LDS Joseph Smith and Abortion?

If it never happened why was it reported?

If JS is a prophet, why did he not know Bennett was an abortionist?

The John C. Bennett Affair. Ann Eliza Young
made this statement concerning John C. Bennett:
One of the first persons to be initiated into the
plural-wife doctrine, if not indeed Joseph’s confederate
in producing it, was Dr. John C. Bennett, at that time
Mayor of the City, Major-General of the Nauvoo
Legion, and a very great friend of Joseph. It is said
that the pupil fairly outran the teacher, and his success
as special pleader for the system of Celestial Marriage
was so decided that he incurred the displeasure of the
Prophet, and they quarrelled violently. He taught the
doctrine to some ladies whom Smith had intended to
convert himself, and thus coming directly in contact
with the Prophet and his schemes, a rupture was
caused between the worthy co-workers. (Wife No.
19, by Ann Eliza Young, 1876, page 74)
The Mormon writer John J. Stewart claims that
Joseph Smith did not teach John C. Bennett the doctrine
of plural marriage, however, he states that John C.
Bennett was a wicked man and may have joined the
church because he had heard rumors concerning plural
marriage:
One leader to whom Joseph did not confide the
matter was Dr. John C. Bennett, Nauvoo’s mayor,
whose moral conduct the Prophet had found
questionable. Bennett, he learned, had deserted
a wife and family in Indiana. Yet, professing
to be Nauvoo’s most eligible bachelor, he was
enthusiastically courting the women of Mormondom.
Joseph’s admonition to him to refrain from this was
ill received, and from that hour Bennett became his
secret enemy. Rumors of plural marriage in the
Church had persisted almost since its beginning—
and may well have been the chief reason for Bennett
seeking to affiliate with the Church. It was, of course,
impossible to keep the doctrine and practice of it in
Nauvoo from becoming known, even though public denials of it were made by the Church leaders— . . . (Joseph Smith the Mormon Prophet, by John J. Stewart, pages 147-148) William E. Berrett, a Mormon writer, stated: Among these reckless adventurers, none was more skillful in winning his way into the confidences of the people than John C. Bennett, previously alluded to as the first Mayor of the city. He is often referred to by historians as a “moral leper.” When his promiscuous sexual practices were discovered he was excommunicated from the Church and deprived of all his civic positions. (The Restored Church, 1956 edition, page 219) After John C. Bennett joined the church Joseph Smith gave a revelation commending him for his love and good works. This revelation was given in January of 1841, and it is still published in the Doctrine and Covenants: Again, let my servant John C. Bennett help you in your labor in sending my word to the kings and people of the earth, and stand by you, even you my servant Joseph Smith, in the hour of affliction; and his reward shall not fail if he receive counsel. And for his love he shall be great, for he shall be mine if he do this, saith the Lord, I have seen the work which he hath done, which I accept if he continue, and will crown him with blessings and great glory. (Doctrine and Covenants 124:16-17) John C. Bennett and Joseph Smith soon became very good friends. The following appears in the book, Mormon Portraits: “All decent people in Nauvoo,” says Mr. K., “regarded Bennett as a perfect scoundrel.” And
he was the prophet’s Pylades; was with him day
and night! Mr. Webb says: “He was a very small,
villainous-looking man. I hated him from sight.
Ambition and women filled his soul.” “He was full
of low cunning and licentiousness,” says Mrs. Pratt.
Several well-informed witnesses tell me that he used
to promise abortion to those females that objected to
the “blessings of Abraham” on the ground of fear for
the consequences. “I heard him preach against the
Gentiles,” said a lady of eighty eight years to me. “He
seemed raving mad.” I said, “The fellow is a devil,”
but my friends warned me not to talk like that of the
best friend of the prophet. (Mormon Portraits, by
Dr. W. Wyl, 1886, page 133)
Even though Joseph Smith knew that Bennett was
a wicked man, he honored him. John C. Bennett was
elected Mayor of the city of Nauvoo, and was even
made an assistant President of the Mormon Church.
The following appeared in the minutes of the General Conference held in April of 1841:

http://www.utlm.org/booklist/digitaltitles/samplepdfs/josephsmithandpolygamy_sample.pdf

scroll down to page 10 at link easier to read there.

If JS is a prophet, why did he not know Bennett was an evil man?

He is the way said:

Perhaps he did. Jesus knew that one of His apostles was a devil. I find no real condemning evidence here about Joseph Smith, only hearsay. If Joseph Smith had advocated abortion it certainly would have been well known. This is just another attempt to discredit Joseph Smith. It is very much out of character for him.

"Examples of his high regard for youths are abundant. For example, when John Bellows and his father once visited the Prophet, the boy felt important because Joseph Smith paid “considerable attention to me” during the hour’s conversation between the two adults. William H. Walker told how the Prophet, upon learning that a house guest had insulted one of the hired girls at the Mansion House, ordered the man out without allowing him to pay his bill: “I want you to get out,” Joseph Smith reportedly ordered. “I want none of your money, or any other man’s of your stamp.” On another occasion Emma and Joseph took in some of the ten Walker children when Sister Walker died. “Every privilege was accorded us,” daughter Lucy Walker recorded. Joseph Smith treated her brother Lorin like an intimate and trusted friend: “He was ever by his side; arm in arm they walked and conversed freely on various subjects.” When the Prophet, as a house guest once with the Hess family, tired of studying, he diverted himself by playing with the children in their games around the house, including fourteen-year-old John W. Hess.1"

From: Joseph Smith and Nauvoo’s Youth

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I agree, too much of LDS history is hearsay, and therefore unreliable.

An example being the multiple stories of the first vision which one can just google to find them.

It is possible Smith used Bennett to hide his problems.
It is also possible Smith used birth control.
It is also possible, Smith did not do it.

We can only look at the statements and place it on the back burner.

There is a record concerning smith's money digging.

How many negative charges has been made about JS character in LDS History? Just, curious.

How many negative charges has been made about JS character in LDS History? Just, curious.

Ironhold said:

You're a high school student.

You're in science lab one day handling and observing rock samples.

As you ponder this, some incoherent kid with a machete and a home-made flamethrower kicks the door in and starts babbling.

The quiet loner kid in your class picks up a large sample of obsidian and tears the incoherent kid's throat open.

The incoherent kid is now lying in a pool of his own blood and dying while you watch.

...But you can watch because you're alive. That loner kid just saved your life and the lives of everyone else in the science lab.

It was a hideous and revolting turn of events, yet it was done for a reason higher than just ending a life.


Incest? The genetically closer two parents are, the greater the odds of the offspring winding up with a recessive genetic trait. One need only look to populations where close relatives are frequently mating with each other to see the sorts of very, very bad things that can come from this. For example, so many European royal families are so intertwined that at one point the infamous "Hapsburg Chin" - a deformity of the jaw - was synonymous with someone of the royal class.

The health of the mother is in danger if pregnancy continues? That should be self-explanatory.

The child is unlikely to survive past childbirth? Ditto.

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First case, I was the silent kid and shot him before he entered the room. After that, I did first aid and shared the gospel with the dying person, out loud.

Second case is unlikely today. It is not know for sure if the health of the mother is in Jeopardy or not. From the little bit of information given it is not known that the child will not survive childbirth, esp when an operation can be done to deliver the child.

If you did a simple ectopic pregnancy in her fallopian tube, then it is clear that the egg would have to be removed, and if our medical science is now able to implant it into the uterus do that. Because the egg in the wrong place is explained as being an attacking intruder.

Ironhold said:

It's called "hypothetical to make a point".
Sometimes, there are extreme situations where doing something normally considered wrong is necessary for the protection of someone else.

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I know that in High School, I was given the old women running into my house and hid, then a guy with a gun ran in to kill them. I told the teacher, that I grabbed my machine gun and shot him dead before he got into the house.

I was simply pointing out my friend that an simple ectopic pregnancy in her fallopian tube would make a better story from your position.

In fact, My Father was given the choice of saving the child or mother when I was going to be born. He said, to try to save both and got on the phone to get everyone praying. We both were fine. Most situations today, Hospitals can put enough people on a situation to save both Mother and Child. I wonder how rare or common it is for the other situations of a child not living long after birth is today.

My wife and me had a Daughter who only lived a few months, but it was worth loving her when we had her. My wife's whole side of the family including remotely extended family and friends got saved because of that. We believe that young children when they die go to heaven.

David said that when he dies that he will go where his son was.

Besides Baptism for the Dead based on I Cor 15:29 does LDS friends thinks what happens with children who have not reached a point of accountability when they die?

Ironhold said:

If a person has not reached the age of accountability, or has such a mental state that they have not reached that age, their sins are not counted against them.

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thanks

Psalm 32:2Happy are those to whom the Lord imputes no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit.
Romans 4:8
Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.
Romans 5:13(For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law.