User:InProgress/SWDN/Swedish questions/3

FAIR Answers—back to home page

A FairMormon Response to Questions Asked in Swedish Fireside with Elder's Jensen and Turley

1: BoM translation—2: Polygamy and Polyandry—3: Polygamy forced?—4: Book of Abraham—5: "Lying for Lord"—6: Mark Hofmann—7: Blood atonement—8: First Vision—9: Sanitized history—10: "Not all truth is useful"—11: Angelic affidavits—12: Blacks and priesthood—13: Temple concerns—14: Evidence of Vikings—15: Adam-God—16: Kinderhook

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Question:
According to information I have read

• The wives were forced into marriage.
• They were put under tremendous pressure to accept the marriage.
• You have only until, let’s say, tomorrow to decide and to marry me but it will have terrible consequences if you don’t accept the marriage.

Short Answer:

• Question: Were plural wives forced into the marriage?
  Answer: No.

• There are numerous accounts of women to whom Joseph proposed plural marriage, who turned him down. There were no consequences to these women. One reported his mild reaction:

Early in the year 1842, Joseph Smith taught me the principle of marriage for eternity, and the doctrine of plural marriage. He said that in teaching this he realized that he jeopardized his life; but God had revealed it to him many years before as a privilege with blessings, now God had revealed it again and instructed him to teach it with commandment, as the Church could travel (progress) no further without the introduction of this principle. I asked him to teach it to some one else. He looked at me reprovingly, and said, 'Will you tell me who to teach it to? God required me to teach it to you, and leave you with the responsibility of believing or disbelieving.‘ He said, 'I will not cease to pray for you, and if you will seek unto God in prayer you will not be led into temptation.' - Sarah Kimball

• Two women afterward attacked Joseph's character, and he responded. Those who did not were left strictly alone.

• Question: Were women put under "tremendous pressure"?
  Answer: It depends what you mean.

• No one was coerced or forced into marriage (see above). Given that the Saints believed Joseph was a prophet, any command from him would carry significant weight.
• Despite this, the reported initial reactions are all negative: these women were strong-minded, and did not simply obey because Joseph told them to.
• Because of their distaste for the idea, many plural wives reported divine revelations that confirmed the truth of plural marriage. Joseph encouraged women to seek for such divine confirmation.

• Question: Was a woman given only one day to decide? Would refusal mean terrible consequences?
  Answer: No.

• This claim distorts the account of XXX
• She was told only that the opportunity for plural marriage would expire in twenty-four hours. She was not threatened with damnation or physical consequences.