bcspace wrote:You suggest above that the majority of anti-mormon claims consist of either ignoring evidence or making up evidence.
Part of the definition. Every antiMormon is a liar.
Since it's so cut and dry and all anti-Mormon claims include ignoring evidence or making evidence up, perhaps you can point out to me why, when you say -
Have you checked the children?
- it seems like
you are making up evidence in order to ignore other evidence?
However, I concede that lack of proven children
is evidence that Joseph Smith may not have had sex with these women, so it should be consider in with the rest in order to be fair. In a way, I'm guessing you mean this statement is the kind of evidence that the anti-mormons among us love to ignore. Ok. Let's include it. But then, how does introducing this question bear on the evidence we do have - sworn testimony in a court of law that he did have relations with multiple women, endorsed by the LDS church in order to make their point in the temple lot case?
If the tables were turned, would you see the above as an example of an anti-Mormon relying on one suppositional condition in order to ignore the actual evidence? I'd argue you would, and I argue you are now.
You see, BC, if we just take the evidence as it exists we can say that a couple of things likely happened and are more likely than other options (in other words, by applying Occam's Razor): first, Joseph Smith had sex with multiple plural wives including already married women and young sisters such as the Partridges; and second, whether by lying, hiding, or simply ignoring her feelings, he hurt Emma emotionally in various ways.
I don't think it matters if sex was the main reason for polygamy. In fact, wouldn't this statement be another example of what you were suggesting anti-Mormons do? i.e. - adding to the argument in order to make it more palatable to your cause? I didn't make that statement, anyway.
At this point, if you go back to the link you have not yet refuted you will find the evidence for the above two points. We don't need to add or take away. We just need to look at the evidence as it is, and was presented by the LDS church in order to try and win the temple lot case. Since the main case by the SL saints was based on the facts of polygamy and how Joseph Smith practiced it, including the sex, many of these statements bear the added weight of sworn testimony.
So, again, without "ignoring evidence or making up evidence", can you please refute the so-called anti-Mormon lies that Joseph Smith was having sex with his plural wives? and that he did so in a manner that hurt Emma badly?
Thanks.