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So we were watching TV and I'm not even sure how the topic came up (maybe it was a Big Love commercial) but he said, "Dad, I know why there was polygamy", and I asked him to tell me. "Well, after the migration west there were tons more women than there were men and so they needed people to take care of all those women." I chuckled internally, not at him, but at the fact that I had used the same reasoning as him while on my mission!

We have never discussed this topic together before and he is too young for seminary. So really, the only place he could have learned this from was from a teacher in Sunday school or deacons quorum. Its nice to know that folk doctrines and justifications are still alive and well in Zion!

My response to him was basically this: "There was no huge disparity in gender populations requiring polygamy. That is a myth people choose to believe to make themselves feel better about such a weird thing. The only reason the church practiced polygamy is that that Joseph Smith said God told him to do it. This is the only reason to believe in polygamy. But you must decide whether or not you believe God would command such a thing.

I didn't offer my personal opinion on the matter because he didn't ask me, but I would have had he asked.

My 7 year old daughter recently asked me if I believed in Jesus. I told her, no, I didn't.

She said, "But Dad!! There is so much STUFF!!! How did the Earth get here then??? Who made the animals???"

How do you explain to a 7 year old about accretion and how galaxies/solar systems/planets form? Or evolution?

Scottie wrote: She said, "But Dad!! There is so much STUFF!!! How did the Earth get here then??? Who made the animals???"

Standard answer: How did god get here? It's easier to explain all the stuff than the existence of an omniscient, omnipotent super power.

Scottie wrote:How do you explain to a 7 year old about accretion and how galaxies/solar systems/planets form? Or evolution?

Same way you'd do it to anyone else that didn't know anything about it (i.e. most religious types). Seven year olds aren't dumb, and they have a valid excuse for being ignorant on this stuff.

My 6 year old asked me where the gold plates are. I told him that I am not sure they do exist but the stories in the Book of Mormon are seen as inspiring and helpful to many.

Funny that a 6 year old already finds problems with the unavailability of these plates.

Scottie wrote:My 7 year old daughter recently asked me if I believed in Jesus. I told her, no, I didn't.

She said, "But Dad!! There is so much STUFF!!! How did the Earth get here then??? Who made the animals???"

How do you explain to a 7 year old about accretion and how galaxies/solar systems/planets form? Or evolution?

The detail of how the stuff in the universe came to be the way it is at present is probably not the real underlying problem for this young person. I suspect she is more worried about there being any stuff at all.

I have found that intelligent children of that age can usually appreciate an argument like this:

Suppose someone wonders why all this stuff is here.

I tell them "It is here because Jesus made it".

What do I say if they ask "Who made Jesus?"

If I answer "God made Jesus", then they can ask "Who made God", and the questions go on for ever ... not a good route.

If someone says "Jesus just IS", then why can't we say "All this stuff just IS"? Bringing in Jesus doesn't make things any easier to understand.

So maybe it's best just to say that people just don't seem to have found out a good answer to that question yet. And maybe some questions just don't have answers anyway.

It's too bad that people couldn't figure out how to take care of women and orphans without polygamy. LOL They figured it out in the Book of Mormon.

just me wrote:It's too bad that people couldn't figure out how to take care of women and orphans without polygamy. LOL They figured it out in the Book of Mormon.

Yeah, there sure were a lot of widows in Tommy Monson's ward after WWII. You'd think Jesus would have re-instituted polygamy so Tommy could have married them all. Or was home teaching the Lord's inspired program to replace polygamy?

My 8 -yr old asked if Joseph Smith was a liar and I told him yes.

zeezrom wrote:My 8 -yr old asked if Joseph Smith was a liar and I told him yes.

The thing is you can probably get away with calling anyone in the whole world a liar, since everyone has lied. I've never felt calling someone a liar means much of anything.

stemelbow wrote:

zeezrom wrote:My 8 -yr old asked if Joseph Smith was a liar and I told him yes.

The thing is you can probably get away with calling anyone in the whole world a liar, since everyone has lied. I've never felt calling someone a liar means much of anything.

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