[Twilight Flyer]

But….Mormons (Fundamental Mormons that is) believe that they cannot become their own god and have their own heaven unless they have at least a minimum of 7 (or 9...I’m fuzzy on the exact number) of wives.

Fundamentalist wack-jobs are not Mormons and are no different than any other fundie wack-job creating splinter groups from any other church or church teaching.

Now the rest of Mormonism today is not that way and they (of course at the risk of the US government invading Utah not some M/FM quota being reached) banned that practice 100 yrs or so ago.

You might brush up on your history a wee bit. We're not talking quotos. We're talking about the REASON that Mormons practiced polygamy back then. The reasons are varied but boils down to the fact that there were not a whole heck of a lot of men. The practice was ended when the threat of extinction of themselves and their beliefs was ended and not due to any threat from the government. It was threats from the government that put them out in Utah in the first place...that and a whole lot of mob mentality in states like Ohio, Illinois, and Missouri.

That said, regarding the actual practice of polygamy, I can't fathom it myself and it goes completely against my own moral fiber. But I can understand the Mormon practice of it back then to ensure their survival. Just like I can understand why a lot of Muslims practice it today. :?

[geomon]

Excerped from: http://www.media.utah.edu/UHE/p/POLYGAMY.html

When establishing the LDS Church, Joseph Smith recorded numerous revelations he claimed to receive, often in answer to questions about the Bible, which are now included in the Doctrine and Covenants, part of the LDS canon. In answer to his question as to why many of the Old Testament leaders had more than one wife, Smith received what is now known as Section 132. Although the revelation was not recorded until 1843, Smith may have received it in the 1830s and married his first plural wife, Fanny Alger, in 1835. Polygamy was not openly practiced in the Mormon Church until 1852 when Orson Pratt, an apostle, made a public speech defending it as a tenet of the church. From 1852 until 1890, Mormon Church leaders preached and encouraged members, especially those in leadership positions, to marry additional wives.

Reactions from outside the church to statements about polygamy were immediate and negative. In 1854 the Republican party termed polygamy and slavery the "twin relics of barbarism." In 1862 the United States Congress passed the Morrill Act, which prohibited plural marriage in the territories, disincorporated the Mormon Church, and restricted the church's ownership of property. The nation was in the midst of the Civil War, however, and the law was not enforced. In 1867 the Utah Territorial Legislature asked Congress to repeal the Morrill Act. Instead of doing that, the House Judiciary Committee asked why the law was not being enforced, and the Cullom Bill, an attempt to strengthen the Morrill Act, was introduced. Although it did not pass, most of its provisions later became law. Out of a number of other bills introduced during the 1870s against polygamy, only the Poland Act passed, in 1874. It gave district courts all civil and criminal jurisdiction and limited the probate courts to matters of estate settlement, guardianship, and divorce.

The Mormons continued to practice polygamy despite these laws, since they believed that the practice were protected by the freedom of religion clause in the Bill of Rights. To test the constitutionality of the laws, George Reynolds, Brigham Young's private secretary, agreed to be tried. In 1879 the case reached the Supreme Court, which upheld the Morrill Act: "Laws are made for the government of actions, and while they cannot interfere with mere religious belief and opinion, they may with practices."

All of these pressures had an impact on the church, even though they did not compel the Latter-day Saints to abolish polygamy. Church leaders as well as many of its members went into hiding--on the "underground" as it was called--either to avoid arrest or to avoid having to testify. Mormon Church President John Taylor died while in hiding. His successor, Wilford Woodruff, initially supported the continued practice of polygamy; however, as pressure increased, he began to change the church's policy. On 26 September 1890 he issued a press release, the Manifesto, which read, "I publicly declare that my advice to the Latter-day Saints is to refrain from contracting any marriages forbidden by the law of the land." The Manifesto was approved at the church's general conference on 6 October 1890.

Fundamentalist groups who believe that the church discontinued polygamy only because of government pressure continued the practice. As they were discovered by the LDS Church, they were excommunicated. Some of these polygamists have appointed leaders and continue to live in groups, including those in Colorado City (formerly Short Creek), Arizona, and Hilldale, Utah.

TF....

[Twilight Flyer]

I truly have no wish or reason to argue. Facts are...most of what is printed above are not facts or have been embellished or demonized to the point where they are as outlandish as most other anti- literature. In the end, you are certainly welcome to believe what you wish to believe. I have more of a vested interest in actualities, have studied the history long and hard, have posted as such, and will end my comments with that. Thanks.

[silvan]

Originally Posted by Fozzy

Why is Polygamy illegal? Think carefully before you answer.

Because it offended the moral sensibilities of the legislative body that wrote its abolition into law.

What's why it's illegal, but it does miss the point. Why did it offend the moral sensibilities of the legislative body?

I don't know. I would guess it has something to do with modern Christian thinking, since Christian thinking provides the moral skeleton upon which most of this country's laws are built upon. I can't begin to get into the theology behind this. I'm not a Christian.