Was Joseph Smith a pedophile?

Question

Joseph Smith, the founder of the Mormon church, had over 20 wives. One of them was 14 when he married her. In the 1840's,the average age of first menstruation was 16.5, making it likely she was prepubescent. Additionally, Utah currently allows marriage at 14 because if it raised the age, they'd be admitting the great founder of their church was was a pedophile. Comments?

EDIT - I see some people are doubting the 16.5 figure. It's everywhere I look. Here's 1 link http://www.obgyn.net/young-woman/?page=/yw/articles/puberty_folgar_en

Answer 1

Yes he was............

Answer 2

Don't make laugh that the average age for first menstruation is 16. When girls go through puberty from 11-13.
Joseph Smith isn't a pedophile, in fact the south had 14 for the minimum age for women to marry for many years if not now and no Utah's consent age isn't 14.
Joseph Smith did get married to some teenagers but there is no evidence they had sexual relations. Only Emma ever had Joseph's children.

Answer 3

First, as far as Joseph is concerned, he was in no way a pedophile. The LEGAL age for marriage at that time where he lived was 9. That meant that a 9 year old could consent to marriage on their own. At 14, in those days, a lot of girls got married. It wasn't just Joseph. Menstruation started before that point, sorry to tell you. Most girls didn't get an education at all, and instead were married off so they could begin their own families. That was normal for that time period.

Just because we don't think it's right doesn't mean it has always been the way it is now. Do some research, you will find some interesting things.

Second, Utah doesn't allow anyone under the age of 18 to get married without permission of their parents. Sorry to tell you, but you are grasping at straws.


*EDIT**

I worked in an OB/Gyn office, and I can tell you for a fact that the age of NORMAL menstruation in girls is anywhere from 11.5- 17 years old. It all depends on the girl. Not only that, but how could they collect that data back then? That is just an assumption, not a fact.

Answer 4

What study shows that menstruation started at 16.5 in the 1840's. Sounds like a bogus stat to me.

Answer 5

As usual, anti-Mormons take events from Mormon history out of context and try to portray them in the worst possible light. Studying Mormon history is very important, and I encourage it, but if you're getting your history from anti-Mormons, you're not getting an accurate picture. The following sites are far more reliable:

http://www.fairlds.org/
http://en.fairmormon.org/Main_Page
http://maxwellinstitute.byu.edu/
http://www.jefflindsay.com/LDSFAQ/index.html

Regarding your specific "question," here's the real story. Mormons believe in two kinds of marriages: 1) “marriage for time” is the traditional “until death do us part,” and 2) “marriage for eternity,” or “sealing,” is a union between a man and a woman in the NEXT life. In modern Mormonism, temporal marriage ("marriage") and eternal marriage ("sealing") go hand in hand. When a modern couple is sealed in the temple, a secular marriage license is always issued. The idea that one could be sealed to a woman without being married to her is completely foreign to the experience of modern Mormons. Surprisingly, this cultural practice was not well-established in 19th-century Mormonism. Many women, for example, chose to be sealed to Joseph Smith as "spiritual wives" for years after his death, even though they had never been married to him in life.

Understanding that sealings and temporal marriage did not always go hand-in-hand in 19th century Mormonism is critical. It is true that Joseph Smith was sealed to some teenagers. There is no evidence, however, that Joseph Smith was married for time to any of these women, and there is no evidence that there was any sexual intimacy involved.

Truth be told, there is little evidence that any of Joseph Smith's plural marriages involved much sexual intimacy. Most of his marriages were likely asexual (probably only sealings, not actual marriages). Interestingly, there is no convincing evidence that any of his plural marriages ever produced a child, despite the fact that after his death many of his "spiritual wives" did bear multiple children after marrying other men “for time.” Genetic testing has revealed that several individuals who have claimed to be descendants of Joseph Smith through his plural wives are in fact not related to Joseph.

I for one am grateful that Mormon culture has evolved the way it has. There's something very romantic about being married to the person with whom you've been sealed. Where's the fun in spending eternity with someone you hardly knew in this life?

Other interesting facts (though not necessarily pertinent, given that there is no evidence of sexual intimacy between Joseph and any teenage woman):

1) In the early 18th century, roughly a third of women in the United States married in their teens. Marriage at 15 or 14—even temporal marriage—would be uncommon, but definitely not unheard of.

2) The "age of consent" in the early 19th century was not 18 as it is today, but 10. (Boy am I ever happy I live in the 21st century...)

An interesting site that addresses this very question can be found at http://en.fairmormon.org/Joseph_Smith%27s_marriages_to_young_women . If you'd like to learn more about the Mormons, feel free to visit my site at http://www.allaboutmormons.com .

Answer 6

I think you may be off a bit since mensturation occurs at 12 to 13, but if you want to find religious pedophiles, look to Mohammed, founder of Islam. He married a 6 year old, but even at that time it was considered pedophilia and the 6 year olds father didnt want Mohammed to marry her so he could have sex with her...but mohammed (being the stand up guy he is) said he would wait until she went thru puberty before he had sex with her. I guess she must have went thru puberty at 9 years old because thats when it says he first has sex with her!

Answer 7

Marriage at 14 was fairly common back in that era. What would be considered pedophilia now wouldn't have back then. Cultural viewpoints change, and what was normal then would be illegal now. So no, I don't believe Joseph Smith was a pedophile, 14-year old wife or not.

Answer 8

Pedophile is really a legal and psychological definition. Our society has determined that the behavior is inappropriate (and personally I agree) However, every society has different moral clauses. They would not be admitting he is a pedophile because their society does not believe that behavior is inappropriate.

Answer 9

Was Joseph, the man betrothed to Mary?

Answer 10

I know Poligamy is illegal in Utah and MORMONS DO NOT DO POLIGAMY

Answer 11

He was probably once a Catholic