Plural Marriages From Mormon Standpoint

¶ … plural marriages from the standpoint of the Church of the Latter Day Saints, commonly referred to as Mormons. The writer uses several published works to examine the history and beliefs regarding plural marriages as doctrine through the church. There were four sources used to complete this paper.

Ask most people one fact that defines the Church of Latter Day Saints, (Mormons) and they will answer, plural marriages. The belief that the Mormon church still condones and encourages plural marriages (Polygamy) remains prevalent throughout the nation, even though the practice stopped being sanctioned by the church years ago (Nearly, 2000). Young men still joke about converting to Mormonism so they can enjoy all of their girlfriends as wives, while women who catch their men looking at other women still joke that they are not Mormon so the husband might as well give it up. It has been years since the church condoned the practice but the belief remains among non-Mormons that the church is built on this belief. The history and purpose of plural marriages is clearly defined within the faith and though it is no longer allowed the church stands by its reasoning for the past (Nearly, 2000). There were many factors involved, including economic, political and spiritual.

Though the practice was banned by the Mormon church in 1890 it is still practiced in several U.S. states with those doing it claiming they are staying true to the church doctrine of its founders.

Polygamy is the practice of a man having multiple wives. The practice is actually founded in the Christian Bible though it is credited constantly to the Mormon Church (Nearly, 2000). The Mormon Church turned to the bible for many of its doctrines and used the bible to support the things that the faith wanted its people to follow. One of those elements was plural marriages.

Many of the early figures in the Bible had more than one wife, and in the beginning Mormons looked to the Bible as a source of inspiration for their belief in the practice of polygamy (Nearly, 2000). But Mormons banned polygamy in the 1890s, and it is against the law in Utah, a state founded by Mormons (Nearly, 2000). Despite that, polygamy still persists there and in some other states (Nearly, 2000). Utah has not aggressively prosecuted polygamists, in part because polygamy is so much a part of Mormon history. Now, a case pending in a Utah court is bringing renewed attention to an old tradition (Nearly, 2000). Last week, Tom Green, who considers himself to be a fundamentalist Mormon, was ordered to stand trial on four counts of bigamy (Nearly, 2000).

Green had appeared on numerous television programs, including "48 Hours" and "Dateline," explaining how he had gotten around anti-polygamy laws by marrying and divorcing the five women who still live with him and the 25 children he has fathered (Nearly, 2000). Prosecutor David Leavitt said, 'Green confessed his crime to 500 million people and argued that the state had no choice but to prosecute.' For his part, Green says, 'The only thing I'm guilty of is building my family according to my religious beliefs (Nearly, 2000).'"

HISTORY

The use of plural marriages from the standpoint of the Mormon Church was based in religious, political and economic need. Spiritually the church believed that it was following what God wanted done. The church points to the many examples in the bible of multiple marriages and references to wives in the plural. The nature of the faith was against divorce which leads Mormons to believe that the references to wives in the plural did not mean one after the other, but meant consecutive in nature.

It also has a political underpinning in many cultures, where a man marrying different women establishes linkages with other kin groups. Among the Mormons or the Latter-Day Saint early religion in the 1800s, it was primarily a view about the proper form of marriage (Nearly, 2000). This was a time in American society right after the Revolution when there was a great deal of upheaval in American society. It was also a period when women's rights were being opened up more, and it was a time of great threat to established systems. And the Mormons, the Shakers, the Oneidas were all seeking alternative family structures. They all had different systems, but they were seeking stability. And the early Latter-Day Saints chose polygamy as a family structure that they felt would provide stability. So that was a time of great experiment in American history (Nearly, 2000). "

Even given the allowance by the Mormon Church for having multiple wives it was not a common occurrence. Records indicate that it was a rare event to take more than one wife. "Among the early pioneer Mormons at the turn of the century, it was common for no more than 15 to 25% of families to be so-called plural families. Also, another misconception is that it involves large numbers of women around a particular man, and the fact is that of the small proportion of people who practiced polygamy among Mormons in the 19th century, two-thirds of them only involved two wives, so that the idea of many women being involved and large numbers of family is really fallacious (Nearly, 2000)."

THE PRESENT

Currently the Mormon Church condemns any practice of polygamy and has done so for more than 100 years. Those who say they are committing polygamy in the name of their faith, The Church of Latter Day Saints are also shunned and condemned by the church which banned the practice in 1890.

It's an embarrassing part of Mormonism's past. Utah would not have become a state had the Mormon Church not abandoned polygamy. The Supreme Court ruled that polygamy was not protected by the Constitution as a religious practice in response to a case involving a Mormon from Utah (Nearly, 2000). "

In current history several men have been charged criminally with having plural wives and those men have received no support from the Mormon Church for their actions (Edwards, 2001).

Recently a man who had 25 children by five wives was put on trial in Provo, Utah. The Mormon Church was very vocal in the denouncement of this man who claimed he was following the beliefs of the Mormon faith.

Though polygamy is denounced in several passages of the Book of Mormon a reading of the old testament provides ample evidence that it was acceptable in ancient Israel (Waggoner, 1992)."