DiscussMormonism.com

Really? I heard there are people that are shocked that polygamy happened and act like it's a new revelation to them.

How can you be a member of the Church and not know about polygamy? I am confused how this is possible.

JMS

Apparently lots and lots of Latter-day Saints don't even know Joseph had wives other than Emma. Certainly the vast majority don't know anything about polyandry or the young teenage wives.

Why do you think that is?

jskains wrote:Really? I heard there are people that are shocked that polygamy happened and act like it's a new revelation to them.

How can you be a member of the Church and not know about polygamy? I am confused how this is possible.

JMS

I can think of two explanations for what you heard.

They might have been saying that there are member(s) who are not aware of the more salacious details or it may have been a new convert (s).

I would imagine that of the 100 or so people I baptized on my mission that none of them were aware, at the time of their baptism, that the Church had a polygamous past.

I have a hard time buying that. It's one of the most famous aspects of the Church. It's in D&C:132.

JMS

You have a hard time buying what?

I don't know about you but when I taught prospective members the discussions there was no mention of polygamy in the discussions. We were encouraged to baptize people as soon as possible. Reading and understanding D&C was not a prerequisite for membership.

I was also on a foreign mission and most people in South America had no idea who Brigham Young was. Maybe you could clarify your OP a bit more as to who are these members who have never heard about polygamy?

Fence Sitter wrote:You have a hard time buying what?

I don't know about you but when I taught prospective members the discussions there was no mention of polygamy in the discussions. We were encouraged to baptize people as soon as possible. Reading and understanding D&C was not a prerequisite for membership.

I was also on a foreign mission and most people in South America had no idea who Brigham Young was. Maybe you could clarify your OP a bit more as to who are these members who have never heard about polygamy?

According to the current FAIR target, John, that's one of the big shockers for a lot of people exiting the Church according to his poorly executed poll.

JMS

jskains wrote:According to the current FAIR target, John, that's one of the big shockers for a lot of people exiting the Church according to his poorly executed poll.

JMS

Next Sunday you should poll your ward members, find out how much they know about polygamy. Return and report!

Buffalo wrote:

jskains wrote:According to the current FAIR target, John, that's one of the big shockers for a lot of people exiting the Church according to his poorly executed poll.

JMS

Next Sunday you should poll your ward members, find out how much they know about polygamy. Return and report!

We discussed it in Gospel Doctrine. It has been discussed in Priesthood. I don't see how one could miss it.

JMS

jskains wrote:Really? I heard there are people that are shocked that polygamy happened and act like it's a new revelation to them.

How can you be a member of the Church and not know about polygamy? I am confused how this is possible.

JMS

It's not just that it happened, it's how it happened.

For example, when Joseph Smith was practicing polygamy, he denied doing so to the general mebmership of the church. At the time, the D&C expresssly outlawed polygamy, and Joseph Smith claimed he was not doing it. That is disturbing.

As another example, he promised salvation to his friends and their families if they allowed him to "marry" their teenage daughters. That's disturbing.

As another example, he sent some of his friends away on missions, and married their wives while they were gone. Even D&C 132 says polygamist wives must be virgins, and it gives no authority to marry women who are already married. That's disturbing.

Most members know that Joseph Smith's persecutions culminated in the publication of the Expositor, which he ordered to be destroyed. What they don't know is that the Expositor actually told the truth about polygamy. The fact that Joseph Smith destroyed a newspaper to hide the truth about about polygamy from the Latter-day Saints is disturbing.

On my mission, we never talked about it to our investigators and I really don’t recall the topic being brought up in church either. That was in South America 30 years ago so things may have changed. I would be surprised to hear that anyone in the English speaking world would join the church and not know something about the church’s history with polygamy especially now with the internet and all.