I find you much more entertaining. I want to see how far you'll go to change the subject. You're supposed to be a gymnast, not squirming like a worm on a hook. Try some other links. Try to change the subject. I won't. The subject is polygamy. Polygamy as practiced by a pervert prophet out for power and money like so many other pervert prophets who have followed in his footsteps. I'm sure you don't want to talk about any of that. Got any more distractions? Non sequiturs? Red herrings? Whatabouts?
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You don't read. You've avoided Grindael and other's extensive debunkings of all of your nonsense, so this is not for you. Here's something for the folks reading the forum to be aware of, in contrast to your silly little attempts at diversion:
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List of Deceptions to Protect the Practice of Polygamy (nos. 23-124)
The next section deals primarily with purposeful deception by church leaders to protect the practice of polygamy. The practice instigated an almost constant stream of untruths, lies, or prevarications. It also introduced the practice of systematic character assassination. Some apologists have excused the leaders' dishonesty, and praised them instead for their extreme dedication to a principle they believed was revealed by God. This kind of apologetic logic would praise those who strap bombs to their bodies or fly airplanes into skyscrapers driven by fanatical dedication to their particular religious beliefs.
23. One of Joseph Smith's first experiments with adultery began with a teen-age girl named Fanny Ward Alger who worked in the Smith home as a maidservant. William E. McLellin, Mormon Apostle, indicated that Emma Smith "looked through a crack and saw the transaction" in the barn. (Richard Van Wagoner, Mormon Polygamy: A History, 2nd edition, Signature Books, 1989, pp. 4-11)
The affair led to a severe rift between loyal follower Oliver Cowdery and Joseph. Cowdery referred to Smith's indulgences with Fanny Alger as "A dirty, nasty, filthy affair." Church leaders and loyal defenders avoid linking Smith with his adultery by calling it an authorized "plural marriage." Todd Compton, author of, In Sacred Loneliness: The Plural Wives of Joseph Smith, 2nd edition, notes that in February or March of 1833, when Joseph was 27 and Fanny Alger 17, he had sexual relations with her. After Emma found out about Joseph's secret love affair, she turned Fanny out of their house, where she had been working as a servant. (In Sacred Loneliness, pp. 34-36) It has been noted that calling it a marriage instead of an affair raises more disturbing questions. Polygamous marriages were not legal in Ohio, the man who performed the ceremony had no authority to perform the illegal marriage, and Smith had not claimed any "revelations" or authority directing him to enter into polygamous marital arrangements in 1833-1835.
24. The LDS Church led by Joseph Smith, canonized monogamy as God's marriage arrangement and then did an about-face, adopting polygamy as God's recommended mode of marriage (D&C 42:22-24 and 132). Rumors about the Fanny Alger affair and rumors of another affair with Vienna Jacques, led to the development of an "Article on Marriage" in 1835, to convince members and non-members alike that Mormons were as Christian as others, and did not engage in abominations like polygamy. LDS leaders presented it to the general assembly of the church on August 17, 1835 and the Article was canonized as scripture and placed in the Doctrine and Covenants where it remained until 1876. It acknowledged that the church [Joseph Smith] had been "reproached with the crime of fornication, and polygamy" and declared that "we believe, that one man should have one wife; and one woman but one husband…" (Linda King Newell and Valeen Tippets Avery, Mormon Enigma: Emma Hale Smith, Prophet's Wife, "Elect Lady," Polygamy's Foe, Doubleday & Co. Garden City, NY, 1984, p. 67) The question arises again: Which of Joseph's revelations was "inspired," the one recommending monogamy or the one recommending polygamy?
25. Joseph Smith institutionalized the practice of lying, so church leaders could deny the practice of taking multiple wives and keep Smith out of legal trouble. Sober-faced lies permitted leaders to deceive with a clear conscience; believing that God permitted and even encouraged lying to protect the principle of plural marriage.
An article from the 1886 Deseret News listed the code words and the rationale for their use. When accused of practicing "polygamy" Joseph and Hyrum denied it because it was different than "celestial "marriage" and "a plurality of wives." Polygamy was after all, a doctrine of men and the devil. "Celestial marriage" was different Smith reasoned, because it was a holy doctrine revealed by God. Joseph wanted followers to believe that the two terms were completely dissimilar. Other code words were, "eternal marriage," "the divine order of marriage," "Holy order of marriage," "living up to your privileges," "new and everlasting covenant," and "a different view of things."
If accusers did not frame their allegations using precisely the right terms, the leaders felt justified in prevaricating. If the accusers framed their words perfectly, the leaders lied anyway. Their view was that it was more important to live the higher law ? loyalty to the Prophet ? than to expose the truth to Gentiles. A prominent feature of Mormonism is that loyalty Trump's honesty. (Linda King Newell and Valeen Tippets Avery, Mormon Enigma: Emma Hale Smith, p. 113. See also B. Carmon Hardy, Solemn Covenant: The Mormon Polygamous Passage, University of Illinois Press, 1992, p. 365.) For an excellent treatment of loyalty and obedience vs. honesty see the following: Link to content.and Link to content.
26. Vienna Jacques of Nauvoo heard rumors about "spiritual wifery." She wanted Emma to ask Joseph "if the rumors were true. Was "spiritual wifery" a doctrine of the church?" Emma asked and relayed Joseph's answer. Vienna reported, "he, [Joseph] had told her [Emma] to tell the sisters of the [Women's Relief] society…"the whole idea was absolutely false and the doctrine an evil and unlawful thing." Joseph was secretly practicing plural marriage at the time. (Mormon Enigma, p. 114)
27. Contrary to the traditional LDS claim that the first wife had to first give her consent in order for her husband to take another wife, Emma Smith was unaware of nearly all of Joseph's "marriages" to other women. Eliza Snow, secretary to Emma in the Relief Society organization, as well as Sarah Cleveland, Emma's counselor, who was legally married to John Cleveland, were secretly married to Joseph, and Emma knew nothing about the marriages. According to Newell and Avery, "To live as a secret wife to a friend's husband demanded evasion, subterfuge, and deception." (Mormon Enigma, p. 119)
28. Joseph Smith secretly married 17 year old Sarah Ann Whitney in August 1842 without Emma's knowledge or consent. He had no intention of confessing his conduct to Emma. He wrote to her parents who approved of the marriage, "The only thing to be careful of is to find out when Emma comes, then you cannot be safe, but when she is not here, there is the most perfect safety… Burn this letter as soon as you read it." (Mormon Enigma, p. 125)
29. The Times and Seasons, August 1842 published an article defending Joseph. It quoted church scripture, the Doctrine and Covenants. "… We declare that we believe, that one man should have one wife; and one woman, but one husband. We know of no other rule or system of marriage." The purpose of the article was to deny that Joseph had taught John C. Bennett the concept of spiritual wifery, after Bennett seduced several women in Nauvoo under the guise of God-inspired polygamy.
Many of those who signed the declaration of monogamy were secretly practicing polygamy. Joseph had taught Bennett the principle, and the signatories knew it. (Mormon Enigma, p. 128) Mormons used the term spiritual wifery (the ungodly form of plural marriage, in their minds) as an excuse to deny the charges. But faithful Mormons used the term themselves to describe the "right" version of polygamy before and after their exodus to Salt Lake. (B. Carmon Hardy, Solemn Covenant: The Mormon Polygamous Passage, University of Illinois Press, 1992, p. 365)
30. Joseph deceived Emma when he married two other women (probably Martha McBride Knight and Ruth Vose Sayers) without her knowledge or consent in the winter of 1842-43. (Mormon Enigma, p. 134 and note 13)
31. Joseph secretly proposed to 19-year-old Nancy Rigdon in Nauvoo in 1842 when Smith was 36 years-old. She declined, so Joseph recruited another LDS woman to convince Nancy. She rejected that attempt too and insisted that she be permitted to leave the locked room.
Smith dictated a letter and tried to convince her that God revealed the practice, and a commandment to take multiple wives. Part of his letter read like a manifesto for situational ethics that modern LDS leaders condemn: "That which is wrong under one circumstance, may be, and often is, right under another …. Whatever God requires is right, no matter what it is, although we may not see the reason thereof till long after the events transpire." Nancy showed the letter to her father, Sidney Rigdon. When Sidney questioned Joseph about it, he denied the whole affair. Joseph admitted to it only when Sidney showed Joseph his letter. (Mormon Enigma, p. 119, and Van Wagoner, Mormon Polygamy, 2nd edition pp. 32-33)
32. Martha Brotherton, an 18 year-old convert from England, emigrated to Nauvoo, Illinois in 1842 with her parents. Brigham Young approached Joseph Smith to ask if he could add Martha as another plural wife. Smith agreed and called a meeting with Young and Martha. She knew nothing of the agreement between them beforehand. Her parents were not informed or invited, though she would be regarded as a dependent minor today.
After Smith and Young made great efforts to persuade her, Martha refused. They encouraged her to lie to her parents and keep their proposal a secret and tried again to convince her to accept Brigham's proposal. Martha finally appealed to them through tears and pleading that she be given time to think about the offer.
After being sworn to secrecy and permitted to leave the room, Martha revealed everything to her parents and wrote the events while the important details were fresh in her mind. She told others in Nauvoo about the episode before the family boarded a steamboat bound for St. Louis. She published her account in a St. Louis newspaper (St. Louis Bulletin, July 15, 1842, p. 2).
Smith, stung by the article, immediately denied that the events Martha described took place. He also issued false affidavits and statements that labeled Martha not only a liar, but also an apostate and "mean harlot." Smith used lies to commit character assassination when he thought the situation warranted it; no matter how young his victim was. (Arza Evans, The Keystone of Mormonism, Keystone Books Inc., 2003, St. George Utah, pp. 20-21.)
33. Joseph Smith circulated false, lurid stories designed to blacken the character of others he considered enemies. Lies and character assassination convinced gullible members that Smith's character was unimpeachable and rumors of his adultery were unfounded. In an article in the church publication, Messenger and Advocate (June 18, 1845) Sidney Rigdon acknowledged that Parley P. Pratt, advised church leaders how to support Smith, and advised that "we must lie to support brother Joseph, it is our duty to do so."
34. Zeruiah Goddard, signed a false statement vilifying Sarah Pratt. It was added to other slanderous and libelous statements as part of a smear campaign against Sarah; orchestrated by Smith after she refused his advances. Goddard confessed to Sarah years later that Hyrum Smith (Joseph's brother), "came to our house with affidavits all written out, and forced us to sign them. Joseph and the Church must be saved, said he. We saw that resistance was useless, they would have ruined us; so we signed the papers." Church leaders felt comfortable breaking civil laws to promote polygamy, were willing to lie to protect polygamy, and willing to resort to character assassination in the form of slander and libel, against any who exposed Joseph's secret, unjustifiable behavior. (Richard Van Wagoner, Mormon Polygamy: A History, 2nd edition, p. 34 and Footnote 12, p. 38)
35. On March 4, 1843 Joseph deceived Emma when he secretly married 19 year-old Emily Partridge. Emily was happy to comply and said, "Of course I would keep his secret." At some point, Emma weakened and gave Joseph, Emily and Eliza Partridge as plural wives. She may have misunderstood, and believed that Joseph would never consummate the marriages. Joseph participated in the fake ceremony, but neglected to tell Emma that he had already secretly married the two sisters some time before. (Mormon Enigma, p. 138)
36. On May 1, 1843, Joseph deceived Emma and others when he married 17 year-old Lucy Walker while Emma was away in St. Louis. Lucy admitted that Emma was not present and she did not consent to the marriage; "she did not know anything about it at all." (Mormon Enigma, p. 139)
37. Without Emma's knowledge or consent, Joseph secretly "slept" with young Emily Partridge according to her own testimony under oath. She testified that she "roomed" with Joseph while Emma was somewhere else in the house on the night of their second marriage. Some experts are convinced Emma did not understand that Joseph would have sexual relations with the two sisters Emma presented to him. (Mormon Enigma, p. 144)
38. For information indicating that Joseph consummated his multiple marriages, despite LDS apologists' protests to the contrary, see Link to content.
39. According to Benjamin F. Johnson, living in Ramus, Illinois, on May 16, 1843 Joseph shared a room with the "daughter [Eliza] of the late Bishop Partridge." He did it without the knowledge or consent of Emma, or members of the church. (Mormon Enigma, p. 145) Current members of the church refer to his kind of lie as a sin of omission.
40. Joseph deceived Emma and the members of the church when he proposed to 14 year-old Helen Mar Kimball as a plural wife. She agreed to marry Joseph because he told her that it "will ensure your eternal salvation and exaltation and that…of your father's household and all of your kindred." She remarked, "I willingly gave myself to purchase so glorious a reward." She later admitted that she may have been deceived by her parents as well as Joseph. She stated, "I would have never been sealed to Joseph, had I known it was anything more than a ceremony." It is mind-boggling that Joseph Smith placed the responsibility for Helen's salvation and the salvation of her family, squarely on her young shoulders; in order to persuade (coerce?) her to submit to his bizarre proposal. She was 14 years and 11 months old. Modern Fundamentalist polygamists have been convicted for using identical tactics. (Mormon Enigma, pp. 146-147; In Sacred Loneliness, p. 499)
41. Joseph Smith persuaded some women and girls to marry him by convincing them that he had been commanded by an angel with a drawn sword to take multiple wives. "Joseph was commanded to take more wives and he waited until an angel with a drawn sword stood before him and declared that if he longer delayed fulfilling that command he would slay him." - Hyrum Smith, Elder Benjamin F. Johnson's Letter to George S. Gibbs, 1903(link can be found at Link to content.) One is reminded of the old line used by inept hustlers trying to pick up girls, "I work for the CIA!"
42. Joseph's polygamous activities were unknown to the vast majority of the saints in Nauvoo because of his public and private prevarications. He publicly denied that he practiced plural marriage, showing the ability to consciously mislead his devoted followers without remorse. (Mormon Enigma, p. 147, and Mormon Polygamy, pp. 20-21) When Joseph was confronted about being married to other wives in Nauvoo he protested, "What a thing it is for a man to be accused of committing adultery, and having seven wives, when I can only find one." In fact, he was sealed to dozens of women at the time. (Solemn Covenant, p. 365)
43. Cyrus Walker defended Joseph in court after an arrest. In exchange, Joseph promised to deliver "the Mormon vote" to Cyrus (a Whig) when he ran for Congress. Joseph reneged on his promise by stating that Hyrum had received a revelation to vote for the opposition party (Mr. Hoge, a Democrat). Joseph testified that Hyrum had never received a false revelation, and in effect, directed the church members to vote for the candidate that Hyrum supported instead of Cyrus Walker. Cyrus did not forget Smith's antics. Cyrus and others in the party (the Whigs) vowed to drive the Mormons out of the state. Official versions of church history fail to reveal Joseph's duplicity. (Mormon Enigma, pp. 148, 151. Also An Intimate Chronicle: The Journals of William Clayton, George D. Smith editor, Signature Books, 1995, p. 114)
44. Joseph privately told William Clayton to keep a particular plural wife knowing that the membership would be troubled about it if they found out, since most of the saints believed Joseph's repeated denials about polygamy. Joseph cautioned Clayton that if "they raise trouble about it and bring you before me I will give you an awful scourging and probably cut you off from the church and then I will baptize you and set you ahead as good as ever." (An Intimate Chronicle, p. 122) Members of the church are unaware that fake church discipline and excommunication were effective methods of deception used to shape public perception, and maintain control of the flock.
45. Official Mormon histories fail to inform readers of the competition to get as many plural wives as one could. William Clayton, secretary to Joseph Smith wrote on August 11, 1843 that with regard to marrying additional wives, Joseph told him, "You have a right to get all you can." (An Intimate Chronicle, p. 115) Those who accuse Smith of treating women like chattel use this incident as evidence. Other examples exist in the speeches of Brigham Young and Heber C. Kimball, made after the saints migrated to the West.
46. After receiving a promise from Joseph that he would stop the practice of polygamy (a lie), Emma Smith publicly announced that Joseph supported only the traditional standards of Christian marriage ? one husband and one wife ? as stated in the Doctrine & Covenants. However, he secretly confided to some that he had no intention of keeping his promise to Emma. (Mormon Enigma, p. 175) William Clayton recorded in his journal that "Joseph told me that since E[mma] came back from St. Louis she had resisted the P[riesthood] in toto and he had to tell her he would relinquish all for her sake…. He however told me he should not relinquish anything." (An Intimate Chronicle p. 117); Emma had apparently threatened Joseph with divorce in order to prevent the practice of plural marriage, so Joseph lied to keep her from divorcing him. Official LDS curriculum and histories portray Joseph and Emma as a happy married couple.
47. In August 1843, Emma discovered that sixteen-year-old Flora Woodworth was carrying a gold watch that Joseph had given her. Emma realized the implications and demanded that Flora give the watch back. Smith reprimanded her, but Emma refused to be quiet in the carriage ride home. William Clayton said that Joseph had to employ "harsh measures" to stop her complaining. (Mormon Enigma, p. 159) It also raises the question of whether or not Joseph used both physical force and lies to avoid divorce. (An Intimate Chronicle, p. 118)
48. The official history of the church states that the Relief Society was officially disbanded in 1844 shortly after being organized, "due to the various calamities that befell the saints." Those writing the official history as well as the leaders of the church knew it was actually disbanded because Emma Smith was an outspoken opponent of polygamy. (Mormon Enigma, p. 175) Joseph's public discourses and written ones (a letter from the presidency and an article entitled, "The Voice of Innocence," written by W. W. Phelps with Joseph's supervision), denied that polygamy was part of the doctrine of the Latter-day Saints. These documents were read in Relief Society meetings in Nauvoo and recommended as the standard by which saints should conduct themselves. Joseph needed to silence Emma and take away her forum. She quoted his denials as evidence that polygamy was not an inspired principle and not practiced by Smith. (Mormon Enigma, p. 175) Official histories refuse to tell the real story.
49. Official Mormon histories, though aware of the marital arrangements, withheld information about Joseph's polygamous marriages ? namely that nearly a dozen of his first polygamous wives were legally married to other men at the time of their marriage to Joseph (polyandry). They have never admitted that Joseph practiced polyandry. (Todd Compton, In Sacred Loneliness: The Plural Wives of Joseph Smith, Signature Books, 1997 Introduction. See also Link to content.) Church instructional manuals often portray early church leaders as monogamists, and refuse to disclose their penchant for deception.
50. Official Mormon histories deceive readers by failing to point out that Joseph exercised poor judgment, to say it most kindly, in choosing his friends and other church leaders. William Clayton's journal entry for May 16, 1843 records the following: "President J[oseph] said that the way he knew in whom to confide, God told him in whom he might place confidence." Many of Joseph's closest associates and those he trusted most brought damage to him and the church. John C. Bennett of Nauvoo was a classic example, yet Mormon histories reject the opportunity to fully investigate these inconsistencies, choosing instead to portray Joseph as the noble prophet who could discern the intentions of peoples' hearts. (Intimate Chronicle p. 102)
51. Official Mormon histories have portrayed plural marriages as being as normal and as affectionate as monogamous marriages. Some may have been. However, Zina Diantha Huntington, when interviewed by a journalist from the New York World, in 1869, drew a distinction between romantic love and plural marriage. Commenting on women who were unhappy in their polygamous marriages, she said they "expect too much attention from the husband and…become sullen and morose…" She insisted that the successful polygamous wife, "must regard her husband with indifference, and with no other feeling than that of reverence, for love we regard as a false sentiment; a feeling which should have no existence in polygamy." Lucy Walker, who had been sealed for time to Heber C. Kimball, after the death of Joseph Smith said, "There was not any love in the union between myself and Kimball, and it is my business entirely whether there was any courtship or not… It was the principle of plural marriage that we were trying to establish, a great and glorious true principle." (In Sacred Loneliness, pp. 108, 466-467)
52. Joseph lied about lying when the Expositor was published in Nauvoo, accusing him of lying. During the city council debate over some allegations made in the Expositor, Joseph declared that he had not kept the doctrine of polygamy secret but had taught it openly. This was patently false. William Clayton recorded that Emma Smith told him "it was the secret things which had cost Joseph and Hyrum their lives." (Solemn Covenant, p. 367) Joseph's inability to spin so many yarns at one time eventually cost him his life.
53. Smith practiced polyandry but this fact is not published in official church instructional manuals. Brigham Young continued the practice after the martyrdom of Smith. In a particularly compelling example, which the church would understandably wish to suppress, Young wanted Zina D. Huntington Jacobs. Smith had taken her as a plural wife with her husband Jacob's consent while six months pregnant in October 1841. Henry Jacobs believed that "whatever the Prophet did was right." Zina and Henry continued to live together as husband and wife though she would belong to Joseph Smith in eternity. (Mormon Polygamy, p. 45) It gets more bizarre.
During the Mormon trek west, at Mt. Pisgah, Iowa Brigham declared to Henry Jacobs, "the woman you claim for a wife does not belong to you. She is the spiritual wife of brother Joseph, sealed up to him. I am his proxy, and she, in this behalf, with her children are my property. You can go where you please, and get another but be sure to get one of your own kindred spirit." (Van Wagoner, Mormon Polygamy: A History 2nd Edition, p. 44)
Young, using his authority as the Lord's mouthpiece on earth, ordered Jacobs to leave and go to England, to serve a mission for the church. Brigham took Zina. Henry was sick and his low spirits robbed him of his health. He loved Zina and wrote letters expressing his love for her.
Astonishingly he also remained faithful to Brigham Young. In a letter he wrote, "I do not blame any person or person, no ? May the Lord our Father bless Brother Brigham and all pertains unto him forever…tell him for me I have no feelings against him nor never had…" (Mormon Polygamy: A History, p. 45). The trappings of plural marriage are cited as one reason the LDS church is still viewed by many as a cult. Polygamous behavior in LDS history resembles or even surpasses the exploits of Warren Jeffs, who was arrested and convicted for his crimes.
54. Lying became such an integral practice with the Latter-day Saints, church leaders instructed members how to lie about polygamy, according to the testimony of members given under oath. (Solemn Covenant, p. 365)
55. Loyalty was more important than honesty in the early church, and is still considered more vital than truth. Joseph's instruction to the Twelve in 1839 was that above all else, "do not betray your Friend." He frequently reminded members that they should honor friendships above all else even to death.
Currently, members are reminded often, under the guise of obedience to God, to "exhibit unquestioning faith," code words for blind loyalty and obedience. (Elder Robert Oaks, "Believe All Things," Ensign, July 2005, page 30; Link to content.)
The bold commandment to avoid critical thinking, abandon healthy skepticism, and blindly obey church leaders is another reason some outside the LDS church view it as a cult. Many mainstream religious groups encourage critical thinking and questioning beliefs and practices.
56. While the Danites (a Mormon vigilante group) were active in Missouri (1838) Justus Morse described how he and others were directed to help out a friend by lying; and to "do it with such positiveness and assurance that no one would question our testimony." The greatest of evils according to Joseph in an 1839 address to the 12 were "sinning against the Holy Ghost and proving a traitor to the brethren." Smith confided that he deceived the saints by keeping secrets from them because they were "little children" unable to "bear all things now." Joseph counseled the Relief Society Sisters not to be overzealous in their search for wrongdoing and to be charitable toward the accused, after counseling them to seek out evil-doers months earlier. Stories about adultery and spiritual wifery especially aggravated him. (Solemn Covenant, pp. 365-366)
One would think that sexual predatory practices, raping and sexually assaulting teen aged girls in Nauvoo would have caused him to list this sin as one of the most abominable. Since he was engaged in the practice of preying on teens, it likely did not occur to him.
57. In a well-publicized debate between John Taylor and a Protestant minister in 1850, John Taylor denied that the Mormons practiced polygamy. At the time, he was the husband of multiple wives. (Solemn Covenant, p. 367) In a public discussion in Boulogne-Sur-Mer, France, he claimed, "… I shall content myself by reading our views of chastity and marriage, from a work published by us, containing some of the articles of our Faith. Doctrine and Covenants, page 330…Inasmuch as this Church of Jesus Christ has been reproached with the crime of fornication and polygamy, we declare that we believe that one man should have one wife, and one woman but one husband, except in case of death, when either is at liberty to marry again" (Tract published by John Taylor in 1850, p. 8; found in Orson Pratt's Works, 1851 edition. Found in The Changing World of Mormonism, pp. 261-262).
Taylor knew that the real revelation on marriage was the one on plural marriage, but refused to admit it to his audience.
58. Orson Pratt admitted that when called upon to defend the practice of polygamy, he deliberately misled his listeners. He did not consider this to be lying. It was done to protect a law higher than man's misguided laws. (Solemn Covenant, p. 367) Official LDS histories are not forthcoming about the role of lying as a defense for polygamous marriages.
59. Charles W. Penrose, Apostle and Counselor to two Presidents of the Church, admitted that after Joseph Smith's death, certain facts about him were purposely withheld from church publications "for prudential reasons." Expediency became a more important virtue than honesty; deception was accepted as a necessary tool, while grass roots members were commanded to be honest and disciplined for dishonesty. (Solemn Covenant, p. 367) Currently LDS historians are excommunicated precisely because they have written honest histories. Link to content.
60. At the Mountain Meadows Massacre September 11, 1857, 120 innocent men, women and children as young as eight years old, in an Arkansas wagon train party were murdered in cold blood by Mormon church leaders and members. Amasa Lyman and George A. Smith, Mormon Apostles, accused members who wanted to honestly testify to the facts of the case of stooping "to betray and expose their brethren into the hands of their enemies." (Solemn Covenant, p. 367)
To Mormon leaders, anyone who cooperated with law enforcement authorities investigating the murders was guilty of the sin of betrayal. Betrayal was worse than the massacre of 120 innocent men, women and children in the minds of Apostles Smith and Lyman. The events of 9-11-2001 are eerily similar to 9-11-1857. Both acts of senseless murder were the result of fanatical and unquestioning obedience to religious authority. (Will Bagley, The Blood of the Prophets: Brigham Young and the Massacre at Mountain Meadows, pp. 157, 176-177)
61. Lying was so prevalent as an institutional practice among church members during the 1860's-1880's, that John D. Hicks alleged that when "polygamists were prohibited from voting, the Mormons promptly swore that they were not polygamists; when those who taught or practiced polygamy were discriminated against, everybody immediately became silent on the subject; and when members of organizations which advocated polygamy were denied the ballot, they withdrew… from the Mormon Church" to become eligible to vote. (Solemn Covenant, p. 368) This is reminiscent of the fake excommunication Joseph proposed to William Clayton in Nauvoo mentioned above.
62. Mormon "children in theocratic, territorial and polygamous Utah were taught to lie about family relationships, their parents' whereabouts, and even their own last names." (Solemn Covenant, p. 368) Mormon parents are conscientious about teaching their children to be honest and to unquestioningly obey the LDS prophets and local leaders. (Apostle M. Russell Ballard, "His Word Ye Shall Receive," Ensign, May 2001, p. 65) Link to content.
63. In a letter to President John Taylor in 1887, Charles W. Penrose, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, expressed concern that "the endless subterfuges and prevarications which our present condition impose…threaten to make our rising generation a race of deceivers." (Solemn Covenant, p. 368)
64. While lobbying on behalf of the First Presidency in Washington, in 1887 for Utah statehood, Franklin S. Richards and John T. Caine prevaricated stating that polygamy was a "dead issue" in Utah and that it wouldn't be revived. They attempted to explain away the church's position on polygamy by saying that plurality was not a commandment and that "celestial" and "plural" marriages were not the same thing. This was wholly untrue yet their conduct received approval from the First Presidency. Apostle John Taylor admitted to church members in Nephi, Utah that the statements made in Washington were a "d----d lie." (Solemn Covenant, p. 369) Duplicity on the part of church leaders was not reserved only for those outside the church. It was served up to members as well. Current members are not informed in official church histories of the numerous lies promulgated by their revered prophets and apostles.
65. When explaining whether recommends were being issued to members to marry polygamously, one church authority said that "he no longer gave recommends for marrying plural wives but gave them for obtaining whatever blessings the Lord might bestow." He used these code words to subtly affirm that indeed recommends for plural marriage were still being issued, after assuring the American public that they weren't. (Solemn Covenant, p. 370)
Current members are encouraged to practice evasive missionary techniques when dealing with difficult questions from skeptics because they "need milk before meat." These are 20th and 21st century code words that encourage modern-day Mormons to practice lying by omission. Missionaries (formal and informal) routinely are taught to disregard the principle of informed consent.
66. The Manifesto of 1890 prohibiting polygamy, was in fact another attempt to dupe the U.S. government and to some extent, ordinary church members into believing that the LDS church intended to comply with the mandate of the government to abandon polygamy. Church members at that time generally fell into two groups: (1) those who believed that the leaders only pretended to give in to government pressure to obtain statehood, and (2) those who believed that the Manifesto was necessary as a hedge against discovery of the true facts about polygamy in Utah.
Church leaders believed that if once given statehood, polygamy could be legalized by creating a provision for it in the new state constitution. A fervent belief in a strict interpretation of states' rights, fed their illusion. (Solemn Covenant, p. 370) That church leaders chose to aggressively pursue lying as a strategy is unfortunate.
67. Thomas J. Rosser was a missionary in Wales in 1908. He asked his mission president Charles W. Penrose if the 1890 Manifesto banning plural marriage was a revelation from God. Making "no" into a long answer, Penrose replied, "Brethren, I will answer that question, if you will keep it under your hats. I Charles W. Penrose wrote the manifesto with the assistance of Frank J. Cannon and John White… Wilford Woodruff signed it to beat the devil at his own game."
The Manifesto, authored by Penrose, was submitted to a committee ? Judges Charles S. Zane, C.S. Varian, and O.W. Powers, (nonmembers). The wording was changed slightly and the document was recopied by a clerk named Green. (Samuel Taylor, The Rocky Mountain Empire, New York, NY, MacMillan, 1978, p. 35)
Official LDS histories and curriculum lead ordinary members to believe that the Manifesto was a sacred communication from God to church president Wilford Woodruff. The curriculum materials do not inform members that ample documentation exists to prove that the 1890 Manifesto was one more trick to beat the devil (federal government), as Penrose suggested. It was anything but sacred communication between God and the LDS prophet. (D. Michael Quinn, LDS Church Authority and New Plural Marriages, 1890-1904, Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, Spring 1985)
68. In 1903 Wiley Nebeker of Afton, Wyoming wrote to Apostle John Henry Smith complaining that the church made use of deceit and duplicity to further the practice of polygamy, while assuring the federal government that church leaders no longer condoned the practice. He wrote, "To be plain, while I am fully converted to the belief that this is a true principle, I am not converted to the idea that the Lord justifies deceit and falsehood." He did not believe saints ought to be forced into "apologizing to our own consciences." In response, Apostle Smith perpetuated the dishonesty by serving up more disinformation. Rather than address the central issue of lying, Smith told Nebeker that the doctrine was true but no longer being practiced. This was a calculated lie. (Solemn Covenant, p. 371)
69. Florence, a daughter of Anthony W. Ivins asked her mother why her father seemed so upset following a meeting of the Apostles and the First Presidency. Her mother told her that President Smith had said something in the meeting that greatly disturbed her father. President Smith said, he "would lie any day to save [his]…brother." Florence said that it was her opinion that her father was troubled over the remark for the rest of his life. (Solemn Covenant, p. 372) LDS histories refuse to be forthcoming about the important role that lying and duplicity played in church governance.
70. Deception as a management tool was frequently discussed in the leading councils of the church so leaders were counseled not to record notes from meetings in their personal diaries. President Joseph F. Smith was afraid that someone might read the diaries of George Q. Cannon and Abraham H. Cannon and use the information against the church. To this day, the church leaders refuse to allow researchers to examine the unabridged, uncensored diary of George Q. Cannon because of damaging evidence, proving that Church leaders did engage in institutionalized, systematic deceit. (Solemn Covenant, p. 372)
71. After the 1890 Manifesto banning plural marriage, it appears that at least 250 plural marriages were performed despite repeated denials on the part of the church leadership. The church's current misinformation policy is effective because church members today and the media are still more likely than not, to believe that the Manifesto was a good faith effort on the part of church leaders to terminate the practice of polygamy. John Henry Smith is alleged to have remarked that the Manifesto was only "a trick to beat the devil at his own game." (Reed Smoot Case, vol. 4, p. 13. Solemn Covenant, p. 392) Church histories do not provide this information to ordinary members.
72. During the 1890's the church tried to answer the criticism of opponents that a theocracy existed in Utah and church leaders controlled all elections. So leaders instructed members to pretend to align with different political parties. George Q. Cannon was asked about the degree of honesty in this strategy. He said that the potential political gains that could be achieved made sincerity irrelevant in this case. (Solemn Covenant, p. 372) The church motto seems to have been, "act sincere even if you don't mean it." Official church histories choose not to provide this information to inquiring members.
73. Matthias F. Cowley stated in a hearing before the Quorum of the Twelve in 1911, that he had been chastised for asking for permission to pre-date post-1890 plural marriages to make them appear to have occurred before the Manifesto. He said he was trying to follow the "training I have had from those over me," which was to act with duplicity without asking for permission, in order to preserve the image of plausible deniability for the church hierarchy. (Solemn Covenant, p. 373) Plausible deniability is an important tool used by current church leaders.
74. Ironically, after claiming that he had been taught to lie by previous leaders, Matthias F. Cowley also claimed "I am not dishonest and not a liar and have always been true to the work and to the brethren… We have always been taught that when the brethren were in a tight place that it would not be amiss to lie to help them out." (Solemn Covenant, p. 373) The ability to compartmentalize reached its peak in the minds of church leaders who idolized Joseph Smith and who jousted with the federal government over polygamy. Currently, church history and curriculum writers continue to follow the same recipe for success. They refuse to tell the truth about church history, leaving out uncomfortable truths that would require them to answer members' questions about the character of past LDS leaders. By refusing to publish unvarnished church history and curriculum, leaders and members can deny knowledge about unsavory historical truths, while pretending that those episodes did not occur.
75. Related to the above quote, Cowley quoted a member of the First Presidency who he said had taught him that "he [the member of the First Presidency] would lie like hell to help the brethren." (Solemn Covenant, p. 373) Many observers wonder if the same ethic is still in place today.
76. Despite consistent denials that church leaders demanded complete and blind obedience, members were commanded that they should subordinate their judgment to that of their priesthood leaders. Leaders dictated matters from the most trivial to the most profound and far reaching. In fact, men refusing to go on missions were once told that they should anticipate relinquishing their wives for refusing to obey the Brethren. This is at odds with the claim by modern leaders and apologists that members of the LDS Church have always been counseled to exercise their own agency and think for themselves. (Solemn Covenant, p. 373) This tension exists currently between one's individual agency and the church's demands for blind obedience, loyalty and conformity.
77. Modern leaders of the church have used general conference as a platform to condemn the practice of situational ethics. Yet Joseph Smith's letter to Nancy Rigdon sent to convince her to become a plural wife is the epitome of situational ethics. It said, "That which is wrong under one circumstance, may be, and often is, right under another …. Whatever God requires is right, no matter what it is, although we may not see the reason thereof till long after the events transpire…. But in obedience there is joy and peace unspotted."
Mormons often translate teachings about unquestioning obedience, and treating leaders as infallible into: "You don't question things. If the leaders suggest it, you obey and you will be blessed." This principle and practice tends to relegate honesty to a lower priority than blind obedience and conformity to Church leaders. (Solemn Covenant, p. 374. Mormon Polygamy, p. 32. For excellent examples see Link to content.)
78. Henry S. Tanner explained that when he was forced to lie to protect himself or the church then the word he spoke (lies told to civil authorities under oath) had no binding power. He believed that the Mormons would be regarded by God as having made no promises nor be accountable for lies told to protect the church. Tanner and others blamed the government for making them lie. Lying was elevated from duplicity and degraded communication to a religious duty. (Solemn Covenant, pp. 374-375) Modern church history is silent regarding this practice.
79. Carl A. Badger, who was not a church member, acted as a friend and counselor to the church leaders during the Smoot hearings (1903-1907). During those hearings it was discovered that the church leaders had lied and deceived the federal government about its intentions to rid the church of polygamy for decades. Badger concluded that the church had decided that some things were more important than honesty. He said that the result was moral confusion. George D. Kirby, writing in the Improvement Era in 1910, admitted as much when he answered charges that Mormons were deceitful. He wrote that there might be "truth in the charges." (Solemn Covenant, p. 376) Current LDS histories reject the suggestion to be forthcoming about church leaders' dishonesty and duplicity.
80. United States Senators participating in the Smoot hearings where church leaders repeatedly and systematically lied under oath, determined that the decision to lie to protect polygamy and church leaders' practice of it, ultimately led to charges of casuistry, secrecy, and moral contradiction. Many concluded that Mormon leaders consistently stood for honesty as long as their own affairs were not involved ? or when it was convenient. A gentile expressed it this way, "When any of us [non-members] sin…we sin for our own sakes." But when a saint lied, it was done "for Christ's sake." (Solemn Covenant, p. 376)
81. The Salt Lake Tribune was at odds with the LDS church's duplicity in the late 19th century as it related to polygamy and the Church's control of civil government. Adding to the disgust of Tribune editors was that the church claimed to be the Lord's special vessel of truth, but so often refused to live up to the honor. Tribune editors rejected the claim that institutionalized lying and deception was necessary to protect the Lord's church. The paper claimed something hard to refute; that it was impossible "for a Mormon Elder to be a new polygamist without at the same time being a liar." Church leaders compounded the problem by claiming that they had always been honest. (Solemn Covenant, p. 377) Current LDS leaders face the same problem.
82. Mormons were inventive in their ability to distort the truth and at the same time, convince themselves that they were honest. B. Carmon Hardy has written, "In addition to semantic usages such as union and sealing, thus permitting denials of plural marriage, reference has also been made to instances involving the marrying of two wives on the same day; reliance on the fact that women were always sealed to men, allowing their husbands to deny that they had married polygamously; use of proxies; marrying a new wife legally, after the death of a prior legal spouse, while maintaining relationships with earlier plurals; the performance of ceremonies at sea or in foreign countries; and resort to concubinage. The variety of ruses employed will never fully be numbered." (Solemn Covenant, p. 377) Modern church history and curriculum continue the duplicity by refusing to fully admit to the lies of the past leaders.
83. John Taylor claimed to have received a revelation in 1886. He declared that God revealed that those wishing to inherit the highest degree of the celestial kingdom must continue to live the principle of plural marriage, no matter what pressure was brought to bear against them by the federal government and its laws. Ironically, modern polygamists point to the same divine revelation as their commission to carry out the dictate of the Lord's anointed, in order to keep plural marriage alive until the millennium. They also use lies, deception and codes to mislead law officers. Dorothy Allred Solomon confessed, "Although we were reared to treasure truth and cling to the light, our way of life was filled with secrets." This readiness to deceive has been referred to as "Mormon logic." Sometimes they "disobey a lesser law to keep a higher one."
Another irony is that modern members are highly critical of the tactics of the modern polygamists, who borrowed the tactics from Mormon polygamists in the 1800's. (Solemn Covenant, p. 378)
84. One subtle way of deceiving government agents was for church members to say that the church had abandoned polygamy. But individual priesthood leaders might still take new wives. Thus the rationale was that though the church had abandoned the practice, the priesthood had not. This allowed church leaders to act in a dual role-either as corporate spokesman or individual priesthood holder. At least as far back as President John Taylor, it was understood by some that the responsibility for encouraging plural marriage had been taken from the church and extended to everybody "upon his own responsibility." (Solemn Covenant, pp. 378-379) This reasoning is why polygamy among fundamentalist Mormons is alive and well today.
85. Apostle John W. Taylor married Janet Maria Wooley as his third wife only four days after the Manifesto banning plural marriage was presented and accepted in general conference. They married in a carriage in Liberty Park at night in Salt Lake City. The family intentionally backdated the marriage date to 10 October 1889. Apostle John W. Taylor married Rhoda and Roxie Welling on 29 August 1901 (11 years after the Manifesto). The ceremony was performed at the Taylor home in Farmington, Utah. Joseph F. Smith, who was acting as a counselor in the First Presidency, gave permission. The subterfuge was regarded as virtuous and necessary by church leaders. (Solemn Covenant pp. 206-207) Lying for convenience' sake was strikingly similar to lying for Christ's sake.
86. Brigham Young Jr. took a plural wife the year before the 1890 Manifesto was published and another in August 1901, despite President Woodruff's insistence (in the Manifesto-1890) that no such marriages had been solemnized prior to its publication. He must have known better, because Young was president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Later, during a historical debate over B.H. Roberts' attempt to take his seat as an elected representative to the U. S. House of Representatives, Brigham Young Jr. publicly asserted that President Snow's denials regarding the continued practice of polygamy in the church after the Manifesto were true. Lying for the Lord knew no bounds.
87. Brigham Young Jr. was quoted as teaching that he had "naught but contempt for all forms of hypocrisy or deceit." His half-sister said of him, "He can keep still but must not deceive." Mormon leaders developed a blind spot when it came to their own dishonesty. (Solemn Covenant, pp. 207-208) Current leaders maintain blind spots when it comes to honesty in the 21st century.
88. Apostle Marriner W. Merrill took a plural wife in the Logan Temple in 1901, well after the Manifesto was accepted as binding upon the church. He denied under oath in front of the Senate committee investigating Reed Smoot that he had married Hilda after 1890. Though the committee possessed solid evidence that he was lying he continued to insist that he was telling the truth. (Solemn Covenant, p. 208) Perhaps consistency was more important than honesty. These tactics turned the public against Mormons.
89. The son of Wilford Woodruff, Abraham Owen Woodruff, married 18 year-old Eliza Avery Clark as a plural wife in 1901 (11 years after his father presented the Manifesto). She was previously engaged to a young man living in Wyoming where she resided with her family. After Apostle Matthias F. Cowley persuaded her to marry Woodruff, she broke her engagement and consented to marry Woodruff. Cowley performed the ceremony in Preston, Idaho. (Solemn Covenant, pp. 208-209) Modern church members might be stunned to learn of the disregard for the law demonstrated by church leaders. In a modern members' mind it would conflict with the covenant to obey the laws of the land. (D&C 134:1 "We believe that governments were instituted of God for the benefit of man; and that he holds men accountable for their acts in relation to them….")
90. Apostle Rudger Clawson married a plural wife in 1904 (14 years after the Manifesto had been accepted as binding on the church). He married Pearl Udall as a second wife with his wife's consent. Apostle Marriner W. Merril spoke directly to younger members of the Quorum of the Twelve and advised them not to neglect the opportunity to build up a kingdom for themselves (a euphemism for polygamy). Clawson took the command from his superior seriously, though it meant contradicting the Manifesto. After the marriage, Merrill counseled young Clawson to mislead those looking for evidence of post-Manifesto plural marriages by writing misleading entries in a diary, or simply neglecting to record them. (Solemn Covenant, p. 211) One waits for modern church leaders to denounce the practice of institutional lying.
91. Abraham Hoagland Cannon (an LDS Apostle) married Annie Cannon after President Woodruff gave him consent to do so, in 1894, four years after the Manifesto declared an end to all plural marriages. Annie was taken as a concubine. Apparently church leaders had considered this practice from 1843 on when the revelation to Joseph about plural marriage mentioned that the Lord approved concubinage. Modern church history refuses to admit that this practice?adultery?was part of the church's practice of plural marriage.
92. Church leader, George M. Cannon suggested the concubinage method of plural marriage to Abraham Cannon (his son) and said, "I believe in concubinage, or some plan whereby men and women can live together under sacred ordinances and vows until they can be married." He insisted that such relationships must be kept secret until the government changed its laws. He added that concubinage would open up a way to take care of "our surplus girls" as well as fulfill the command to multiply and replenish the earth.
Despite protests by contemporary Mormons that polygamy established high standards of decency and morality, and was different than adultery or keeping mistresses, Cannon's behavior proves otherwise. Fifteen lines are cut out of his diary for October 1894, three days after his visit with Annie and Uncle George Q. Cannon, where the suggestion regarding concubinage was made. Though Annie lived to be 79 years of age, there is no record of her having been married. She is said to have accompanied Abraham Cannon on numerous excursions and she refused a proposal for marriage from prominent LDS member, Heber Bennion. (Solemn Covenant, pp. 214-215)
93. President George Q. Cannon appears to have entered into a concubinage-like relationship with Amelia Madsen one year before his death and well after the Manifesto was presented. She was past child-bearing age. (Solemn Covenant, p. 215)
94. Joseph F. Smith performed a secret marriage for Abraham H. Cannon and Lilian Hamlin. The four (Abraham and Lilian, and Joseph F. and a wife) traveled by train to California. On the way to Catalina Island by boat, the marriage was solemnized on the vessel. LDS Leaders believed that solemnizing marriages on water permitted them to say they had not performed marriages "in" the U.S. ? or "on U.S. soil."
Abraham contracted an ear infection on the trip and after returning home to Salt Lake died. Before expiring he confessed to Wilhelmina, his first wife that he had married Lilian Hamlin and she presumed that Joseph F. Smith had performed the ceremony since he was the only authority of the church present.
Nevertheless, during the Smoot hearings Joseph F. Smith consistently denied having performed the marriage. Those who have investigated the facts have little trouble dismissing Joseph F. Smith's denials as pure prevarications. To further confuse those who might be interested in the marriage, Joseph F. Smith traveled under the assumed name Orson Smith, a code name for his own person. It allowed Smith to deny that he (Joseph F. Smith) performed the ceremony. (Solemn Covenant, pp. 219-220) Many a children wish that they had the ability to use such clever deception after getting caught with a hand in the cookie jar!
95. Apostle George Teasdale married a plural wife, Marion Scoles secretly in October of 1897. His diary entries for the 23rd to the 28th of October are missing. These are the dates when the couple traveled together and were married. He later married another wife, Letitia Dolly Thomas on 17 May 1900. Both marriages occurred after the 1904* Manifesto banning plural marriage.
Teasdale divorced Lillias Hook, a former wife to try avoid scandal, because the Salt Lake Tribune had begun to investigate the matter. President Joseph F. Smith told the Smoot committee that Lillias had never been a real wife to Teasdale ? only an elderly housekeeper. She had been sealed to Teasdale in name only as a favor to her, Smith told the committee.
To the contrary, Lillias was only 35 when she was married to Teasdale, hardly elderly. She was 8 years younger than Teasdale. Teasdale's divorce complaint from Lillias stated that she was unable to have sexual intercourse. Yet he remained married to her for decades before divorcing her. Incongruously, the records of the Twentieth Ward in SLC where Lillias lived, list one George Vivian Teasdale, born on 11 June 1896, and name George and Lillias Teasdale as the parents. (Solemn Covenant, 221-226) Church apologist and history claims that no plural marriages took place after the 1904* Manifesto. And they refuse to tell investigators about the long history of deception; a violation of the ethical principle of full disclosure. There is a credibility gap that the LDS church continues to keep in place, while wondering why the American public sometimes refers to their church as a cult, similar to Scientology. [*1890?]
96. Bogus divorce in order to mislead legal authorities was acceptable. The logic was that if a fake divorce was necessary to live the higher law of polygamy it was justified. Also, Mormons believed that earthly divorce was not binding in heaven anyway. In the eyes of the Lord, the couple was still married. (Solemn Covenant, pp. 226-227)
97. Ninety year-old President Wilford Woodruff took a new plural wife in 1897, one year before his death. He married Lydia Mamreoff von Finkelstein Mountford who was 49 years-old. She was a guest lecturer in Salt Lake City, having been invited by James E. Talmage. President Woodruff was captivated by her. She was baptized in February 1897. They traveled together to California and used assumed names when registering in a hotel in Portland, Oregon. Between 20 and 22 September 1897, they were married while sailing back to Portland from California. At the time, Mountford was the legal wife of Charles Edwin Mountford. This would not be the first instance of plural marriage to a woman still legally married. Joseph Smith practiced that concept at least 11 times (In Sacred Loneliness, pp. 15-23). It has always been postulated that whatever others did after the Manifesto, President Woodruff had honored the "revelation." The marriage was later solemnized by proxy in the Salt Lake Temple in 1920, making the illegal marriage valid and honorable in the eyes of Mormon leadership. (Solemn Covenant, pp. 228-232)
98. The LDS leaders' constant use of prevarication turned friends against them. Theodore Schroeder, once friendly to the Mormons became a bitter enemy when he discovered the extent of the deceit used by church leaders and members alike. In 1897 he wrote essays exposing the continued practice of polygamy, despite denials issued by the church. He set out to prove that the church had consistently lied about its involvement with polygamy since the Nauvoo period. (Solemn Covenant, p. 246)
99. B.H. Roberts admitted taking plural wives as late as April 1890 during the Smoot Hearings, contradicting President Woodruff's statement in the Manifesto that no such marriages had taken place in the year preceding the Manifesto. Roberts was probably lying about the year he married his last plural wife, Dr. Milford Shipp. She was still legally married and lived with her husband until 1892. The marriage to Roberts most likely occurred in 1894. Roberts managed to expose both he and President Woodruff as deceivers at the same time. (Solemn Covenant, p. 247)
100. When B.H. Roberts was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives after Utah became a state, the House voted to exclude him because an investigation revealed that Roberts was engaged in polygamous marriage and that one of his wives had married him after the Manifesto. Since it was a clear violation of the law of the land, and he and the LDS leadership had ignored society's legal code, he was declared unfit for office. Seven million citizens signed a petition demanding that Roberts be denied his seat and it was presented to Congress. Those considered enemies by church leaders were provided a national platform to advertise abundant evidence of dishonesty on the part of Mormon Church leaders and members. (Solemn Covenant, pp. 249, 250) Official church histories and curriculum neglect to inform members and non-members of this and related incidents. Nor have they denounced the deceptive practices.
101. Reed Smoot was elected to the United States Senate in 1902 and federal lawmakers protested immediately. He was sworn into office in March 1903. But government authorities feared that Smoot was a polygamous sympathizer, though not a polygamist himself. It was also a well-established fact that the church had engaged in deception for decades to evade the law. Because of the church's reputation for dishonesty, the Smoot investigation lasted more than 3 years (1904-1907) and resulted in over 3,000 pages of sworn testimony. The scope of the inquiry broadened to include the history, theology and culture of Mormonism itself. If the citizens of the U.S. doubted the honesty and veracity of the Mormon leaders and their people before the hearings, afterward they did not doubt due to mountains of testimony and documented evidence. The Mormons were guilty of unending prevarication. (Solemn Covenant, p. 251) Mormon histories and curriculum have never admitted to leaders' past duplicity though it would be the honorable thing to do. Failure to admit to past duplicity continues to serve as a source of embarrassment to many members of the LDS church, interested in studying church history.
102. President Joseph F. Smith was the first witness called and placed under oath to tell the whole truth before the Smoot investigation. His testimony may have been the most damaging. He pled incredible ignorance concerning the polygamous activities that he personally permitted and encouraged. Yet he admitted to fathering children by five (5) wives since 1890, after the Manifesto had been issued.
103. President Smith categorically denied that Presidents Woodruff and Snow had authorized polygamous marriages after the Manifesto in 1890. He knew that to be false. He went on to say that he had not heard anyone "advocate, encourage or recommend" plural marriages since the Manifesto. This was false. U.S. leaders and citizens joined with the LDS members in disbelief that President Smith would blatantly lie under oath-denying what others plainly knew to be true. One witness suggested tongue in cheek that President Smith was using his words differently than the way most people use them. (Solemn Covenant, p. 253)
104. Mormon apologist histories complain about the "persecution" heaped upon President Smith at the hearings by unscrupulous legislators, and praise his honorable and dignified responses. The truth is: the constant stream of duplicity and lies increased the public's hostility toward Mormons. Most were disgusted with the Mormon Prophet, Seer, and Revelator who refused to come forth with a degree of honesty while under oath before the Senate hearings. (Solemn Covenant, pp.253-254)
105. George Reynolds antagonized hearing participants when he lied about knowing that his own daughter had married Benjamin Cluff (president of the Brigham Young academy) as a plural wife. He made the fantastic claim that since the Manifesto was issued 13 years prior, he had never spoken to anyone either for or against the practice. Reynolds had to be persuaded by Smoot to refrain from testifying that though his daughter was married, he knew nothing about it. (Solemn Covenant, pp. 253-254)
106. Under oath at the Smoot hearings, Apostle Hyrum M. Smith, son of President Joseph F. Smith testified that he had no recollection of the subject of polygamy being discussed in any of the meetings of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Then he contradicted himself by assuring the committee that if the subject was discussed, the Twelve were urged to stamp out the practice. Both statements were lies. (Solemn Covenant, p. 254)
107. Church leader Francis M. Lyman lied under oath when he told investigators that although everyone else in Utah was aware of continued cohabitation with plural wives, Senator Smoot was unaware of the practice. The interrogator followed that response and inquired if Smoot was uninformed about the state he was supposed to represent. Lyman contradicted himself by stating that Smoot was probably better informed than anyone else about domestic practices in the state he represented. To make matters worse, Lyman claimed that he was being guided by the Spirit of the Lord in his responses. When the interrogator asked Lyman if he was blaming the Lord for the contradictions (lies) within his testimony, Lyman had no reply. He added later that polygamy was a mystery of the kingdom. (Solemn Covenant, p. 254)
108. Under oath, Apostle John Henry Smith testified that he couldn't remember his own birth date, as well as other easily recalled facts about his life that he claimed he could not recollect. (Solemn Covenant, p. 254) These and other episodes in church history are virtually unknown to ordinary Mormons.
109. Apostle Marriner W. Merrill swore that he had taken no plural wives since the Manifesto, though it was widely known that he had taken one in 1901 (eleven years after the Manifesto). (Solemn Covenant, p. 254)
110. Senator-to-be Reed Smoot, testified that he had no knowledge that "any apostle or any member of the Presidency" had taken a plural wife since 1890, except for the cases he learned of at the hearings. This was demonstrably false as later testimony by Smoot proved, when he contradicted himself. (Solemn Covenant, p. 255)
111. Under oath at the Smoot hearings, President Joseph F. Smith testified that church inquiries into polygamous marriages or the arrangement of plural marriages by church leaders in Salt Lake was an issue delegated to the local units to investigate. He did this despite being one of those, along with other church leaders, who orchestrated the marriages. (Solemn Covenant, p. 255)
112. President Smith promised under oath to arrange for church leaders to cooperate and appear before the Smoot hearings to testify about the issue of polygamy in Utah. Yet, after returning to Salt Lake, he wrote to Senator Burrows that several apostles could not travel to the hearings on account of ill health. He wrote that he could not persuade Apostles Taylor and Cowley to appear. These excuses qualify as pre-meditated deceit. President Smith had the power to require the apostles to appear. To compound the deception, Teasdale and others who supposed to be suffering from fragile health took several long journeys (Mexico, Arizona and Canada), and the trips had no ill effects on their health. In fact, Teasdale traveled to Mexico and Canada to run beyond the grasp of the interrogators at the Smoot hearings. (Solemn Covenant, pp. 256-257)
113. Church leaders attempted to persuade Anthony W. Ivins to sign an affidavit that they knew to be categorically untrue. Being a rare LDS man of conscience, Ivins refused to sign it. The purpose of the document was to certify that no plural marriages occurred in Mexico after the Manifesto. Most members are unaware that church leaders pressured others to lie. (Solemn Covenant, p. 257)
114. Because of the damaging testimony at the Smoot hearings, public perception of the Mormons was that they and their leaders were liars. Smoot wanted the leaders to take steps to repair the damage they had caused. Consequently, President Smith read a statement that compounded the problem of negative perception. The statement denied that plural marriages had been performed in the church after the 1890 Manifesto, and denied that new plural marriages were being performed. Both statements were false. In fact, he had sanctioned many marriages since the Manifesto. He also stated that those who had had marriages solemnized since the Manifesto were subject to excommunication from the church. This was also a lie. Finally, Smith blasted the committee for accusing church leaders of being dishonest. (Solemn Covenant, pp. 259-260) One may as well lie in big bunches, if one is determined lie.
115. Apostle Francis M. Lyman sent a message to Apostle Teasdale and admitted that plural marriages performed after the 1890 Manifesto (issued to convince the outside world that the practice had been stopped) had shaken the confidence of the members in their leaders. He also admitted to Teasdale that church leaders were perceived to be dishonest and untrustworthy because of their deception in the Smoot hearings. (Solemn Covenant, p. 261) Current LDS apologists are reluctant to admit dishonesty on the part of their leaders, or they find creative ways to characterize their behavior as noble and praiseworthy; as if they had no choice. Prophets who claim to commune with God, and direct the only true church on earth, are placed on pedestals as models of virtue. Current church members assume that LDS leaders were/are men of principle.
116. After the Smith Manifesto (1904) denying that plural marriages were being performed, and that those participating in them would be excommunicated, church leaders ordered Anthony W. Ivins in Mexico, to quickly marry at least two couples who had intended to marry polygamously before word of the statement was officially taken personally to outlying Mormon settlements. This action contradicted the letter as well as the spirit of the statement read by President Smith in the April 1904 conference. (Solemn Covenant, p. 261)
117. When many federal government officials became weary of the church's lies, deception and cover-up of the true facts involving polygamy, Democrats considered placing an anti-polygamy plank in the 1904 national platform; to propose an amendment to the constitution prohibiting polygamy. Church leaders entered a damage control mode and scurried to placate the leaders of the nation. It was suggested that Apostles John Taylor and Matthias Cowley be offered as sacrificial lambs, to create the idea in Washington that the church was serious about stamping out the practice of polygamy. Leaders resorted to more deception out of habit.
118. Both men (Apostles Taylor and Cowley) were assured that the fake disciplinary action was only a temporary separation from the Quorum of the Twelve, in order to appease lawmakers in Washington. After being told that President Smith himself would quickly reinstate them, they finally agreed to be cut off as members of the Quorum of the Twelve. On October 28, 1905 their fake removal was announced. The two apostles were not the only two leaders who had participated in the practice after the Manifesto of course. The leaders miscalculated, never intending to: (1) abandon polygamy, or (2) cut off those actively practicing polygamy.
119. President Joseph F. Smith did not keep his word to Apostles Taylor and Cowley. They were never reinstated due to the public pressure to convince lawmakers that their punishment was real. Both were cut off from the church in 1911, because church leaders finally made up their minds to abandon polygamy. Some church members thought that the authorities had gone too far to placate the government while others were relieved. Lies and deception about polygamy divided the members into at least two camps: (1) maintain the practice despite government penalties, or (2) rid the church of the practice. (Solemn Covenant, pp. 261-266)
120.After the Smoot hearings, and after dropping Elders Taylor and Cowley from the Quorum of the Twelve and the church, LDS leaders became serious about putting an end to the practice of polygamy. When members were caught, the church councils began to discipline them as they claimed they had been doing decades earlier. Joseph W. Summerhays was apprehended and charged with illegally entering the practice. He identified President Joseph F. Smith as the church leader who gave him permission to take another wife. President Smith denied the charge. Those leaders eager to excommunicate Summerhays were stunned that President Smith likely gave his consent, but blatantly lied about it, so it was decided to drop Summerhays from his church position rather than excommunicate him. Smith refused to admit his considerable role in keeping the practice alive. (Solemn Covenant, p. 291)
121. President Smith addressed the practice of polygamy in the April 1911 conference and once again affirmed that the church was keeping its word regarding the cessation of plural marriages, including the punishment of those found practicing it. However, Senator Reed Smoot knew differently. He tried to persuade President Smith to actually do what the church told the government?that it was doing-take action against those who were engaging in the practice. He sensed what President Smith didn't. Americans would not tolerate polygamy any longer. He wrote, "If there is another investigation I do not know how [our] present position will be justified …. We are in a bad position for an examination or investigation." Contrary to what the leaders were telling the government, they were still reluctant to stop the practice or bring action against those who engaged in it. (Solemn Covenant, p. 294)
122. Church leaders did not hesitate to deceive when they engaged in Post-Manifesto marriages well after 1904. While members resided in Mexico, their leaders promised them eternal rewards for taking other wives and refusing to be intimidated by government threats. When they moved to the United States, they were treated with humiliation and disgust by fellow members who were embarrassed to be associated with those breaking the law. One member took his wives into New Mexico from Texas and was accused of white slavery. Another member attended a church meeting in the states with his plural wives and quickly became the object of scorn. The leaders' double tongued approach to plural marriage led to confusion and disillusionment among its members. Practicing polygamous fundamentalists learned from LDS leaders that deception is no sin if you're protecting polygamy. (Solemn Covenant, pp. 296-297)
123. Church leaders deceived its members when they redefined the term "celestial marriage." Until the 1880's it had referred exclusively to plural marriage. To mislead government authorities, leaders claimed that "celestial marriage" meant only a marriage that survived death; though they never subscribed to this meaning themselves. During the Smoot hearings leaders used this deceptive maneuver to mislead investigators.
This deception proved helpful in Idaho where the constitution prohibited those practicing or teaching "celestial marriage" from voting. Yet, as late as 1904, leaders privately used the term "celestial marriage" to refer to polygamy. In order to distance itself from polygamy, the church finally adopted the new meaning of "celestial marriage." Modern active members do not understand that "celestial marriage" originally referred to polygamy alone. Current church leaders perpetuate the deception. (Solemn Covenant, pp. 297-298)
124. A member of the First Presidency organized a legislative strategy committee to influence legislation in 1896. It informed member legislators that the committee's action "must be obeyed." Newspapers later informed its readers that the committee was operational. Ed Ivins, reporter for the Salt Lake Herald, questioned each member of the committee, trying to confirm the existence of the committee. He said, "Every Mormon General Authority told partial truths and downright misrepresentations" during this episode. In other words, they denied the existence of a committee that they knew existed. (Edward Leo Lyman: Mormon Leaders in Politics, Journal of Mormon History, Vol. 24, No. 2, Fall 1998, pp. 46-49)
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