … I had a good wife. I was satisfied.”

…

Heber C. Kimball found comfort only after his wife Vilate had a visionary experience attesting to the rightness of plural marriage. “She told me,” Vilate’s daughter later recalled, “she never saw so happy a man as father was when she described the vision and told him she was satisfied and knew it was from God.”

Heber C. Kimball, Discourse, Sept. 2, 1866, George D. Watt Papers,
Church History Library, Salt Lake City, transcribed from Pitman shorthand by LaJean Purcell Carruth.
Gospel Topic Essay: Plural Marriage: Plural Marriage in Kirtland and Nauvoo
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/gospel-topics-essays/plural-marriage-in-kirtland-and-nauvoo

Orson Pratt’s Polygamy

Orson Pratt’s introduction to plural marriage is when Joseph sent him on a mission and proposed a polyandrous marriage to Orson’s wife! She denied Joseph and eventually told her husband about the proposal. Orson couldn’t believe it, and reports say he never did believe it. He didn’t think this type of thing belonged in God’s church. Not much later he was coerced into practicing polygamy himself!

This story mirrors William Law, who was also sent on a mission by Joseph Smith who then proposed to the absent missionary’s wife! She also told her husband and he was good enough to side with his wife and leave the church to expose Joseph’s secrets in the Nauvoo Expositor. William Law and Orson Pratt made very different choices when faced with the same unbelievable crisis. They left to serve the Lord on a mission by command of who they believed to be a prophet, and while they were away, that very prophet expressed sexual and secret interest in their wife behind their husband’s back. On returning from their mission and hearing their wife’s account they either stick with her or side with their priesthood leader. One led to the downfall of the charlatan prophet, the other ended up divorced and with 10 wives himself.

Eventually, Orson wouldn’t give a fig for all the other revelations.

I want to say a few words in regard to the revelation on polygamy. God has told us Latter-day Saints that we shall be condemned if we do not enter into that principle; and yet I have heard now and then (I am very glad to say that only a few such instances have come under my notice), a brother or a sister say, “I am a Latter-day Saint, but I do not believe in polygamy.” Oh, what an absurd expression! What an absurd idea! A person might as well say, “I am a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ, but I do not be lieve in him.” One is just as consistent as the other. Or a person might as well say, “I believe in Mormonism, and in the revelations given through Joseph Smith, but I am not a polygamist, and do not believe in polygamy,” What an absurdity! If one portion of the doctrines of the Church is true, the whole of them are true. If the doctrine of polygamy, as revealed to the Latter-day Saints, is not true, I would not give a fig for all your other revelations that came through Joseph Smith the Prophet; I would renounce the whole of them, because it is utterly impossible, according to the revelations that are contained in these books, to believe a part of them to be divine—from God—and part of them to be from the devil; that is foolishness in the extreme; it is an absurdity that exists because of the ignorance of some people. I have been astonished at it. I did hope there was more intelligence among the Latter-day Saints, and a greater understanding of principle than to suppose that anyone can be a member of this Church in good standing, and yet reject polygamy. The Lord has said, that those who reject this principle reject their salvation, they shall be damned, saith the Lord; those to whom I reveal this law and they do not receive it, shall be damned. Now here comes in our consciences. We have either to renounce Mormonism, Joseph Smith, Book of Mormon, Book of Covenants, and the whole system of things as taught by the Latter-day Saints, and say that God has not raised up a Church, has not raised up a prophet, has not begun to restore all things as he promised, we are obliged to do this, or else to say, with all our hearts, “Yes, we are polygamists, we believe in the principle, and we are willing to practice it, because God has spoken from the heavens.”

Journal of Discourses, Volume 17, Discourse 34: God’s Ancient People Polygamists—Marriage Relations Are to Continue Forever—No Power Binding in Marriage But that of the Holy Priesthood Possessed By the Latter-Day Saints, By Orson Pratt, October 7, 1874
https://journalofdiscourses.com/17/34

The church leaders first opposed, but after fine persuading, ended up with dozens of wives each and plenty of action in the bedroom with seemingly anyone they wanted. Some of those opposed to polygamy became strong supporters. Others became strong detractors and that was the main reason for publishing the Nauvoo Expositor which led to Joseph destroying the press and being arrested for it and eventually killed. The Expositor exposed Joseph’s secret polygamy practice. He denied the practice publicly with lies and only shared it with his inner circle.

Excuses for Polygamy

While we’re on the indefensible topic of polygamy, what do the apologists say? They want to excuse it and still claim that it came from God. None of the church’s explanations for polygamy hold any water though. Let’s look at a few here.

Plural Marriages Sexual

Seminary teachers, institute teachers, and apologists all teach that the pioneers needed polygamy to support the widows. They teach simultaneously that the scriptures teach polygamy or plural marriage was to “raise up seed unto” God, or in other words to create more babies. Then they also claim that Joseph among other leaders did not use plural marriages for sex.

27 Wherefore, my brethren, hear me, and hearken to the word of the Lord: For there shall not any man among you have save it be one wife; and concubines he shall have none;

30 For if I will, saith the Lord of Hosts, raise up seed unto me, I will command my people; otherwise they shall hearken unto these things.

Jacob 2:27 & 30
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/bofm/jacob/2?lang=eng&id=p27-p30#p27

This argument defeats itself! You can’t “raise up seed” without the sex. So the scriptures confirm for us that these early church leaders were intent on sex for the God-sanctioned purpose of raising up “seed”. If polygamy was commanded by God, then wouldn’t it follow this pattern?

Consensual

The Book of Mormon condemns multiple wives unless God commands it to “raise up seed.” The Bible has examples of polygamous relationships in the Old Testament but also forbids it in the New Testament. It states in Corinthians to “let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband” 1 Cor. 7:2. The Doctrine and Covenants has a whole section devoted to this practice of plural marriage and it is clearly spelled out. It even defines celestial marriage, temple marriage, and the new and everlasting covenant as polygamy. This section 132 is an instruction booklet on how to correctly “do” polygamy, according to church leaders at least. But sadly the earliest polygamous relationships didn’t follow this either!

61 And again, as pertaining to the law of the priesthood—if any man espouse a virgin, and desire to espouse another, and the first give her consent, and if he espouse the second, and they are virgins, and have vowed to no other man, then is he justified; he cannot commit adultery for they are given unto him; for he cannot commit adultery with that that belongeth unto him and to no one else.

D&C 132:61
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/132?lang=eng&id=p61#p61

These marriages at first were even kept secret from the other spouses. Joseph did not inform Emma of many of his plural marriages! He married these women in secret, without his wife’s knowledge or approval. Apologists will point out that yes, even though Joseph didn’t get consent from Emma, or even inform her in most cases, Joseph must be exempt from this requirement because God told him it was ok. God even warns Emma in section 132 by name that if she doesn’t give consent then Joseph will do it anyway. So we are to believe that God is setting up guidelines and the very first times these guidelines should be ignored because they don’t apply…

Secret, Not Sacred

The first main quality of early polygamy was that it was secret. It was denied. It was lied about. Those who told the truth were expelled from the church on multiple occasions. Only the inner circle were invited to the orgy of plural marriage. It was a secret club of scoring younger women, sometimes already married. The church likes to claim that Joseph Smith was “figuring out” the Lord’s will in his to properly do polygamy. But wouldn’t the angel with a sword be coming with some sort of instructions? Presumably more than just saying, I’m telling you to do this and threatening you that you must do this, but don’t tell anyone else, and, by the way, you must figure out the doctrine on your own with trial and error.

No Exact Instructions

The church essay proposes that the practice of sealing developed over time and that it was done differently in those days. They state that the Lord did not “give exact instructions”!

Although the Lord commanded the adoption … of plural marriage in the latter days, He did not give exact instructions on how to obey the commandment. Significant social and cultural changes often include misunderstandings and difficulties. Church leaders and members experienced these challenges as they heeded the command to practice plural marriage… Through it all, Church leaders and members sought to follow God’s will.

Gospel Topic Essay: Plural Marriage: Plural Marriage in Kirtland and Nauvoo
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/gospel-topics-essays/plural-marriage-in-kirtland-and-nauvoo

So why would an angel be so adamant that Joseph begin this practice, but also give no clear guidance or instruction? The church essay lists many possibilities while also stating that there are virtually no records to know why things were done as they were. It does make it clear though, that in those days, things were done very differently in regards to performing what the essay wants to call “sealings” but in reality was plural marraige.

There are several possible explanations for this practice. These sealings may have provided a way to create an eternal bond or link… Joseph Smith’s sealings to women already married may have been an early version of linking one family to another… These sealings may also be explained by Joseph’s reluctance to enter plural marriage because of the sorrow it would bring to his wife Emma. He may have believed… Another possibility is that, in an era when life spans were shorter than they are today… these women may have believed a sealing to Joseph Smith would give them blessings… The women who united with Joseph Smith in plural marriage risked reputation and self-respect in being associated with a principle so foreign to their culture and so easily misunderstood by others.

Gospel Topic Essay: Plural Marriage: Plural Marriage in Kirtland and Nauvoo
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/gospel-topics-essays/plural-marriage-in-kirtland-and-nauvoo

If Joseph was figuring out the particulars of celestial or plural marriage, there is no record of it for his first “marriage” relationship to Fanny Alger. Joseph always claimed that the relationship was not adulterous, but he never denied that there was a relationship between them. His way around this would have been to secretly marry the girl and then have intimate relations with her (in the barn) which would have been considered scandalous and adulterous had he not been married to her, but spelling this out would have outed his secret practice so instead he threatened those who challenged him with excommunication.

The church essay even admits that “nothing is known about the conversations between Joseph and Emma.” They seem to be proposing that there were conversations about this with her, and there certainly were conversations after the fact, but we have no reason to believe that there were any conversations between Joseph and Emma

Different Times

Apologists also claim that the times were different back then. They say it was (more) common for young teenagers to marry. They say that these women were willing participants and that in the end they actually liked being “sister wives”. The scriptures teach that celestial marriage is a polygamous, plural marriage.

Equality and Feminism

The Mormon church teaches that men and women are different–but still equal. They claim a marriage is a partnership and a couple should be equally yoked… But how can a couple be equally yoked, when there is one man and multiple women? How can Brigham Young be equally yoked with over fifty women!? It is not possible.

Official Declaration 2

Then, the church’s explanation to ending polygamy is very suspect as well. Official declaration, or the manifesto. But they secretly continued to practice for another 30 years! They only stopped when the world threatened them. When their money and property was threatened.

The existence of polygamy is a divisive and troubling part of Mormon doctrine, history, and culture. It must be among the top stumbling points or shelf items that nearly all members have on the shelf at some point or another. How did you struggle with the dissonance and questions surrounding polygamy? Were you forcing yourself into mental gymnastics to keep up? Were these contortions painful? Consider joining hundreds of others who have deconstructed their Mormon faith, and share your own “I was a Mormon” story on wasmormon.org.

• https://circlecube.com/lds-prophets/polygamy/
• https://josephsmithfoundation.org/01-plural-marriage-was-plural-marriage-revealed-by-the-lord-was-joseph-smith-ensnared-by-many-convoluted-activities-and-expediencies-because-of-his-involvement-in-plural-marriage-was-the-prophet-i/
• http://www.mormonthink.com/QUOTES/polygamy.htm
• https://journalofdiscourses.com/17/34
• https://missedinsunday.com/memes/polygamy/give-a-fig/
• https://missedinsunday.com/memes/polygamy/i-can-find-only-one/
• https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/gospel-topics-essays/plural-marriage-in-kirtland-and-nauvoo
• https://www.fairlatterdaysaints.org/answers/Question:Did_Joseph_claim_that_an_angel_threatened_him_with_a%22drawn_sword%22_or_%22flaming_sword%22_if_a_woman_refused_to_marry_him%3F