Did Joseph have lustful motives for practicing polygamy?

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Did Joseph have "lustful motives" for practicing polygamy?

Summary: Neutral observers have long understood that this attack is probably the weakest of them all. One might reasonably hold the opinion that Joseph was wrong, but in the face of the documentary evidence it is wrong to argue that he and his associates were insincere or that they were practicing their religion only for power and to satisfy carnal desires. Those who insist that “sex is the answer” probably reveal more about their own limited perspective than they do of the minds of the early Saints.

Jump to details:

• Question: Did Joseph Smith institute polygamy because he had a "voracious sexual appetite"?
• Question: Did Joseph Smith have a youthful struggle with unchastity?
• Question: Did Joseph Smith have a long history of "womanizing" before practicing plural marriage?
• Stephen H. Webb: "Evidence That Demands Our Amazement... Joseph Smith was a remarkable person"

The Prophet said...that it [plural marriage] would damn more than it would have because \so many/ unprincipled men would take advantage of it, but that did not prove that it was not a pure principle. If Joseph had had any impure desires he could have gratified them in the style of the world with less danger of his life or his character, than to do as he did. The Lord commanded him to teach & to practice that principle.

—Helen Mar Kimball Whitney, Letter to Mary Bond, n.d., 3-9 quoted in Brian Hales, Joseph Smith's Polygamy: History, Vol. 1, 26-27. off-site

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Now nothing can be more idle, nothing more frivolous, than to imagine that this polygamy had anything to do with personal licentiousness. If Joseph Smith had proposed to the Latter-day Saints that they should live licentious lives, they would have rushed on him and probably anticipated their pious neighbors who presently shot him.

—George Bernard Shaw, The Future of Political Science in America; an Address by Mr. Bernard Shaw to the Academy of Political Science, at the Metropolitan Opera House, New York, on the 11th. April, 1933

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Did Joseph have "lustful motives" for practicing polygamy?

Summary: Neutral observers have long understood that this attack is probably the weakest of them all. One might reasonably hold the opinion that Joseph was wrong, but in the face of the documentary evidence it is wrong to argue that he and his associates were insincere or that they were practicing their religion only for power and to satisfy carnal desires. Those who insist that “sex is the answer” probably reveal more about their own limited perspective than they do of the minds of the early Saints.

Jump to details:

• Question: Did Joseph Smith institute polygamy because he had a "voracious sexual appetite"?
• Question: Did Joseph Smith have a youthful struggle with unchastity?
• Question: Did Joseph Smith have a long history of "womanizing" before practicing plural marriage?
• Stephen H. Webb: "Evidence That Demands Our Amazement... Joseph Smith was a remarkable person"

Did Joseph have "lustful motives" for practicing polygamy?

Summary: Neutral observers have long understood that this attack is probably the weakest of them all. One might reasonably hold the opinion that Joseph was wrong, but in the face of the documentary evidence it is wrong to argue that he and his associates were insincere or that they were practicing their religion only for power and to satisfy carnal desires. Those who insist that “sex is the answer” probably reveal more about their own limited perspective than they do of the minds of the early Saints.

Jump to details:

• Question: Did Joseph Smith institute polygamy because he had a "voracious sexual appetite"?
• Question: Did Joseph Smith have a youthful struggle with unchastity?
• Question: Did Joseph Smith have a long history of "womanizing" before practicing plural marriage?
• Stephen H. Webb: "Evidence That Demands Our Amazement... Joseph Smith was a remarkable person"

Did Joseph have "lustful motives" for practicing polygamy?

Summary: Neutral observers have long understood that this attack is probably the weakest of them all. One might reasonably hold the opinion that Joseph was wrong, but in the face of the documentary evidence it is wrong to argue that he and his associates were insincere or that they were practicing their religion only for power and to satisfy carnal desires. Those who insist that “sex is the answer” probably reveal more about their own limited perspective than they do of the minds of the early Saints.

Jump to details:

• Question: Did Joseph Smith institute polygamy because he had a "voracious sexual appetite"?
• Question: Did Joseph Smith have a youthful struggle with unchastity?
• Question: Did Joseph Smith have a long history of "womanizing" before practicing plural marriage?
• Stephen H. Webb: "Evidence That Demands Our Amazement... Joseph Smith was a remarkable person"

Did Joseph have "lustful motives" for practicing polygamy?

Summary: Neutral observers have long understood that this attack is probably the weakest of them all. One might reasonably hold the opinion that Joseph was wrong, but in the face of the documentary evidence it is wrong to argue that he and his associates were insincere or that they were practicing their religion only for power and to satisfy carnal desires. Those who insist that “sex is the answer” probably reveal more about their own limited perspective than they do of the minds of the early Saints.

Jump to details:

• Question: Did Joseph Smith institute polygamy because he had a "voracious sexual appetite"?
• Question: Did Joseph Smith have a youthful struggle with unchastity?
• Question: Did Joseph Smith have a long history of "womanizing" before practicing plural marriage?
• Stephen H. Webb: "Evidence That Demands Our Amazement... Joseph Smith was a remarkable person"

See also Brian Hales' discussion

Joseph Smith’s Pre-Nauvoo Reputation

For over 150 years skeptics from E. D. Howe to Fawn Brodie to Gerald and Sandra Tanner and beyond have painted a picture of Joseph Smith as that of a man who at least sometimes trespassed the bounds of marital fidelity....Eleven accusations regarding claims that Joseph Smith possessed a reputation of either licentiousness or plural marriage prior to Nauvoo....All eleven are late accounts except for the secondhand and problematic claim of Levi Lewis regarding Martin Harris’ alleged comments concerning Eliza Winters. Regardless, based upon available evidence, allegations that Joseph Smith possessed a reputation as a womanizer or polygamist during the 1830s are not supported.

Joseph Smith’s Personal Polygamy

Many are quick to declare that Joseph's polygamy sprang from religious extremism and/or sexual desire. This article explores the difficulties that Joseph had with plural marriage, and evidence for what truly motivated his acts.

To see citations to the critical sources for these claims, [[../CriticalSources|click here]]

Notes (click to expand)

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