Speculation on Polygamy...

[_Buffalo]

I never thought that polygamy was going to be permanent. I always believed that it was going to be temporary.

That's good, since it ended probably 50 years before you were born.

[_Fence Sitter]

I would like to hear comments before voicing my opinion. Frankly, I am not exactly sure myself, and would like to hear from others.

Thanks for contributing!

If a person is LDS and believes in the truth claims of the LDS church then one must believe that polygamy was from god. I think that polygamy was a good testing ground for the faithful and a necessary early LDS experience. But I do believe that with time, it would have been ended because it would have served its purpose. I never thought that polygamy was going to be permanent. I always believed that it was going to be temporary.

Why Me,

We still believe in polygamy. The only ban is here on earth and in fact a man may be sealed to multiple wives still here on earth as long as only one is alive. Ask any faithful LDS widower who has remarried and been sealed to someone else in the temple if he thinks his first wife is no longer his wife.

And your statement about always believing it would be temporary just boggles the mind yet again.

[_Buffalo]

Why Me,

We still believe in polygamy. The only ban is here on earth and in fact a man may be sealed to multiple wives still here on earth as long as only one is alive. Ask any faithful LDS widower who has remarried and been sealed to someone else in the temple if he thinks his first wife is no longer his wife.

And your statement about always believing it would be temporary just boggles the mind yet again.

While this is technically true, I think most of the GAs would love to completely erase polygamy from the records and our doctrine if they could. They're very PR-minded these days.

In any case, regardless of any ideas about postmortem polygamy, it's never coming back in practice among the living.

[_Fiannan]

Actually, one could play around with a lot of "what ifs" in regards to polygamy. If it had not been suspended then the number of LDS people from increases in birth rates would have made up for all the people who would not have joined the Church. In fact, since eugenics was the big thing in the 1920s (where do you think Hitler got all his ideas if not for Britain and the USA?) maybe polygamy would have been advocated by those in influential circles in the western world. Maybe even the Sexual Revolution that was started by Wilhelm Reich would have looked to polygamy as a way to challenge the system if millions of people in the USA were members of the LDS faith and hundreds of thousands were in polygamist families.

The church would have also been far more radical as it would never have adopted the Stockholm Syndrome it has towards patriotism to the US government.

It is my understanding that birth rates were not higher where polygamy was practiced.

The influence of calling men on missions at any time plus the effects of jailing polygamists under the Edmunds tucker Act is what drove the fertility rate down for many polygamists. In general women in polygamy tend to have larger families than those outside for a variety of reasons.

[_Fiannan]

Actually, one could play around with a lot of "what ifs" in regards to polygamy. If it had not been suspended then the number of LDS people from increases in birth rates would have made up for all the people who would not have joined the Church. In fact, since eugenics was the big thing in the 1920s (where do you think Hitler got all his ideas if not for Britain and the USA?)

You are right about Hitler. What people don't realize is just how influential american eugenicists were in Hitlers life. He read a great deal about it and the most famous american eugenicists sent him an autograph copy of their books.

It is all in the book about the books that Hitler read and what books were in his private library.

And let us not forget the influence of large American foundations.

[_Fence Sitter]

Why Me,

We still believe in polygamy. The only ban is here on earth and in fact a man may be sealed to multiple wives still here on earth as long as only one is alive. Ask any faithful LDS widower who has remarried and been sealed to someone else in the temple if he thinks his first wife is no longer his wife.

And your statement about always believing it would be temporary just boggles the mind yet again.

While this is technically true, I think most of the GAs would love to completely erase polygamy from the records and our doctrine if they could. They're very PR-minded these days.

In any case, regardless of any ideas about postmortem polygamy, it's never coming back in practice among the living.

They cannot completely run away from it and practice it at the same time. I believe Elder Oaks feels he has two wives at this time and is equally married to both of them. One is just temporarily less substantial.

[_Fence Sitter]

The influence of calling men on missions at any time plus the effects of jailing polygamists under the Edmunds tucker Act is what drove the fertility rate down for many polygamists. In general women in polygamy tend to have larger families than those outside for a variety of reasons.

The question would be was the overall birth rates higher or lower for the LDS, not just those that practiced polygamy. I don't have figures at hand but my understanding was the birth rates were about the same overall. I'll do some checking. I had heard differently for women involved in polygamy also, that is they did not have anymore children than those who were not polygamous.

[_cafe crema]

Actually, one could play around with a lot of "what ifs" in regards to polygamy. If it had not been suspended then the number of LDS people from increases in birth rates would have made up for all the people who would not have joined the Church. In fact, since eugenics was the big thing in the 1920s (where do you think Hitler got all his ideas if not for Britain and the USA?) maybe polygamy would have been advocated by those in influential circles in the western world. Maybe even the Sexual Revolution that was started by Wilhelm Reich would have looked to polygamy as a way to challenge the system if millions of people in the USA were members of the LDS faith and hundreds of thousands were in polygamist families.

The church would have also been far more radical as it would never have adopted the Stockholm Syndrome it has towards patriotism to the US government.

It is my understanding that birth rates were not higher where polygamy was practiced.

Particularly 19th century Mormon polygamy, here is an article about it.:
Mormon polygamists shared the flaws of the fruit fly

[_why me]

I never thought that polygamy was going to be permanent. I always believed that it was going to be temporary.

That's good, since it ended probably 50 years before you were born.

Let me try this again for buffalo. I knew that polygamy was not to be permanent. It was tempory. Such was what I remember being taught if I remember correctly.

[_Quasimodo]

Particularly 19th century Mormon polygamy, here is an article about it.:
Mormon polygamists shared the flaws of the fruit fly

Interesting little article, crema! The more wives one has the less net produce. Not to mention all those poor bachelors who did without because Brigham had so many. No wonder SLC built it's own, sanctioned brothel.