Whitewash.......

So this evening I was watching PBS--quite normal in my life, I assure you. Showing: the Emma Smith Story. Beautiful, touching moments, and 20 seconds on Plural Marriage, maximum.

My mother and I had quite the conversation last night about Polygamy, and how things have been "whitewashed." She was citing the churches version about the need for men to take care of these women, and more women than men, and that kind of thing. Having read a pretty comprehensive history about it, I knew all of that was a myth. They chose it because Joseph Smith told them to do it, and they believed he was the inspired prophet of God.

Was Polygamy really what God wanted--I have doubts on that score. Women suffered, men became "different." Going back to the days of the bible?.....Maybe. But in the 1800's it was strictly an alternative lifestyle.

So why do I watch? The production was beautifully produced, and interesting. It was interesting to see early church history from the eyes of a woman. Heck, I just see in the credits that a local middle school principal played the part of one of the female characters.

I think through the whole thing---why did all this once mean so much to me that my life was built around it, but not now? Yes, the questions turn on, like perpetual mental torment.