Quote:
Originally Posted by MikeWaters
One of the main differences, is that much of the rejection of the past is motivated more by embarrassment. Does Mitt Romney have doctrinal problems with polygamy, like I have doctrinal problems with the ban? I doubt it. Rather, he is *embarrassed* to stand before Babylon.
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Joseph Smith was a heretic. A rebel. Unabashed. Bold. Revolutionary. Confident. He didn't parse his answers so as to most fit with the contemporary Christianity, like we see when we see half-truths or evasions in church press releases or on Larry King.
Where did that spirit go?
When my friends and colleagues have asked about polygamy, I don't apologize about it at all.
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BTW Mike, a major defect in your characterization of JS is that he was anything but confident and unapologetic about polygamy. He practiced it in secret but then lied about it in public. Adamantly. That's one of the things that always bugged me about whole episode. If it truly was a commandment from God, why not publish the revelation and be open about it? Why all the secrecy and lying?
You really should nut it up and finish the last 200 pages of Rough Stone Rolling. You might be a little less mullah-ish about polygamy.