Talk:Polygamy

Question

Where do group marriages or other many-to-many setups fit in? Are there any societies that actually do it that way? Most other possibilities have been tried, not sure about that one. Sandy Harris 06:21, 23 October 2010 (UTC)

Joseph Smith

Aleta had the statement correct. If Joseph Smith believed he received those revelations that's what we state. Editorializing does not make an encyclopedia. Reverted article back to Aleta's edits. Mary Ash 00:58, 12 May 2011 (CDT)

You are saying that if a man claims that he had a divine revelation, that because he really believes it we may not say he merely "claims" it, we have to just say a revelation occurred. What about people who really believe in moon-cheese or fairies, do we have to treat their words in a similar fashion? If they really believe in Martians wouldn't it be unfair of us to require that they provide some evidence for their claims?

The changes I made to this article stood for six months until you noticed them. Your reasons for reversion seem ill-considered, and (once again) I do not believe that you have read the policy on reverting before doing so. At this point I am going to undo your reversion and pass the matter on to the relevant CZ officials to consider, because I believe that no amount of discussion will enhance your understanding of this matter. David Finn 01:49, 12 May 2011 (CDT)

As I see it, David is obviously right on this one. Quite a few people have claimed divine revelations, from Allah dictating the Koran to Mohammed or Joan of Arc's revelations through to Hong Xiuquan finding out he was God's other son, Jesus' kid brother. "Mormons believe that ..." or "the Mormon scriptures say that ...", "Smith believed that ..." or "Smith claimed that ..." are all fine. "Smith had a divine revelation that ..." is not. For consistency, we should treat all these claims in a similar way. Since they contradict each other, a policy of taking them all as given leads inevitably to the conclusion that the Lord is schizophrenic. Better to label them all as claims. Sandy Harris 02:21, 12 May 2011 (CDT)

Don't forget David Icke. If he says the world is run by lizard people then that must be encyclopedically accurate. He is the Son of God after all. David Finn 03:11, 12 May 2011 (CDT)

David's edit on this is the correct one. I'm not going to bother to look at any of the other articles about religious figures, but all of their claims should be handled in precisely the same way. We do not say, "Jesus received a divine revelation," we say that "it is claimed" or "he claimed", or whatever. This is an open and shut case. Hayford Peirce 12:42, 12 May 2011 (CDT)

Thanks! I erred on the side of Aleta who is longtime contributor and member of the EC. I will in the future edit appropriately. Mary Ash 12:45, 12 May 2011 (CDT)