Mormon Polygamy

Mormon Polygamy

American outrage over Mormon polygamy often expressed itself in images of the Utah "Saints" as licentious and lustful Turks. The irony of these accusations was that Mormons were both proponents of Victorian propriety and sexually conservative. Noting this, scholars have described the Mormon practice as "puritan polygamy," observing that plural marriage was an attempt to restore the biblical patriarchal family and that, while the rest of nineteenth-century America was in transition toward the ideal of companionate marriage, Mormons held to the earlier notion of sex primarily for the purpose of procreation.

The principle of plural marriage was rooted in the theology of the LDS church, which held both that souls were awaiting procreation in order to find salvation and that marriages would endure in the afterlife. An upright Saint could anticipate experiencing heaven surrounded by his wives and children. A Mormon woman earned her place in the afterlife by fulfilling her noble mission to propagate, providing life for waiting souls. Consequently, religious conviction provided the primary motivation for the practice, although in the ensuing debate over polygamy, as we shall see, Mormons justified the practice with many other arguments.

Despite a continuing historical interest in Mormon polygamy there is still a great deal unknown. The difficulty is that the practice of polygamy was undertaken mostly while under attack by the larger society, at times in Utah, under surveillance by federal marshals. For some periods, plural wives were forced to take to an "underground" society to hide pregnancy. Understandably, church leaders would not disclose marital records. (Kern, 1981)Thus, in the study of Mormon polygamy it is difficult to ascertain the actual numbers of polygamists. Additionally, the absence of stable, consistent patterns of plural living make generalization difficult.

Saints, major world religion of 11 million members, established in 1830 by Joseph Smith, known as the prophet and the followers of this religion are called Mormons. From a handful of members at the beginning, the movement has grown steadily through proselytizing and a relatively high birth rate. By the early 1990s there were 5 million Mormons in the United States and the number in other countries around the world totaled slightly more than that.

Mormon doctrine is derived from four basic scriptures: the Bible, the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price. Certain Mormon doctrines diverge sharply from traditional Christian orthodoxy; a definition of the Trinity as three separate individuals, God the Father and Jesus Christ being physical persons united in purpose; and a belief that human beings can, if they live the commandments of God to the full, attain the status of godhood in future eons.1

It is a well-known fact that most of the early Mormon leadership were Masons and that they had established 5 lodges in and around Nauvoo Illinois. It is plain to see they adopted the symbolism from Freemasonry in the construction of the Nauvoo Temple. (Which by the way the LDS Church is presently ...