Mormon Church Openly Discussing Joseph Smith's 40 Wives

[acheronbeach]

All non-profits, since they expect the taxpayers to pay their tax bills for them, should be required by federal law to publicly disclose where 100% if their income comes from, and how 100% of it is spent. Maybe not down to how much is spent on toilet paper and Windex, but cover those sorts of things as "maintenance supplies."

I know a Mormon man who couldn't afford his mission, and it caused him a lot of grief. There's a reason a lot of Mormons hope their mission will be somewhere in the US. It's a lot less expensive than going to Paris or Monaco, especially if you've for the expected bunch of kids. You can't be poor and still be a Mormon. Missions are mandatory, with very rare exception.

Missions now cost the same no matter where you're assigned, from what I gather. The church realized that faraway missions were a huge financial stress.

Also, as for where the $ goes? Google Creek City Mall, the multi-billion Mormon shopping centre...

[Knight of Ni]

What's surprising me is the fact that are actually people defending his actions in the comment section of an article I read. They are saying that in that day 14 was a reasonable age to be married. They said that Muslims also have multiple wives but no one is criticizing them. I don't understand how people can defend his actions.

[Trynn]

Doesn't Islam limit the amount of wives a man may have? I could be wrong but I seem to remember there being a cut off at around the 3 or 4 mark.

[freedomjesusfootball]

www.sixteensmallstones.org/some-thought ... -polygamy/

And the explanation of what it REALLY meant BACK THEN GUYS!!!!!!!!

Joseph Smith was totally not having sex with young teens! He was just their spiritual guide! That means his memory can go untarnished, as long as you buy into the official explanation.

[Free2BeMe]

According to my Mormon friend, some of the tithes go toward subsidizing tuition at BYU. Interestingly enough, she and her husband went to big, state colleges and don't want their kids to go to BYU because they want them to experience diversity at college and not be somewhere so insular.

Disclaimer: I was actually raised in the Mormon church as a child, but my family left (thank goodness!). Only my oldest sibling is still an active member. I am *technically* a member, according to the Mormon church, and every once in a while they come around looking for me.

That's creepy!

[ViolaSebastian]

Doesn't Islam limit the amount of wives a man may have? I could be wrong but I seem to remember there being a cut off at around the 3 or 4 mark.

The cut off is four, but of course there are men (usually wealthy, wealthy men) that have more than that.

It's also a big misconception that 14 was an average age to be married during the timeline of Joseph Smith's life. No, it was around 20. So they've lost that battle.

[Rachel333]

The cut off is four, but of course there are men (usually wealthy, wealthy men) that have more than that.

It's also just four at a time, and it's extremely easy for men to divorce women under Muslim law (not so the other way around, of course). I saw a documentary about mega families where a Muslim man was determined to make it to 100 children and he did it by having "only" four wives at a time but divorcing them when they were done having children.

Muhammad married one of his wives when she was just 6 or 7, but as Muslim apologists will rush to inform you, they waited three years to consummate the marriage.

And yes, 14 was not a normal age to marry in the 19th century. People don't realize that even hundreds of years ago most people weren't getting married especially young. In Elizabethan England most people weren't getting married until their mid to late 20's.

[goldbu]

According to my Mormon friend, some of the tithes go toward subsidizing tuition at BYU. Interestingly enough, she and her husband went to big, state colleges and don't want their kids to go to BYU because they want them to experience diversity at college and not be somewhere so insular.

Disclaimer: I was actually raised in the Mormon church as a child, but my family left (thank goodness!). Only my oldest sibling is still an active member. I am *technically* a member, according to the Mormon church, and every once in a while they come around looking for me.

[ViolaSebastian]

I could remove myself from their membership, but I don't want to jump through their hoops. I don't consider myself a member so that's good enough for me.

I have heard from other ex-mormons that it is extremely hard to get off the list, so the numbers that the Church puts out are not even close to accurate.

[ADoyle90815]

The cut off is four, but of course there are men (usually wealthy, wealthy men) that have more than that.

It's also a big misconception that 14 was an average age to be married during the timeline of Joseph Smith's life. No, it was around 20. So they've lost that battle.

I've seen that many Mormons seem to believe that misconception that girls marrying at 14 was a common thing during tie period the church was founded, at least judging by what I've read on Facebook and other sites as comments. I've even said on Facebook as a reply to some of those comments that the ages of marriage during that period was between 19-23 according to the US Census records. I guess some Mormons could start to consider the US Census as an "anti" source, which might be a good thing if they quit using it as a source for doing temple baptisms of the dead.

I agree that it's extremely difficult to get your name off their records, as while they say you can resign membership, ex-mormons often have to be prepared to file lawsuits, press harassment charges, or negative media attention to get the thing processed. One notable case involved a person getting the Mormons with their garden hose.

[emily]

I have heard from other ex-mormons that it is extremely hard to get off the list, so the numbers that the Church puts out are not even close to accurate.

I wrote an official exit letter, as they "require" but it was somehow lost and they were never able to process my request. I almost want to send another copy and try again, but oh, the effort.

They also manage to find me every few years and send missionaries. This could be my mother's doing, though, she's passive-aggressive like that.

[Rachel333]

I gave the missionaries my phone number five years ago and I still get calls and texts from them on occasion.

[Jessica]

The tithing money doesn't go to helping the needy. That is what the fas offerings and humanitarian aid donation are for. Tithing goes to building more chapels, temples (in the hundreds of millions of dollars range), printing (books, Sunday School and Institute manuals and guides, etc.), and stuff like that. Oh, and the local church leaders aren't paid but the "Big Fifteen" are given a "modest living allowance", as well as having their cars/gas and phones paid for (iPhones of course), and all their plane tickets.

[Hane]

I've seen that many Mormons seem to believe that misconception that girls marrying at 14 was a common thing during the period the church was founded, at least judging by what I've read on Facebook and other sites as comments. I've even said on Facebook as a reply to some of those comments that the ages of marriage during that period was between 19-23 according to the US Census records.

Hey, "Little Women" took place in the 1860s, and Meg's parents didn't even want her to get engaged until she was at least 20.

[Vivi_music]

The cut off is four, but of course there are men (usually wealthy, wealthy men) that have more than that.

It's also a big misconception that 14 was an average age to be married during the timeline of Joseph Smith's life. No, it was around 20. So they've lost that battle.

The bolded: thank you for mentioning this! I've heard a lot of people say: ''Well, people married young back then because they had such low life expectancy. They had to do everything younger than we did.'' While the average life expectancy was indeed low because of all the infant mortality; once a child survived pass the age of 2 they had a good change to live into adulthood. And if a person could reach its 20th birthday, they could live up to their 60's (especially in the 19th century). Only aristocrats and royals would betroth their daughter when they were very young. And I doubt Joseph Smith married into royalty. :evil-eye:

OR maybe it was Mormon royalty? :shrug: Okay I'm out of here.

[DarkAnts]

Did they mention that some of his wives were already married to living men?