View source for Joseph Smith hid polygamy from the general Church membership

{{FairMormon}}
<onlyinclude>
{{H2
|L=Joseph Smith/Polygamy/Hiding the practice
|H=Joseph Smith hid polygamy from the general Church membership
|S=It is true that Joseph did not always tell others about plural marriage. He did, however, make some attempt to teach the doctrine to the Saints. It is thus important to realize that the public preaching of polygamy—or announcing it to the general Church membership, thereby informing the public by proxy—was simply not a feasible plan. Critics of Joseph's choice want their audience to ignore the danger to him and the Saints.
|L1=Question: Did Joseph Smith ever publicly attempt to teach the doctrine of plural marriage?
|L2=Question: Why did Joseph keep the doctrine of plural marriage private?
|L3=Question: Why did Joseph Smith say "I had not been married scarcely five minutes...before it was reported that I had seven wives"?
|L4=Question: Was Joseph Smith ever charged with adultery under Illinois law?
|L5=Question: Were there any similar cases under Illinois adultery statute which demonstrate that Joseph was not breaking the law?
}}
</onlyinclude>
{{:Question: Did Joseph Smith ever publicly attempt to teach the doctrine of plural marriage?}}
{{:Question: Why did Joseph keep the doctrine of plural marriage private?}}
{{:Question: Why did Joseph Smith say "I had not been married scarcely five minutes...before it was reported that I had seven wives"?}}
{{:Question: Was Joseph Smith ever charged with adultery under Illinois law?}}
{{:Question: Were there any similar cases under Illinois adultery statute which demonstrate that Joseph was not breaking the law?}}

{{PerspectivesBar
|link=http://www.fairmormon.org/perspectives/publications/polygamy-prophets-and-prevarication
|author=Gregory L. Smith, M.D.
|authorlink=http://www.fairmormon.org/perspectives/authors/smith-gregory
|title=Polygamy, Prophets, and Prevarication: Frequently and Rarely Asked Questions about the Initiation, Practice, and Cessation of Plural Marriage in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
|publication=FairMormon Papers
|date=2005
|summary=Critics charge that Joseph Smith and his successors made repeated public statements in which they hid or frankly denied the practice of polygamy, despite knowledge to the contrary. It is argued that this dishonesty is morally dubious and inconsistent with the Church’s purported principles.
<br>
The concept of “civil disobedience” is essential to understanding those occasions in which Joseph Smith or other Church members were not forthright about the practice of polygamy.
<br>
Like obedience to civil law, honesty and integrity are foundational values to the Church of Jesus Christ. Indeed, the success which critics have in troubling members of the Church with tales of polygamy and its deceptive circumstances is, in a way, a compliment to the Church. If the Church as an institution typically taught its members to have a casual disregard for the truth, a discovery that Joseph Smith had deceived others about polygamy would not be troubling to most. But, because the Church (contrary to the suggestions of some critics) really does teach its members to aspire to live elevated lives of moral rectitude, the discovery that deception was involved with polygamy can come as something of a shock. Disillusionment can ensue if we follow the critics in assuming that because Joseph occasionally misled others in this specific context, he must therefore have lied about everything else, and been absolutely unworthy of trust.
<br>
But, as we have seen, the practice of polygamy must be viewed in its moral context as an act of religious devotion which the Saints were unwilling to forego simply because the state or society disapproved.
}}
{{HalesItem
|subject=1840—Plural Marriage Secretly Introduced
|link=http://josephsmithspolygamy.org/first-nauvoo-sealing/
|summary=Sometime in 1840 Joseph Smith first broached the topic of plural marriage privately to trusted friends. Most of the apostles were in England and thus were unavailable for an introduction to the practice.}}

{{CriticalSources}}
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[[de:Joseph Smith/Polygamie/Die Wahrheit über die Vielehe verstecken]]
[[es:José Smith/Poligamia/Cómo ocultar la verdad acerca de la poligamia]]
[[pt:Joseph Smith/Poligamia/Escondendo a verdade]]