I have studied the sources in depth trying to ascertain the truth. The trick is to separate truth from falsehood, especially with the less accurate reporting that existed in the early 1800s. Every major leader over the years has had those making wild claims about them who play off the truth to make their lies seem believable. Barrack Obama's father was from Kenya so attention seekers claim they can prove he is foreign-born and not entitled to be president. Joseph is known to have approved of polygamy, and some people have used this fact to promulgate lies about him. Some claims I found are clearly lies, others are clearly true, others are uncertain. Here is what I found:
First a few clearly true facts: 1. Many women were "sealed" to Joseph Smith to be his wife in heaven after they both died, but had no physical relationship with him at all here on Earth. (It is important not to confuse a "sealing" with a physical marriage.) 2. Multiple women were Brigham Young's actual wife on earth. Unlike those just mentioned, Brigham was actually physically married to them and had children by them. 3. Emma did on occasion express jealousy of Joseph's kindnesses to other women and very negative feelings toward the revelation on plural marriage. All of these facts are true and not in dispute.
It is also clearly true that Joseph was "sealed" to Zina Huntington, but just as clearly false that he had any kind of physical relationship with her. Both their journals and histories make it abundantly clear that he was sealed to her to be his wife only in heaven after they both died, and no physical relationship between them ever existed.
It is clearly false that Joseph ever had a physical relationship with a previously-married woman. You say there were 13 such. I say there were zero. In each case I investigated there is no evidence of a physical relationship except by one or two people's testimony, typically decades after the fact and often second-hand. I looked into each case and concluded that the relevant testimony was impeached by the character of either the witness or the reporter, as evidenced by their past and/or subsequent actions. In particular there is no DNA evidence, and it would be easy to prove descendants of Joseph by these other women if there were any.
It appears to me to be probably false that Joseph Smith ever married or had a physical relationship with Fanny Alger. Neither Oliver nor Emma, nor anyone else ever claimed to have witnessed anything physical between them, nor did Joseph or Fanny ever say anything to lead one to believe there was a relationship beyond simple kindness. The circumstances cited were far from convincing, and Joseph flatly denied it. If you believe Joseph was a liar, then sure, he could have lied about this. I believe he was a honest man. As an honest man myself I know I would admit to such a thing if I had done it. Joseph was not shy about admitting his weaknesses.
I feel it is a toss-up whether Joseph ever actually had a physical on-earth marriage-like relationship with anyone except his wife Emma. I see reasonable evidence on both sides of this question. Certainly he had no children by other women, as would have happened if he had sex with as many women as claimed. There are also several events that strongly support the idea of his complete fidelity to Emma that would seem to be very reliable by their context and the subsequent lives of their testifiers (for example Heber C Kimball's biographical account of the test Joseph gave him and his wife Vilate). On the other hand, a few of the stories of him marrying other single ladies do seem credible and it was not against his religion to do so if Emma approved.
I think it is almost certain that Zina Huntington and Henry Jacobs got formally divorced before she married Brigham Young, but they may have merely concluded that the new marriage canceled the old one. In either case there is no evidence from any of the three of them that any of them considered her to be married to both Brigham and Henry at the same time. That claim was made many years later by an enemy of the church but never substantiated.
Now to address your specific issues:
* It is quite certain that Joseph nor Brigham ever married anyone who was not single, so the 10 commandments' injunction against adultery does not apply.
* There is no conflict with D&C 132 when Brigham married widows and divorced women. You are misreading it. It addresses only the case where the plural wife is a virgin and says nothing whatever about marrying windows or divorcees.
* Illinois had a law against Bigamy, but I suspect Brigham considered such laws unconstitutional. Certainly later church leaders did: They took the issue to the supreme court and would not have done so had they not believed they might win.
* I hope it is clearly understood by all that Joseph broke no law with his "sealings" meaning marriage in heaven only. The law of the land is perfectly silent on people being married in heaven if they are not married on Earth. ;-)
How will you send me my $100?
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krlebaron85
9 years ago
You do realize that it was very rare for any woman living back then to openly talk about their sex lives so it is no wonder you won't find many accounts. It's a miracle we have what we have today.
Young, Taylor, Woodruff, and others had sex with their wives, why is it so hard to say Smith did also? Good grief Joseph Smith is almost untouchable when talking about this subject.
Also, you think the affair with Fanny Alger didn't happen? Oliver Cowdery said it was a "dirty, nasty, filthy, affair." After all he is a Book of Mormon witness that we find credible. Do we only find his word credible when it makes the church look good? Also Smith blatantly admitted to a relationship but wanted for the record that it wasn't adulterous. Fanny when asked about it said it was a matter between her and a Joseph. It might be time to take your head out of the sand.
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Pigeon_down
7 years ago
Show me where you find differentiation between a sealing and a marriage? Being sealed to someone is being married to them. Today in the US Mormon couples are sealed together and do have sex. So you are claiming these dealings happened but there was no earthly relationship???
So explain why Helen Mar Kimball was no longer allowed to go to dances? No longer allowed to mix with boys? Because she was MARRIED to Joseph Smith. This is also why Emma Smith threw Fanny Alger down the stairs and why Oliver Cowdrey described seeing Smith and Alger in the barn as a 'dirty nasty little affair'.
LDS Doctrine (D&C 121) makes it clear that plural marriage exists for one purpose - to raise seed unto the lord. It specifically refers to procreation.
The we hit the situation with the 11 married wives. Today, if a Bishop met secretly with a mans wife and asked her to marry him but not to tell her husband or his wife, we'd have the basis of adultery. Yet somehow Latter-day saints want to give Smith a pass on this??
Meet the Mormon's is a dishonest movie. It attempt to portray Mormonism as an 'All American' family faith. The reality is, Mormonism isn't. Mormonism is based on a movement towards the end of democracy and the implementation of an LDS led Theocracy. One only has to look at the Utah liquor laws to see that clearly. LDS doctrines are imposed via Utah laws on non mormons. Where is the 'free agency' in that?
Joseph also lied about these relationships over a period of about ten years. He lied from the stand and he lied in print. Is that covered in 'Meet the Mormon's'? No it isn't, hence my contention that this movie is propaganda, it attempts to portray a wholly false version of what Mormonism is. When the reality is, that Mormonism is a fundamentalist, biblical literalist religion that requires members either accept or turn a blind eye to the idea and doctrine that God the father had actual sex with Mary, that Men after this life become Gods and live in polygamous and polyandrous relationships, and that paying 10% of your income to the LDS church for life is a prerequisite to get into Mormon heaven.
Meet the Mormons is in effect a giant advert for Mormonism, but one that does not disclose the actual history or beliefs of Mormonism. The exact same thing could be achieved by the KKK if they shot soft focus footage and never disclosed they had a long history of racial hatred etc, but attempted to pretend they were an all american, home grown social movement big on families.
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