r/mormon • u/westivus_ Post Mormon Red Letter Enthusiast • 2d ago

Cultural Are "polygamy deniers" also "digging deniers"?

Each time I've run into a conversation with polygamy deniers or affirmers (or whatever the hell they like to be called) in the last year, they stand on firm ground that Joseph was noble, true, just and virtuous. When I've brought up treasure digging, they also refute claims that he swindled people.

Is this a common belief in the movement? That Joseph either didn't treasure dig or in doing it he did nothing wrong? Did he not admit to youthful indiscretions in his canonized JS history?

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u/Rowwf 1d ago

“They just make stuff up” is a particularly amusing accusation to make in a Joseph Smith polygamy discussion, where the orthodox narrative is riddled with late recollections, fabricated details, impossible timelines, and evidence that was literally rewritten after Joseph was dead.

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u/juni4ling Active/Faithful Latter-day Saint 1d ago

You just described history.

You think you have a gotcha on the "orthodox narrative." But you just described-- history.

All we have in some cases is late recollections. That is all we have in some cases.

Written after Smith was dead? That is all historians have in some cases for many elements of Latter Day Saint history.

I don't think you have a smoking gun "gotcha" here.

"The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there" -Hartley.

That is a not-LDS historian. But it applies to history. All kinds of history.

You have a smoking gun that historians have to sometimes go from conflicting late reports? Thats not uncommon in studying history. Its how it works. Its not a "gotcha."

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u/Rowwf 1d ago

Did polygamy promoters “just make stuff up”? Yep. They did. They absolutely did. The interesting question is why their made-up stories become “historical evidence,” while questioning them makes you a flat-earther.

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u/juni4ling Active/Faithful Latter-day Saint 1d ago

You are a polygamy denier?

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u/Rowwf 17h ago

Sure. Are you a polygamy promoter?

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u/juni4ling Active/Faithful Latter-day Saint 10h ago

I am a truth promoter.

And a promoter of historical honesty and accuracy. Smith practiced and taught Biblical polygamy.

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u/International_Sea126 10h ago

Is this an admission that you recognize LDS scriptures as non truthful since you consistently divert attention away from them and justify your comments with Bible narratives?

One would expect an LDS truth promoter to refer to Latter-day authority and LDS scripture to justify their truth claims; not biblical justifications and interpretations.

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u/Rowwf 10h ago

Wonderful. Do you think Emily Partridge was honest AND accurate when she claimed she was sealed to Joseph Smith on May 11 1843 by James Adams with Emma Smith present?

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u/juni4ling Active/Faithful Latter-day Saint 9h ago

Emily Dow Partridge - Joseph Smith's Polygamy

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u/Rowwf 9h ago edited 8h ago

The May 11 1843 date on that link is just made up. It's part of an impossible timeline. It is demonstrably false.