Mormons inoculating kids against questioning their family’s faith because of questionable sexual practices of their founders.

Why not just admit they were wrong about polygamy and quit pretending deviant practice of ‘marrying’ underage girls and other men’s wives was not ordained by God?

Because finally admitting they were wrong about one revelation from God might lead the little ones to question if they were right about anything.

https://www.sltrib.com/religion/2024/12/27/new-lds-church-cartoons-teach-kids/

Excerpts from SL Tribune article (linked in OP):

It is “a rather whitewashed version of history complete with cartoon images, as if this was all a fun children’s story,” Abby Maxwell Hansen writes on an Exponent II blog, “instead of systematic and institutionalized sexual abuse of women and girls.”


"Latter-day Saint historian Benjamin Park, author of “American Zion: A New History of Mormonism,” says he has “some quibbles” with the storybook’s “historical facts.”


"But the real reason people find the cartoon so troublesome “is the message,” Park says. “Any attempt to explain Joseph Smith’s practice of polygamy, especially to children, is going to clash with modern-day sensibilities. So long as the church regards polygamy as divinely sanctioned, there will be efforts to justify, contextualize and even massage that history, but such attempts will fail to eradicate the discomfort that is embedded within the story.”



Abby Maxwell Hansen:

“Why are modern church leaders so reluctant to disavow something as obviously wrong as adult married men secretly courting underage girls?” she writes on her blog. “Why is the safety of young girls a sacrifice they’re willing to make to protect the reputations of men who have been dead for 150 years?”


"Her only conclusion?":


“If they admit their predecessors were wrong about polygamy,” Maxwell states, “they’ll finally have to admit that they can be wrong about other things, too.”

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I wonder why/how church leaders came to think a children's book on polygamy is a good idea when it is such a controversial and unseemly history? God commanded people to do things they didn't want to do. Then God changed His mind. It was good then. It's not now. Even to the point of the church disavowing the fundamentalist Mormons who still practice the "commandment" to take plural wives.

It's hard to square that circle. Maybe impossible - for most.


All these years later, I cannot believe I went ahead and joined such a church (largely due to the influence of Mormon "friends" - who I never saw again after I quit the church) and it embarrasses me to the point I never tell anyone IRL that I did so.


It's embarrassing to have done it and embarrassing to me that I feel compelled to keep it to myself. I'm embarrassed at times (not as much as in the beginning but still...) here at RfM, even though I'm anonymous. It's got to be the stupidest, most ill-informed choice I've ever made.


Especially as I had joined the JWs as a teen (again, through "friends") and the whole Mormon schtick is very similar in nature to the JW version of "Christianity". You would think I would see through the Mormon spiel in a NY minute but I did not and obviously did not do enough (any?) research before jumping into their font - which in itself was a disaster at the time. (Very nasty bishop accused the married man who did the baptism and me of being involved with each other - we decidedly were not. It played out entirely in public and I was totally humiliated and for a long time couldn't get over the fact that he had "ruined my baptism").


I guess in the end he did me a favour because I could never relax into the church and become a lifelong member (thankfully!) and eventually I left and none of those "friends" ever wanted to keep in touch. I know that was a good thing for me but it hurt at the time.


Sorry for the diversion. Sometimes something triggers that baptism memory and it all bubbles up again. I wonder if it will ever just die off. I hope so.


And it's not just the baptism - it's the whole thing - joining in the first place. You'd think the JW experience would have kept me alert forever but instead it was like doing it all over again - different church, same types of questionable doctrines and practices, and just more unfortunate and hurtful memories to try and process and hopefully resolve. But even after years go by, something happens or is said or read and they rise up again, causing pain and regret. And embarrassment. Sheesh, I feel like a fool sometimes. Clueless. Easily led. Can't say no. But at least now I think/hope I am immune to invitations like theirs forever more.


Meanwhile, Mormons teaching kids that plural marriage was a God thing and even though they didn't wanna do it they had to be obedient really bugs me. It definitely sets kids up to potentially go against what they have been taught and/or know is right in other circumstances - a dangerous message for a child to be given.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 12/27/2024 01:31PM by Nightingale.

Living a faith based life is hard. I mean not questioning, and that it is God's command to do whatever you are told. Whatever happened to critical thinking in the world...?

Yes, I read that whole article with revulsion. It sickens me to know my little innocent great grandchildren are being subjected to this sick "papering over" of polygamy (in cartoon fashion no less!)

Yes, gemini - the cartoon presentation got me too.

And they sleep with a clear conscience, knowing they are lying by omission by failing to acknowledge the fact it wasn’t just poor widows and old Handmaids Joseph was bedding, it was teenagers as young as 14 and women who were already married to his followers, which completely violates the 10 Commandments prohibition against coveting your nieghbor’s wife, not to mention the very ‘Law of the Priesthood’ Joseph claimed he received straight from God.

How you reconcile that with, “nuance, context and care” is beyond me, but sophisticated people are able to justify ANYthing if they start with the conclusion, the church is true, Joseph Smith was a prophet” then anything that contradicts that conclusion is dismissed without a thought and anything that supports that conclusion is shouted from the rooftops!

This is absolutely sickening.

If they admit they were ever wrong, their whole foundation for the religion is gone.
If they could muster the courage to say "We were wrong," they would get a few points for honesty.
However, either way, the whole bogus foundation of the church is exposed.

The explanations they have are:

We can't help it if God is a creep and he instructs us to do His creepy will.

We are lousy with trying to determine what a man says is from God and what is from the man himself. So what if we are wrong most of the time. We think it's helping people.

In another current thread about the culture wars, there is some discussion on whether Mormons and evangelical Christians will partner with one another to bring about a more conservative family values focused country. With the Mormons putting up cartoons and storybooks portraying polygamy as right and just, I see no way that the fundamentalist Christians they are trying to court are really going to want to work with them.

The text says that Joseph "didn't want to marry other wives." Right. It was such a hardship for him to marry all those nubile teenage girls. Poor Joseph.

Just wait until they find themselves in the "joy book..."

###########

https://www.jezebel.com/5952656/why-binders-full-of-women-was-such-a-curious-thing-for-a-mormon-to-say

“Binders full of women” struck such a chord with the Internet after Mitt Romney said it during last night’s debate, because it’s just a really weird thing to say. It conjures up the mental image of a man sifting through the pages of a homemade catalog of females, as though he’s lady-shopping. It’s kind of creepy, and maybe you couldn’t put your finger on exactly why. But maybe it’s because before this, “binders full of women” already had some association with creepiness, and like Romney, with Mormonism."

"Known as the “joy book,” it’s a register that the FLDS prophet allegedly keeps of girls who are eligible for marriage, most of whom are underage, and it serves as a dating pool for fundamentalist Mormon men looking to add more wives to their homes. While the “joy books” have been discussed by members of the faith that had fled their compounds before being married off to older men without their consent, they were most famously featured on an episode of Big Love, in which they’re depicted, quite literally, as binders full of young women."



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 12/28/2024 02:01PM by Maude.

I don't quite get the point. The article isn't very specific about what exactly MR said and in what context. What is he referring to when he says "binders full of women"?

Women to include in his administration?

So he's saying there are no available qualified women to appoint?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/28/2024 02:06PM by Nightingale.

He was trying to make the point that his administration wouldn’t be a boys club. There were a lot of women being considered for positions in the administration. He just phrased it inartfully.

Oh, thanks for clearing that up, BoJ. I took it exactly the opposite of what he meant, according to your "translation". The phrase 'binders full of women' coming from a Mormon male can't help but be a bit of a startling phrase to utter.

So not "duffel bags full of women".

An excellent presentation on this subject is Mormon Stories Podcast w/ John Dehlin: "Mormon Church Now Teaching Polygamy to Children.."

I didn't really think about it before, but JS was actually threatening to unalive Emma if she didn't go along with his desires to"marry" other females. He threatened her with destruction if she argued against it, but look who wound up getting destroyed.

I don't understand how anyone, whether they are educated, partially educated, or not educated at all, could actually go along with this "innoculation".

I suppose that the "church" leaders actually believe that not many people have common sense, or logic. One doesn't need any kind of education to realize what these so-called leaders are up to. Wow. Talk about "get em while they're young".

Megatron [Transformers] with a flaming sword would really get kids interest

It's how most of us were taught the Bible and Book of Mormon as well as the "Martyrdom".

Heroic art, cherry picked stories, slanted songs

It's indoctrination all the way down til you hit turtles. Same for most of Christianity.

There are many many, if not all facets, into which I fell into also. But the book is repulsive it sounds like. That's just wrong. A cartoon should not be used to inoculate the kids.

They need to use critical thinking later in life instead of something faith based. My wife used faith based, and look what happened.

Many things are different. I last heard she was married in the temple to her new husband. What a shame. Things never change.

Flaming Sword ???

This has many thinking there is no central leadership in the church overseeing everything. It seems like you have all the apostles doing their own thing. Anyways the polygamy in the children’s study guide has upset a lot of members. Another fine mess the church has gotten into.

Good in a way.
I find it ironic the CULT is so prudish and old fashioned about sex, but totally permissive when it comes to Joseph and Brigham promiscuous, adulterous and deviant sexual and mental abuse of their followers.

But the church is gaslighting for God. Doesn't that make it okay?

As Always, ChurchCo will slant 'information' published to suit their liking; this indicates they strongly believe it's working.

To be realistic, practically no one (edit, except the very naive) expects ChurchCo to be objective about their religious beliefs or the supporting 'facts'.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/07/2025 02:59PM by GNPE.

Gay marriage is legal. Plural marriage is not. (USA)

Plural marriage is Biblical. MFMC clearly knows Jesus practiced Plural Marriage - leaders have stated this and said it was why Jesus appeared to one of his Wives before his apostles after resurrection.

So, Primay cartoons quietly paving the way for Plural Marriage to become legal. Millions across the world practice it - makes more sense than Gay Marriage to many - so why not get the kids ready?

Seems like every few years somebody on RFM floats this hypothesis. The folks who run LDS Inc in no way, shape or form want polygamy to become legal in the US. They would prefer to ignore it completely, but it is such a visible part of LDS history that they have to say something about why it was part of their history.

>MFMC clearly knows Jesus practiced Plural Marriage

Oh, right. We don't even clearly know Jesus existed. Various church members have said Jesus practiced plural marriage. That doesn't mean they know it to be true. It means they want it to be true. Not the same thing.