A Fireside has been organized for August 20 at the Holm Heritage Center in Hildale, Utah. I’ve been invited to speak and will be participating. It is free to the public and being held at that location in the hope of having those who practice plural marriage attend. There are a number of “polygamists” (not technically the right term, by the way) living in that part of the state, and this location is intended to be convenient for them to attend.
The Fireside is titled: “You Never Knew My Heart”–which is a statement made by Joseph Smith to the people in Nauvoo in April 1844, two months before he was killed. Whitney Horning will be speaking before me, giving a talk titled “A Servant’s Heart.” My talk is titled “…The Pure in Heart, and the Wise, and the Noble, and the Virtuous…” which is a quote from a revelation to Joseph Smith in 1839, while he was in Liberty Jail.
I have heard that these two talks will be broadcast live on Youtube, and I will put up additional details as the date gets closer.
The address of the Fireside is: Holm Heritage Center, 1065 N. Carling Street, Hildale, UT 84784.
Although I do not agree with the practice of plural wives, and hope to see it come to an end, I am not going to Hildale to inflict wounds on members of that community. I hope to have something interesting to say that will let this subject be examined and understood better. Given the radical differences between the community living this marital practice and those who, like myself, practice and believe in monogamy, it is easy for the differences to result in bitter division. I’m hoping both sides become kinder toward one another.
There are libraries of material discussing this subject. Much of it in the form of “histories” that use second, third, fourth and fifth-hand accounts. Everyone’s view is dependent on who you trust.