Radio Free Mormon

Did Joseph Smith practice polygamy?  As obvious as the answer to that question may seem to you and to other trained professional historians both inside and outside the LDS Church, there is a small but growing group of Mormons or former Mormons who maintain that Joseph Smith did NOT practice polygamy. Ms. Michelle Stone is one such person, and she posted a podcast responding to the Mormonism Live episode from a couple of weeks ago where we put forward the compelling evidence that Joseph Smith DID IN FACT practice polygamy. In this podcast, I show how Ms. Stone’s response to the evidence we presented is woefully inadequate, and further has all the earmarks of the types of “reasoning” and “logic” common to conspiracy theorists of all stripes. This is one for the record books!

The Mormonism Live crew takes a much needed break for June 21st being joined by upcoming “Mormon” comedian Ben Brown known as “The Fresh King Benjamin”. Ben’s humor deeply connects to his own journey in and deconstruction of fundamentalist Mormonism and the episode is sure to be an enjoyable entertaining evening. Ben’s Stand Up: https://youtu.be/XBx5g6FOEaM Ben’sInsta:https://www.instagram.com/thefreshkingbenjamin/Ben’s Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thefreshkingbenjaminBen’s website: https://www.thefreshkingbenjamin.com/Support Ben’s charity for families leaving polygamy: https://cherishfamilies.org/get-involved/donate.html Welcome to “Mormonism Live,” the ultimate talk show that delves into the messiness of Mormon history and theology while also tackling current events with a live call-in section at the end of every episode.Hosted by two trusted voices in the Mormon community, Radio Free Mormon (RFM) and Bill Reel, this podcast has been taking on the tough issues and exploring the nuances of the LDS faith for years. Help us continue to deliver quality content by becoming a donor today: https://mormonismlive.org/2020/12/mormonism-live/?default_interval=mTake a look at our Merch! https://www.exmoshirts.com/collections/mormondiscussionsSign up for our (mostly) quarterly newsletter: http://eepurl.com/hrnr4P Our Platforms:MormonDiscussions.org, MormonismLIVE.orgSpotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/19LxPcTdYUeBhEqUaZNCFmApple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mormonism-live/id1546629841Connect on Social Media: Private facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1307897462893835Insta: https://www.instagram.com/mormondiscussion/TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@mormondiscussion Discord (hosted by Mormon Stories): https://discord.com/invite/kuX5p6yyjFhttps://twitter.com/MormonDiscContact us: MormonDiscussionsPodcasts@gmail.com #MormonismLive #MormonDiscussions #RadioFreeMormonMormon Discussion Inc is a 501(c)(3) and is in the arena of journalistic work and is part of a free press. Any of the awesome content or the solid opinions expressed, implied or included in Mormon Discussion Inc’s podcast lineup and production are solely those of Mormon Discussion Inc. and/or its program hosts and not those of Intellectual Reserve, Inc. or The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 

Radio Free Mormon’s Rules for Teaching Sunday School! I have taught hundreds of Sunday school lessons over my time in Mormonism. By the time I was 32-years old, I had some decidedly unorthodox rules for teaching in Church. I recently discovered a paper I wrote more than 30-years ago setting forth those unorthodox rules. Here it is for the first time in this or any other format . . . Radio Free Mormon’s Rules for Teaching Sunday School!

Dan Vogel sits down with RFM & Bill not only to talk about his new book “Charisma under Pressure: Joseph Smith, American Prophet, 1831–1839” but to also flesh out some of the incredible ideas in his recent YouTube video “Joseph Smith, the Necromancer”.RESOURCES:Twilit Grotto — Esoteric Archives – esotericarchives.com/Old Bountiful Museum – World of Urban Legends – worldofurbanlegends.com/old-bountiful-museum/Oracles and Talismans, Forgery and Pansophia: Joseph Smith. Jr. as a Renaissance Magus – General Discussions – Mormon Dialogue & Discussion Board – mormondialogue.org/topic/69738-oracles-and-talismans-forgery-and-pansophia-joseph-smith-jr-as-a-renaissance-magus/Wilford C. Wood – Mormonism, The Mormon Church, Beliefs, & Religion – MormonWiki – mormonwiki.com/Wilford_C._WoodA-Man-of-Vision-and-Determination-A-Photographic-Essay-and-Tribute-to-Wilford-C.-Wood.pdf (ensignpeakfoundation.org) – ensignpeakfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/A-Man-of-Vision-and-Determination-A-Photographic-Essay-and-Tribute-to-Wilford-C.-Wood.pdfStory behind Joseph and Hyrum Death Masks – Joseph Smith Jr and Emma Hale Smith Historical Society – josephsmithjr.org/joseph-and-hyrum-death-masks/Framing a 17th Century Work on Parchment – Bark Frameworks –

One of the key components in the controversy over whether Joseph Smith or Brigham Young instituted plural marriage is the dating of Section 132. Some proponents of the idea Brigham Young started plural marriage in the Church argue Section 132 was written by Brigham Young or someone at his direction AFTER Joseph Smith died, but was falsely attributed to Joseph Smith by Brigham Young when it was first published in the 1876 edition of the Doctrine and Covenants. RFM presents a textual analysis of three affidavits published June 7, 1844 in the Nauvoo Expositor which conclusively demonstrates the text of Section 132 existed in all material respects during Joseph Smith’s lifetime.  This means Section 132 was not created by Brigham Young or anyone else after Joseph Smith’s death.

There is a raging debate within Mormon circles where those folks who are determined to maintain belief in the Prophet Joseph Smith but who abhor polygamy and the Church as ran by Brigham Young and after have found ways to dismiss the standard evidence that Mormonism’s founder was a polygamist. They interpret the evidence as made up by Brigham Young and those around him in an effort to draw Joseph Smith into a practice he never participated in. Stories of fabricating history, backdating prophesy, and discrediting witnesses. On this week’s episode Bill & RFM with a few friends take a look at the evidence and to see if one has compelling reasons to believe Joseph Smith was, in fact, a polygamist!MAIN CONCLUSIONS DRAWN FROM REASON1.) Clayton Journal Entries can be shown to be reliable2.) D&C 132 is shown to be reliable as the text of the revelation that Smith received3.) There is substantial Evidence that imposes that Smith originated and perpetuated Polygamy4.) Hyrum Smith read the revelation in a High Council Meeting and Joseph and Hyrum tried to excuse the revelation away in the Nauvoo City Council but not a the way that allows Polygamy deniers to impose a narrative of “Eternity Only Sealings” or “Dynastic Sealings”. Hence they must confront why Hyrum and Joseph don’t respond using the narrative they have created.5.) That any attempt to explain Joseph’s practice as “eternal only” and not time is irrational in light of Hyrum and Joseph’s attempt to walk back the doctrine/revelation of plural marriage by explaining it was in regards to former times and had nothing to do with the present. In other words Dynastic Sealings or relationships in the hereafter that are not binding or sexual in this life is not going to strike fear and anger and rebelliousness in Emma, along with pushback and resentment in Marks, Cowles, and Soby and can be explained without embarrassment. But when Joseph and Hyrum tip their hand by making the excuse that this revelation is about former times and not the present, we can rationally conclude this wasn’t eternal only or dynastic relationships that lacked sex or marriage in this life.(While we didn’t show it, Orange Wight’s autobiography also imposes that Smith had Flora Woodworth as a wife and he was notified that because of such, she was taken. Hence this wasn’t a eternity only relationship.)If you want to see the documents and the notes about what these documents show. Check out the three part Reddit Posts on the topic.. Part 1:https://www.reddit.com/r/exmormon/comments/144aaam/the_evidence_laid_out_that_joseph_smith_was_the/ Part 2:https://www.reddit.com/r/exmormon/comments/144ahjo/the_evidence_laid_out_that_joseph_smith_was_the/ Part 3:https://www.reddit.com/r/exmormon/comments/144aqlr/the_evidence_laid_out_that_joseph_smith_was_the/ RESOURCES:https://www.yearofpolygamy.com/year-of-polygamy/episode-94-polygamy-controversies-joseph-fought-polygamy/ Episode 139: Joseph Didn’t Fight Polygamy, Part One Episode 139: Joseph Didn’t Fight Polygamy, Part Two https://sunstone.org/e41-brigham-young-and-the-chamber-of-secrets/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZQwyhhFczU   https://www.jstor.org/stable/24243807 This link has the url’s for the Land Deeds of Joseph’s plural wives Joseph Smith acted unethically giving away Church property to plural wives in Nauvoo by u/BillReel in exmormon https://archive.org/details/history-of-the-saints-1842-john-c-bennett/page/n9/mode/2up?view=theater  – John C Bennett History of the Saints http://www.latterdaytruth.org/pdf/100526.pdf Nauvoo Expositor Joseph F. Smith Affidavits – http://mormonpolygamydocuments.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/JS0361.dochttps://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/digital/collection/MMD/id/59430/rec/1 – Clayton Diaryhttps://archive.org/details/WilliamClaytonJournal/page/n13/mode/2up – Clayton  page 106 search for plural https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/letter-from-oliver-cowdery-21-january-1838/1 Cowdery to his brother https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/281385.William_Clayton https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/132?lang=eng https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/281385.William_Clayton https://catalog.churchofjesuschrist.org/record/915fc5f1-4f65-4131-800a-4eaee3604f3c/37a65922-1a7e-4e6c-9e5b-fa5104b53cbe?view=browse  – affidavits  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJUtmzt3fJc&t=1193s&pp=ygUQaGFwcGluZXNzIGxldHRlcg%3D%3D  – Happiness Letter Examination https://www.jstor.org/stable/43200169   – “Illicit Intercourse,” Plural Marriage, and the Nauvoo Stake High Council, 1840-1844 Gary James Bergera https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/revelation-12-july-1843-dc-132/1#historical-intro – Kingsbury 132 Revelation https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/187/oa_monograph/chapter/201655/pdf  – Junius and Josephhttps://www.jstor.org/stable/43200716 – The Changing RLDS Response to Mormon Polygamy: A Preliminary Analysis Richard P. Howardhttps://www.jstor.org/stable/40193596 – Buckeye’s Laments: Two Early Insider Exposés of Mormon Polygamy and Their Authorship Gary James Bergera  https://ensignpeakfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Joseph-Smith%E2%80%99s-Plural-Wives-after-the-Martyrdom.pdf https://www.reluctantpolygamist.com/reluctant-polygamist/revealing-the-doctrine-1843-1844/20-revealing-the-revelation/#_edn11 http://boap.org/LDS/Nauvoo-Neighbor/1844/6-19-1844.pdf  https://catalog.churchofjesuschrist.org/assets/7226d36f-b3a5-4c0e-9d0c-33d87d46ffb4/0/3?lang=eng https://catalog.churchofjesuschrist.org/assets/be940fbd-8fff-410f-b022-bb18d2d8f63c/0/0?lang=eng https://catalog.churchofjesuschrist.org/assets/c6746061-f36c-46ed-8961-03f8c2369d5d/0/85?lang=eng https://catalog.churchofjesuschrist.org/assets/e8b138df-18a0-46d8-be8a-0b06292a0795/0/0?lang=eng https://catalog.churchofjesuschrist.org/assets/e7896b07-224e-4dd8-8790-b7f995838c46/0/13 https://catalog.churchofjesuschrist.org/assets/a51f8c5d-45c3-47c5-aad4-be3f363dfca9/0/0?lang=eng https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/journal-december-1842-june-1844-book-2-10-march-1843-14-july-1843/263#x921FC028-A4C0-44AF-B35A-EFF029AA3868 https://catalog.churchofjesuschrist.org/assets/50c87119-ed1d-4492-b6ff-f60b3e1ac976/0/0?lang=eng https://mormondiscussionpodcast.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Lucy-Walker-Marriage-Document.pdf https://lifecanbesilly.blogspot.com/2018/09/martha-brotherton-affidavit-polygamy.html https://catalog.churchofjesuschrist.org/assets/5e60e513-bfaa-4619-908c-4c4ac7b8b6b7/0/0?lang=eng James Allred by J. Terry Walker https://familypedia.fandom.com/wiki/David_Fullmer_(1803-1879) http://www.boap.org/LDS/Early-Saints/HCoray.html. https://www.ldsdiscussions.com/polygamy-proposals

On Saturday, April 22, 2023, Church Historian Elder Kyle McKay sat down with an inactive former seminary teacher named Joe for a candid discussion about Church History. Things got very interesting very quickly! This is the recording of that meeting!RESOURCES:Joe’s Document “In Defense of Doubt” – https://mormondiscussionpodcast.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/In-Defense-of-Doubt-Final.pdfElder McKay’s Letter back to him – https://mormondiscussionpodcast.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Elder-McKays-Letter.pdf

A former seminary teacher got the opportunity to present lots of his questions to the Church Historian recently. Wait till you hear what happened! RESOURCES: Transcript – http://radiofreemormon.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/ELDER-BALLARD-BLOWS-UP-THE-CHURCH-TRANSCRIPT.pdfEpisode – https://radiofreemormon.org/2017/11/radio-free-mormon-021-elder-ballard-blows-church/ https://mormondiscussionpodcast.org/prophets-and-fallibility/https://mormondiscussionpodcast.org/the-mormon-truth-crisis/https://mormondiscussionpodcast.org/the-mormon-paradox/Joe’s Document “In Defense of Doubt” – https://mormondiscussionpodcast.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/In-Defense-of-Doubt-Final.pdfElder McKay’s Letter back to him – https://mormondiscussionpodcast.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Elder-McKays-Letter.pdf

On the May 17, 2023 episode of Mormonism Live, a listener named Justin called into the show.  Justin identified himself as a believing Mormon.  I took the opportunity to ask Justin a series of questions about his beliefs regarding what a prophet could do that would be so bad that Justin would no longer consider him a prophet. A number of listeners have provided feedback to that segment that was highly critical of the way I conducted myself. This episode is my response to that listener feedback.

In this video we delve into the history behind how the LDS Church came to have its name and how its official name has changed from its inception to today. And along the way we learn about the use and meaning of the word Mormon as well as how the Church went from “Latter Day Saints” to Latter-day Saints” and you won’t believe how much went into a hyphen and a lower case letter d. RESOURCES: https://archive.org/details/EveningAndMorningStar18321834/page/n161/mode/2up – 1834 change to Church of the Latter Day Saints https://byustudies.byu.edu/online-chapters/volume-2-chapter-5/ – History of The Church noting the 1834 Name change https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/115?lang=eng https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/1990/04/thus-shall-my-church-be-called?lang=eng https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2018/10/the-correct-name-of-the-church?lang=eng https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/1990/10/mormon-should-mean-more-good?lang=eng https://archive.org/details/TimesAndSeasonsVol4/page/n307/mode/2up https://www.mormondialogue.org/topic/43668-new-evidence-that-church-was-organized-at-fayette/ https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/sample-of-pure-language-between-circa-4-and-circa-20-march-1832/1 https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/book-of-commandments-1833/14 https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/revelation-march-1829-dc-5/1#source-note