Joseph Smith had relationships with women so much younger than him, that it shows that he did not value them as intellectual or spiritual beings +3


Reasons to agree: +4




  1. Joseph was 38 when he married Helen Mar Kimball who was only 14. She continued to live with her parents, and never married lived with Joseph. When she grew up she married someone else, and never seemed to have had sex with Joseph. They were trying to just seal people to each other, but still it seems weird that Joseph would seal her to him as a wife. Why didn't he just adopt her as a daughter?

  2. Joseph Smith was 28 when he had an affair, or a plural marriage with Fanny Alger who was 16.

  3. Joseph Smith was 37 when he married Sarah Ann Whitney who was 17 years old.

  4. Statements by William Law and Eliza R. Snow indicate that the marriages included sexual intimacy.[121][122] "Joseph was very free in his talk about his women. He told me one day of a certain girl and remarked, that she had given him more pleasure than any girl he had ever enjoyed. I told him it was horrible to talk like this." - Joseph Smith's close confidant and LDS Church First Councilor, William Law, Interview in Salt Lake Tribune, July 31, 188. When Heber C. Kimball asked Sister Eliza R. Snow the question if she was not a virgin although married to Joseph Smith, she replied, "I thought you knew Joseph Smith better than that." - Stake President Angus M. Cannon, statement of interview with Joseph III, 23, LDS archives.







  1. No DNA evidence exist that Joseph Smith fathered any other children than with his wife Emma. Most historians agree that Joseph Smith, Jr., the founder of the Latter Day Saint movement, taught and practiced polygamy during his ministry, and married several dozen women during his lifetime, even though Smith, and the leading quorums of his church, publicly denied he taught or practiced it.[1][2][3] Additionally, after his death, several women were "sealed" to him.[4]







If you say that Joseph Smith was evil, then you have to say that many of the Popes were evil

Reasons to agree



  1. Many of the Popes did bad things

  1. According to the same logic you would condemn all the apostles for the greed of Judas and the cowardice of Peter



# of reasons to agree: +13
# of reasons to disagree: -1
# of reasons to agree with reasons to agree: +0
# of reasons to disagree with reasons to agree: -0
Total Idea Score: +12


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It is worse for the Mormon church if Joseph Smith was evil, than it is for the Catholic church if some of the Popes were evil

Reasons to agree
  1. Catholics can say that they had some evil Popes, but that was just a time that the Church was struggling. They can also point at very good popes. They don't have a Pope, that some say was evil, that started the whole thing.
  1. It may be a little bit worse, but it is essentially saying the same thing. It is saying that sure churches may be a little bit inspired, but they are not very inspired. If you want to find a little bit of meaning from your Church, that is fine, but it is sort of Stupid to put a whole lot of faith in a Church that would make real big mistakes.
  2. If your church made real big mistakes in the past, or its leaders weren't much better than you, why should you totally alter your life, doing what it says, when what it is telling you might be a mistake also.
# of reasons to agree: +1
# of reasons to disagree: -2
# of reasons to agree with reasons to agree: +0
# of reasons to disagree with reasons to agree: -0
Total Idea Score: -2

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There is more reason to say that Joseph Smith had bad motivation than Moses

Reasons to agree



  1. Moses, to the best of our knowledge, never used it position as a way to increase the number of his sexual partners.



Reasons to disagree



  1. Moses killed an Egyptian. If you applied the same methods of judging Moses, that some want you to judge Joseph Smith then he would not come out looking to good.

Saying Joseph Smith was power hungry is like saying Moses is power hungry

Reasons to agree:
  1. Power does not always corrupt.
  2. People can have noble motives to lead.
  1. There is more reason to say that Joseph Smith had bad motivation than Moses.

Joseph Smith seemed to like power -1


Reasons to agree:


  1. Joseph liked dressing in Military uniforms. 

  2. Joseph ran for president. 


Reasons to disagree:


  1. Saying Joseph Smith was power hungry is like saying Moses is power hungry. +2










# of reasons to agree: 2





# of reasons to disagree: -1




# of reasons to agree with reasons to agree: 0




# of reasons to disagree with reasons to agree: -2




Total Idea Score: -1









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Scriptures that disagree




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Interest of those who agree
















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Joseph smith's motivations were pure -1


Reasons to agree


  1. Joseph worked his whole life in menial labor trying to build up the kingdom of God.

  2. Joseph's wife stayed married to him.

  3. Many people stayed loyal to him.

  4. Joseph tried to build a zion-like society, and paid respect to grace, and virtue.

  5. Joseph bought a slave his freedom.





  1. Joseph seemed to like power. -1

  2. Joseph tried to form a bank, perhaps he was trying to get rich.

  3. Joseph seems to have introduced polygamy as a way to increase his sex partners.






# of reasons to agree: 5


# of reasons to disagree: -3


# of reasons to agree with reasons to agree: 0


# of reasons to agree with reasons to disagree: -1


Total Idea Score: -1

Scriptures that agree









Scriptures that disagree










Images That disagree







Interest of those who agree

Interest of those who disagree



Common Interest

Opposing Interest





Videos That agree

Videos That disagree



Website that agree

Websites that disagree



Related arguments:



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