Can Polygamy come back?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Imprimartin
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
I

Imprimartin

Guest
If Polygamy was forbidden after a certain time (presumably a requirement for Utah to become a state in the US), this implies that polygamy is not wrong in LDS eyes, just forbidden.

So if the culture (at the time) forced the LDS to change the rule, what happends if the culture no longer does this. This country is in the process of redefining marriage and I believe it’s only a matter of time before polygamy is no longer against the law.

Does this mean that the LDS church will un-forbid polygamy at that time?

Martin
 
Doctrinally, there doesn’t seem to be anything to prevent this from happening.

Culturally, even if the big P is legalized in this country, I think it’s pretty doubtful that the LDS church would reinstate the practice. Every mormon I know thinks the notion of polygamy is repulsive (yet they all seem to have the same notions of celestial marriage as is taught by the church which kind of confuses me since it seems inherently polygamous). When I ask them to explain why it was allowed, they either trail off, change the subject or just say “it was necessary at the time” without any explanation of why that is so. I think they simply don’t want to explain it because the official explanation is upsetting to them (I’m talking about the people I know, not mormons as a whole).

If the church did reinstate the practice of polygamy, I’d wager it would result in the formation of another splinter sect (or a mass exodus to one of the existing non-LDS mormon churches).
 
Theoretically yes, practically no. Remember, the LDS church only “suspended” the practice of polygamy–they never condemned it. Something that is suspended can be restarted, although I doubt they would considering the awful price they paid for it the first time around. Plus, if there was a “revelation” to restart the practice, I’m confident you would see millions of LDS leave the church.
 
40.png
Chris-WA:
Theoretically yes, practically no. Remember, the LDS church only “suspended” the practice of polygamy–they never condemned it. Something that is suspended can be restarted, although I doubt they would considering the awful price they paid for it the first time around. Plus, if there was a “revelation” to restart the practice, I’m confident you would see millions of LDS leave the church.
Click to expand...
What makes you so sure? Polygamy was a far harder concept to accept in the 19th century than it is today. If they didn’t leave the Church then, why should they leave it now?

amgid
 
40.png
arieh0310:
Why would anyone want more than one mother-in-law?
Click to expand...
LOL You took the words right out of my mouth. As a father who has two daughters living at home, my house already has too much estrogen.
 
40.png
amgid:
What makes you so sure? Polygamy was a far harder concept to accept in the 19th century than it is today. If they didn’t leave the Church then, why should they leave it now?.
Click to expand...
Amgid, there is nothing more I would like to see in the Mormon Church than for them to claim a new revelation reinstating the practice of polygamy. I’ll just leave it at that.
 
40.png
Orionthehunter:
LOL You took the words right out of my mouth. As a father who has two daughters living at home, my house already has too much estrogen.
Click to expand...
I know a good Catholic couple that had 9 daughters, I don’t know how they made it. But could you imagine 9 MILs, 9 women telling your wife (or wives) what a loser she married?
 
40.png
Imprimartin:
If Polygamy was forbidden after a certain time (presumably a requirement for Utah to become a state in the US), this implies that polygamy is not wrong in LDS eyes, just forbidden.

So if the culture (at the time) forced the LDS to change the rule, what happends if the culture no longer does this. This country is in the process of redefining marriage and I believe it’s only a matter of time before polygamy is no longer against the law.

Does this mean that the LDS church will un-forbid polygamy at that time?

Martin
Click to expand...
Martin,

Sandra Day O’Connor once commented (and I’m paraphrasing from memory) that should the issue of polygamy as a religious practice now come before the Supreme Court it would likely be upheld and allowed.

As polygamy itself is not prosecuted it’s unlikely that a ‘test’ case will make it to the Supreme Court - but, as O’Connor speculated, it’s likely that the right to polygamy as a religious practice would be upheld. Michael McConnell, who is sometimes mentioned as a replacement for O’Connor has also made comments favorable to a ruling on polygamy - so Reynolds v. U.S. could be history were the laws challenged again (look at how quickly Lawrence v. Texas was dismissed less than 20 years after Bowers v. Hardwick was upheld in regards to sodomy).

There’s a publication called “The Primer: Helping Victims of Domestic Violence and Child Abuse in Polygamous Communities”, published jointly by the Utah and Arizona states Attorney’s General’s Offices - that outlines how best to deal with the more than estimated 30,000 individuals who live in polygamous families. They don’t prosecute polygamy but rather try to protect those who are, as The Primer states, “Victims of Domestic Violence and Child Abuse in Polygamous Communities”. It’s interesting reading and is available here:

attorneygeneral.utah.gov/polygamy/The_Primer.pdf

As to whether the LDS church would allow the practice once again, I doubt it.: they’ve taken so much grief on the issue for a century, it would be devastating in the church’s practice of mainstreaming it’s doctrine to make it more palatable to converts, and polygamy is practiced now by only those who are traditionalists who have separated from the ‘real’ LDS, so I don’t think it would make a come-back.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top