The Mormon abandonment of polygamy is also not as clean as Mormon leaders suggest. An 1890 "manifesto" did officially dispense with polygamy as a Mormon practice. But at least two of the highest-ranking Mormon leaders had multiple wives until 1904, according to Shipps, other historians and the congressional testimony of one of those leaders. Shipps also found historical documents showing that the practice was persistent among rank-and-file Mormons until 1919.
Polygamy also survives in Mormon theology, in the Mormon concept of the afterlife, according to Richard Bushman, a Mormon and visiting professor in Mormon studies at Claremont Graduate University in California.
"A man can be sealed [in eternal marriage] to two women if one of them dies and he marries again," Bushman explains. "There's sort of an implicit heavenly plural marriage that is still authorized and acknowledged. So at the very best we're caught in kind of an ambiguous situation, and people probably pick that up."
The new Mormon public relations effort does not address these ambiguities. But they're irrelevant because there's no polygamy in modern and earthly Mormon life, says Otterson, the Mormon spokesman.
Well, as I suspected, they got called on the obviously misleading parts of their PR effort (even if NPR didn't quite get it right). They should have simply been honest and forthright in the first place. Now they look a bit deceptive and "not as clean" as they wanted to look. No, polygamy was not stopped in 1890 and yes, we still practice polygamy jsut not the "earthly" kind. Duh.
And yes, now the church looks much worse for deceiving the public.
I think it is safe to say, those who read this (and I think it will get around), will wonder what other lies are being told by the LDS church, and what other secrets it is holding.
Kind of like Pinocchio's nose, the lies just keep growing and growing.
Oh, and kudos to Bushman for his honesty. :-)
~dancer~
"The search for reality is the most dangerous of all undertakings for it destroys the world in which you live." Nisargadatta Maharaj
Polygamy also survives in Mormon theology, in the Mormon concept of the afterlife, according to Richard Bushman, a Mormon and visiting professor in Mormon studies at Claremont Graduate University in California.
I've criticised Otterson before, for beating around the Bush. (Couldn't help it.)
beastie wrote:Too bad npr doesn't have a wider audience.
Totally agree. I listen daily.
I take issue with Shipps' date, though. I'm honestly not sure where 1919 comes from. I am not aware of any living plural marriages being contracted that late by the mainstream LDS Church. Of course there were still LDS polygamists living at that time (Heber J. Grant, for example.) So if she means people were still living in polygamous relationships 1919 may be a little too early. Again, unclear on where she got that date. Seems like a shot in the dark.
One moment in annihilation's waste, one moment, of the well of life to taste- The stars are setting and the caravan starts for the dawn of nothing; Oh, make haste! -Omar Khayaam
Hooray, the truth is out. Undoubtedly all of those riveted at this exciting announcement (all 17 of you) and waiting for an update on LDS polygamy will enjoy this tidbit.
"Surely he knows that DCP, The Nehor, Lamanite, and other key apologists..." -Scratch clarifying my status in apologetics "I admit it; I'm a petty, petty man." -Some Schmo
The Nehor wrote:Hooray, the truth is out. Undoubtedly all of those riveted at this exciting announcement (all 17 of you) and waiting for an update on LDS polygamy will enjoy this tidbit.
I know, honesty in dealing with your fellow people is only important if you want to go to your kid's wedding, not when spinning things to the media.