Lightning Survey: Before the 2014 Plural Marriage Essay, did you know that Joseph Smith practiced it HIMSELF?

[NOWmormon]

Yes or No?
I am looking for as many responses as possible today.
I will provide context for this survey tomorrow.

[crossmyheart]

yes.

Born in Utah. Family wedding receptions were held at the Beehive House. Knew all about JS, BY- and growing up, family was always talking about the polygamists that lived near the mouth of Little Cottonwood Canyon.

[Red Ryder]

No, not from correlated materials.
Yes, from the internet (circa 2005) before the essays were ever written.

[Vlad the Emailer]

I knew there were plural wives, but as far as I knew it was just so that women/families could be sealed to him and that was it - no hanky panky.

Edit: So far when I knew what I knew, I was the same as Unendowed below. I did find out before the essay, but from non LDS sources.

[Unendowed]

I knew about JS polygamy prior to the essay but not from church approved sources.

[Just This Guy]

Yes. I learned some basics on my mission. I thought it was only a few women. I learned the full extent in '12-'13, ironically from Family Search.

[RubinHighlander]

No, not from correlated materials.
Yes, from the internet (circa 2005) before the essays were ever written.

+1

[AllieOop]

Yes, but not from any church materials or speeches. I found out doing my own research on the internet.

(I'm embarrassed to admit that I bought the old "Joseph only was married to a few old widows whose husbands had been killed by those evil mobs"....and even then I only had a vague impression that he'd lived polygamy.)




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[Thoughtful]

Yes, was taught in seminary. Did not know how many, that it was behind Emma's back, that women were already married, that he was coercing children....

[Korihor]

No. I didn't learn about it until 2015, and I didn't initially learn about it from the essay. But I soon came across the essay after learning about.

[Korihor]

NOWmormon, I created a poll for you. It's easy to do. PM me or most anyone else if you need help on how to do it.

[grammaticus]

Yes - from non-LDSCorp-produced souces.

[MerrieMiss]

Yes - I've always read a lot, all kinds of things, so I can't say exactly when I learned it. I read Mormon Enigma around 2006/2007 - so at least since then, possibly before, I don't really remember.

[blazerb]

Yes, I knew. My mom hated polygamy, but she had some rationalizations for JS. She talked to me about it occasionally. I did not learn he had sex with women other than Emma until I got to the MTC in the late 80's. I knew he married the daughter of Heber C. Kimball, but did not learn she was 14 until I was in an institute class in the 90's. By that point, I was married and did not have much incentive to investigate. So, to my shame, I knew about it but did not let it bother me for about 20 years.

[Mormorrisey]

Yep, I knew from reading tons of material in the 1990s. When a good friend asked me about it the early 2000s, I said polygamy was allowed by God because he knew Joseph was a bit of a horndog, and needed "permission" to have other sexual experiences. Now, I just say Joseph was a player, full stop.

What I didn't know, though, was polyandry, Fanny and the teenagers. Reading Bushman was a huge weight on the old shelf - the Fanny story in particular was disturbing. Marrying a 16 year old without the sealing power? That's when I knew for sure it was just about sex.

[Meilingkie]

yes

[Corsair]

Yes, I knew about it. But it was only because I was already a non-believer and had gone through the usual apostate phase of intense study of LDS history. I certainly never heard about it in church, seminary, family home evening, or any other LDS controlled setting.

[StarbucksMom]

Yes, I learned about it as a teen, and it always bothered me a lot. But I didn't know until about 2010 about polyandry and coercing young teenagers. When I learned those things, I began to lose my testimony of Mormonism. I tried to make it work and attended lots of meetings, and flew under the radar as much as possible until the atrocious, disgusting, immoral JS polygamy essay came out. I still cannot believe they defended JS using his power to be a pedophile, send men on missions and hook up with their wives, shack up with Fanny and others before the "revelation", and lie to his wife and everyone else about it. Oh, and engage in smear campaigns to ruin the reputations of girls/women who refused the ba$tard. They actually had the freaking nerve to say JS did all that because GOD commanded it????? LDS inc had the chance to try start doing the right thing by admitting that JS's adultery/pedophilia was a mistake, but nope.

After that, I stopped trying. And I need to do a post about this, but I decided to tell my kids how I felt too, even though my husband was and is TBM.

[TestimonyLost]

I was an avid reader as a kid and I devoured The Work and the Glory at one point. So I knew about the sanitized version at least. You know, the version without the sordid details and Joseph's part in it portrayed as a very reluctant but ultimately obedient son of God.

[Give It Time]

Yes. Knew all about it. Not one word of the essay was fresh information for me. Polygamy was an established, painful, someday fact.

Besides, tell pretty much anyone outside the church you're Mormon and their response will contain the word "polygamy/polygamists" somewhere in the phrase. They will then regale you with everything they know about Mormons and polygamy, and it's usually everything. Except for the fact it's been repealed. For some reason, they never seem to know that. I usually have to get out the D & C and read the manifestos for them. They still won't stop talking about polygamy. Let's face it. It's some of the best, juiciest, most salacious gossip there is. Tell them we've stopped practicing, their eyes glaze over.

Yup. Definitely knew about polygamy. BTW, learned about it at church, because I'd hear about it "from the world". Might as well hear about it from the source. Kind of like one of your parents getting ahead of the news they're having an affair.