This is an archived copy of a post written by Conflict Of Justice (conflictofjustice.com). Used with permission: Conflict Of Justice may not agree with any alterations made.
“In an attempt to influence and abate public rumors of his secret polygamy, Joseph got 31 witnesses to sign an affidavit published in the LDS October 1, 1842 Times and Seasons stating that Joseph did not practice polygamy.”
(CES Letter)
The Denial Was Not About Joseph Smith
The affidavit did not mention Joseph Smith. It was a response to John C. Bennett’s “spiritual wifery”. The Mormons who signed this affidavit were not “witnesses” and it did not have anything to do with Joseph Smith. CES Letter snips out the part of the affidavit that explains what they were denying.
“We have given the above rule of marriage [D&C 101] as the only one practiced in this church, to show that Dr. J. C. Bennett’s “secret wife system” is a matter of his own manufacture; and further to disabuse the public ear, and shew that the said Bennett and his misanthropic friend Origen Bachelor, are perpetrating a foul and infamous slander upon an innocent people, and need but be known to be hated and despise. In support of this position, we present the following certificates:- We the undersigned members of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and residents of the city of Nauvoo, persons of families do hereby certify and declare that we know of no other rule or system of marriage than the one published from the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, and we give this certificate to show that Dr. J. C. Bennett’s “secret wife system” is a creature of his own make as we know of no such society in this place nor never did.”(Times and Seasons Vol. 3)
CES Letter says the affidavit claimed “Joseph did not practice polygamy.” But it is actually talking about a brothel and system of prostitution that had recently been set up by apostate John C. Bennett. In a scandal that roiled Nauvoo, Bennett had convinced women to fornicate as “spiritual wives” outside of civil marriage bonds in a brothel house.
Polygamy Was Not A System – But they said there was “no other rule or system of marriage” other than the rule that “one man should have one wife; and one woman, but one husband”. What about polygamy? Isn’t that a contradiction?
D&C 132 had not yet been delivered. Joseph Smith probably knew about eternal sealings and polygamy in 1841, but there was no “rule or system of marriage” that involved polygamy at that time, so what they said was correct. Some of the signers knew about plural marriage and even took part in it, but they were correct in saying it was not a “system,” and they were also correct in not comparing eternal sealings to earthly marriage.
Eliza R. Snow, one of the signers of the affidavit, explained: “At the time the sisters of the Relief Society signed our article, I was married to the prophet— we made no allusion to any other system of marriage than Bennett’s— his was prostitution, and it was truly his, and he succeeded in pandering his course on the credulity of the unsuspecting by making them believe that he was thus authorized by the Prophet. In those articles there is no reference to divine plural marriage. We aimed to put down its opposite.”(Eliza R. Snow)
They considered eternal sealings to be different than the physical debauchery of John C. Bennett.
Marriage For Eternity is Different
Conventional marriage and eternal sealings were totally different things. To be sealed “for eternity” did not necessarily involve being married “for time,” because a sealing for eternal cohabitation in the afterlife did not involve sexual or physical relations during one’s lifetime. The “new and everlasting covenant” of eternal marriage would nullify civil marriage in the afterlife: “All old covenants have I caused to be done away.”
If the marriage was an “eternal sealing” and did not include a civil union “for time,” then was is no physical or earthly married relationship. It was literally a matter of Joseph Smith and the woman speaking some words in a ceremony. That is not like modern-day polygamy by any stretch of the definition. Two totally different institutions. Many of Joseph Smith’s sealings were for eternity only, and evidence shows Joseph Smith did not have physical relations even with the sealings that were for time and eternity.
Polygamy Quietly Introduced
Imagine you live in a Puritan early 19th century society and you are tasked by God with introducing polygamy. Mainstream Christian competitors already wanted to kill Joseph and this was just more fuel for the fire. What would you do? Likewise, Joseph Smith had to be cautiousbecause of mainstream Christian taboo, recent scandals of prostitution, and rabid anti-Mormon persecution. Eventually, he openly taught it to the Saints, but early attempts to preach it to congregations were met with outrage.
The great irony is that Joseph Smith’s accusers had been excommunicated from the church for adultery. His biggest critics were guilty of exactly what they accused him of. CES Letter complains that Joseph Smith “ordered the destruction of” the Nauvoo Expositor printing press “that dared expose his behavior.” But actually, members of the Nauvoo Expositor had been excommunicated for adultery and called for violence against Mormons.
CES Letter Logical Fallacies
| Falsehood | Joseph Smith did not get “his buddies” or anyone to sign the affidavit, and it had nothing to do with him. The premise of this argument is false. Polygamy was not a “rule or system” when the affidavit was signed, and they did not lie or perjure. It’s all about context. The signers were not “witnesses” of anything. Perhaps CES Letter uses this word “witnesses” to associate the word with lies and perversion, for their subsequent smears of the Book of Mormon “witnesses.” CES Letter says Joseph Smith was lying to “the world” about polygamy “over the course of 10+ years.” But Joseph Smith was murdered in 1844 (by anti-Mormons), and there is no evidence of eternal sealings or polygamy before 1836. That’s only 8 years, if he was lying. |
| Argument From Ignorance | CES Letter omits the fact that the affidavit was chiefly a statement by the female Relief Society in regards to charges of prostitution. CES Letter says it was signed by “people” and makes it all about Joseph Smith instead. They take a tiny snip of quote and leave out the context. |
| Ad Hominem | CES Letter incorrectly charges Joseph Smith with getting his “buddies” to lie and perjure. This word “buddies” is quite deceptive as it insinuates men signed it, while in reality it was a statement from the Relief Society. CES Letter says this shows he was a man who would “keep secrets, be deceptive, and be dishonest.” This entire argument is an attack on Joseph Smith’s character. |
| Repetition | Within this argument, CES Letter repeats the lies that Joseph Smith directed people to sign the affidavit, that it regarded his polygamy that the signers were witnesses, that he kept secrets, that he was deceptive, and that he was dishonest. CES Letter repeats this argument on p. 63. |
| Etymological Fallacy | The LDS semantics of “eternal” sealing versus “marriage for time” are unusual, and it is easy for CES Letter to just lump everything together as “marriage.” |
Appeal To Emotion – The narrative that Joseph Smith victimized women is important for anti-Mormonism because it gives us a reason to hate Mormons. If the Book of Mormon was made up and Joseph Smith was a conman–so what? Even if he were a fraud, aren’t Mormons still nice people who do nice things and make the world a better place? Why not just let them be? The powerful thing with these polygamy arguments is that CES Letter tells you why Mormonism is evil: it victimizes women. It matters because Mormons are big liars. This is easy rhetoric for them to push, as the internet is filled with all kinds of false rumors about Mormon polygamy and because the fake news media labels modern-day polygamist cultists as “Mormon”.
This time, CES Letter shows Joseph Smith directing Mormons to be dishonest and secretive on his behalf. This is a very disturbing step in CES Letter‘s rhetoric. Suddenly it’s not just about Joseph Smith. Now, all Mormons are dangerous! All Mormons are the enemy.
Opponents in the media have trumpeted this narrative since the beginning of Mormonism. In the 1800’s, American newspapers were putting out story after story about how women in Utah were treated as “slaves.” It led to the federal government for the first time registering all marriages, controlling the definition of marriage, and jailing Mormons who did not fit that definition. Still today, Mormons are persecuted as some kind of oppressive patriarchy that victimized women. Just look at the news. It hasn’t changed.
This type of attack on Mormons advances the hateful narrative so that not only is Joseph Smith a dangerous man who had his murder coming, but he spread corruption to other members of the church, and Mormons will lie to cover up his deviant behavior. This is disturbingly similar to Nazi propaganda that said all Jews were enemies of the state because they covered up for and aided the evil leaders of the Jews. It dehumanizes Mormons and makes it harder for people to empathize with or begin a dialogue with today’s Mormon community. It leads people to disregard fact-checkers, Mormon defenders, and Mormon apologists, because–after all–won’t Mormons say anything to make Joseph Smith look good? It poisons the well against honest and open discussion. It smears Joseph Smith and turns him into somebody that nobody wants to be associated with.
Big Lie Tactic – In the polygamy rants, CES Letter approaches marriage from our modern society’s definition, ignore all historical context, and perpetuate the big lie that eternal sealings in the temple were the same as a civil marriage with a physical relationship. If Joseph Smith was a prophet, why did he keep his behavior secret? Well, he didn’t. But people are much more likely to believe CES Letter‘s narrative because they connected the dots out on their own, subconsciously. They are also more likely to believe the evidences for that deduction, which in this case are falsehoods. One lie leads to another.
Why do so many “pro-equality” activists, good progressives who say people should be free to marry whoever they love, condemn Mormons for their history with polygamy? The same Anti-Mormons who attack us for the old history of polygamy also endorse “progressive” ideas about marriage and love. Shouldn’t polygamy be on their list of marriages that deserve “equality?” Well yes, it should, and this is why anti-Mormons spin polygamy as something that coerces and manipulates women into subjugation. Lately, this narrative has become evens easier as there really are crazy cults that actually do victimize and force people to marry, criminals like Warren Jeffs.
Attack On Family – The claim that men were victimizing women establishes a frame of ‘predator versus victim,’ and that leads us to a Marxist ideology. Marxism is all about protecting victims from the predators. Marxists think the biggest miracle about mankind is that we evolved to the top of the food chain without ever becoming predators of other animals. Economically, Marxists protect working classes from a predator class. Marxism is all about protecting the vulnerable from those seeking unequal advantage–and all about keeping people weak in order to keep them reliant on a benevolent dictator for safety.
A major part of Marxism is the deconstruction of masculinity. They seek to pick positive masculine traits that propagate the ideology, such as the gusto to fight for the cause, and eliminate “toxic masculine” traits such as the desire to marry and have children in a traditional family. They think traditional families are evil because men contribute labor to the economy while women are “subjugated” as mothers and do not perform labor. The ideal for Marxists is a state where men and women are completely equal working bees and children are grown and raised by the benevolent dictator state. Nobody is preying on anybody.
| See also: | CES Letter Contradiction Strategy |
Anti-Mormons want us to believe Mormons were manipulating and victimizing women in the same way as this Marxist narrative. The narrative that women are coerced into marriage because of Christianity comes straight from Karl Marx, and it is nothing but an attack on the traditional family. The appeal to emotion is not only about attacking the church. It is about replacing the testimony of a gospel. Marxists believe females are oppressed by men in a giant class struggle that hinders their economic output. Polygamy in the Mormon church was problem for Marxists because the higher law of eternal marriage is the perfect example of “inequality” that Marxists hate.
CES Letter can get away with this Big Lie because it is the consensus among so many fake scholars and because it takes so long to actually investigate the evidence. People are too lazy to actually look through all the historical documents. Even mainstream church apologists are beaten down by all of the accusations and have give way to the big lie. They are too tired defending against it. They let CESLetter get away with the lie. Even if you don’t believe the allegations, just this association frames Joseph Smith negatively.
We could see the intellectual tricks and sophistry CES Letter used to portray Joseph Smith as a fraud in their arguments about the Book of Mormon and Book of Abraham. It is easy to just repeat claims over and over, not give any evidence, and make the issue personal through manipulative repetition. Our Mormon ancestors were under intense pressure and blazed the western frontier through grit and hard work. They were virtuous, honest, and good people. Their legacy should be honored.Complete answers to CES Letter questions about Mormons: