NOM

Created on behalf of NOWmormon.

Did I know about JS Polygamy before the 2014 essay? Yes. But, that being said, I was a little more of a deep study on church history topics. For a while, especially beginning on my mission, I had an insatiable appetite for that kind of thing. That being said, it wasn't until I started getting involved in online apologetics back in 2008 that I learned about the extent of his practice of polygamy and polyandry at all. That was a surprise. I spent a number of years trying to defend his indefensible actions. Ultimately, I couldn't do it anymore.

I knew about Joseph Smith's polygamy some thirty-odd years before the 2014 essay. I felt that I had a spiritual confirmation of D&C 132 before I went on my mission. However, I did not know about some very key issues regarding Joseph Smith polygamy. I did not know that he married the wives of other men who were still living, many of them faithful members of the church. I did not know about the coercion Joseph Smith used to get the consent of some of his wives. I also failed to look at polygamy from the female side of the equation and that was probably my own immaturity.