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.
“Dishonesty in public sermons, 1835 D&C 101:4, denials by Joseph Smith denying he was a polygamist… Joseph continued secretly marrying multiple women as these revelations/scriptures remained in force.”
(CES Letter)
Commandments Can Change
Polygamy Not Introduced Yet In 1835 – Joseph Smith was not a polygamist in 1835 when D&C 101 was published. CES Letter incorrectly claims: “Joseph Smith was already a polygamist when these revelations were introduced into the 1835 edition of the Doctrine & Covenants.” Not true. D&C 101 was a denial of fortification and had nothing to do with Joseph Smith’s later introduction of eternal sealings and plural marriage.
Commandments change over time. Commandments update according to modern revelation from authorized prophets to fit modern circumstances. We do not sacrifice animals in modern times, nor do we drink wine during the sacrament. Gospel principles and foundational truth never changes. Polygamy was a temporary commandment, and eternal marriage is a gospel principle. “Inasmuch as this church of 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.”(1835 Doctrine and Covenants, 101:4)
According to Joseph F. Smith, Oliver Cowdery carefully worded this verse to allow for greater liberty of marriage’s definition in the near future. This verse was not even written by Joseph Smith, it was written by Oliver Cowdery. Look at it again. It declares “one man should have one wife.” But when it comes to women, “one woman” should have “but one husband.” Women should have only one husband, but the same limit is not placed for men. We already see a hint of polygamy being introduced at a future time.
Joseph Smith Denied Adultery
CES Letter does not provide evidence of Joseph Smith denying polygamy. They quote Joseph Smith as saying he was being accused of having “seven wives, when I can only find one.” But the full context of the quote reveals Joseph Smith was denying adultery. He was not denying being eternally sealed to multiple women. He was responding to specific charges made by William Law about physical adultery between him and Maria Lawrence:
“This new holy prophet [William Law] has gone to Carthage and swore that I had told him that I was guilty of adultery. This spiritual wifeism! Why, a man dares not speak or wink, for fear of being accused of this….. A man asked me whether the commandment was given that a man may have seven wives; and now the new prophet has charged me with adultery. I never had any fuss with these men until that Female Relief Society brought out the paper against adulterers and adulteresses… Wilson Law also swears that I told him I was guilty of adultery… What a thing it is for a man to be accused of committing adultery, and having seven wives, when I can only find one. I am the same man, and as innocent as I was fourteen years ago; and I can prove them all perjurers. I labored with these apostates myself until I was out of all manner of patience; and then I sent my brother Hyrum, whom they virtually kicked out of doors.”(Joseph Smith in History of The Church 6:410)
This is not a denial of being sealed for the afterlife, but a denial of earthly marriage and physical relations. CES Letter insists on making a false equivalency of marriage for time and sealing for eternity, but they were totally different things. Joseph Smith did not have physical relations with Maria Lawrence or any civil marriage. Joseph Smith was speaking in a legal context, as charges were being prepared in court on both sides, and legally he did not have multiple wives or adulterous relationships.
“Spiritual wifeism” refers to 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. Joseph Smith refuted accusations that he did this or had anything to do with Bennett–which Bennett himself admitted.
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?
In the film ‘Braveheart’, William Wallace had to keep his marriage a secret. Likewise, Joseph Smith had to be cautious about how he taught eternal sealings and plural marriage because 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. On one hand, skeptics admit Joseph Smith was murdered because of polygamy, yet on the other hand they ridicule him for keeping it so secret. Isn’t that a double standard?
CES Letter claims: “The Saints did not know what was going on behind the scenes as polygamy did not become common knowledge until 1852 when Brigham Young revealed it in Utah.” Not true. Polygamy was already practiced by thousands and known about by pretty much everybody by the time Brigham Young formally announced it in 1852. The idea that it was a huge secret for decades is demonstratively false. Joseph Smith was very careful about how he taught it in the early days, as it quickly led to widespread persecution, but he did not deny being polygamous, only adultery.
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.
It makes me wonder why Anti-Mormons today go on and on about polygamy that happened two centuries ago!
CES Letter Logical Fallacies
| Falsehoods | Joseph Smith did not deny polygamy in the way he was practicing it. The premise of this argument is false. CES Letter is incorrect in their allegation that polygamy was kept secret until 1852. CES Letter claims Joseph Smith was displaying: “Dishonesty in public sermons” in regards to polygamy. This is false. CES Letter claims “Joseph’s polygamy also included” D&C 101. But Joseph Smith did not even write D&C 101, and it was published before he ever started eternal sealings. |
| Repetition | CES Letter repeats the lie that Joseph Smith denied being polygamous. CES Letter repeats their argument about D&C 101. CES Letter repeats their claim that Joseph Smith kept polygamy secret 11 times. They repeat it over and over rather than providing evidence. “Joseph continued secretly marrying multiple women…” “Joseph Smith did everything he could to keep the practice in the dark.” In the introduction to their PDF, CES Letter coincidentally used this same word “secret” to distance themselves from secrecy. They say: “in sharing my concerns… it’s no secret which side I’m on.” |
| Ad Hominem | CES Letter says it was “dishonesty” for Joseph Smith to conceal polygamy practices, yet they also say exposure of the practice started “a chain of events that led to Carthage.” |
| Etymological Fallacy | The LDS semantics of “eternal” sealing versus “marriage for time” are unusual, and it is easy for Anti-Mormons to just lump everything together as “marriage.” |
| Argument By Ignorance | CES Letter completely ignores the contexts of D&C 101 and Joseph Smith’s claim of finding “only one” wife. It is especially strange that CES Letter would ignore the context involving William Law, considering they just got done defending William Law’s slander and threats against Joseph Smith. |
Appeal To Emotion – One favorite tactic of typical Anti-Mormons to discredit Joseph Smith is to suggest that he had it coming when he was murdered for polygamy. It is true that the destruction of the Nauvoo Expositor perpetuated much of the mob violence that led to Carthage, but tensions were already high because of Anti-Mormon bigotry and Joseph Smith’s anti-slavery stance. It was just one more spark in the fire.
If someone were jailed and murdered today because of private consensual relationships outside of social norms, would these progressive anti-Mormons who hate Joseph Smith be applauding the murder or condemning it? So this is where the big lie about polygamy has taken them. Total hypocrisy. Maria Lawrence was 20 years old when she was sealed to Joseph Smith, with Emma’s blessing.
In this argument, they imply the allegations of Joseph Smith’s perversions are true because he tried to keep it secret. We see an emotional argument here, whereas we saw intellectual arguments against the Book of Mormon and Book of Abraham. This argument appeals to salacious gossip and personal sexual insecurities rather than logic.
Big Lie Tactic – In the polygamy arguments, 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.
This is why the previous narrative about women being victimized is so important, and why this argument’s narrative about suppressing freedom of speech is so important. As we can see with the Nauvoo Expositor, opponents in the media have trumpeted this narrative since the beginning. 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. This narrative gives opponents justification for attacking Mormons while claiming to be “pro-equality.”
Attack On Marriage – The key component is the claim that men are victimizing women. This frame of ‘predator versus victim’ 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.
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 that Joseph Smith had carnal relations, 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 in a terrible light.
| See also: | CES Letter Contradiction Strategy |
Contradiction Strategy – 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. Well, even if that were all true and he were a fraud, so what? Aren’t Mormons still nice people who make the world a better place? The powerful thing with these polygamy arguments is that CES Letter tells you why Mormonism is still evil: it victimizes women. 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”. It is easy to just repeat claims over and over, not give any evidence, and make the issue personal through manipulative repetition.
Total Hypocrisy From Anti-Mormons – The LDS church teaches men to love and respect women. The LDS church teaches everyone to exercise free agency and not coerce or be coerced into anything. It is a liberating gospel and empowering for all classes, races, and sexes of people. Nothing is kept secret. We must not allow these slanderous lies to split men and women in the church. The principle of eternal marriage is a great blessing to each of us, and it strengthens family and society. We can avoid the pitfalls and perils that plague modern western society if we hold true to these covenants and standards.Complete answers to CES Letter questions about Mormons: