Mormon Church Admits Smith Married 14 year old

[Jackalope]

I don't believe that.  Mormons are never far from marketing their bullshit.

Yeah that's the stereotype. It doesn't necessarily play out that way in life.

My mother was raised in a Mormon household. Her entire living half of my family tree is Mormon, with very few exceptions. None of them have ever tried to convert me.

They have some nutty beliefs, yeah but the Mormons I have personally known have all been decent people.

Romney's still an asshole, though.

[JesusHChrist]

I guess I'm having trouble seeing the scandal here - 14 was well above the age of consent at the time.  Yeah, it offends modern sensibilities, but not contemporary.

No doubt getting married at 14 was common in the early 1800s. The issue is more of how it looks from our modern times. And the fact, the marriage to a 14 year was just one of many.

If "revelation" is from God, why should any acts be relative to the time period? Jews and proper Christians have the same issue, as do the Muslims. Perfect man in 680AD means perfect today, no? Uh, no.

This example, to me, shows Smith as just another horny old goat finding a way to get money, chicks and power, using the same methods as have been used throughout history. Too bad he ended up shot before he could really take advantage of the situation. 

So, not so much a scandal as painting a less than desirable picture of a "great" man. As they say in marketing....not good optics.

[Clueless Morgan]

[JesusHChrist]

So, no, it doesn't appear to be the case that women were routinely married off around the age of 14.

I suppose I should have researched that first. Thanks for checking it out.

Makes it look even worse for Smith then.

[Divinity]

I got married when I was 13. So did my mother. Times have changed a lot. People are considered a child until they're 18, and can't drink alcohol until they're 21. This has forced religious groups to switch from "get married young" to "abstinence only" which is total bullshit. Of course back then arranged marriages were commonplace, and people don't tend to look back on them and go "WHAT THE FUCK! THAT IS FUCKING TERRIBLE!" (well not most people anyway).

The truly terrible thing is more that he probably used his position of power to get these women to marry him. Much like you have in these crazy cults where the leaders consider the young girls their 'wives'. The girls have no ability to consent because they are not in a position to decline, not because of their age.

[Clueless Morgan]