Big Love

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@Aldeth: Yeah. I didn't start asking myself "could I eat breakfast with her every day for the rest of my life?" until I was 20. Before then, I never expected my relationships to last. Afterwards, they were even shorter because the answer to my question was usually "no".

@Polygamy: I think it's unfair to call mormon polygamists "radical". In early mormonism, it was normal and acceptable......even encouraged. When Utah petitioned to become a state, it was made known to them that they would have to ban polygamy in order to become a state. This was the historical background behind the "revelation" that mormons should abandon polygamy. If you were a devout mormon and a polygamist and this revelation came about at the exact same time Utah was trying to gain acceptance into the union, what would you think was going on?

Many thought that the revelation was bunk and only made to convince congress to let Utah join the Union, so they splintered. They refused to abandon their long held beliefs. Given what many of the religions of the world are allowed to believe without being considered "radical" I think this is an unfair label.

 

Actually, the Lord gave that decision to the First Presidency and the Quorum of the twelve apostles. The revelation in question was the consequences of maintaining the practice--including the incarceration of priesthood leaders and confiscation of Church property (including the temples and meeting houses). After this revelation, the decision was unanimous. Those who did not abandon this practice were excommunicated, and thus ceased to be Mormons.

When 12 to 14 year old women are ordered to marry men 4 to 5 times their age, I would consider that repulsive. I guess the term Radical is unfair to the actual radicals out there...

In this instance, it is polyandry, as in the early days of the church, the women outnumbered the men by a signifigant ratio. Hence multiple women were married to the same man.

Actually, I was lamenting the fact that I am still single, but I agree that it would be much harder to keep the home happy.

 

This revelation came at the exact same time Utah was trying to join the Union......who told Utah in no uncertain terms that they could not join if they continued to allow polygamy. That coincidence, for many, would seem a bit too convenient to be a purely religious one. In fact, it looked more like the mormon church was caving in to political pressure and the revelation was just a feeble attempt to cover that fact up.

 

Well, I was only using the term that I have heard other Mormons on this board use to describe those splinter groups that still practice polygamy. Given what is accepted Mormon practice these groups ARE radical. I'm not sure what other word I would chose to describe them. "Fundamentalist Mormons" in the respect that they follow the original Mormon doctrine despite changes that have been made to it over the years? Regardless, if any find the term offensive or inappropriate, I will stop using it in this context.

 

Nit - Polyandry is one woman married to multiple men. Historically it is practiced in non-western societies more than in the west; Tibet, India, China, etc.

 

Drew, that's what Gnarff is saying too. The decision of the Mormon church was whether or not to abandon polygamy and become a state. The territory was already under federal law and polygamist were hunted down and incarcerated by federal marshals. However, with fewer than 5% of Mormon men practising polygamy it was quite difficult to find them. The 'revelation', as Gnarff has said, showed the leaders what would happen in the future -- not much of a revelation in my opinion.

My G-G-GF was hunted by the federal marshals. It seems his name was accidentally revealed after he pissed off Brigham Young. Within a week of his confrontation with BY ('You will rue the day you crossed Brigham Young') his business had burned down, his home had burned down, and his name was turned over to the feds. He and his wives fled Salt Lake City under the cover of darkness.

 

I have to ask...

your ancestors remained Mormon regardless? That's pretty impressive strength of conviction, I suppose.