The issue of polygamy has long been a point of contention between Mormonism and the rest of the world. To this day, people still ask, "Do Mormons practice polygamy?" The short and honest answer to this is, "No." But that's not the whole truth.
So what is the deal with polygamy, anyway? Why did Mormons at one time practice it, and why do they no longer? Why does the world object to polygamy? Should both the world and Mormons continue to object to polygamy as we do now? What does the Bible have to say on the subject? What does latter-day scripture have to say on the subject?
The purpose of this article is to answer all of these questions to my own satisfaction, and, hopefully to yours.
The Right and Wrong of Polygamy
The scriptures give us both injunctions against polygamy and examples of legitimate use of it that were quite evidently acceptable before God. In other words, there are times when it is lawful before God and perfectly good and right to use polygamy, and there are times when it is not. So how do we know when it is right and when it's not?
Two Laws: Monogamy and Polygamy
We have to understand that there are in fact two laws of marriage: monogamy and polygamy. The scriptures give us ample instruction as to the operation of the primary law of marriage, which is monogamy:
But the scriptures also provide abundant examples of legitimate uses of the secondary law of marriage: polygamy. The Bible even provides commandments for how to use polygamy when it is approved of God:
The cases of David and Solomon bear special scrutiny. When David had his illegitimate encounter with Bathsheba, the prophet Nathan chastised him in the name of the Lord, saying:
In other words, both David and Solomon had legitimate wives, and they both took wives that were not approved of God. Latter-day scripture gives us the key to knowing when polygamy is an abomination in the sight of God and when it is obedience to a commandment. Repeating for his people the words of the Lord concerning polygamy, the Book of Mormon prophet Jacob said:
"...if I will, saith the Lord of Hosts, raise up seed unto me, I will command my people; otherwise they shall hearken unto these things." (Jacob 2:30)
In other words, polygamy is an abomination unless God commands us to enter into it, which happens on a case-by-case basis. Joseph Smith asked the Lord this very same question about how polygamy could be both an abomination and a commandment. His answer was as follows:
Why Did Early Latter-Day Saints Practice Polygamy?
Early in Church history, the Lord commanded Joseph Smith to institute the practice of polygamy. So reticent to do so was Joseph Smith that he procrastinated despite continued reminders from the Lord. Finally, the Lord threatened to remove Joseph Smith from his place as the prophet unless he did as he had been commanded.
So, reluctantly, Joseph did as he was commanded, and, reluctantly, the people of the Church obeyed. I believe the Lord's primary reason for having them do this was to "raise up seed" as Jacob taught the Nephites. Isaiah had prophesied:
"...it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it." (Isaiah 2:2)
Today, the words "Mormon" and "Utah" - a Native American word meaning "tops of the mountains" are nearly synonymous the world over. Despite the nations flowing unto it, the "Beehive State" continues to maintain a majority population of Latter-Day Saints, and this is the fastest baptizing area in the world. Polygamy in the early Church played no small part in establishing the mountain of the Lord's house - His Church - in the tops of the mountains in the latter-days.
Why Did They Stop Practicing Polygamy?
The short answer is that, through His prophet, God commanded them to stop.
Starting the 1860's, in direct violation of the Latter-Day Saints' first amendment rights, the United States Congress passed a series of anti-polygamy laws, culminating in the Emunds Anti-Polygamy Act of 1882, which was upheld by the Supreme Court. For almost thirty years, the federal government conducted a protracted campaign of prosecution and harassment against a people that had fled the United States and were living in frontier territory in the hope of being left in peace to live their faith.
The Saints had been commanded of God, and they felt they were on the hook to do as they had been commanded. Despite their own objections, and despite whatever persecution they came to bear because of it, they continued obeying the command of God with respect to polygamy in defiance of the law, amidst thirty years of confiscation of temples and chapels, arrests being made, and families being torn apart because of federal interference with the exercise of their faith.
God had commanded the Saints through His prophets to "raise up seed". Polygamy gave power and impetus to the establishment of the Lord's Church in the Utah territory. But under this persecution, it became clear that polygamy was turning out to be as much a threat to the Church and the survival of its members as it had been a source of power for causing it to grow. In 1890, the Lord commanded President Wilford Woodruff, the prophet at the time, to cease the practice of polygamy in the Church, and He showed him in vision what would happen if they did not. For President Woodruff's account concerning the revelation he received, see Official Declaration 1.
As of that time, and per the Lord's requirements concerning polygamous marriage, the Church and its members consider polygamy to be an unlawful abomination - one that will result in excommunication of any who enter into it. If or when this ever changes, it will be because God commanded it through His latter-day prophets and apostles, just as in times of old, according to the laws of heaven which He has established and perfectly maintained both in antiquity and in modern times.
The World's Objection to Polygamy
The world as we now know it has long objected to polygamy on what it claims are moral grounds. I find this highly ironic, and even hypocritical. How can a world that has given marriage to homosexuals, found such fascination in pornography, flung wide open the exit-doors of quick and easy no-fault divorce, condoned extra-marital sexual relations between "consenting adults", and then permitted and even defended the murder of that which was conceived by their irresponsible behavior possibly claim to object to polygamy - or anything else for that matter - on moral grounds? I for one believe our grossly immoral world is not in a position to make such a claim, and cannot expect to be taken seriously in so doing. I think it ironic and even hypocritical that the world is far more welcoming of homosexuality and of homosexual marriage - plainly a perversion (if we strip out connotations and understand the definition of the word) of that which God has given us, speaking both physiologically and in terms of the ordinances of His priesthood. My position on this is not helped by the fact that some homosexuals have so virulently and caustically opposed any talk of the legalization of polygamy, when they themselves seek to redefine marriage to accommodate their own lifestyles. Not only is their claim not based on a claim of freedom to exercise their faith (in my view, the only claim that could truly afford them protection under the Constitution), but it has in fact sought to curtail the exercise of religious belief in states where homosexual marriage is allowed.
Fox News: Marriage Died in 2013
Termination of the Fire Chief Kelvin Kochran
Florist sued out of business for not serving a gay wedding
Baker sentenced to "re-education" for not making gay wedding cakes
The world's objection to polygamy was originally instructed by Christianity - a faith to which the world is now increasingly turning a cold shoulder. Why does the world continue to hold so tenaciously onto this one incomplete facet of a faith to which it no longer adheres? I personally believe the reason for this is that Satan has gotten great hold upon the hearts of the people, and he continues to oppose the latter-day work of God and the powerful tool that is polygamy in causing it to grow. I believe both Satan and the world will yet be held to answer for interfering with the Lord's work in this way.
"Mainstream" Christianity has maintained its wholesale objection to polygamy because of the Bible's many injunctions against it, without paying much mind to the fact that the Bible is rife with examples of legitimate polygamous marriages. Following the removal of prophets and apostles from the earth less than a century after the Lord's mortal ministry, the absence of any guidance on why and when God allowed polygamy, and the absence of the revelation through prophets by which He allowed it did, in fact, make polygamy an abomination by default. God was not giving revelation to any prophet, so there was no channel by which He could approve a specific union, thereby precluding the possibility of a God-sanctioned polygamous marriage. Believers in God and in Christ were not re-introduced to this concept until the Savior restored His Church through Joseph Smith in 1830. (see Doctrine and Covenants 132:40) Unfortunately, the world and even mainstream Christianity will not be in a position to acknowledge the legitimacy of any latter-day God-sanctioned polygamy until they first acknowledge the divine callings of God's latter-day prophets and apostles - the means by which such unions are approved.
In the meantime, faithful Christians the world around need to square with one simple fact: without polygamy there would have been no Christ, or He would have had to come into the world some other way. In Genesis chapter forty-nine, we see Jacob bless his son Joseph, prophesying that the Savior would be among his descendants. The Savior's ancestral lineage as given in Matthew chapter one bears this out. But Joseph was the son of Rachel, the love of Jacob's life - and his second wife.
Mormonism's Objection to Polygamy
Nowadays, the Latter-Day Saints object to polygamy wholesale, though for a reason that differs from that of the rest of Christendom. We object to polygamy in part because God commanded us through His prophets of the time to submit to the law of the land which forbade it. Polygamy is to us, therefore, an abomination until the Lord shall command us otherwise. I think I can speak for most of us when I say we object to polygamy because we don't want to live "the principle" any more than did most early Latter-Day Saints.
However, twenty-first century Latter-Day Saints who are still resistant to it will need to come to grips with the reality of polygamy at some point too. Mormon doctrine teaches that the highest echelons of the celestial glory (see 1 Corinthians 15:40-41, Doctrine & Covenants 76) are only available to those who are married in eternity. To put it in the words of the apostle Paul, "neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without the man, in the Lord." (1 Corinthians 11:11, Doctrine and Covenants 132)
Any member of the Church who has served a full-time mission or otherwise lived outside of Utah knows that in "the mission field" there are more faithful women than men. Will God allow millions of faithful women who otherwise qualify for eternal exaltation to be deprived of it for the simple reason that there aren't enough faithful men to go around? Were it true, this absurd notion would defy the mercy and justice of a loving God - a breach of universal law that most certainly would cause both Him and us to be no more. (2 Nephi 2:12-13) Those who are honest enough to "do the math" will unavoidably find that polygamy is part of the equation that will result in the eternal exaltation of the maximum possible number of His faithful daughters. There is no getting around the laws of heaven - not even for God.
To my knowledge, neither the LDS Church nor any of its prophets or apostles has made any statement or taught any doctrine to this effect, yet I personally believe that in eternity, the faithful will have little choice but to practice polygamy, it being unconscionable to preclude the eternal exaltation of so many.
The Morality of Polygamy
Under God, the morality of polygamy as entered into by early Latter-Day Saints is entirely dependent upon revelation through prophets and apostles and therefore hangs heavily on our claim to be the "stone cut out of the mountain without hands" - the Lord's work, and the last dispensation of the fulness of times in the latter days. For more information concerning these claims, see the following:
General Apostasy & Restoration - Foretold
General Apostasy & Restoration - Fulfilled
The Coming Forth of the Book of Mormon
Offices of the Priesthood - Ancient
Offices of the Priesthood - Latter-Day
my Church page
God commanded Nephi to kill Laban and take the brass plates, knowing that He was guiding Nephi to build a nation - a nation that would need the scriptures written on those brass plates in order to remain in the gospel covenant and thereby attain salvation rather than dwindle in unbelief. (1 Nephi 4:6-18)
It has been in compliance with God's moral standard and not that of society that the Latter-Day Saints have in times past lived their faith in defiance of the law. And if the Saints should be called upon to offend the not-so-moral sensibilities of an increasingly immoral and ungodly world or even to violate the laws of the land again, it will be because that God who knows all right from wrong commanded it, and we will obey, fearing not what man can do.
My Take On Polygamy
Ironic as this may seem, the fact that I have been divorced (I don't claim to be perfect at living my faith) and happily remarried actually has opened my mind somewhat and caused me to have a more accepting attitude toward polygamy - provided it is expressly sanctioned by God through His prophets and apostles. Quite unexpectedly, being remarried after divorce has repeatedly put me in a position of being the meat between two piranhas - dealing with wife-versus-ex family politics. I have repeatedly had to deal with balancing what remains of my sense of obligation to my ex and our two daughters against the needs of my wife and our three children. I have, if you will, experienced a microcosm of polygamous life - not always the most pleasant experience, but one that has nonetheless afforded me a lesser trepidation for what now is at least a little familiar.
The Morality of Divorce, The Morality of Polygamy
I would contend, even if it is to my condemnation, that divorce, so common in the world today, is no more or less immoral than unbridled polygamy, and for all the same reasons. If we marry irresponsibly, as I did, or if we put away our spouses and give them a bill of divorcement for light and transient causes (i.e. "I just don't feel like doing this relationship anymore" or "we've grown apart"), we are guilty of adultery until we confess it to religious authorities and go through the process of obtaining the Lord's forgiveness. It is for this reason divorce will, if only temporarily, always cost a Latter-Day Saint his or her good standing and admission to the temple, as it did me while I was going through that process. To my knowledge, those who divorce for reasons associated with infidelity, abuse, or extensive and traumatizing emotional neglect (some of which were factors in the failure of my first marriage) are not usually considered guilty of adultery in the Church.
Similarly, to enter into polygamy for the wrong reasons is to treat lightly that which comes to us legally only by way of individual commandment from the Lord. I would even go so far as to suggest that one who enters into a specific polygamous union without waiting for the Lord to command it runs the risk that he is committing abomination. If we enter into polygamy with the intent of making an end run around our covenants with our current spouses, we are as guilty of adultery as if we'd just simply committed the affair. Brigham Young, an early LDS prophet who took many wives, was very clear on that point. Can we even fathom the perverseness of forcing our wives to deal with our making of an illicit lover into her sister wife? The thought of doing that to my beloved eternal companion makes me sick to my stomach!
What Do "Mainstream" Mormons Think About Kody Brown and His "Sister Wives"?
I can't speak for all the members of the LDS Church, but I'll tell you what I make of it.
Kody and his family are members of the FLDS Church - or fundamentalist Mormons as they are often called. They have been very good about distinguishing between the LDS and FLDS churches, making sure the public knows which one they belong to. To my understanding, the FLDS church parted ways with the LDS church over President Woodruff's declaration that caused the ceasing of the practice of polygamy. They believe that the practice of polygamy continues to be a God-sanctioned part of what to them is the LDS church.
While I, as a "mainstream" Mormon believe different than Kody, my view on the "Sister Wives" is that he is practicing polygamy in the light of what he believes is good and right and true by virtue of his religious beliefs. I notice that the search for and addition of a new wife in their family has always begun with discussion between Kody and the current wife or wives, and therefore is not motivated by lust or infidelity masquerading as a plural marriage. I do not see any reason to believe that any of Kody's wives were compelled to enter into plural marriage with him against their will - a practice that reportedly has occurred from time to time in the FLDS church and one that I find deeply offensive. I believe that God will hold Kody answerable to the moral standard in which Kody genuinely and truly believes. If Kody truly and honestly believes that he is expected to practice polygamy, and if he does so in strict compliance with his religious beliefs, without violating the agency of any of his wives in the process, I don't believe it is for us to look down on him, or judge him, or think his lifestyle immoral. I certainly don't believe it is the business of the federal government - or that of the state of Utah, for that matter - to pass or keep on the books legislation that interferes with the Browns' exercise of their faith. To do so is to violate both constitutions - that of the United States and that of the State of Utah.
Sister Wives Defeat Utah's polygamy law in federal court
I Will Go and Do
As far as I'm concerned, Christ is the author and finisher of my faith and therefore of my morality, so I personally see no moral issues with obeying God's commandments, even if I must do so in defiance of the laws of the land - a conundrum I fear will not be long in coming my way, though not likely because of polygamy.
I don't believe I have the financial resources or the emotional sanity to support a polygamous family, and so I cringe at the thought of being put in the shoes of those early Latter-Day Saints. I hope to high heaven I never have to "live the principle." I find great relief in the current "abomination" status of polygamy as it now stands in the LDS Church, knowing it means I will likely never be called upon to live it.
But if God, through his latter-day prophets or apostles, were to require it of me tomorrow, what once was abomination would become a commandment, and, much like early Latter-Day Saints, I would feel compelled by the many sacred covenants I have made with Him and by the loyalty I feel toward Him, by the priority I place on the salvation of my posterity or of others thus redeemed, to go and do as He has commanded.
So what is the deal with polygamy, anyway? Why did Mormons at one time practice it, and why do they no longer? Why does the world object to polygamy? Should both the world and Mormons continue to object to polygamy as we do now? What does the Bible have to say on the subject? What does latter-day scripture have to say on the subject?
The purpose of this article is to answer all of these questions to my own satisfaction, and, hopefully to yours.
The Right and Wrong of Polygamy
The scriptures give us both injunctions against polygamy and examples of legitimate use of it that were quite evidently acceptable before God. In other words, there are times when it is lawful before God and perfectly good and right to use polygamy, and there are times when it is not. So how do we know when it is right and when it's not?
Two Laws: Monogamy and Polygamy
We have to understand that there are in fact two laws of marriage: monogamy and polygamy. The scriptures give us ample instruction as to the operation of the primary law of marriage, which is monogamy:
- "...hearken to the word of the Lord: For there shall not any man among you have save it be one wife... I, the Lord God, delight in the chastity of women. And whoredoms are an abomination before me; thus saith the Lord of Hosts... I, the Lord, have seen the sorrow, and heard the mourning of the daughters of my people... because of the wickedness and abominations of their husbands... they shall not commit whoredoms, like unto them of old, saith the Lord of Hosts..." (Jacob 2:27-33)
- "For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh..." (Matthew 19:5)
- "Wherefore, it is lawful that he should have one wife, and they twain shall be one flesh, and all this that the earth might answer the end of its creation..." (Doctrine and Covenants 49:15-16)
- "Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh." (Genesis 2:24)
- "For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband. So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man." (Romans 7:2-3)
- "let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband..." (1 Corinthians 7:2)
But the scriptures also provide abundant examples of legitimate uses of the secondary law of marriage: polygamy. The Bible even provides commandments for how to use polygamy when it is approved of God:
- Sarai gave Hagar, her handmaiden to Abram (Genesis 16:1–11)
- Jacob received Leah and Rachel and their handmaidens as wives (Genesis 29:21–28, Genesis 30:4, 9, 26)
- If a man take another wife, he shall not diminish the first wife’s possessions. (Exodus 21:10)
- David and his two wives went up to Hebron. (2 Samuel 2:1–2)
The cases of David and Solomon bear special scrutiny. When David had his illegitimate encounter with Bathsheba, the prophet Nathan chastised him in the name of the Lord, saying:
"And Nathan said to David... Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, I anointed thee king over Israel, and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul; And
I gave thee thy master’s house, and thy master’s wives into thy bosom,
and gave thee the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that had been too little, I would moreover have given unto thee such and such things. Wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of the Lord, to do evil in his sight? ...Now therefore the sword shall never depart from thine house; because thou hast despised me, and hast taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife." (2 Samuel 12:7-10)
Note that it was God who had given David wives. Note that, if those wives had not been enough, God would have given him more. But David incurred the wrath of God in taking Bathsheba for his wife, because it is He who determines how many wives is "enough".
Solomon also was given legitimate wives but took many wives from many nations - a thing which was in direct violation of God's commandments to all his people.
"But king Solomon loved many strange women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, and Hittites; Of the nations concerning which the Lord said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall not go in to them, neither shall they come in unto you: for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods: Solomon clave unto these in love. And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines: and his wives turned away his heart." (1 Kings 11:1-3)
In other words, both David and Solomon had legitimate wives, and they both took wives that were not approved of God. Latter-day scripture gives us the key to knowing when polygamy is an abomination in the sight of God and when it is obedience to a commandment. Repeating for his people the words of the Lord concerning polygamy, the Book of Mormon prophet Jacob said:
"...if I will, saith the Lord of Hosts, raise up seed unto me, I will command my people; otherwise they shall hearken unto these things." (Jacob 2:30)
In other words, polygamy is an abomination unless God commands us to enter into it, which happens on a case-by-case basis. Joseph Smith asked the Lord this very same question about how polygamy could be both an abomination and a commandment. His answer was as follows:
"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 - Behold, and lo, I am the Lord thy God, and will answer thee as touching this matter.... God commanded Abraham, and Sarah gave Hagar
to Abraham to wife. And why did she do it? Because this was the law;
and from Hagar sprang many people. This, therefore, was fulfilling,
among other things, the promises. Was Abraham, therefore, under condemnation? Verily I say unto you, Nay; for I, the Lord, commanded it. Abraham received concubines,
and they bore him children; and it was accounted unto him for
righteousness, because they were given unto him, and he abode in my law;
as Isaac also and Jacob did none other things than that which they were
commanded... David also received many wives
and concubines, and also Solomon and Moses my servants, as also many
others of my servants, from the beginning of creation until this time;
and in nothing did they sin save in those things which they received not
of me." (Doctrine and Covenants 132:34-38)
Why Did Early Latter-Day Saints Practice Polygamy?
Early in Church history, the Lord commanded Joseph Smith to institute the practice of polygamy. So reticent to do so was Joseph Smith that he procrastinated despite continued reminders from the Lord. Finally, the Lord threatened to remove Joseph Smith from his place as the prophet unless he did as he had been commanded.
So, reluctantly, Joseph did as he was commanded, and, reluctantly, the people of the Church obeyed. I believe the Lord's primary reason for having them do this was to "raise up seed" as Jacob taught the Nephites. Isaiah had prophesied:
"...it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it." (Isaiah 2:2)
Today, the words "Mormon" and "Utah" - a Native American word meaning "tops of the mountains" are nearly synonymous the world over. Despite the nations flowing unto it, the "Beehive State" continues to maintain a majority population of Latter-Day Saints, and this is the fastest baptizing area in the world. Polygamy in the early Church played no small part in establishing the mountain of the Lord's house - His Church - in the tops of the mountains in the latter-days.
Why Did They Stop Practicing Polygamy?
The short answer is that, through His prophet, God commanded them to stop.
Starting the 1860's, in direct violation of the Latter-Day Saints' first amendment rights, the United States Congress passed a series of anti-polygamy laws, culminating in the Emunds Anti-Polygamy Act of 1882, which was upheld by the Supreme Court. For almost thirty years, the federal government conducted a protracted campaign of prosecution and harassment against a people that had fled the United States and were living in frontier territory in the hope of being left in peace to live their faith.
The Saints had been commanded of God, and they felt they were on the hook to do as they had been commanded. Despite their own objections, and despite whatever persecution they came to bear because of it, they continued obeying the command of God with respect to polygamy in defiance of the law, amidst thirty years of confiscation of temples and chapels, arrests being made, and families being torn apart because of federal interference with the exercise of their faith.
God had commanded the Saints through His prophets to "raise up seed". Polygamy gave power and impetus to the establishment of the Lord's Church in the Utah territory. But under this persecution, it became clear that polygamy was turning out to be as much a threat to the Church and the survival of its members as it had been a source of power for causing it to grow. In 1890, the Lord commanded President Wilford Woodruff, the prophet at the time, to cease the practice of polygamy in the Church, and He showed him in vision what would happen if they did not. For President Woodruff's account concerning the revelation he received, see Official Declaration 1.
As of that time, and per the Lord's requirements concerning polygamous marriage, the Church and its members consider polygamy to be an unlawful abomination - one that will result in excommunication of any who enter into it. If or when this ever changes, it will be because God commanded it through His latter-day prophets and apostles, just as in times of old, according to the laws of heaven which He has established and perfectly maintained both in antiquity and in modern times.
The World's Objection to Polygamy
The world as we now know it has long objected to polygamy on what it claims are moral grounds. I find this highly ironic, and even hypocritical. How can a world that has given marriage to homosexuals, found such fascination in pornography, flung wide open the exit-doors of quick and easy no-fault divorce, condoned extra-marital sexual relations between "consenting adults", and then permitted and even defended the murder of that which was conceived by their irresponsible behavior possibly claim to object to polygamy - or anything else for that matter - on moral grounds? I for one believe our grossly immoral world is not in a position to make such a claim, and cannot expect to be taken seriously in so doing. I think it ironic and even hypocritical that the world is far more welcoming of homosexuality and of homosexual marriage - plainly a perversion (if we strip out connotations and understand the definition of the word) of that which God has given us, speaking both physiologically and in terms of the ordinances of His priesthood. My position on this is not helped by the fact that some homosexuals have so virulently and caustically opposed any talk of the legalization of polygamy, when they themselves seek to redefine marriage to accommodate their own lifestyles. Not only is their claim not based on a claim of freedom to exercise their faith (in my view, the only claim that could truly afford them protection under the Constitution), but it has in fact sought to curtail the exercise of religious belief in states where homosexual marriage is allowed.
Fox News: Marriage Died in 2013
Termination of the Fire Chief Kelvin Kochran
Florist sued out of business for not serving a gay wedding
Baker sentenced to "re-education" for not making gay wedding cakes
The world's objection to polygamy was originally instructed by Christianity - a faith to which the world is now increasingly turning a cold shoulder. Why does the world continue to hold so tenaciously onto this one incomplete facet of a faith to which it no longer adheres? I personally believe the reason for this is that Satan has gotten great hold upon the hearts of the people, and he continues to oppose the latter-day work of God and the powerful tool that is polygamy in causing it to grow. I believe both Satan and the world will yet be held to answer for interfering with the Lord's work in this way.
"Mainstream" Christianity has maintained its wholesale objection to polygamy because of the Bible's many injunctions against it, without paying much mind to the fact that the Bible is rife with examples of legitimate polygamous marriages. Following the removal of prophets and apostles from the earth less than a century after the Lord's mortal ministry, the absence of any guidance on why and when God allowed polygamy, and the absence of the revelation through prophets by which He allowed it did, in fact, make polygamy an abomination by default. God was not giving revelation to any prophet, so there was no channel by which He could approve a specific union, thereby precluding the possibility of a God-sanctioned polygamous marriage. Believers in God and in Christ were not re-introduced to this concept until the Savior restored His Church through Joseph Smith in 1830. (see Doctrine and Covenants 132:40) Unfortunately, the world and even mainstream Christianity will not be in a position to acknowledge the legitimacy of any latter-day God-sanctioned polygamy until they first acknowledge the divine callings of God's latter-day prophets and apostles - the means by which such unions are approved.
In the meantime, faithful Christians the world around need to square with one simple fact: without polygamy there would have been no Christ, or He would have had to come into the world some other way. In Genesis chapter forty-nine, we see Jacob bless his son Joseph, prophesying that the Savior would be among his descendants. The Savior's ancestral lineage as given in Matthew chapter one bears this out. But Joseph was the son of Rachel, the love of Jacob's life - and his second wife.
Mormonism's Objection to Polygamy
Nowadays, the Latter-Day Saints object to polygamy wholesale, though for a reason that differs from that of the rest of Christendom. We object to polygamy in part because God commanded us through His prophets of the time to submit to the law of the land which forbade it. Polygamy is to us, therefore, an abomination until the Lord shall command us otherwise. I think I can speak for most of us when I say we object to polygamy because we don't want to live "the principle" any more than did most early Latter-Day Saints.
However, twenty-first century Latter-Day Saints who are still resistant to it will need to come to grips with the reality of polygamy at some point too. Mormon doctrine teaches that the highest echelons of the celestial glory (see 1 Corinthians 15:40-41, Doctrine & Covenants 76) are only available to those who are married in eternity. To put it in the words of the apostle Paul, "neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without the man, in the Lord." (1 Corinthians 11:11, Doctrine and Covenants 132)
Any member of the Church who has served a full-time mission or otherwise lived outside of Utah knows that in "the mission field" there are more faithful women than men. Will God allow millions of faithful women who otherwise qualify for eternal exaltation to be deprived of it for the simple reason that there aren't enough faithful men to go around? Were it true, this absurd notion would defy the mercy and justice of a loving God - a breach of universal law that most certainly would cause both Him and us to be no more. (2 Nephi 2:12-13) Those who are honest enough to "do the math" will unavoidably find that polygamy is part of the equation that will result in the eternal exaltation of the maximum possible number of His faithful daughters. There is no getting around the laws of heaven - not even for God.
To my knowledge, neither the LDS Church nor any of its prophets or apostles has made any statement or taught any doctrine to this effect, yet I personally believe that in eternity, the faithful will have little choice but to practice polygamy, it being unconscionable to preclude the eternal exaltation of so many.
The Morality of Polygamy
Under God, the morality of polygamy as entered into by early Latter-Day Saints is entirely dependent upon revelation through prophets and apostles and therefore hangs heavily on our claim to be the "stone cut out of the mountain without hands" - the Lord's work, and the last dispensation of the fulness of times in the latter days. For more information concerning these claims, see the following:
General Apostasy & Restoration - Foretold
General Apostasy & Restoration - Fulfilled
The Coming Forth of the Book of Mormon
Offices of the Priesthood - Ancient
Offices of the Priesthood - Latter-Day
my Church page
God
is the absolute moral authority in the universe. From time to time He
has given commands that constituted exceptions to the standing law of
the gospel, and this He does when it proves to be in the best interest
of a sufficient number of His faithful children. This He does to
test us, to see whether we will overcome our inculcated moral
sensibilities in order to obey the supreme and absolute moral authority of God the Father.
God
commanded Abraham and Sarah, Jacob and Leah and Rachel, and a handful
of others in ancient times to engage in polygamy because He considered it critical to
raise up seed in the gospel covenant. As a result of this, He was able
to fulfill promises made to Abraham that He would make him a great
nation, and that all the families of the earth would be blessed through
his seed. (see Genesis 12:2-3)
God
commanded Abraham to offer Isaac as a burnt offering, and then He
rescinded it when He saw that Abraham would be obedient to whatsoever He
commanded him. This obedience played no small part in making Abraham
the father of the covenant by which all the families of the earth would
be blessed. (Genesis 22)
God commanded Nephi to kill Laban and take the brass plates, knowing that He was guiding Nephi to build a nation - a nation that would need the scriptures written on those brass plates in order to remain in the gospel covenant and thereby attain salvation rather than dwindle in unbelief. (1 Nephi 4:6-18)
God
commanded the Nephites not to allow themselves to be slain by the hands
of their enemies, even if it must be by the shedding of blood, and this
because the Nephites were a faithful people at that time, who were
raising up a righteous generation of faithful children - a thing that
surely would have been thwarted by the domineering, atheistic governance of their would-be
Lamanite captors. (Alma 43:46)
Social
morality is the sum total of widely held inhibitions instructed by
history and moderated by current and overriding trends or whims. These trends and whims can be counted upon only to vacillate between including and rejecting actual moral influence. But
the morality of God is all that which is designed to bring about the
happiness, freedom, prosperity and salvation of the maximum possible
number of His faithful children, both in this life and in the next.
Whereas social morality is driven by whatever gets the attention of the
pubic in the moment - a thing which seems perennially to be in constant
flux, God's morality is motivated by his unimaginably great love for us
and by His unsearchable wisdom - things which change not, for He is the
same God yesterday, today, and tomorrow. God's moral standard is
demonstrably unchanging (see the rest of my blog), and it therefore
uniquely and solely qualifies to be called a moral standard.
It has been in compliance with God's moral standard and not that of society that the Latter-Day Saints have in times past lived their faith in defiance of the law. And if the Saints should be called upon to offend the not-so-moral sensibilities of an increasingly immoral and ungodly world or even to violate the laws of the land again, it will be because that God who knows all right from wrong commanded it, and we will obey, fearing not what man can do.
My Take On Polygamy
Ironic as this may seem, the fact that I have been divorced (I don't claim to be perfect at living my faith) and happily remarried actually has opened my mind somewhat and caused me to have a more accepting attitude toward polygamy - provided it is expressly sanctioned by God through His prophets and apostles. Quite unexpectedly, being remarried after divorce has repeatedly put me in a position of being the meat between two piranhas - dealing with wife-versus-ex family politics. I have repeatedly had to deal with balancing what remains of my sense of obligation to my ex and our two daughters against the needs of my wife and our three children. I have, if you will, experienced a microcosm of polygamous life - not always the most pleasant experience, but one that has nonetheless afforded me a lesser trepidation for what now is at least a little familiar.
The Morality of Divorce, The Morality of Polygamy
I would contend, even if it is to my condemnation, that divorce, so common in the world today, is no more or less immoral than unbridled polygamy, and for all the same reasons. If we marry irresponsibly, as I did, or if we put away our spouses and give them a bill of divorcement for light and transient causes (i.e. "I just don't feel like doing this relationship anymore" or "we've grown apart"), we are guilty of adultery until we confess it to religious authorities and go through the process of obtaining the Lord's forgiveness. It is for this reason divorce will, if only temporarily, always cost a Latter-Day Saint his or her good standing and admission to the temple, as it did me while I was going through that process. To my knowledge, those who divorce for reasons associated with infidelity, abuse, or extensive and traumatizing emotional neglect (some of which were factors in the failure of my first marriage) are not usually considered guilty of adultery in the Church.
Similarly, to enter into polygamy for the wrong reasons is to treat lightly that which comes to us legally only by way of individual commandment from the Lord. I would even go so far as to suggest that one who enters into a specific polygamous union without waiting for the Lord to command it runs the risk that he is committing abomination. If we enter into polygamy with the intent of making an end run around our covenants with our current spouses, we are as guilty of adultery as if we'd just simply committed the affair. Brigham Young, an early LDS prophet who took many wives, was very clear on that point. Can we even fathom the perverseness of forcing our wives to deal with our making of an illicit lover into her sister wife? The thought of doing that to my beloved eternal companion makes me sick to my stomach!
What Do "Mainstream" Mormons Think About Kody Brown and His "Sister Wives"?
I can't speak for all the members of the LDS Church, but I'll tell you what I make of it.
Kody and his family are members of the FLDS Church - or fundamentalist Mormons as they are often called. They have been very good about distinguishing between the LDS and FLDS churches, making sure the public knows which one they belong to. To my understanding, the FLDS church parted ways with the LDS church over President Woodruff's declaration that caused the ceasing of the practice of polygamy. They believe that the practice of polygamy continues to be a God-sanctioned part of what to them is the LDS church.
While I, as a "mainstream" Mormon believe different than Kody, my view on the "Sister Wives" is that he is practicing polygamy in the light of what he believes is good and right and true by virtue of his religious beliefs. I notice that the search for and addition of a new wife in their family has always begun with discussion between Kody and the current wife or wives, and therefore is not motivated by lust or infidelity masquerading as a plural marriage. I do not see any reason to believe that any of Kody's wives were compelled to enter into plural marriage with him against their will - a practice that reportedly has occurred from time to time in the FLDS church and one that I find deeply offensive. I believe that God will hold Kody answerable to the moral standard in which Kody genuinely and truly believes. If Kody truly and honestly believes that he is expected to practice polygamy, and if he does so in strict compliance with his religious beliefs, without violating the agency of any of his wives in the process, I don't believe it is for us to look down on him, or judge him, or think his lifestyle immoral. I certainly don't believe it is the business of the federal government - or that of the state of Utah, for that matter - to pass or keep on the books legislation that interferes with the Browns' exercise of their faith. To do so is to violate both constitutions - that of the United States and that of the State of Utah.
Sister Wives Defeat Utah's polygamy law in federal court
I Will Go and Do
As far as I'm concerned, Christ is the author and finisher of my faith and therefore of my morality, so I personally see no moral issues with obeying God's commandments, even if I must do so in defiance of the laws of the land - a conundrum I fear will not be long in coming my way, though not likely because of polygamy.
I don't believe I have the financial resources or the emotional sanity to support a polygamous family, and so I cringe at the thought of being put in the shoes of those early Latter-Day Saints. I hope to high heaven I never have to "live the principle." I find great relief in the current "abomination" status of polygamy as it now stands in the LDS Church, knowing it means I will likely never be called upon to live it.
But if God, through his latter-day prophets or apostles, were to require it of me tomorrow, what once was abomination would become a commandment, and, much like early Latter-Day Saints, I would feel compelled by the many sacred covenants I have made with Him and by the loyalty I feel toward Him, by the priority I place on the salvation of my posterity or of others thus redeemed, to go and do as He has commanded.
http://jod.mrm.org/6/349
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