Polygamy
This is a topic that is heavily associated with Mormonism and one that was asked about repeatedly while serving a Mormon mission, and I am still constantly asked about it from co-workers and people I meet on airplanes as I travel. This is a topic that I believe to be a dark part of Mormon history. I do not agree with what I have read and learned about Joseph Smith and Brigham Young doing in regards to this topic.
This is a topic that is a big part of Mormon history and let me tell you all how it was taught to me as I was growing up. I was taught in my teen years through Jr. High School and High School seminary, that polygamy was practiced for only a short time while there were certain circumstances that had to be met before someone could take on more than one wife. The part about polygamy being allowed for only a short while was true. Polygamy is not a practice in the Mormon church anymore.
Let me tell you all what exactly I was taught. In my years of seminary, I was taught when the Mormons left the Nauvoo area to cross the plains, there were many deaths before arriving to what is now called Salt Lake City where the Mormons settled. The Mormon followers pushed hand carts and some also had covered wagons pulled by oxen. You can imagine that pushing a handcart or traveling by covered wagon across land with no roads or trails was very tough and took a very long time. During this time, people died along the way due to illness. When husbands were the ones that died along the way, revelation was given to the Prophet that other men were allowed to marry the widow as an extra wife, only as long as that man was able to take care of her and her children. I was taught that this was to help widows cross the plains. I don’t know why the group Mormons couldn’t just help those in need without marriage being performed, but this is how it was taught to me. My seminary teachers would go on to say that when everyone crossed the plains and arrived in Salt Lake City, that the practice was no longer needed and the Mormon prophet at the time eventually put a stop to polygamy.
So that’s it. That is how polygamy and Mormonism was taught to me in years of seminary. Because of that, I was then teaching the same story to individuals I met on my mission and to those I meet when I travel. As I began to really look into polygamy in my studies, I became dumbfounded at what I was learning. I learned that Joseph Smith was marrying multiple women and girls before the Mormons crossed the plains and revelation was received. Brigham Young was someone who also had multiple wives and the practice of polygamy did not stop when the Mormons arrived in Salt Lake City. Why I was not taught any of this during years of seminary is something I cannot answer. There is a break off group from the Mormon church call the FLDS, which stands for Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The fundamentalist part is the distinguishing factor over the main Mormon church. The FLDS is the group led by Warren Jeffs. The FLDS group is completely separate and different from the mainstream Mormon church that everyone knows. I mention the FLDS church because they still practice polygamy and is one of the reasons I believe polygamy is still asked about when I meet non Mormons. I had someone just yesterday discover I was Mormon, and he immediately said Warren Jeff who leads my church is in prison. Of course Warren Jeffs is in prison, he has been there a few years now. I had to inform that individual about the two different churches and that I am the mainstream Mormon, not the Fundamentalist Mormon.
I must point out that out that I was taught in seminary that polygamy was a revelation given during the travels across the plains to the Salt Lake Valley. Dates and time periods that I was briefly taught growing up do not align with the studies I have done on my own and learned. So don’t take the revelation I spoke about as the time when the revelation was received about the practice. Study on your own and you will find references and dates that you will be able to put together. Anyway, I have learned that Joseph Smith had many wives as was marrying women that were still married to other men. I have learned Joseph also hid marriages from his first wife. If something is a revelation from God, why would lies and deceit need to take place?
http://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/appendix-3-statement-on-marriage-circa-august-1835/1 Go to section 4 near the bottom of the page and you will read that the church said marriage is between one man and one woman. This was written in the early 1800’s. Polygamy was being practiced well after the Mormon church stated marriage is between one man and one woman.
I know I generally leave a few links to help you all get started on your studies for a particular topic, but there is just so much out there regarding polygamy and the Mormon church; that I will just give you a couple of places to start because when someone has well over 30 or 40 wives, there are a lot of journals and information written and scanned into the internet to be found. The church website www.lds.org and www.josephsmithpaprs.org are two sites to begin your journey. Just type polygamy in the search bars on each website and you will get a lot of stuff to read. There are also non Mormon sites dedicated to Joseph Smith and Brigham Young regarding polygamy. I have looked and read from many of these sites, and they give the references from where the information is drawn from, and the information has been credible and from credible official sources that I have searched out to verify what I was reading was true. Mormons do not practice polygamy anymore and I hope you find your studies on this topic very eye opening. After all, polygamy was a very large part of Mormons from the past and a part of Mormon history. I will end with a Scripture from The Book of Mormon that Mormons believe Joseph Smith translated and is considered the word of God.
Jacob Chapter 2 verses 24-27
The start of the chapter says “The Lord commands that no man among the Nephites may have more than one wife” Now for verse 24-27
24 Behold, David and Solomon truly had many wives and concubines, which thing was abominable before me, saith the Lord.
25 Wherefore, thus saith the Lord, I have led this people fourth out of the land of Jerusalem, by the power of mine arm, that I might raise up unto me a righteous branch from the fruit of the loins of Joseph.
26 Wherefore, I the Lord God will not suffer that this people shall do like unto them of old.
27 Wherefore my brethren, hear me, and hearken to the word of the Lord: For there shall not any man among you have save it be one wife; and concubines he shall have none.
So there it is in The Book of Mormon that Joseph is believed to translate. Many wives is abominable. Yet, Joseph and Brigham had many many wives that the Mormon church does not hide. It’s very easy information to find. Have fun on your studies.
The Judged Mormon 