The author of this opinion piece pulls no punches re: polygamy in the first myth:
How do you feel about an approach like that? I think it makes even an apostate like me a little uncomfortable even though it's true.
The campaigns by Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman Jr. for the GOP presidential nomination, along with the popular and profane Broadway musical “The Book of Mormon,” are putting Mormons in the public eye. But common caricatures — not to mention some of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ public relations efforts — create confusion about this 14 million-strong religion. So let’s unpack some misunderstandings about how this faith can engage the world, whether on a mission or in the White House.
1. Mormons practice polygamy.
Mainstream Mormons do not practice polygamy today, but it remains part of our history and theology. Joseph Smith, the founder of the Mormon religion, married at least 33 women (often without the consent of his first wife, Emma) and preached that polygamy was divinely sanctioned. In 1890, more than four decades after Smith’s death, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — the mainstream Mormon Church — yielded to political pressure and phased out the practice. Today, members who marry more than one spouse are excommunicated, but ultra-orthodox splinter groups continue the practice.
Polygamy remains a source of tension for mainstream Mormons. Mormon public figures routinely play down our polygamous history, saying that only a tiny percentage of 19th-century Mormon families were polygamous. (Historians say it was 20 to 30 percent.) But the LDS Church, which teaches that marriages — or “sealings” — performed in its temples are eternal, has never disavowed elements of Mormon theology suggesting that polygamy will be practiced in heaven. Church policy permits widowed and some divorced men to be sealed for all eternity to more than one wife, while Mormon women may not be sealed to more than one husband. Consequently, some mainstream LDS Church members anticipate polygamy as part of eternity, while others reject it.
1. Mormons practice polygamy.
Mainstream Mormons do not practice polygamy today, but it remains part of our history and theology. Joseph Smith, the founder of the Mormon religion, married at least 33 women (often without the consent of his first wife, Emma) and preached that polygamy was divinely sanctioned. In 1890, more than four decades after Smith’s death, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — the mainstream Mormon Church — yielded to political pressure and phased out the practice. Today, members who marry more than one spouse are excommunicated, but ultra-orthodox splinter groups continue the practice.
Polygamy remains a source of tension for mainstream Mormons. Mormon public figures routinely play down our polygamous history, saying that only a tiny percentage of 19th-century Mormon families were polygamous. (Historians say it was 20 to 30 percent.) But the LDS Church, which teaches that marriages — or “sealings” — performed in its temples are eternal, has never disavowed elements of Mormon theology suggesting that polygamy will be practiced in heaven. Church policy permits widowed and some divorced men to be sealed for all eternity to more than one wife, while Mormon women may not be sealed to more than one husband. Consequently, some mainstream LDS Church members anticipate polygamy as part of eternity, while others reject it.
How do you feel about an approach like that? I think it makes even an apostate like me a little uncomfortable even though it's true.
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