Speculation on Polygamy...

[_Buffalo]

"If we are going to do away with polygamy, it would only be one feather in the bird, one ordinance in the Church and Kingdom. Do away with that, then we must do away with the prophets and apostles, with revelation and the gifts and graces of the Gospel, and finally give up our religion altogether."

- Prophet Wilford Woodruff, Journal of Discourses, vol. 13, p.166 1869

"The only men who become Gods, even the Sons of God, are those who enter into polygamy. Others attain unto a glory and may even be permitted to come into the presence of the Father and the Son; but they cannot reign as kings in glory, because they had blessings offered unto them, and they refused to accept them."

- The Prophet Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, Vol 11, p. 269

[_why me]

"The only men who become Gods, even the Sons of God, are those who enter into polygamy. Others attain unto a glory and may even be permitted to come into the presence of the Father and the Son; but they cannot reign as kings in glory, because they had blessings offered unto them, and they refused to accept them."

- The Prophet Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, Vol 11, p. 269

Since not all men will called to be polygamists, this quotation is dubious. We need to put on our critical thinking caps. I do believe that most of what is in the JofD are from second hand sources.

[_why me]

"If we are going to do away with polygamy, it would only be one feather in the bird, one ordinance in the Church and Kingdom. Do away with that, then we must do away with the prophets and apostles, with revelation and the gifts and graces of the Gospel, and finally give up our religion altogether."

- Prophet Wilford Woodruff, Journal of Discourses, vol. 13, p.166 1869

And this would be true. But...when it is time to end it, then it must end. But not before its time. Polygamy had to end when it did to protect the saints from persecution by the government. But it would have ended anyway. I remember being taught that it was only temporary.

[_Morley]

And this would be true. But...when it is time to end it, then it must end. But not before its time. Polygamy had to end when it did to protect the saints from persecution by the government. But it would have ended anyway. I remember being taught that it was only temporary.

My emphasis.

Wow. Whoever taught you was able to look into the past and see that polygamy was only temporary!

[_Buffalo]

"If we are going to do away with polygamy, it would only be one feather in the bird, one ordinance in the Church and Kingdom. Do away with that, then we must do away with the prophets and apostles, with revelation and the gifts and graces of the Gospel, and finally give up our religion altogether."

- Prophet Wilford Woodruff, Journal of Discourses, vol. 13, p.166 1869

And this would be true. But...when it is time to end it, then it must end. But not before its time. Polygamy had to end when it did to protect the saints from persecution by the government. But it would have ended anyway. I remember being taught that it was only temporary.

It was never thought of as being temporary before the ban.

[_Yoda]

"The only men who become Gods, even the Sons of God, are those who enter into polygamy. Others attain unto a glory and may even be permitted to come into the presence of the Father and the Son; but they cannot reign as kings in glory, because they had blessings offered unto them, and they refused to accept them."

- The Prophet Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, Vol 11, p. 269

Since not all men will called to be polygamists, this quotation is dubious. We need to put on our critical thinking caps. I do believe that most of what is in the JofD are from second hand sources.

This isn't a second hand source. It is a direct quote. A better defense here would be that the JofD as a whole is not considered official LDS doctrine and is not canonized.

The reason, I believe, that the JoD was not canonized, is because of the idiotic statements like the one Brigham Young made above. ;-)

A more "apologetic" response would be that the prophet was merely "stating his opinion". ;-)

[_Buffalo]

"The only men who become Gods, even the Sons of God, are those who enter into polygamy. Others attain unto a glory and may even be permitted to come into the presence of the Father and the Son; but they cannot reign as kings in glory, because they had blessings offered unto them, and they refused to accept them."

- The Prophet Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, Vol 11, p. 269

Since not all men will called to be polygamists, this quotation is dubious. We need to put on our critical thinking caps. I do believe that most of what is in the JofD are from second hand sources.

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous, and you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we wouldn’t have rejected the prophets. You, therefore, testify against yourselves that you are sons of those who rejected the prophets. Fill ye up, then, the measure of your fathers.

[_Yoda]

In a lot of ways, I think that the modern polygamy structure in Bill's family on "Big Love" was pretty accurate.

What do you mean by that Liz. Was "pretty accurate" compared to what? What was the structure of Bill's family?

I really wasn't trying to compare it to anything. Did you ever watch the series?

What I mean to say is that how Bill interacted with his family, the wives, in particular, is basically how I see most decent modern LDS men interacting, if polygamy was a part of modern LDS customs.

It was, by no stretch of the imagination, a perfect situation. And I don't see myself being able to live in that type of a marriage.

However, it was interesting to see the dynamics of the wives and how they supported each other. In many ways, Bill took a back seat.

[_Yoda]

Great responses, guys! :-)

I really appreciate everyone's participation!

I will be leaving work in a few minutes. Hopefully, I will be able to log on a little later this evening and comment more.

I'm looking forward to reading more comments! :-)

[_marg]

I only watched a couple of shows Liz. The impression I had at the time was that it glamorized polygamy.

I have watched Sister Wives and it glamorizes polygamy. There are a few hints that it's not cracked up to what the wives would like outsiders to believe. When the latest wife had her baby, the older kids in the family expressed discontent, commenting that there were already too many kids in the family. Obviously the family is being paid for the reality show. They complain about financial worries but the wives each have their own cars, their own houses, seem to have no financial worries, their own fitness trainer, they go out for lunches together regularly, dinners, take trips. So they appear to live very well financially.

If there are no or little financial concerns and there is true freedom to leave, I guess any relationship arrangement could work for adults involved.

I don't think either of these shows reflect the reality of what polygamy is like for most or how abusive it can be. The shows wouldn't sell as entertainment if they showed abuse of women and children, living in poverty. What they show is fairly well to do families living in nice middle class homes with a dad who supposedly is able to and does spread his time equally between all and happy to do so..as being the norm in polygamy...and I don't think that does reflects polygamy in communities currently nor polygamy practiced by BY or by many back in the early Mormon days.