Without Disclosing My True Identity
money from their lucrative schemes and use their priesthood authority and power to receive
“revelations” to entice women into their arms. And more than any other male priesthood
holder at the time, one of the Church’s Assistant Presidents—John C. Bennett—attempted to
entice women at every opportunity.^19
Frustrations of the Women
Bennett’s proposals to women caused many to seek Emma’s advice in private,
and became one of the contributing factors leading to the establishment of the Relief
Society. Although the name is often associated with the “relief” that the women give to
others, its establishment gave the women more relief than any other institution Joseph
ever suffered to come forth in the Church. (Appendix 2 on polygamy gives the details of
how this came to be.)
In short, Emma tearfully complained to Joseph that besides the priesthood authority the
men purported to have over the women of the Church, the layered secrecy and abuse ran even
deeper through the “good ol’ boys” network and the special favors they were granted because
of the Masonic brotherhood. This further exacerbated the men’s abuse of their authority. Joseph
had been contemplating what he could do to help the women, without violating the mandates
he was under to allow free will and not disclose his true identity.^20 Over time, he had held many
discussions with some of the women in private in an effort to get their views and ideas on the
matter; but now that Freemasonry was officially established, he could no longer wait to help
ease the women’s frustrations. He gave the men what they wanted and—he would give the
women what they needed.
Again, the principle of polygamy is such an important issue that it has been
explained in detail in Appendix 2 of this biography. Almost every Latter-day Saint male
desired to live the principle of “spiritual wifery” once they realized that Joseph allowed
the early converts of the Church to retain the beliefs they had gained from following
Jacob Cochran. If adults mutually made the decision to share their lives with other
adults, then there was nothing in the “fullness of the everlasting Gospel” that prohibited
this free will choice.
By 1842, however, the lust of the men was out of control. While some of the men
were not as physically enticing as Joseph and others, thus limiting their natural appeal
to women by the mere nature of their physical aspects, the men had something that the
women did not have—the priesthood. Having the priesthood gave even the hardest men
to look at the supposed right to receive “revelation.” They deluded themselves into a
state of self-conceit that it was God’s will to allow them to act in God’s name. This
special authority, as they supposed, is what led their “God” to condone and support the
male desire for more than one woman.
The Relief Society and Women’s Right to the Priesthood
Careful not to impede in the domain of male priesthood ego or the free will of the
women to submit to male dominion over them, Joseph created the female Relief Society, which
he explained “should move according to the ancient Priesthood.” He added that he was
“going to make the Church [the edited, modern LDS history has changed these words to “this
Society”^21 ] a kingdom of Priests, ...as in Enoch’s day, [and] in Paul’s...day.”^22 By this Joseph
meant to include women and to endow them with true priesthood power and authority: