Joseph Smith a Pedophile?

This has got to be one of the more outlandish and desperate claims made by Anti-Mormons on CARM and elsewhere.

As a medical diagnosis, pedophilia is a psychiatric disorder in persons 16 years of age or older typically characterized by a primary or exclusive sexual interest toward prepubescent children (generally age 11 years or younger, though specific diagnostic criteria for the disorder extends the cut-off point for prepubescence to age 13).

References: Wikipedia

"Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition". American Psychiatric Publishing. 2013. Retrieved July 25, 2013.

"The ICD-10 Classification of Mental and Behavioral Disorders Diagnostic criteria for research World . World Health Organization/ICD-10. 1993.

 "Pedophilia". Encyclopedia Britannica.

Seto MC.(2009) Pedophili. Annual Review of Clinical Psychology 5:391–407.

Making a charge that someone is a pedophile is a serious claim, and one that demands serious evidence and proof for such a claim is slanderous and libelous to say the least unless it's PROVEN true.  Since not only individuals, but corporations and religious groups can be subjects of libel, there maybe legal consequences to those who make the claim. That claim requires proof rising to the level of BEYOND a reasonable doubt. So what has been our critics evidence?  None whatsoever.

Keep in mind that this charge they make is about pedophilia, not polygamy or adultery.  Those are topics of discussion in their own right but and whether or not you believe in the LDS faith or whether or not you believe Joseph Smith was married to multiple women an/or was intimate with them is irrelevant to the question of pedophilia.

Let us examine some of the claims of proof.

It has been asserted by the Anti-Mormon crew that Joseph Smith married women who were much his junior in age.. The youngest was Hellen Mar Kimball.  Age 14.   Now when we say married, there is no official marriage licence for anyone but Joseph and Emma.   These other marriages were by LDS tradition religious spiritual sealing that does not involve any consummation.  And thus far the critics have been unable to present ANY proof there was intimacy with anyone but Emma.   DNA tests have been done in many cases of claims, but all have turned up negative.

Yet even if consummation was involved note the age of said young women is not within the age deemed to be a 'Pre-pubescent'.. furthermore the fact that Joseph and Emma bore several children, coupled with the fact that ALL of his alleged consummated plural marriages were NOT to women of pre-pubescent age.  Therefore the charge of pedophilia fall flat on it's face is nothing but a desperate attempt of Anti-Mormons resorting to deliberate libel in order to defame the LDS faith.

And update to this post.. Today, my calling attention to this libelous claim by CARM poster has resulted in my suspension from CARM.. As one can see CARM forums and it's proprietor are bigoted hypocrites with an modus operandi of shooting the messenger if CARM doesn't like the message.

Anti-Mormon rules for Christian Apologetics

When one spends much time on CARM, it becomes very much apparent that the purveyors and supporters proclaim to be Christian, but behave in ways that are anything but Christian.   They have strict rules at CARM regarding making forum Posts which they believe attack Christianity.. such as:

"This is a Christian website and you may not post words in mockery of Christian beliefs, or terms offensive in descriptions of our Lord God. You may certainly challenge Christian teaching, but do so respectfully."

 And yet they do not restrict themselves or their proponents form making outlandish attacks on all other beliefs even those which are Christian beliefs, but just not Christian according to CARMs own self appointed definition of Christianity, and thus they label them as 'cults' and 'heresies' 

The rules also state :

"This is a Christian website, if you want to promote liberal propaganda, take it elsewhere. Christians on the forums permitted their free ideas and opinions on social issues and will not have to tolerate insults, divisive comments from the more liberal posters."

Did you catch that?  Christian (only those whom CARM deems Christian) are permitted for express their ideas 'freely'.. even those ideas mean demeaning the beliefs of others. Recently  my calling attention to a libelous claim by CARM poster has resulted in my suspension from CARM.. As one can see CARM forums and it's proprietor are bigoted hypocrites with an modus operandi of shooting the messenger if CARM doesn't like the message.