The founding of Mormonism, more or less summarized. The early years were INSANE. I'm convinced it's why Mormons are so into genealogy--to cover that shit up.
I hadn't known this, and find it hilarious.
Joseph Smith alone married a mother-daughter pair, among many other exploits, and that's just ol' Joe himself. One of the first major rifts came when (I believe) they were still in Illinois--a good bit before heading to Utah, when one of Joe's apostles learned of Joe's interest in the apostle's own teenage daughter.
Joe and his brother's ultimate imprisonment and death/murder came after Joey ordered the destruction of the printing press of the Nauvoo Expositor, which was unveiling his dirty secrets--the first and I'm pretty sure only issue of the paper is available online. Once others, including his wife, caught on, Joe had to come up with something, so he had a new revelation. And somehow that shit fucking worked.
Mormons will deny that was ever part of their religion. It absolutely was, but they lie now.
(Exmormon here!)
It's not they deny it happened, they claim that it was commanded of God and was necessary. For the past 10 years they have been started teaching that it was a "test of God". And in all cases they deny that they currently practice it and insist anyone who practices it isn't Mormon.
BUT they still practice it.
And i don't mean the FLDS church, i mean Mormons aka "church of Jesus christ of latter day saints" still practice polygamy. They only got rid of polygamy on earth, but when Mormons marry in the temple they are married for eternity thanks to what they call a "sealing". What happens if you get divorced? The church doesn't recognize a civil divorce. The still believe you and your ex are sealed for eternity.
Where this gets interesting, and where the polygamy comes in, is that women can't remarry (sealed) unless they get permission from church leadership AND their exhusband. Men on the other hand don't need permission from church leadership or their exwife, meaning they can continue to have as many eternal sealings as they want as long as they have a civil divorce between each.
Yeah, sounds crazy, because it is. They don't talk about this either, and it isn't well understood by most Mormons until it happens to them. But it's a pretty glaring example of inequality in the church.
That was great. You did forget the part where they have celestial sex and women get to be eternally pregnant. Fun fact, there are only 365 "temple names" and they are based on the date you got your endowments out. I imagine that would create a lot of confusion in the afterlife when husbands call their wife's name (if they choose to).
