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POLYGAMY - SECTION 3
Total Articles:
15
The Mormon Church stopped the practice of Polygamy "officially" in 1890, but practiced it in secret for several decades afterwards. Today, Mormons practice "Spiritual Polygamy" wherein their Doctrine And Covenants section 132 states that Polygamy is "The New And Everlasting Covenant". Two living Mormon Apostles are currently married to more than one woman.
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"Nauvoo Polygamy" by George Smith is an awesome book.
I love this book... It really puts it all in perspective.
Here is a short list of the wives of President Lorenzo Snow...he liked them young!
I will put her age; followed by his age at marriage; followed by the number of children they had while married; followed by the year they were married; followed by the year they were sealed:
Charlotte Squires
.19
31
2
1845
1846
Mary Adeline Goddard
33
31
3
1845
1846
Sarah Ann Prichard
..18
31
5
1845
1846
Harriet Amelia Squires
.26
31
5
1846
1846
Eleanor Houtz
..16
33
8
1848
1848
Caroline Horton
...28
39
3
1853
1853
Mary Elizabeth Houtz
.16
42
6
1857
1857
Phoebe Amelia Woodruff
17
44
5
1859
1859
Sarah E. Minnie Jensen
15
57
5
1871
1871
Total wives
9
Total Children
42
Total wives under 20
6 of 9
It's not about time with your children it’s about the quality of time
right?
Prophet of God or old pervert? You decide.
There is some controversy about Mary Ann Williams's age.
Mary Ann WILLIAMS was born 11Sep 1844 in Springfield, Sangamon, Illinois. She was the daughter of John WILLIAMS and Marcy LUCAS. Mary died 8Feb 1882 in Panguitch, Garfield, Utah, and was buried in Panguitch, Garfield, Utah.
Mary Ann's parents must have joined the Mormon Church prior to the abandonment of the City of Nauvoo and gone west with the body of the church taking her with them. She would have been only a few years old. There seem to be no genealogical ties between Mary Ann and another of Lee's wives of the same surname, Sarah Caroline Williams.
Mary Ann was first mentioned in Lee's diaries April 4, 1858, where she was named as one of two wives who accompanied him on a trip to Cedar City. This was rather peculiar, however, for at that date, she would have been only thirteen years of age, if she was in fact, born on the date given above. The 1860 census had her born two years earlier, in 1842. Her age was listed as eighteen years, so that if the 1842 year was used as her birth, in the 1858 entry, she would have been sixteen.
In the book attributed to him, "Mormonism Unveiled," Lee stated that Mary Ann was sealed to him as his sixteenth wife in 1856. At that date, if we accepted the 1844 birth date, she would have been only twelve years old. If we accepted the date according to the 1860 census information, she would have been fourteen.
Lee made several errors in listing the names and vital statistics of his wives in the book and could very well have been mistaken on the 1856 sealing date for Mary Ann Williams. If one accepted the earliest mentioned birth date, giving her as many years as possible, she would still have been a very young woman when she was first named as one of Lee's wives.
No matter how you cut it, she was very very young. Family lore says that OF COURSE they never had sex and he was more of a guardian. Sigh. Who knows. It is true they didn't have children. After she married his son John Alma in 1859 they had seven kids. Odd, John Alma never took a second wife. She died five months after he did, adding to the family told love story. John D. was buried from their home after he was executed.
Familysearch.org is not a good source for this. Someone keeps changing information to make it look like she was never married to John D. At times it has been correct and other times she is shown with no data or tie to John D. As if the woman married to John A was a different person right down to the ID number thingies. Sigh.
| Mormons often defend Joseph's marriage to teenagers by claiming that it was normal for younger teenage girls to marry back then.
So I decided to do a little research. In order to not “cherry pick” I decided to choose for my sample LDS prophets and apostles who were married before the Church came to Utah. I included William Clayton to replace William E. McLellan because McLellan's wife’s age was not known. Each woman is the FIRST wife of the husband.
- Bathsheba Bigler was 15 years old in 1841 when she married George A. Smith (24).
- Lucy Harris was 16 years old in 1808 when she married Martin Harris (25).
- Vilate Murray was 16 years old in 1822 when she married Heber C. Kimball (21).
- Julia A Jolley was 16 years old in 1831 when she married David Whitmer (26).
- Susan Armelda Poteet was 16 years old in 1832 when she married Luke S. Johnson (26).
- Maria Louisa Tanner was 17 years old in 1835 when she married Amasa M. Lyman (22).
- Catherine Whitmer was 18 years old in 1825 when she married Hiram Page (25).
- Sarah Long was 18 years old in 1834 when she married Lyman E. Johnson (22).
- Sarah Marinda Bates was 19 years old in 1836 when she married Orson Pratt (24).
- Ruth Moon was 19 years old in 1836 when she married William Clayton (22).
- Artemesia Beman was 19 years old in 1838 when she married Erastus Snow (20).
- Jane Snyder was 19 years old in 1842 when she married Franklin D. Richards (21).
- Lucy Mack was 21 years old in 1796 when she married Joseph Smith, Sr (24).
- Elizabeth Godkin was 21 years old in 1820 when she married Thomas B. Marsh (21).
- Jerusha Barden was 21 years old in 1826 when she married Hyrum Smith (26).
- Phoebe Ann Babcock was 21 years old in 1828 when she married David W. Patten (29).
- Betsey Thompson was 21 years old in 1831 when she married John E. Page (34).
- Caroline Amanda Grant was 21 years old in 1833 when she married William Smith (21).
- Marinda Nancy Johnson was 21 years old in 1834 when she married Orson Hyde (29).
- Jennetta Richards was 21 years old in 1838 when she married Willard Richards (34).
- Harriet Benton was 22 years old in 1823 when she married Lyman Wight (26).
- Elizabeth Schott was 22 years old in 1825 when she married Jacob Whitmer (25).
- Emma Hale was 22 years old in 1827 when she married Joseph Smith (21).
- Elizabeth Ann Whitmer was 22 years old in 1832 when she married Oliver Cowdery (26).
- Miriam Works was 23 years old in 1824 when she married Brigham Young (23).
- Pamelia Andrus was 23 years old in 1832 when she married Ezra T. Benson (21).
- Ann Schott was 24 years old in 1825 when she married Christian Whitmer (27).
- Sarah Jackson was 24 years old in 1833 when she married John Whitmer (30).
- Sarah DeArmon Pea was 24 years old in 1838 when she married Charles C. Rich (28).
- Vashti Higley was 25 years old in 1832 when she married Peter Whitmer, Jr (23).
- Mary Bailey was 26 years old in 1834 when she married Samuel H. Smith (26).
- Thankful Halsey was 30 years old in 1827 when she married Parley P. Pratt (20).
- Phoebe Whittemore Carter was 30 years old in 1837 when she married Wilford Woodruff (30).
- Susannah Lowell was 32 years old in 1836 when she married John F. Boynton (24).
- Mary Adaline Goddard was 33 years old in 1845 when she married Lorenzo Snow (31).
- Leonora Cannon was 36 years old in 1833 when she married John Taylor (24).
Cynthia Ann (maiden name and birth date unknown) in 1829 married William E. McLellan (23).
The average age of marriage for the women in the sample is 22.1 years. The median age is 21 years.
The average age of marriage for the men in the sample is 25.0 years. The median age is 24.5 years.
Judge for yourself.
| I went into Family Search the other day wanting to remember which of Lorenzo Snow's wives I am descended from. Subsequent searches of GGG grandpa Lorenzo on wikipedia yielded the following:
"Before leaving Nauvoo, Snow accepted the principle of plural marriage and took four wives: Charlotte Squires (age 20), Mary Adaline Goddard (age 32), Sarah Ann Prichard (age 18), and Harriet Amelia Squires (age 26). Snow would later take several more wives: Eleanor Houtz (age 14), Mary Elizabeth Houtz (younger sister of Eleanor), Caroline Horton (age 29), Sarah Minnie Ephamina (age 16). Snow also wed the 17-year-old Pheobe Woodruff, the daughter of Wilford Woodruff. Snow fathered the child Rhea Lucile Snow at the age of 83 while serving as president of the LDS Church."
Wow ! A new daddy at 83! While the church prophet! Rank does have its privileges. And sure enough...check out the ages of some of the wives.
The Salt Lake group is actually the splinter group... no matter how much they try to distance themselves from the FLDS.
| DandC Section 132: Section heading as found at http://scriptures.lds.org/en/dc/132
"THE DOCTRINE AND COVENANTS OF THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS, SECTION 132
Revelation given through Joseph Smith the Prophet, at Nauvoo, Illinois, recorded July 12, 1843, relating to the new and everlasting covenant, including the eternity of the marriage covenant, as also plurality of wives. HC 5: 501507. Although the revelation was recorded in 1843, it is evident from the historical records that the doctrines and principles involved in this revelation had been known by the Prophet since 1831.
16, Exaltation is gained through the new and everlasting covenant; 714, The terms and conditions of that covenant are set forth; 1520, Celestial marriage and a continuation of the family unit enable men to become gods; 2125, The strait and narrow way that leads to eternal lives; 2627, Law given relative to blasphemy against the Holy Ghost; 2839, Promises of eternal increase and exaltation made to prophets and saints in all ages; 4047, Joseph Smith is given the power to bind and seal on earth and in heaven; 4850, The Lord seals upon him his exaltation; 5157, Emma Smith is counseled to be faithful and true; 5866, Laws governing the plurality of wives are set forth. "
Verses 58-64:
"58 Now, as touching the law of the apriesthood, there are many things pertaining thereunto.
59 Verily, if a man be called of my Father, as was aAaron, by mine own voice, and by the voice of him that bsent me, and I have endowed him with the ckeys of the power of this priesthood, if he do anything in my name, and according to my law and by my word, he will not commit dsin, and I will justify him.
60 Let no one, therefore, set on my servant Joseph; for I will justify him; for he shall do the sacrifice which I require at his hands for his transgressions, saith the Lord your God.
61 And again, as pertaining to the law of the priesthood–if any man espouse a virgin, and desire to espouse aanother, and the first give her consent, and if he espouse the second, and they are virgins, and have vowed to no other man, then is he justified; he cannot commit adultery for they are given unto him; for he cannot commit adultery with that that belongeth unto him and to no one else.
62 And if he have aten virgins given unto him by this law, he cannot commit adultery, for they belong to him, and they are given unto him; therefore is he justified.
63 But if one or either of the ten virgins, after she is espoused, shall be with another man, she has committed adultery, and shall be destroyed; for they are given unto him to amultiply and replenish the earth, according to my commandment, and to fulfil the promise which was given by my Father before the foundation of the world, and for their exaltation in the eternal worlds, that they may bear the souls of men; for herein is the work of my Father continued, that he may be bglorified.
64 And again, verily, verily, I say unto you, if any man have a wife, who holds the keys of this power, and he teaches unto her the law of my priesthood, as pertaining to these things, then shall she believe and administer unto him, or she shall be destroyed, saith the Lord your God; for I will destroy her; for I will magnify my name upon all those who receive and abide in my law."
Of course getting a prophet or GA to actually define the "new and everlasting covenant" and whether plural marriage is included in the mix is about as easy/hard as grabbing a greased pig...
and I guess non-virgin women need not apply
DandC Sec 22 also contains the words "a new and an everlasting covenant" but that is talking about baptiam..and it was writtenin 1830. That little catch phrase was expanded to include eternal marriage. Polygamy is veiled in any talk of eternal marriage [go find any GA that has ever said polygamy is evil or polygamy is excluded from eternal marriage].
Nowadays the "new and everlasting covenant" is described as the "fulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ" http://scriptures.lds.org/en/gs/n/19 which doesn't overtly include or preclude polygamy.
An accurate reading of the intro shows the truth. Let's see what the preamble actually says:
"Revelation given through Joseph Smith the Prophet, at Nauvoo, Illinois, recorded July 12, 1843, relating to the new and everlasting covenant, including the eternity of the marriage covenant, as also plurality of wives."
OK, relating to the new and everlasting covenant, INCLUDING (that is, "which includes") eternity of marriage covenant, AS ALSO (that is, "which also includes") plurality of wives.
That's what the language actually means in English.
| One thing I have learned is that I can't trust the LDS Church to ever tell the whole story. In fact when its history is concerned, I think what is reported is really wishful thinking and not fact.
I have been told too many times that we shouldn't judge Joseph Smith by our standards (the irony of that statement is for another thread). His marriages to teenagers are often justified by citing the average marriage age back then as being 15 or 16 years old for girls.
I decided to conduct my own research to see if these claims had merit. In order to not “cherry pick” I decided to choose for my sample LDS prophets and apostles who were married before the Church came to Utah. I included William Clayton to replace William E. McLellan because his wife’s age was not known. Each woman is the first wife of the husband.
Bathsheba Bigler was 15 years old in 1841 when she married George A. Smith (24).
Lucy Harris was 16 years old in 1808 when she married Martin Harris (25).
Vilate Murray was 16 years old in 1822 when she married Heber C. Kimball (21).
Julia A Jolley was 16 years old in 1831 when she married David Whitmer (26).
Susan Armelda Poteet was 16 years old in 1832 when she married Luke S. Johnson (26).
Maria Louisa Tanner was 17 years old in 1835 when she married Amasa M. Lyman (22).
Catherine Whitmer was 18 years old in 1825 when she married Hiram Page (25).
Sarah Long was 18 years old in 1834 when she married Lyman E. Johnson (22).
Sarah Marinda Bates was 19 years old in 1836 when she married Orson Pratt (24).
Ruth Moon was 19 years old in 1836 when she married William Clayton (22).
Artemesia Beman was 19 years old in 1838 when she married Erastus Snow (20).
Jane Snyder was 19 years old in 1842 when she married Franklin D. Richards (21).
Lucy Mack was 21 years old in 1796 when she married Joseph Smith, Sr (24).
Elizabeth Godkin was 21 years old in 1820 when she married Thomas B. Marsh (21).
Jerusha Barden was 21 years old in 1826 when she married Hyrum Smith (26).
Phoebe Ann Babcock was 21 years old in 1828 when she married David W. Patten (29).
Betsey Thompson was 21 years old in 1831 when she married John E. Page (34).
Caroline Amanda Grant was 21 years old in 1833 when she married William Smith (21).
Marinda Nancy Johnson was 21 years old in 1834 when she married Orson Hyde (29).
Jennetta Richards was 21 years old in 1838 when she married Willard Richards (34).
Harriet Benton was 22 years old in 1823 when she married Lyman Wight (26).
Elizabeth Schott was 22 years old in 1825 when she married Jacob Whitmer (25).
Emma Hale was 22 years old in 1827 when she married Joseph Smith (21).
Elizabeth Ann Whitmer was 22 years old in 1832 when she married Oliver Cowdery (26).
Miriam Works was 23 years old in 1824 when she married Brigham Young (23).
Pamelia Andrus was 23 years old in 1832 when she married Ezra T. Benson (21).
Ann Schott was 24 years old in 1825 when she married Christian Whitmer (27).
Sarah Jackson was 24 years old in 1833 when she married John Whitmer (30).
Sarah DeArmon Pea was 24 years old in 1838 when she married Charles C. Rich (28).
Vashti Higley was 25 years old in 1832 when she married Peter Whitmer, Jr (23).
Mary Bailey was 26 years old in 1834 when she married Samuel H. Smith (26).
Thankful Halsey was 30 years old in 1827 when she married Parley P. Pratt (20).
Phoebe Whittemore Carter was 30 years old in 1837 when she married Wilford Woodruff (30).
Susannah Lowell was 32 years old in 1836 when she married John F. Boynton (24).
Mary Adaline Goddard was 33 years old in 1845 when she married Lorenzo Snow (31).
Leonora Cannon was 36 years old in 1833 when she married John Taylor (24).
Cynthia Ann (maiden name and birth date unknown) in 1829 married William E. McLellan (23).
The average age difference between a teenage bride and her husband was 4.9 years. The largest age difference between a teenage bride and her husband was 10 years.
The average age of marriage for the women in the sample is 22.1 years. The median age is 21 years.
The average age of marriage for the men in the sample is 25.0 years. The median age is 24.5 years.
| I've been playing around on http://pilot.familysearch.org the last few days, and I've found quite a bit of information about my ancestry that I did not have before. It's all the seedy stuff, of course, that my Mormon ancestors have conveniently left out of books of remembrance. I'm starting to have a pretty good collection of stories about my Mormon ancestors, and it never gets dull. Not like my father's ancestry. My Dad joined the Mormon church in his 30s and his ancestry is pretty boring. No running around. No crazy behavior. Not even a divorce. My Mom's ancestry is 100% true blue Mormon back seven generations. Every line goes through polygamy in some way. It's one sordid tale after another. A trip through Mom's genealogy is like reading a Harlequin Romance.
Here's one. My Danish ancestor Johan Peter Ottesen married a rich jewish girl named Mette Marie Christensdatter - the same day their first born son was christened. Mette's parents weren't very thrilled about the character of Mr. Ottesen, so they gave her a cow so they wouldn't starve and cut her out of the will. Five kids later, Mette became ill. So, they hired a "strong girl" to take care of them. Before long, Johan Peter and Mette Marie were divorced, and Johan Peter was married to the "strong girl." Her name was Maren Christiana Sorensen, btw.
Naturally, Johan Peter Ottesen joined the Mormon church. However, he never made it to Utah. He and his eldest son died of some disease they picked up in New Orleans while on the trek to Utah. Enter another ancestor of mine, Rasmus Nielsen Jeppesen. Rasmus's wife Anne had died at sea on the way to Utah, so he was quite single. Rasmus became good friends with the "strong girl." Such good friends that they were married as soon as they reached Utah.
Rasmus had quite a harem. Over his lifetime, he married six women. He was pretty good at the acquisition. Rasmus used to go down to Emigration canyon when the pioneer companies came in to trawl for widows. You know, to take them in out of the cold. Rasmus was a nice guy like that.
Well, Johan Peter's and Mette Marie's daughter Ellen Katherine had been raised by her stepmother Maren, the "strong girl" who had married Rasmus. When Katherine got to be about 16, she was under a lot of pressure to marry. You know, because family values are real important to Mormons. All the old polygamists in the town were coming by to see her. So, she decided to marry her stepfather Rasmus, because at least she knew him. She endured a few years of that and had two children by him before she went screaming off into the night, abandoning her children and leaving the Church. She was the town pariah for many years for that. Katherine was remembered as a sad old woman wandering around town, picking up sticks. My great grandfather admired her and sang at her funeral. The hymn he sang was "Let Us Oft Speak Kind Words To Each Other."
Dad's non-Mormon side of the family. Hmm.. let's see. Joseph Simpson. Joe Simpson was a painter living in Stockport, Cheshire, England. He was married one time. He had 8 kids. He brought his family to America in 1904. As part of his naturalization, he signed a paper saying that he was not going to practice polygamy. Why would anyone do that? He settled in Ohio, painted houses and died at age 87. How boring.
Mom's side of the family. Severin Johansen was a Norwegian stonemason who traveled from job to job between Norway and Denmark. Severin was married three times. The first wife was Maren Jensdatter. Their first child was christened 11 days after the wedding. He had four children with Maren. The last child was christened about six months after the birth of his first child from his second wife Else. Maren lived in Vrejlev. Else lived in a different town, Taars. Both children were named "Johan." Severin's father's name was "Johan." He had three children with his second wife Else and then she died. Next, he married Bodil Marie Christensdatter. Mormon records show that Bodil was more than 40 years younger than Severin. That's just wishful Mormon thinking. Actually, she was only 29 years younger - but she was 8 years younger than Severin's eldest daughter, so Mormon pervs should be pleased about that.
Severin's youngest daughter Dora was born in the poorhouse in Taars. She was 46 years younger than Severin's eldest daughter. Dora told my grandmother a story about how when her father learned of her birth, he was at sea. He immediately started for home, but was caught in a blizzard in a forest on the way and froze to death. He never got to see his baby or even know if it was a boy or a girl. Touching. Problem is, he died in the county hospital in Hjorring when she was about a year old. Oh well. With critical thinking like that, naturally Dora joined the Mormon church and moved to Utah with her mother and cousin. The mother and cousin settled in Idaho. Dora married an Englishman named James Albert Weaver and lived in Brigham City. Her daughter Harriet married one of John Taylor's sons. (That's a big deal in my family for some reason.)
One day, Dora's mother and cousin came to visit. Or I should say, her cousin came. Dora's mother had died, and her cousin didn't know what to do, so she pulled a Clark Griswold and tied the body to her wagon and drove it to Dora's house in Utah. By then, of course, the body was beginning to decompose and had flies. Dora said "WTF! Eww!" and buried the body. She never spoke to her cousin again. One day years later, Harriet and her sister saw the cousin at Lagoon, and they hugged and cried. This is why Lagoon is so awesome.
Dad's side of the family. Michael Foit came to America from Bavaria sometime before 1846 with his wife Mary. They settled in Lawrence County, Ohio, worked for the coal company and lived out their lives. His son ran a saloon which became a local bakery in the town of Ironton. There was a knife fight outside the saloon once. Another son was drafted into the Civil War, but never saw any action. Michael died in 1904. Of boredom, clearly.
I have many, many stories of craziness like these on my Mom's Mormon side of the family. Very little on my Dad's non-Mormon side. It's not just when they became Mormon. My Mom's ancestors were crazy long before they joined the Mormon church. Like the ancestor who went to Georgia with his brothers after the Revolutionary War was over to claim land bounties. To my knowledge, they did not fight in any wars, and certainly not in Georgia. Ten years later, their lands were auctioned off by the government, but they were long gone outside the United States among the french-speaking people of the Ste. Genevieve colony in Missouri. A few years later, the Mormons rolled through into Far West, and....... that's right! They joined the Mormon church! As you can see, Mormons are among the very, very elect.
I love genealogy. :-)
| No wonder people who go to FAIR and FARMS for answers end up apostate. Below is a list FAIR put out on the accomplishments of polygamy. The list is repulsive on many levels. Below that is the new list they have put out. Notice how item 8 has completely changed. The list is a joke even with the change, item 12 proves Joseph stole wive's after sending husbands on missions.
Any such list as this is tentative. But, it reminds us plural marriage may have accomplished more than we sometimes appreciate. Some benefits which have been suggested include:
1. It was to try (prove) His people. Polygamy stood as an Abrahamic test for the saints. The willingness to obey a commandment that was inherently distasteful to the vast majority of the members of the Church allowed members to draw close to the Lord.
2. It was to "raise up" righteous seed. Specifically it allowed a relatively few righteous men to become very prolific in a time when the West was very wild and there were many unrighteous men. Children were raised in more households with a strong gospel commitment.
3. It served to "set apart" his people as a peculiar people to the world. This social isolation that gave the church space to solidify itself into an identity independent of the many denominations from which the membership was derived. Sociologists have discovered that in order for a religion to successfully grow it has to be demanding and it has to experience a moderate amount of tension with its host society. The RLDS Church rejected plural marriage, and perhaps not coincidentally are now small in number and virtually indistinguishable from Protestants.
4. Polygamy was part of the "restoration of all things," and a way for Mormons to feel connected with prophets like Abraham and Jacob. 19th century Mormons gained a greater appreciation for covenants that these forefathers made with God.
5. Numerous family ties that were created, building a network of associations that strengthened the Church.
6. Arguably polygamy affected higher natural growth rates. Ironically plural wives had fewer children than their monogamous Mormon counterparts. [2]
7. Polygamy created a system where a higher percentage of women and men got married compared to the national average at the time. [3]
8. Plural marriages increased competition in the marriage market, so the "spiritual slackers" and lower quality men had to work to improve their standing to compete. They had to clean up, try to get good jobs and treat the women with respect. It gave the women more options as to whom to marry.
9.Out on the frontier in 19th century life expectancy was low and women were not as economically independent as they are today. Therefore there were many widows (and orphans coming of age) that needed to be taken care of. Some women who joined the Church abroad immigrated without their husbands, leaving them without male financial support. Furthermore, Brigham Young instituted the most liberal divorce policy in the country so women (but not men!) could get out of unhappy marriages. Kathryn Daynes estimated that 30% of plural marriages came from married-before women. [4]
10. Church Historian Elder Jensen observed how Mormon polygamy enabled women more freedom to earn college degrees and join national women's rights organizations at the time. [5]
11. Polygamy helped integrate foreign immigrants into Mormon society. With the marriage market operating so efficiently, women were highly sought after, and so Utah men had to sometimes marry outside their preferred cultural boundaries. This provided a great way to redistribute the wealth to the immigrants families coming. [6]
12. Plural marriages provided a social support network while the husbands were off on missions.
New List:
1. It was to try (prove) His people. Polygamy stood as an Abrahamic test for the saints. The willingness to obey a commandment that was inherently distasteful to the vast majority of the members of the Church allowed members to draw close to the Lord.
2. It was to "raise up" righteous seed. Specifically it allowed a relatively few righteous men to become very prolific in a time when the West was very wild and there were many unrighteous men. Children were raised in more households with a strong gospel commitment.
3. It served to "set apart" his people as a peculiar people to the world. This social isolation that gave the church space to solidify itself into an identity independent of the many denominations from which the membership was derived. Sociologists have discovered that in order for a religion to successfully grow it has to be demanding and it has to experience a moderate amount of tension with its host society. The RLDS Church rejected plural marriage, and perhaps not coincidentally are now small in number and virtually indistinguishable from Protestants.
4. Polygamy was part of the "restoration of all things," and a way for Mormons to feel connected with prophets like Abraham and Jacob. 19th century Mormons gained a greater appreciation for covenants that these forefathers made with God.
5. Numerous family ties that were created, building a network of associations that strengthened the Church.
6. Arguably polygamy affected higher natural growth rates. Ironically plural wives had fewer children than their monogamous Mormon counterparts. [2]
7. Polygamy created a system where a higher percentage of women and men got married compared to the national average at the time. [3]
8. Katheryn Daynes makes the point that in nineteenth century Utah, more women arranged to hold temple recommends and receive their endowments. That is, female rates of temple-worthiness (or, at least, being willing to take the time and effort to get a recommend and actually go to the temple) were higher than male rates. And, these rates didn't really change much, regardless of how common plural marriage was (and, so, these higher rates cannot have been caused by plural marriage). Thus, women in Utah were in a difficult situation--more of them were willing and able to have temple sealings/eternal marriage than there were men willing and able to do so. Plural marriage changed this dynamic enormously. One temple-worthy man being married would not take that man out of the "potential married partners pool." This allowed more members to have temple marriages, sealings, and the blessings that came with these ordinances.
9. Out on the frontier in 19th century life expectancy was low and women were not as economically independent as they are today. Therefore there were many widows (and orphans coming of age) that needed to be taken care of. Some women who joined the Church abroad immigrated without their husbands, leaving them without male financial support. Furthermore, Brigham Young instituted the most liberal divorce policy in the country so women (but not men!) could get out of unhappy marriages. Kathryn Daynes estimated that 30% of plural marriages came from married-before women. [4]
10. Church Historian Elder Jensen observed how Mormon polygamy enabled women more freedom to earn college degrees and join national women's rights organizations at the time. [5]
11. Polygamy helped integrate foreign immigrants into Mormon society. With the marriage market operating so efficiently, women were highly sought after, and so Utah men had to sometimes marry outside their preferred cultural boundaries. This provided a great way to redistribute the wealth to the immigrants families coming. [6]
12. Plural marriages provided a social support network while the husbands were off on missions.
| When I first got into philosophy, I thought I had a great insight. I argued that if we legalized polygamy, it would come out in the open and we could then target the "real" abuses. I had to abandon that theory rather quickly as it is loaded with inconsistency. Adding liberty to the situation does nothing to ensure justice. This is one of libertarianism's most severe failings.
Think of life, liberty and happiness as human rights (since we already do). These rights become invalid the moment someone uses one against the other. The ruling principle is justice, which preserves the balance of these rights. When someone exercises too much of one right, it throws the balance of justice out of whack.
Human rights are strictly an individual matter. We can't add our individual rights together as a group to make them more powerful. Groups don't have human rights, and human rights are supreme above all other rights.
Matters concerning one's body fall under the heading of the right to life. So nobody can claim to be exercising their right to liberty if it compromises someone's right to life. If liberty is not equal, there is no balance, or, justice. Groups do not have religious rights. Only individuals have the right to religious freedom. So a group cannot prevail when the rights of an individual are compromised.
Mormon fundamentalists are not necessarily asking for religious liberty in the case of polygamy. What they actually want is to make polygamy a moral imperative in their society, and to them this imperative has more weight than the force of any law. But we can't allow that. Nobody can use their right to religious liberty to threaten the rights of anyone else. But under a societal imperative to practice polygamy, that is exactly what is happening. While men set about collecting as many wives as possible, women are put into the position of being morally obligated to ensure the religious liberties of the men, even if they don't want to. We all know what happens next. When the number of available women diminishes, then underage girls are put under pressure to marry whether they want to or not. Under these conditions, women are constantly under duress and therefore their ability to give consent is anything but clear. So not only are the underage girls under obvious pressure to abandon part of their right to life and virtually all of their right to liberty, adult women don't escape this pressure either. It only looks less offensive because they are adults; but nobody is going to convince me that they are in a position to give proper consent. They are groomed for the position of having lesser rights than men. It is inherent and unavoidable in Mormon-based polygamy. So legalizing polygamy in the interest of religious liberty is completely contradictory and therefore unjust. Under our system of government, everyone must have equal rights and we are obligated to immediately correct any situation that compromises this equality. To do otherwise is tyrannical and contrary to the American ideal.
Plural marriage is backward and injurious to the concept of equal human rights. We can never legalize it. Case closed.
| | Sunday evening, I attended a presentation at the University of Utah by one of my favorite high school history teachers, Vance Allred. He and his wife recounted their experiences of living in a polygamous cult, and explained why they brought their family out of polygamy in 1993.
Vance prefaced his life story by giving a historical overview of Mormon polygamy. He noted that Joseph Smith first addressed the issue of polygamy in the Book of Mormon, where the practice is conditionally condemned. Several years later, Joseph Smith received a revelation (Dandamp;C 132) that “celestial marriage” (polygamy) is a commandment and required for exaltation.
Polygamy was secretly practiced by Joseph Smith as early as 1833, and practiced to greater extent nearly a decade later in Nauvoo. Once in the Utah territory, free from mob violence and federal reach, the LDS Church began to openly practice polygamy.
Vance then detailed the historical events that resulted in the church’s abandonment of polygamy. There was a series of federal laws passed to outlaw polygamy. Among the first the Morrill Anti-Bigamy Act, signed by Abraham Lincoln. The most draconian law was the 1887 Edmunds-Tucker Act, which disincorporated the LDS Church, dissolved its assets, and resulted in the imprisonment of many prominent Mormons. These and similar laws were deemed constitutional as per Reynolds v. United States, the case in which the Supreme Court ruled polygamy was not a protected religious practice.
Under such legal and political duress, LDS Church President Wilford Woodruff issued the 1890 Manifesto–an official denunciation of polygamy. (Polygamy, though, wasn’t really discontinued until the Second Manifesto in 1904, during the Reed Smoot hearings.)
Mormon polygamists believe that the mainstream LDS Church has been in apostasy since 1890. One evidence of this that polygamists use, and which Vance’s father was fond of citing, is that Joseph Smith identified 1890/1891 as likely years for Christ’s Second Coming. But because the church abandoned polygamy in 1890, these predictions never came to fruition. Or so the argument goes.
Vance also debunked several popular myths regarding 19th-century Mormon polygamy.
Myth: “There were all these extra women who needed to be cared for.” In truth, there was always a shortage of women.
Myth: “The Church needed large numbers of children quickly.” Monogamous wives, however, actually bore more children than their polygamous counterparts–an average of 8 children compared to the polygamous wives’ 5.9.
Myth: “Polygamy was only an incidental part of Mormonism.” An analysis of 19th-century Mormon literature shows that only the topics of Jesus Christ and Joseph Smith were mentioned more than polygamy. Its importance notwithstanding, he asserted that relatively few Mormons (an estimated 7%) engaged in polygamy. This disagrees with the late historian Richard Van Wagoner’s estimate of about 25%.
So what, then, accounts for the practice of polygamy? Vance said he suspects that much of early Mormon polygamy was and most of modern day polygamy is sex-driven.
After this discussion of the origins and history of Mormon polygamy, he shared his own personal history with polygamy.
Vance Allred was raised in one of the most famous polygamist families. His father, Rulon C. Allred, was the leader/prophet of a 9,000-member strong polygamous sect, now called the Apostolic United Brethren. Rulon had 7 wives (all of whom he wooed with identical love letters), and at least 48 children. On May 10, 1977, he was assassinated on the orders of Ervil LeBaron, head of a rival sect. This made headlines nationwide.
Growing up in a polygamous family was difficult for Vance. His family was scattered across various states in order to disguise their practice of polygamy. He was also not allowed to invite childhood friends over to the house for fear of outing the family as polygamists.
At 19, his father arranged for him to marry a 16-year-old girl, Tana. Vance was initially resistant, because he was already in love with a girl he met at the University of Utah. His father reassured him that, “If you marry enough women, you’ll get all the attributes you want.”
Eventually, though, Vance feel madly in love with Tana. While a polygamist, he married a couple more women, but his love for Tana was never diminished. And when they left polygamy, they left together. Vance and Tana have been happily married for 39 years.
They moved to Montana with many others in the Allred group to establish the Kingdom of God and await the Second Coming of Christ, which they believed was imminent. There, they lived the communal Law of Consecration, whereby all possessions were shared among the church. Vance reports that those years were the happiest of his life, because there was an intoxicating sense of purpose, belonging, and community.
When he wasn’t busy building the Kingdom of God, he was busy getting a secular education. Vance studied history at the University of Montana. In 1984, he finished his senior thesis, “Mormon Polygamy and the Manifesto of 1890: A study of Hegemony and Social Conflict.” It was the first historical treatment of the 1890 Manifesto and a robust theological defense of polygamy. Mormon fundamentalists still refer to it today.
Tana Allred then spoke briefly about the struggles of being a woman in polygamy. She recalls wrestling with insecurities that were magnified by having to ‘compete’ for her husband’s love. When she lost weight due to stress and depression, she was chastised by her mother and grandmother for giving the public appearance that living polygamously was anything but “celestial.”
She mentioned, as an interesting aside, that one of Vance’s nieces is on “Sister Wives”, a new reality TV show on TLC that features a polygamist family in Lehi, Utah. And behind the happy facade displayed for the cameras, Tana claims her niece is privately unhappy. (This may well be true, but I’m uncomfortable with these kind of accusations. People sometimes say the same of atheists and homosexuals.)
In 1993, Vance discovered that a number of the apostles were guilty of incest and child molestation. He concluded that these men could not be men of god and that the church they headed was a fraud. Upon this discovery, he and his family immediately left the Allred group.
The decision to leaveandnbsp;wasn’t difficult, but the process was. The police helped them go into hiding in Salt Lake City. The transition from a polygamous cult to ‘normal’ society overwhelmed the family at times. Shortly after the move to Salt Lake, for instance, Vance was admitted to a local hospital on suicide watch.
Tana said that each family member needed a “year of healing.” Now, 17 years later, they have all successfully acclimated to their new lives. Vance and Tana are members of the mainstream LDS Church, but most of their kids are inactive or disbelieving. This isn’t a source of familial conflict for the Allreds, however. They respect their kids’ divergent paths.
“My father clipped my and my siblings’ wings,” Vance said, “I won’t do that to my kids. I’ll let them fly.”
And fly they have. Their children are leading fulfilling and successful lives, from studying medicine to playing in the NBA.
http://usu-shaft.com/2010/the-allreds...
| Sexual and physical abuse, including incest, and other well known abuses and negative effects are facts of life for many residents of Mormon Fundamentalist polygamy communes. Now we have video testimony from former members, submitted into evidence for the B.C. Court that is currently engaged in a landmark trial to determine the constitutionality of polygamy in Canada. (The Court doesn't have the power to change the law or uphold it but is tasked with advising legislators of its opinion/rulings after a two-month hearing).
Excerpts from the video are all over the TV news tonight, prior to it even being heard in court and the video is posted on the Net (to the chagrin of at least one witness who apparently didn't realize it would be made public; she has my sympathy).
In one excerpt I saw, Mary Mackert, former plural wife, said "my husband told me we had a 'secret and special love' and then I found out he had a secret and special love for my sister too, and my other sister, and my other sister, and ... so it wasn't so secret or so special after all".
Brent Jeffs, son of Warren Jeffs, grandson of Rulon, also testified. He spoke of the violence in the polygamous communities. He also said that his grandfather had over 300 grandchildren. His only contact with his gf, he said, was a few times when he was allowed to shake his hand and say hello, but his gf "didn't know my name".
I hope there is widespread media coverage of this. As one of the lawyers for an anti-polygamy group said, there is a lot of information to come out about the harms inherent in this type of polygamy and "the public shouldn't be shielded from it".
As much as the mainstream Mormon Church wishes to remove itself from association with the FLDS, they share a founding 'prophet' and use the same scriptures and LDS past practices and current doctrine are identical to that of the FLDS. As I've stated before, former FLDS members I have spoken with self-identify as 'Mormon'.
If this type of headline news carries on, which it seems likely to, given the scheduled seven more weeks of trial to come and intense local media interest, surely it must have a huge impact on proselytizing efforts throughout B.C. Never have Mormonism and polygamy been so closely aligned in our modern era. I don't give the mishies knocking at doors in any neighbourhood much chance of finding anyone interested in joining and I would advise that they sharpen their skills at answering - or deflecting - the many questions this issue raises. Maybe, just maybe, you could explain away the practice of ageing men 'marrying' teenagers, but how can one support or excuse the systemic abuses that have been alleged for years, now being testified to by numerous people who were there and experienced and observed it firsthand? It has been historically difficult to find witnesses who would agree to testify. Maybe that has now permanently changed. It could lead to charges perhaps for some of these alleged incidents but also could encourage others to come forward to address their own experiences with abusive men and women (such as 'stepmothers', sadly). Here's hoping.
One thing I am not certain of is how much physical and sexual abuse occurred within the polygamy of JS. Is this apparently widespread and ongoing scourge of abuse a perversion in our day or is it inherently intertwined with this type of living arrangement, going all the way back to JS?
It's great that these former members have a huge platform from which to relate their experiences. I hope every single one of them receives any resources they need to recover, heal and move on to more enjoyable times. Their willingness to relate their experiences, despite pain and the sensitive nature of the material, will help the Court, others in the communes, and our society. That is quite a legacy they have to offer.
Video of some of the testimony (including one of Winston Blackmore's former wives):
http://www.globaltvbc.com/video/index...
Link to the Global TV News site, in case the other doesn't get you there (scroll down to video links, left hand side and select polygamy testimony):
http://www.globaltvbc.com/
Article on impact of polygamy on women (hint: it ain't great news for females!):
http://www.globaltvbc.com/entertainme...
Excerpt:
"[Dr. Shoshana Grossbard], a professor of economics at San Diego State University, was called as a witness by the Christian Legal Fellowship, a group opposing the legalization of polygamy.
"The professor told B.C. Supreme Court Chief Justice Robert Bauman that there were a number of unintended consequences if Canada allowed polygamy.
“Were Canada to legalize polygamy one can expect that this would negatively affect education achievement (for women) wherever polygamy is found in the urban centres,” she said.
“It would also cause all women to be under the constant threat their husbands are going to take another wife.”
"Grossbard said more competition for scarce women by men leaves many men unmarried, resulting in social problems, such as crime.
“In the cultures and societies worldwide that have embraced it, polygamy is associated with undesirable economic, societal, physical, psychological and emotional factors related to women’s wellbeing,” she said."
NG says: I hope the judge pays attention to the women and men who have lived in these communes and to the experts who actually know what they're talking about (unlike some I have heard speak).
Just as with Mormonism, to understand the depths of some of this stuff, one has to have lived it or at least seen it up close over a sustained period of time.
[OK, I think I'm done editing now. I initially posted this in a rush and then came back to revise it to add more info and to write more precise comments than I managed originally].
| The new and everlasting covenant of marriage is and always was, the new and everlasting covenant of PLURAL marriage. There is no room for any other interpretation of this. Go read it!
How can members not see this? How could I not see this? I'm sure many of you sharper individuals already knew this, but I only found it today. It literally says you can't go to the Celestial kingdom if you're not a polygamist. AND IT'S STILL CANNON SCRIPTURE!
Header: "Exaltation is gained through the new and everlasting covenant..."
"Abraham received concubines and they bore him children; and it was accounted unto him for righteousness."
"David also received many wives and concubines, and also Solomon and Moses..."
"Let mine handmaid, Emma Smith receive all those that have been given to Joseph."
"And if he have ten virgins given unto him by this law, he cannot commit adultery, for they belong to him..."
"I reveal unto you a new and everlasting covenant; and if ye abide not that covenant then ye are damned."
That's right. It says if you're not a polygamist you are damned. and it's sitting right there IN PLAIN SIGHT!
In his official manifesto on polygamy Wilford Woodruff stated, "As president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, [I] do hereby, in the most solemn manner, declare that these charges are false. We are not teaching polygamy or plural marriage." (October 6 1890, General Conference).
There are only two possible conclusions. If the Church really is true then all of it's members are damned for not abiding the new and everlasting covenant of boning ten hot virgins. Or, that the Church ceased to be true in 1890. I see no other possible conclusions.
Don't show your T.B.M acquaintances anti-Mormon anything. Make them read section 132 of the DandC from start to finish and ask them to define "new and everlasting covenant."
| Doctrine And Covenants 132 Assures Us That There Is No Promise Of Exaltation In The LDS Church
Monday, Aug 8, 2011, at 07:07 AM
Original Author(s): Jod3:360
Topic: POLYGAMY - SECTION 3 -Link To MC Article- | ↑ | DandC 132 assures us that there is no promise of Exaltation in the LDS church.
Today, the church teaches that all marriages must be performed in the temple in order to have exaltation. Despite the fact that today 'exaltation' is said to mean to be with God, the Doctrine and Covenants explicitly states that exaltation means to become a god with all power and dominion.
Since the abandoning of Polygamy (plurality of wives) the church has claimed that 'celestial marriage' is simply to be married and sealed in the temple. Most people believe that this is true. The church uses this to enforce its will upon the membership by claiming that they will lose their eternal family if they are disobedient or is they leave the faith.
A carefull reading of section 132 clearly states that plurality of wives is the ONLY way to secure an eternal life, exaltation and to become a god. This is why we have Fundamentalist Mormons. This is also why it is not a valid tool of coercion! Every Priesthood leader who tells you that you are losing your eternal family has already lost his unless he gets sealed to at least one additional wife during his life time.
Today the church will tell you that this is no longer in effect. The Official Declaration 1 clearly states that it is a political move to discontinue the practice and teaching of plurality of wives. It also provides excerpts of sermons that claim the Lord showed exactly the consequences if the practice was not stopped. And so it has stopped as far as the living.
HOWEVER- there was no revelation given, nor voted upon and canonized that changed the rules of Celestial Marriage and Exaltation. Therefore, if the revelation given in 132 is true, then the church is unable to provide the salvation and exaltation it promises. Its threats are empty, its teachings are moot.
Further, if the practice is suspended for the time being, then all who have lived since OD-1 was given have lost their promise.
Much is said about the church being true IF the Book of Mormon is true, but in reality the most important claims of divine authority lie within the contents of DandC 132. Were it not so, the lord would have had it ammended in scriptural form, instead of a mere suspension of the practice. The Law was never rescinded.
A few short but key verses from the Law of Exaltation and of becoming gods:
Doctrine and Covenants 132
Revelation given through Joseph Smith the Prophet, at Nauvoo, Illinois, recorded 12 July 1843, relating to the new and everlasting covenant, including the eternity of the marriage covenant, and also the plurality of wives (see History of the Church, 5:5017). Although the revelation was recorded in 1843, it is evident from the historical records that the doctrines and principles involved in this revelation had been known by the Prophet since 1831.
1 - Verily, thus saith the Lord unto you my servant Joseph, that inasmuch as you have inquired of my hand to know and understand wherein I, the Lord, justified my servants Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as also Moses, David and Solomon, my servants, as touching the principle and doctrine of their having many wives and concubines–
2 - Behold, and lo, I am the Lord thy God, and will answer thee as touching this matter.
3 - Therefore, prepare thy heart to receive and obey the instructions which I am about to give unto you; for all those who have this law revealed unto them must obey the same.
4 - For behold, I reveal unto you a new and an everlasting covenant; and if ye abide not that covenant, then are ye damned; for no one can reject this covenant and be permitted to enter into my glory.
17 - For these angels did not abide my law; therefore, they cannot be enlarged, but remain separately and singly, without exaltation, in their saved condition, to all eternity; and from henceforth are not gods, but are angels of God forever and ever.
19 - And again, verily I say unto you, if a man marry a wife by my word, which is my law, and by the new and everlasting covenant, and it is sealed unto them by the Holy Spirit of promise, by him who is anointed, unto whom I have appointed this power and the keys of this priesthood; and it shall be said unto them–Ye shall come forth in the first resurrection; and if it be after the first resurrection, in the next resurrection; and shall inherit thrones, kingdoms, principalities, and powers, dominions, all heights and depths–then shall it be written in the Lamb’s Book of Life, that he shall commit no murder whereby to shed innocent blood, and if ye abide in my covenant, and commit no murder whereby to shed innocent blood, it shall be done unto them in all things whatsoever my servant hath put upon them, in time, and through all eternity; and shall be of full force when they are out of the world; and they shall pass by the angels, and the gods, which are set there, to their exaltation and glory in all things, as hath been sealed upon their heads, which glory shall be a fulness and a continuation of the seeds forever and ever.
AND THE PROMISE---
20 - Then shall they be gods, because they have no end; therefore shall they be from everlasting to everlasting, because they continue; then shall they be above all, because all things are subject unto them. Then shall they be gods, because they have all power, and the angels are subject unto them.
63 - But if one or either of the ten virgins, after she is espoused, shall be with another man, she has committed adultery, and shall be destroyed; for they are given unto him to multiply and replenish the earth, according to my commandment, and to fulfil the promise which was given by my Father before the foundation of the world, and for their exaltation in the eternal worlds, that they may bear the souls of men; for herein is the work of my Father continued, that he may be glorified.
So the next time that a Priesthood leader or family member condemns you or tries to frighten you regarding your eternal family or your living with God in the Celestial Kingdom, remind them that unless he the Priesthood holder lives longer than his wife and is sealed, he too will forfeit the promise, and the same for the women in our lives who hold these threats over our heads- unless she die before her husband and he is sealed in his lifetime, she too will lose out.
Let's review verse 17 again--For these angels did not abide my law; therefore, they cannot be enlarged, but remain separately and singly, without exaltation, in their saved condition, to all eternity; and from henceforth are not gods, but are angels of God forever and ever.
If DandC 132 is true doctrine, then you must leave the LDS church and become a Fundamentalist or be damned.
If DandC is not binding as it is written, then you can walk away with a clear conscience and without fear, for the promise is false.
| A lot of people are quick to assume that my opposition to polygamy is due to intolerance of religion or the personal lives of others. Nothing could be further from the truth. Too often when we question the ethics of polygamy, the issue of adult liberties obscures other considerations. Rarely do we hear anyone speak of the rights of children or other society members who may be affected by such a pursuit.
It isn't about religion. I'm a cosmopolitan thinker. I welcome diversity and group solidarity. Religion is one of the most fascinating things about the human condition. But it's a mistake to avoid criticizing a behavior simply because it's an unusual cultural behavior. In ethics, particularly the cosmopolitan variety to which I ascribe, we have to look past cultural differences to identify actual human rights abuses. In anthropology, the emphasis is on observing culture without making moral judgments, but in ethics, moral judgments are the name of the game. It's all a matter of making appropriate moral judgments when the occasion arises. We can't refrain from making moral judgments. It's part of being human. But as the proverb says, judge not lest ye be judged. I interpret this to mean that there should be no hypocrisy in making judgments, but I don't think the proverb was intended to mean that we should refrain from making moral judgments altogether. I would know how to do that.
To ignore harms caused by some cultural activities is to be guilty of moral relativism. Again, we are not doing anthropology when we discuss ethics. Moral (cultural) relativism is a trap we should always avoid in ethics. When we forget this, we lose our ability to judge without hypocrisy. Some cultural practices are harmful indeed, like female genital mutilation, so appealing to culture is no excuse in moral matters. If that was not the case, we would be wrong to condemn slavery too.
When it comes to human rights and justice, morality is universal; not relative. We aren't going to turn our backs on anyone's human rights simply because they are part of a foreign culture. That's unacceptable. Cultural-bound moral ideas are part of the private moral sphere, whereas justice and human rights are public matters. So as long as someone's cultural practices don't harm anyone else's human rights, there is no problem and public morality is unaffected. The same goes for our private lives at home. As long as we aren't harming the rights of anyone else, what we do in private should remain beyond public scrutiny. But there is a line to draw. If anyone's private behavior puts someone else's human rights at risk, it is no longer a private matter. Crime is a public matter. Keeping the public and private realm differentiated is crucial when it comes to balancing everyone's rights You can do as you please as long as you harm no one else. But remember that even indirect harms bring harm to others. So we haveto prevent behaviors that even cause indirect harm, like polygamy in the case of "consenting adults only."
Polygamy causes indirect harms even in cases where everyone is a consenting adult. For one thing, nobody has the authority to engage in a practice that upsets the opportunity for everyone to have a spouse. This is what happens in polygamous societies. There will always be a limited number of women available to marry. And there will always be men who want to marry the available women. Nobody has the consent from general society to collect extra spouses from the pool. In a closed polygamous society, this causes severe shortages and men have to leave the society if they wish to marry. Nobody has consent to affect society this way. There is roughly enough for each person to have one spouse. That is equal. That is not excessive.
Certain human conditions are true everywhere, and that's why morality has to be universal. Your right to liberty and your right to be free from harm should be no more or less than that of anyone else, regardless of where you live and what is your cultural background. That's why we have to protect underage girls from being married off before they're capable of giving proper consent. When this happens, liberties are severely out of balance in favor of the adult man in the situation. Justice is impossible in such a situation. The man has taken liberties, but liberty is something the young girl will never know.
This feature of balanced liberties extends to religious liberties. My liberties in this regard end as soon as I compromise the liberties of anyone else. Steering children into a situation that forever restricts their religious liberties, so raising children to live a polygamous lifestyle according to your own religion is a threat to their own religious rights. In a just society, this should never be allowed to happen. If we didn't safeguard everyone's human rights this way, it would be pointless to claim that we have them. There are restrictions on what a person can do in the name of religion. If the law forbids it, that is the end of it. If the law is unjust, we can work with it but nobody has the right to break the law in the name of religion because the law is there to protect religious liberties in the first place. A decent society has more than just bare liberties. There are also liberties that come from having good governance. The point of justice is to ensure that everyone has an equal chance in life.And thus human rights must be universally-balanced for all.
Polygamy is a human rights concern. It deprives society of balanced liberties, which are the only liberties anyone has the right to have. When religion is the motivating force behind it, the injustices are guaranteed. Decriminalizing polygamy in the name of religious liberty is the worst reason of all, and for people who have no religious motivation behind their practice of polygamy, why is it necessary? Why should we decriminalize a dangerous practice for the few who want to go against the grain? If you have an open marriage, you have something very different from religious polygamy. Secular folks who want to call this polygamy just don't give us a good reason for decriminalizing it either. Formal, legal polygamy is just not a good move for a society and secular polygamists have not proven that it is. And religiously-motivated polygamy is a huge risk to human rights anyway
Prohibiting polygamy is not religious intolerance. There is no reason to assume that polygamy should be considered a legitimate religious practice. We have to have rules and limits when it comes to religiously-justified activities. If we didn't, we'd have no religious rights to discuss.
| Remember that the spokesman for the church, Richard Hinckley, was asked this specific question on the BBC interview (the one in which Apostle Jeffrey Holland insisted that he was "no dodo").
Hinckley's response was "we don't know."
If you ask present apostles Dallin Oaks or Russell Nelson, both of whom are sealed to more than one woman, they will tell you (and have publicly stated) that they expect to have both wives with them as wives in the CK.
Other recent statements from the prophets:
Joseph Fielding Smith, tenth president of the church (1970-1972) married Louise E. Shurtleff in 1898. She died in 1908. In 1908 he married Ethel G. Reynolds, who died in 1937. In 1938 he married Jessie Evans, who died in 1971. He was sealed "for eternity" to each of those women. Now, paraphrasing what the Pharisees asked Jesus: Which woman will be Smith's wife in the celestial kingdom? According to Mormon doctrine, ALL THREE will be his wives. Smith confirmed "...my wives will be mine in eternity.” (Doctrines of Salvation, vol 2, pg 67.)
Harold B. Lee, the 11th president of the church, also remarried after his wife's death and anticipated his reunion with both women in poetry:
"My lovely Joan was sent to me:
So Joan joins Fern
That three might be, more fitted for eternity.
'O Heavenly Father, my thanks to thee' "
(Deseret News 1974 Church Almanac, page 17)
Additional examples include Howard W. Hunter, the 14th church president, who married Clara May Jeffs in 1931. She died in 1983. He then married Inis Bernice Egan in 1990. Both were sealed to him for time and eternity. Hunter died in 1995, having stated that he was looking forward to being reunited with his two wives in heaven.
As for polyandry, the question has come up in doing proxy sealings for the dead, where a woman was married more than once. Church policy is to seal the woman to both men, with the understanding that she will have to choose in the CK which sealing (only one) she accepts. So, no polyandry.
| Marriage At Age 14 Was Not Common - Apostles Who Were Married Before The Church Came To Utah
Thursday, Jan 31, 2013, at 08:24 AM
Original Author(s): Leaving
Topic: POLYGAMY - SECTION 3 -Link To MC Article- | ↑ | 14 was not normal. This list comprises the LDS prophets and apostles who were married before the Church came to Utah. I included William Clayton to replace William E. McLellan because his wife’s age was not known. Each woman is the first wife of the husband.
Bathsheba Bigler was 15 years old in 1841 when she married George A. Smith (24).
Lucy Harris was 16 years old in 1808 when she married Martin Harris (25).
Vilate Murray was 16 years old in 1822 when she married Heber C. Kimball (21).
Julia A Jolley was 16 years old in 1831 when she married David Whitmer (26).
Susan Armelda Poteet was 16 years old in 1832 when she married Luke S. Johnson (26).
Maria Louisa Tanner was 17 years old in 1835 when she married Amasa M. Lyman (22).
Catherine Whitmer was 18 years old in 1825 when she married Hiram Page (25).
Sarah Long was 18 years old in 1834 when she married Lyman E. Johnson (22).
Sarah Marinda Bates was 19 years old in 1836 when she married Orson Pratt (24).
Ruth Moon was 19 years old in 1836 when she married William Clayton (22).
Artemesia Beman was 19 years old in 1838 when she married Erastus Snow (20).
Jane Snyder was 19 years old in 1842 when she married Franklin D. Richards (21).
Lucy Mack was 21 years old in 1796 when she married Joseph Smith, Sr (24).
Elizabeth Godkin was 21 years old in 1820 when she married Thomas B. Marsh (21).
Jerusha Barden was 21 years old in 1826 when she married Hyrum Smith (26).
Phoebe Ann Babcock was 21 years old in 1828 when she married David W. Patten (29).
Betsey Thompson was 21 years old in 1831 when she married John E. Page (34).
Caroline Amanda Grant was 21 years old in 1833 when she married William Smith (21).
Marinda Nancy Johnson was 21 years old in 1834 when she married Orson Hyde (29).
Jennetta Richards was 21 years old in 1838 when she married Willard Richards (34).
Harriet Benton was 22 years old in 1823 when she married Lyman Wight (26).
Elizabeth Schott was 22 years old in 1825 when she married Jacob Whitmer (25).
Emma Hale was 22 years old in 1827 when she married Joseph Smith (21).
Elizabeth Ann Whitmer was 22 years old in 1832 when she married Oliver Cowdery (26).
Miriam Works was 23 years old in 1824 when she married Brigham Young (23).
Pamelia Andrus was 23 years old in 1832 when she married Ezra T. Benson (21).
Ann Schott was 24 years old in 1825 when she married Christian Whitmer (27).
Sarah Jackson was 24 years old in 1833 when she married John Whitmer (30).
Sarah DeArmon Pea was 24 years old in 1838 when she married Charles C. Rich (28).
Vashti Higley was 25 years old in 1832 when she married Peter Whitmer, Jr (23).
Mary Bailey was 26 years old in 1834 when she married Samuel H. Smith (26).
Thankful Halsey was 30 years old in 1827 when she married Parley P. Pratt (20).
Phoebe Whittemore Carter was 30 years old in 1837 when she married Wilford Woodruff (30).
Susannah Lowell was 32 years old in 1836 when she married John F. Boynton (24).
Mary Adaline Goddard was 33 years old in 1845 when she married Lorenzo Snow (31).
Leonora Cannon was 36 years old in 1833 when she married John Taylor (24).
Cynthia Ann (maiden name and birth date unknown) in 1829 married William E. McLellan (23).
The average age difference between a teenage bride and her husband was 4.9 years. The largest age difference between a teenage bride and her husband was 10 years.
The average age of marriage for the women in the list is 22.1 years. The median age is 21 years.
The average age of marriage for the men in the list is 25.0 years. The median age is 24.5 years.
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