[Dan]

Joseph Smith and his 33 wives

True, polyandry is really the disconcerting issue. But from Joseph's perspective, he was told certain women were his. Some were currently married to others. He went ahead and made them his but allowed them to live with the first husband "for time". Joseph prbably had sexual relations in some or most of these, I would guess. But we don't know. Some of the polyandrous first husbands knew about Joseph, some did not. The overarching theme is that polygamy was secret then. There was a concept back then that a woman could leave her husband to unite with a man of higher priesthood authority. I know that does not gel with current thought on how marriage should be in the church. These women were willing to be married to Joseph even though they had husbands already. AND it was good cover for Joseph at the time. If the women left their husbands and people started realizing they were spending inordinate amounts of time with Joseph with a possible pregnancy here and there, well, you can imagine the gossiping that would take place and the further problems that would erupt if polyandry was put up for public consumption and verified. it had to be kept on the down low, and Joseph was able to marry them and by staying with their first husbands, much suspicion was alleviated. Once the saints started moving west and what they did did not have to be so secretive, polyandry was dumped and polygyny was the only norm. The flip side is that Joseph could have just been a wicked player with the women. Your faith will help you decide which way you believe.


The Salamander Letter

Prophets and presidents of the church are mortal men with weaknesses and all. I think most LDS would admit that if pushed to, but there is a latent idea in the minds of MANY LDS that the prophet is darn near infallible. Think back to how many bad choices Joseph made. The Kirtland bank failure, the many close associates he misread who turned on him. Do not be suprised if leaders of the church are duped here or there. The flip side is that God may have been willing to direct the prophet on the matter but the prophet and/or church is in apostasy themselves. Your faith will help you decide.

Mountain Meadows Massacre

It cannot be pinned on BY. But understanding the circumstances involved sheds light on why it took place. The saints had been driven from place to place for years/decades. Joseph and Hyrum were murdered, as was Parley Pratt. The saints covenanted to avenge the blood of their prophets. The prospect of Johnston's army was looming in Deseret. Everyone was on high alert. The blood atonement concept was in the people's mind. You have a goop of migrants coming through the territory raising a rukus, boasting about the killings of the beloved leaders of the saints, there were fears that the group was poisoning the saints water wells. This was all taking place far from headquarters in southern Utah. The local leaders decided to start avenging some blood. It was an unfortunate event, to say the least. But with all of the pressures and circumstances weighing down at the time, the group of migrants was like a lit match placed under kindling wood.

Polygamy

Polygamy was taught that it would never leave. The nation placed pressure on the church leaders to stop the practice. The church leaders conceded and in turn were given statehood (which had much more autonomy back then compared to now). Still the manifesto was a public statement, nothing more. The leaders of the church kept condoning plural marriages so that the commandments could be complied with. They just had to do it in secret. But then the government found out that the saints were still doing it, so a second manifesto was pronounced which claimed total cessation of the practice. Some marriages were performed thereafter, but the practice was quickly stamped out after the second manifesto, for most anyway. We did boy to government pressures on that one. maybe they shouldn't have. maybe they were meant to go through the crucible of obedience at all cost. Your faith will help you believe if they were guided to make the decisions they did or if they just made poor choices based on their fallible nature. But even back in the Joseph days you had people abandoning their inheritances in Zion because of the threat of violence, etc. Pain and suffering of family and loved ones can be a strong enticing to people to get them to curb their practices. Whether correct or incorrect decisions were made, I certainly could understand how they could have been made either way. I do not think we are punished per se for incorrect decisions they may have made, but such decisions to reach down to the fourth generation, so it says, of which we are in. So maybe the affects are still here and a new day will dawn when any such mistakes made by fallible leaders may be corrected.