Joseph Smith's Plural Marriage Proposals Pt. 1 | Ep. 1679 | LDS Discussions Ep. 26

Joseph Smith's plural marriage proposals did not resemble courtship. They followed patterns that modern readers will recognize as grooming: targeting vulnerable teenagers, using intermediaries to soften resistance, and invoking eternal consequences to override hesitation. The Mormon Stories Podcast series "LDS Discussions," hosted by John Dehlin with researcher Alicia Lee, examines how these proposals actually occurred, stripped of the sanitized language found in Sunday School manuals.

The documented record reveals a system built on theological coercion rather than romantic choice. When a prophet claims direct authority from God, asks teenage girls living in his home to marry him in secret, and threatens destruction by an angel with a drawn sword, the question becomes not whether these marriages were legal (they were not), but whether they were ethical.

Background: The Nauvoo Context and Power Imbalances

By the early 1840s, Joseph Smith had begun practicing polygamy secretly while publicly denying rumors of the practice. The revelations that would become Doctrine and Covenants 132 remained unpublished, known only to a select inner circle. Smith selected wives from among converts who had recently experienced trauma: deaths of parents, economic hardship, or familial separation.

Lee, who holds a PhD in Psychology, notes that Smith specifically targeted girls who lacked maternal guidance. In several documented cases, he sent fathers on missions before approaching their daughters. This created what researchers call "plausible deniability" while ensuring the young women had no male protector present to intervene. The power differential was absolute: he was prophet, mayor, and the sole source of eternal salvation for these families.

Key Claims: Documented Patterns in Joseph Smith's Plural Marriage Proposals