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I’m on part 2 of DCP’s interview on mormonstories. He candidly states that polygamy does make Joseph Smith look bad because of the lying and sneaking around and such. He then offers a negation by asking a very thoughtful question: What if an angel asked you to commit polygamy, what would you do?

That’s a very profound question Daniel.

Of course, this all assumes that the angel really came from God and wasn’t Satan deceiving Joseph and assuming Joseph didn’t make it up.

I see a few scenarios:

1) You could protest at first but essentially give in and break a host of other commandments like lying, adultery, breaking the law, etc. This is essentially what Joseph did.

2) You could protest and then say OK, I’ll do what you commanded me to do and all the consequences are yours. But then instead of breaking all the other commandments, do it as honorably as possible. Be bold and tell the congregation that an angel commanded you to practice polygamy. Don’t lie – ever! Follow the D&C to the letter and only take women approved of by your wife. You will be forced to break the law and if they jail you for it, so be it – that’s God’s fault, not yours and you will be held blameless.

Marry the women, but don’t have sex with them, unless God specifically commands it – but I don’t really see God sending an angel to specifically instruct him to have sex with the women. Maybe Joseph could even take the high road and instead of marrying dozens of women, teenage girls and women married to other men, Joseph could instead take one, old, unattractive Old Maid to be his wife. That way, Emma wouldn’t be so jealous and no one is going to accuse him of doing this for selfish reasons.

3) Last choice is to say “FU angel!” Go ahead and destroy me then. I refuse to worship a God that wants me to break the law, set a terrible example to everyone, lie, commit adultery, make my wife cry and cause everyone so much pain and plague the church forever. If it wasn’t for polygamy, the church would probably be so much more accepted by society today as polygamy is still the #1 issue with gentiles.


I think this really has deeper ramifications. I see Abraham also being asked to do something unspeakable in being forced to kill his own son with a knife. What kind of God would do this to anyone? Either God doesn’t exist or these two stories aren’t true or he isn’t the God I want him to be.

If I was Joseph, I would hope I would have had the courage to stand up to his angel with a sword and say, slay me if you must but I will not commit such despicable crimes.

What would you do?

If I was Joseph, I would hope I would have had the courage to stand up to his angel with a sword and say, slay me if you must but I will not commit such despicable crimes.

This. I would assume that it was an angel of darkness or a test. If it was a test I would go with the Light of Christ which tells me that lying to my spouse in wrong and that using manipulations and coersion to get people in bed is also wrong.

I wish God would give me a polyandry test. I would totally pass!

But in seriousness, I don't believe that an angel would command a committed monogamist in a monogamous society to practice polygamy any more than I think an angel would command a man or woman in a free society to purchase and maintain a slave. Slavery and polygamy both existed in biblical times for a variety of reasons (none of which included God randomly imposing them from out of nowhere), and I can even see God providing governing instructions to societies that are already deeply saturated with them. But excepting circumstances where the parties involved are already poorly off, I think both polygamy and slavery are bad for society, bad for the parties that participate, and not part of God's ideal for humanity.

So, if an angel came to me and commanded me to practice polygamy, I'd assume that he was not of God and send him packing. If he handed me a list of three dozen or so names of men that God would like me to marry, I'd really send him packing.

(I haven't listened to Dan's interview, but I thought I'd answer anyways.)

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LDS truthseeker wrote: What if an angel asked you to commit polygamy, what would you do?

I'd know the personage wasn't an angel and I'd send him back to whatever hell he came from.

And I'd find another church.

Normally, it would depend upon how amenable Jessica Alba and Scarlet Johansson were to such a polygamist union, but I think I might also have to receive some sort of certificate of Alphamaleness from Darrick's former BYU roommate.

harmony wrote:

LDS truthseeker wrote: What if an angel asked you to commit polygamy, what would you do?

I'd know the personage wasn't an angel and I'd send him back to whatever hell he came from.

And I'd find another church.

As Harmony points out here, I think that this would be "the final straw" for me.

Any type of reinstatement in polygamy would cause me to leave the Church..,as it would thousands. I believe that is why it won't happen.

If one wants to get a sense in retrospect of what Joseph Smith did and why he did it, one need only look at the FLDS Prophet Warren Jeffs.

No need to postulate an angel with a flaming sword. No need to wonder what you (as a male) would do in Joseph Smith's situation. The swcenrrio plays out perfectly well without a god or angels.

Pretty much every functioning heterosexual male over the age of 20 or so has faced the same "decisions" that Joseph Smith and Warren Jeffs faced, with the same biological drives, motivations, and potential consequences. Luckily for humankind only a relative handful of these men in modern times have behaved in the way that Smith and Jeffs behaved.

With few variations, the story of Warren Jeffs is the story of Joseph Smith - plain and simple.

DrW wrote:If one wants to get a sense in retrospect of what Joseph Smith did and why he did it, one need only look at the FLDS Prophet Warren Jeffs.

No need to postulate an angel with a flaming sword. No need to wonder what you (as a male) would do in Joseph Smith's situation. The swcenrrio plays out perfectly well without a god or angels.

Pretty much every functioning heterosexual male over the age of 20 or so has faced the same "decisions" that Joseph Smith and Warren Jeffs faced, with the same biological drives, motivations, and potential consequences. Luckily for humankind only a relative handful of these men in modern times have behaved in the way that Smith and Jeffs behaved.

With few variations, the story of Warren Jeffs is the story of Joseph Smith - plain and simple.

I disagree. Joseph Smith was not nearly as depraved and sick as Warren Jeffs. Warren Jeffs encouraged, and held "group instruction" for group sex with his wives, which included 12 year olds..(according to the accounts we have, the youngest wife Joseph took was 14, and we are unclear on whether or not he had sex with her). Warren Jeffs recorded sessions of having sex with his new wives in the temple, in front of other wives, in a ritualistic rape fashion. If Joseph Smith ever did such an act, we have no record of it.

If you have read my posts regarding polygamy, you know that I am the last person to defend Joseph Smith on this one. I absolutely think that section 132's segment on plural marriage, and his counsel to Emma, in particular, were, at worst, made up simply to cover his tracks in having an affair with Fanny Alger, and, at best, a gross misinterpretation of the Lord's instructions and intent.

However, in either case, I don't think that the comparison between Jeffs and Smith is a fair one.

Jeffs is definitely where he belongs....getting raped in prison for eternity.

I would pass the test and choose to be morally clean instead of a mindlessly obedient automaton.

liz3564 wrote:
However, in either case, I don't think that the comparison between Jeffs and Smith is a fair one.

I think it is fair. DrW did say their were some variations. I think we need to consider that Joseph grew up in a monogamous society, and knew better to seek sexual relationship with other women. He lied and broke his own rules he claims God laid down about it. Is it any wonder that we would see someone like WJ who grew up in a polygamous society that Joseph started.