#26 in Christian denominations & sects books
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Reddit mentions of Mormon Polygamy: A History
Sentiment score: 4
Reddit mentions: 7
We found 7 Reddit mentions of Mormon Polygamy: A History. Here are the top ones.
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| Length | 6 inches |
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| Weight | 0.89948602896 pounds |
| Width | 1.4 inches |
> In my understanding polygamy is not officially gone from church doctrine, but rather just not currently practiced. Reading OD1 seems to confirm this as in no place does it strictly repeal it. Is this true? Will polygamy be practiced in the Celestial Kingdom and would it be practiced again should the laws of marriage in the United States change to permit it?
Yes, it is still doctrinal and does still shape sealing policies. I've been taught that it would be practiced again in the future and that it is practiced in the CK. I don't, however, believe that.
> I've heard rumors and read accounts of prominent Mormon leaders (Joseph Smith & Brigham Young in particular) marrying women who already had husbands that were still living. Is this true? What is the reasoning behind this?
Yes, it's true. I don't know the reason. It's one of the most troubling aspects of the historical practice of polygamy.
> In the afterlife, can someone marry my wife? (We are sealed in the temple)
Who really knows what exactly will happen in the afterlife?
> Brigham Young had children with multiple (like... 15ish?) wives? Why were these children not permitted to have a father they didn't share with so many others? Did Utah Territory have a significantly larger female population than male?
Brigham had children with 16 of his 55 wives. In a lot of cases, I don't really see a significant difference between growing up with Brigham Young or Heber C Kimball as your father and growing up without a father—especially when those fathers spent so much time off on missions. Utah didn't have significantly more females than males. The census actually indicates that there were more men than women. AFAIK, it was only a small number of men that were able to get a large number of wives. Elder Widstoe talks about it in his book "Evidences and Reconciliations", and concludes that they practiced polygamy not because there were surplus women but because they believed that God commanded it.
> D&C 132:62-64. Do we still believe that? Why is that still in the scripture, it seems very... ... not what I learn in Sunday School. Man owning women, man sleeping with many women - women being denied the same, if the original wife disagrees God will "destroy" her... this is a bit concerning, please tell me I'm misunderstanding this.
No, I think that you do understand these verses. I don't know whether or not "we" (the Church) believe them, but I don't accept them. They're in the canon, but any lesson that includes section 132 is usually selective about how it covers it and mostly just covers the blessings of eternal (one man and one woman) marriage.
Polygamy is difficult to understand and easy to judge. There was some good that came out of it (including me), but a lot of it was also done poorly.
If you really want to learn more about polygamy, I would recommend reading history books.
Here are some good ones you could look into:
I would also recommend reading what Parley P Pratt wrote about polygamy in his autobiography, as well as this essay that the church recently put out.
I also have it linked in the text portion of the Wives of Joseph Smith Infographic
References:
Marriage Details are from wivesofjosephsmith.org
Which has compiled genealogical research from the following sources:
[A] familysearch.org (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City)
[B] Mormon Polygamy: A History, (Van Wagoner, Signature Books, Salt Lake City, 1989)
[C] Mormon Enigma: Emma Hale Smith, (Newell & Avery, University of Illinois Press, Urbana and Chicago, 1994)
[D] In Sacred Loneliness: The Plural Wives of Joseph Smith, (Compton, Signature Books, Salt Lake City, 1997)
[E] Doctrine and Covenants, (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City)
Additional Panel References:
[1] "Utah Struggles With a Revival of Polygamy", NY Times, 8/23/1998, James Brooke
[2] Polyandry definition at wikipedia.
[3] Henry Jacobs' mission call; "Zina and Her Men", FAIR LDS Conference, 2006
[4] David Sessions mission call, wivesofjosephsmith.org, Patty Bartlett Sessions Biography
[5] Desdemona Fullmer quote, wivesofjosephsmith.org, D. Fuller Biography
*The cameo silhouettes were created by mormoninfographics for presentation purposes.
Other Resources
Black and White version of this chart for printouts, download here.
Full Rez image from above here.
"Joseph Smith, the Prophet and Seer of the Lord, has done more, save Jesus only, for the salvation of men in this world, than any other man that ever lived in it" (D&C 135:3)
Seriously, after I read Mormon Polygamy: A History and No Man Knows My History and thought about how I'd been taught to deify Joseph Smith and knew little to nothing about the actual man, it was then that I understood the allegations of cult-like characteristics that are lodged against the Mormon church.
Thanks for mentioning us pre-internet pioneers of exmo-ness.
I left in late 1995. Made the mistake of reading Richard S. Van Wagoner's "Mormon Polygamy: A History"
I felt so guilty for reading that book. But, I just couldn't put it down. It was the first time I felt like someone was giving me a real picture of Joseph Smith the man, not the myth. Decided I needed to balance out what I was getting in Van Wagoner's book with something more "church approved." Went to Deseret Book. Asked the girl working if they had anything on polygamy. She said she thought they had one book- they did. It was the book I was already reading.
That was the moment I took the red pill. There was no turning back and the floodgates were opened. I then read:
And then I started checking out copies of Sunstone and Dialogue.
I started checking out some of the articles at Utah Lighthouse Ministries and made one trip to their book store, but I was already becoming an atheist and I didn't really like how they weren't just trying to debunk Mormonism but also trying to sell born again xianity.
By November of 1996 I was already attending a Unitarian Universalist congregation and also pretty much an athiest at that point.
When stuff like MormonThink came along, I was already pretty much post-Mormon. And, when I discovered r/exmormon, I was suddenly surprised at how much I liked watching what was happening here.
I'm always surprised at the announcements people make about being done with this place. But, then I found it when I was already over all the emotional rage at having been deceived. I think I just like watching the train wreck at this point. People's posts here really give me the sense that Mormonism is imploding at a rate faster than this stodgy institution is prepared to deal with- makes me happy.
Helen Mar's marriage was sexual
"I would never have been sealed to Joseph had I known it was anything more than ceremony. I was young, and they deceived me, by saying the salvation of our whole family depended on it." - Helen Mar.
Source: Mormon Polygamy: A History by LDS member Richard S. Van Wagoner, p. 53.)
My initial thoughts:
See if any of those pique your interest. I found them all to be fair, with little bias. Happy studying!
This book is good, written by an LDS member. D Michael Quinn is another excellent historian on this and other subjects.
Whether you agree with it or not, Prop 8 is a good watch, and would not require the investment of time that a book would.