Fun w/ online missionaries: NY TIMES on 14 year old bride!

Post by **_Ren** » Wed May 07, 2008 9:28 pm

Mercury wrote:There is always TOR:

http://www.torproject.org/

Looks pretty nifty - but I'm guessing the pings aren't gonna be great.
...Not that big a deal when ripping missionaries a new one online I guess :)

Post by **_Dr. Shades** » Wed May 07, 2008 9:29 pm

Let's keep all this in perspective, folks.

Boaz & Lidia didn't tear down anyone's testimony. Nor did he attack anyone. Nor did he try to prove Mormonism false.

All he did was prove--using one of the church's own websites--that the notion that Joseph Smith married a 14 year-old girl was NOT an anti-Mormon lie after all.

Nothing more.

Pretty harmless.

As the MA&Dites all agree, if she didn't already know this, then it's her own fault.

No big deal, right?

Post by **_Doctor Steuss** » Wed May 07, 2008 9:40 pm

Dr. Shades wrote:Let's keep all this in perspective, folks.

Boaz & Lidia didn't tear down anyone's testimony. Nor did he attack anyone. Nor did he try to prove Mormonism false.

All he did was prove--using one of the church's own websites--that the notion that Joseph Smith married a 14 year-old girl was NOT an anti-Mormon lie after all.

Nothing more.

Pretty harmless.

As the MA&Dites all agree, if she didn't already know this, then it's her own fault.

No big deal, right?

Right. She's a crappy member, and if she ends up leaving the Church it will be because she's been lazy about research and most likely wants to sin.

I'm glad we have finally reached a common understanding on this topic. A bridge has been built today.

When darkness comes
And pains is all around,
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down.

_rcrocket · Post by **_rcrocket** » Wed May 07, 2008 10:14 pm

The mods have edited one of my posts in this thread without so indicating. So much for free speech.

Rather than divert the thread to Telestial or Outer Darkness, a statement using font and color was edited to remove the font and color. Absurd!!! I come here to say what I want.

Post by **_SatanWasSetUp** » Wed May 07, 2008 10:28 pm

Doctor Steuss wrote:
Dr. Shades wrote:Let's keep all this in perspective, folks.

Boaz & Lidia didn't tear down anyone's testimony. Nor did he attack anyone. Nor did he try to prove Mormonism false.

All he did was prove--using one of the church's own websites--that the notion that Joseph Smith married a 14 year-old girl was NOT an anti-Mormon lie after all.

Nothing more.

Pretty harmless.

As the MA&Dites all agree, if she didn't already know this, then it's her own fault.

No big deal, right?

Right. She's a crappy member, and if she ends up leaving the Church it will be because she's been lazy about research and most likely wants to sin.

I'm glad we have finally reached a common understanding on this topic. A bridge has been built today.

When darkness comes
And pains is all around,
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down.

Excellent point, Seuss. It is truly a marvelous day when both critics and apologists reach common ground. This board is all about building bridges.

Post by **_Dr. Shades** » Wed May 07, 2008 11:00 pm

I agree with both Doctor Steuss and SatanWasSetUp.

We have, indeed, reached common ground and settled a controversy today. For once, the denizens of both MA&D and MormonDiscussions fully agree on something.

Kumbaya!

Post by **_Mister Scratch** » Wed May 07, 2008 11:41 pm

RockHeaded wrote:Got a question. Is there a marriage license for Joseph Smith and Hellen Kimball?

This is a silly question. Why would there be a "license" for a marriage that was illegal? Where (to follow up on this question) are the "marriage licenses" for *any* of Joseph Smith's plural wives?

Post by **_Doctor Steuss** » Wed May 07, 2008 11:56 pm

Mister Scratch wrote:
RockHeaded wrote:Got a question. Is there a marriage license for Joseph Smith and Hellen Kimball?

This is a silly question. Why would there be a "license" for a marriage that was illegal? Where (to follow up on this question) are the "marriage licenses" for *any* of Joseph Smith's plural wives?

Out of curiosity, is there a license for his marriage to Emma? Were marriage licenses as common in 19th Century America as they are now?

Post by **_Mister Scratch** » Thu May 08, 2008 12:03 am

Doctor Steuss wrote:
Mister Scratch wrote:
RockHeaded wrote:Got a question. Is there a marriage license for Joseph Smith and Hellen Kimball?

This is a silly question. Why would there be a "license" for a marriage that was illegal? Where (to follow up on this question) are the "marriage licenses" for *any* of Joseph Smith's plural wives?

Out of curiosity, is there a license for his marriage to Emma? Were marriage licenses as common in 19th Century America as they are now?

I don't know the answer to that. Today, of course, married couples pay a fee and are given an actual, physical, paper copy of their marriage certificate/license. But were there such things 200 years ago? I believe that most marriages in the past were primarily ceremonial, and were meant to function as forms of economic exchange. And, as such, they were recorded in much the same way that a deduction would be made on an accountant's ledger. In other words, there was no "license" per se, but we know that the marriages existed because they were recorded in a record book somewhere.

Post by **_Dr. Shades** » Thu May 08, 2008 12:39 am

Mister Scratch wrote:This is a silly question. Why would there be a "license" for a marriage that was illegal? Where (to follow up on this question) are the "marriage licenses" for *any* of Joseph Smith's plural wives?

Remember that RockHeaded is a member of one of the RLDS sects. His point is that since there isn't any paperwork for any of Smith's plural marriages, then it proves that Smith was never a polygamist in the first place.