Yes, I watched “Big Love” last night and liked it more than I thought I would. But my question is about disclaimer at the end:
According to a joint report issued by the Utah and Arizona attorney general’s offices, July 2005, ‘approximately 20,000 to 40,000 or more people currently practice polygamy in the United States.’
The Mormon Church officially banned the practice of polygamy in 1890.
Does anybody know how many of those 20-to-40 thousand people are part of a religious group that, at some point, splintered from the church. How many are our “bastard children?” In other words, if the LDS church had never practiced polygamy, what would be the current number of polygamists in the U.S.? And if it is a sizable percentage, does this place any additional responsibilities on the church or its members to speak out for or against law enforcement and public policy regarding polygamy?
17 Responses
Amelia,
If, as you and Sue say, the Church is doing nothing, what would qualify as doing something?
I’m still trying to picture what it is that we, as a church, are not doing.
polygamy is a problem in utah and northern arizona. there are sizabel populations–entire towns–where it is practiced. while many of the people involved are consenting adults, many of the wives are married when they’re quite young girls and there are many incidents of abuse. the church could use its political sway to call for the enforcement of anti-polygamy laws. it could define this as a moral issue (which is how it justifies asking its members to take a prescribed stance on gay marriage) and ask its members to work for stricter legislation and enforcement of existing legislation to redress the wrongs which arguably arose out of the church’s historical practices (both open polygamy and the polygamy that continued to be practiced by mormons in mexico after the interdiction against the practice in the states).
i’m not saying i think it *should* do these things; just that it *could* do them. but it won’t because they can’t define as immoral a practice that remains in our cannon as part of God’s plan. and that position will have the church in a rather awkward position, i think, as the gay marriage debate continues to heat up. because we object to gay marriage as an immoral bastardization of the family and polygamy is widely defined (even by many mormons) as the same. it will become increasingly more difficult, in my opinion, to call one immoral but not the other. i think there’s a line they can walk through the tangle, but it’s a fine one.
this is all merely my opinion. i have no doubt there are many who disagree with it. but i think it’s a dilly of a pickle.
Looks like they might have to revise those disclaimer questions a bit:
http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,635192187,00.html