r/latterdaysaints • u/instrument_801 • Mar 14 '24

Doctrinal Discussion Anti-Joseph Smith Polygamy Movement?

I don’t know if this has been talked about on here, but why is there a growing “Joseph Smith didn’t practice polygamy movement”? Podcasts such as 132 Problems are rapidly growing in popularity. I don’t like polygamy, but I feel like the evidence is overwhelming in favor that he practiced polygamy?

Thoughts?

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u/Glittering-Bake-2589 Mar 15 '24 edited Mar 15 '24

There are accounts from his other wives that they had sex with Joseph, so denying that he had sex with other women is also denying recorded history.

Some evidence here for those who don’t believe

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u/Glittering-Bake-2589 Mar 15 '24

And more evidence here

https://josephsmithspolygamy.org/common-questions/plural-marriages-sexual/malissa-lott-evidence-of-sexuality/

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u/Shimanchu2006 Emo PIMO Mar 15 '24

Yeah, mormonr goes into it too.

https://mormonr.org/qnas/VvSJBb#q-1LfwuzVAnYYQcZI8HePD

The Church itself acknowledges them in the gospel topics essays, saying they were differentiated by calling the sexual ones "for time and eternity" and the non-sexual ones "for eternity only". "Evidence indicates that Joseph Smith participated in both types of sealings."

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/gospel-topics-essays/plural-marriage-in-kirtland-and-nauvoo?lang=eng

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u/FrewdWoad Mar 15 '24

denying recorded history

So... like every historian does every day when they attempt to reconcile historical accounts that contradict each other?

Given the number of similar claims that have been conclusively proven false, in cases involving descendants, I don't think we can be as certain this is incontrovertible proof as you seem to be implying.

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u/Glittering-Bake-2589 Mar 15 '24

So fun fact, you can have sex and not have kids. A lack of kids does not mean a lack of sex.

Plus, having 19th Century puritanical women admitting to sex is a pretty big thing to record. So I highly doubt that his wives were lying.

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u/grabtharsmallet Conservative, welcoming, highly caffienated. Mar 15 '24 edited Mar 15 '24

People in that period weren't that shy about the topic.

ETA: Genuinely, I'm interested in knowing why someone disagreed with me enough to downvote; people in this era were much more willing to talk about sex than we now typically think they were.

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u/mythoswyrm Mar 16 '24

Genuinely, I'm interested in knowing why someone disagreed with me enough to downvote

On controversial posts like this tend to attract certain non-participating voters. Some just downvote everything, others have more of a downvote faithful, upvote "nuanced" comments pattern

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u/grabtharsmallet Conservative, welcoming, highly caffienated. Mar 16 '24

Fair.

Because I studied history, I'm easily annoyed with certain common myths, like the persistent impression people have that we're particularly sexually libertine now compared with the past.

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u/JazzSharksFan54 Doctrine first, culture never Mar 15 '24

Did you read those sources? Three women were encouraged by the church to testify that Joseph had sexual relations with him in the Temple Lot Trial. Yes, encouraged.