Times are getting tough for Polygamists...

[Ianofsmeg16]

Well everyone associates Polygamy with Mormons, you do realise that it was banned from the church in the very late 1800s. Most Mormons I know frown upon it as much as everyone else, in fact it annoys them slightly when its brought up.

EDIT: My mums a mormon, thats how i know :D

[Divinus Arma]

Polygamy? Fine.

"assigning" or "reassigning" teenage girls: sick and evil.

Banning young men so they can't become love interests for young girls: sick and evil.


This guy Jeffs give polygamy a bad name. What a bloody jerk off.

[Pindar]

So, I ask, where does the teaching on polygamy come from? Is it from the Book of Mormon?

Hello,

Polygamy and Mormonism: Polygamy is not taught in the Book of Mormon. Interestingly, in the text there is a group condemned for going in for the idea. The sense is they were lechers running amuck. Polygamy came to the fore as a principle in Mormon thought in the late 1830's as I recall, but wasn't openly taught until after the flight to the Rocky Mountains (1847). Its practice probably became the key identifier and source of tension between Mormons and the U.S. The U.S. actually declared war on Mormons in the 1850's. Apparently, some abolitionists in Washington expected the Utah Territory to join with the Confederacy, as polygamists were held as morally comparable with slave holders and thus likely to join together in their opposition to what is right and just.

Mormons consistently appealed to the notion of freedom of religion in their struggle with the Government. In 1878 the issue was brought before the Supreme Court in the Reynolds Case. The Court ruled against the practice. Government pressures increased: church leaders were hunted and imprisoned, properties were seized, assets confiscated etc. In 1890 the LDS Church issued statements know as the "Manifesto" where polygamy was to end. From that time forward it was no longer practiced among LDS in the U.S. Some Mormons fled to Mexico or Canada in the hopes of preserving their families. Other groups disavowed the Church's action taking the reversal as a sign the leadership had fallen and many small splinter groups emerged and went underground. At present, these groups survive in both the wilds of the desert, small cities like Colorado City in Arizona and as closet communities in Utah itself. I haven't seen Big Love, but from what I've heard, it sounds like it would be set with one of these closet groups in Utah.

But I just don't see where polygamy would be allowed. I know prior to the Captivity, many Jewish men kept concubines, and somewhere between the time of Ezra and Christ, that fell out of favor. It's clear that Christ lines up on the one-man, one-woman view of things. So where does the justification for one-man, several-women come from?
I know most LDS don't practice polygamy, and I'm not trying to tar anybody's reputation. I'm just seriously curious. LDS won't even drink coffee, so it's not like they play fast and free with allowing themselves to indulge in things they know they ought not to....

The idea behind polygamy in Mormon thought is tied to a larger rhetorical stance of the faith. This is the idea of a doctrinal restoration of what was. This includes both right understanding and authority to act regarding the things of God. Marriage is seen as Divinely instituted and polygamy as one possible form of marriage. Historically, polygamy was the norm. It both predates the Mosaic Period (recall the multiple wives of the Patriarchs) was practiced during it (recall the multiple wives of Moses) and continued afterwards. There are no disavowals of polygamy in the canon (New Testament or otherwise). Jews actually continued the practice up into the Tenth Century. Christians moved away from it as they adopted more and more the Greco-Roman model which was monogamy.

I think men are polygamous by nature: serial monogamy being one simple example. If that is correct, then it is interesting how polygamy is despised and rejected by so many, even among those who accept gay lifestyles in the name of tolerance. If Big Love becomes popular and depending on how they depict polygamists in the show, if will be interesting to see if that has an impact on ideas about polygamists in general.

[Lemur]

That was wildly informative. Thank you, Pindar.

[Pindar]

That was wildly informative. Thank you, Pindar.

I live to serve.

[Byzantine Prince]

I think men are polygamous by nature: serial monogamy being one simple example. If that is correct, then it is interesting how polygamy is despised and rejected by so many, even among those who accept gay lifestyles in the name of tolerance.

I am sure women are serial monogamists as well. Why don't women get like 3 or 4 husbands?

I think that polygamy was created in order to make up for the lack of men in post-war periods when most of the men were killed in battle and women became single. In the Seleucid Empire it became so huge a problem that there were 2 women for 1 man in the whole empire. In some places there were no men at all. Polygamy is hereditary traditionalism for the most part.

Polygamy does not make sense numerically. The ratios of men to women are almost equal in our era.

[Strike For The South]

Polygamy undermines the whole concept of love anyway.

[Kralizec]

Thank you, Pindar. I found that very interesting.

Though I vaguely recall a verse about there not being any prophets until the second coming of Jesus, only false prophets. I'll see if I can find it.

[Don Corleone]

Yes, thank you very much Pindar. You've given me much food for thought.

[Pindar]

Thank you, Pindar. I found that very interesting.

Though I vaguely recall a verse about there not being any prophets until the second coming of Jesus, only false prophets. I'll see if I can find it.

OK

[Pindar]

Polygamy undermines the whole concept of love anyway.

Why?

[Strike For The South]

Why?

The idea of loving one person giving yourself up for the one love of your life. Not 3 or 4. Thats how I was always tuaght it was. A marrige is between one woman and one man and they pledge themselves to eachohter.