Speculation on Polygamy...

[_Quasimodo]

Thanks, Liz and Harmony!

Two DEFINITE no's. :)

Sorry, but this begs the question. How do you feel about the likely possibly that you will be "sister wives" in the after life and for all eternity?

If it's an uncomfortable question, please don't answer.

[_Yoda]

Thanks, Liz and Harmony!

Two DEFINITE no's. :)

Sorry, but this begs the question. How do you feel about the likely possibly that you will be "sister wives" in the after life and for all eternity?

If it's an uncomfortable question, please don't answer.

Based on the revelation that I quoted earlier in the thread from FAIR, I don't believe that I will have to be a "sister wife" to anyone in the after life. Although plural marriage is an eternal law, it is not required for the Celestial Kingdom.

If, for some reason, I was required to live plural marriage in the afterlife, I would tell God where he could stick it, and party in one of the lower kingdoms. ;-)

[_bcspace]

As I speculated on the MDD, if the Church is not more successful with reactivation, the ratio of active believing women to men will continue to grow and could trigger another spate of plural marriage at some point to prevent children from being raised in unfruitful and unbelieving part-member/inactive families.

[_Fiannan]

No doubt that if polygamy was reinstated there would be members who would quit. However, their losses would be more than made up by women who would join due to marriage.

I have found it weird that many non-LDS women I know are either accepting of polygamy or very positive towards it. Of course this is only anecdotal as an observation but ironically, thanks to the sexual revolution and access to media that enables people to see examples of modern-day alternative lifestyles, there ae many people who no longer go crazy on polygamy being in some way odd or sinful.

Of course as long as polygamy was practiced like on Sister Wives or Big Love people would consider it. the Warren Jeffs thing would not be attractive in the least.

[_ajax18]

I don't really see anything wrong with older siblings assisting in taking care of younger siblings. I actually view it as positive. In my family, we had a unique situation. I was 9 1/2 years older than my little brother, and there were just two of us. Because of the big age difference, I did a lot of babysitting. I didn't resent it at all. It helped me quite a bit when I became a mother myself.

And just as Kody Brown said, "Love should be multiplied, not restricted." I'm sure these women see positive aspects to being a sister wife. At least they had a choice. Older children do not have a choice.

I have a hard time seeing the Church's missionary effort as being much worse than it is right now. With the number of women who seem to be embracing the idea of plural marriage, I could see the Church growing more this way. That would be the one thing that would push those in authority to reinstate polygamy, "if it increased the number of tithe paying active church members."

[_Drifting]

As I speculated on the MDD, if the Church is not more successful with reactivation, the ratio of active believing women to men will continue to grow and could trigger another spate of plural marriage at some point to prevent children from being raised in unfruitful and unbelieving part-member/inactive families.

Would you participate, if required, in marrying some of the single sisters and granting them children to be raised in righteousness?

[_cafe crema]

No doubt that if polygamy was reinstated there would be members who would quit. However, their losses would be more than made up by women who would join due to marriage.

I have found it weird that many non-LDS women I know are either accepting of polygamy or very positive towards it. Of course this is only anecdotal as an observation but ironically, thanks to the sexual revolution and access to media that enables people to see examples of modern-day alternative lifestyles, there ae many people who no longer go crazy on polygamy being in some way odd or sinful.

Of course as long as polygamy was practiced like on Sister Wives or Big Love people would consider it. the Warren Jeffs thing would not be attractive in the least.

A few years ago, the Sunday edition of our city newspaper had a front page spread on polygamy, headline and photo face up "on the stand". While newspaper readership is not what it used to be the Sunday paper is one that most around here get, where else do you find everything that's on sale this week? This made polygamy a topic of conversation the following week, in those conversations I didn't find any women who were positive toward polygamy for themselves, aside from the "I could use a wife" jokes. Accepting of it? Sure in the "if that's what they want that's fine" and "it's none of my business" sense. In this sense people are also accepting of gay marriage and polyandry, they don't give a second glance to those who live together without marriage or sleep with who they want, when they want. In short people who accept polygamy are also accepting of many lifestyles and attitudes that conflict with LDS teaching and practice. For the most part they feel no one has any business telling others how to live and what kind of intimate relationships they can form. Why would people who feel this way, see the LDS church with all it's rules about sexual behavior, as a positive choice?

I also found that underneath the acceptance of polygamy as a choice, there still ran a feeling that there really was something wrong with women who chose it. The idea that something must have happened to these women for them to be so lacking in self-esteem. It was acceptance tinged with pity for polygamous wives, yes they can accept intellectually that someone may choose it but for themselves it remains an emotionally negative situation for them personally. Acceptance of polygamy as a valid lifestyle choice doesn't equate to enthusiasm for choosing if as one's own lifestyle, I don't see an appreciable number of women wanting to choose it for themselves.


As for the few who actually want to live polygamy if the LDS church were to reinstate polygamy without it being legalized, you would just have a larger FLDS situation, this would appeal to very few. I don't see a whole lot of people knocking on their doors looking to join, and very very few who argue against it being a cult in the worst sense of the word. If it were legalized and the LDS church reinstated it, there would still be little reason to join the church since people could form polygamous marriages without the sanction of the church. If they wanted the sanction of a church I would imagine there would be one willing to do so, as is the case with gay marriage. It seems to me that people who want to form relationships based on their own beliefs and what works best in their lives are not going to see any benefit from joining a church that imposes it's beliefs and practices on people. Overall I don't see polygamy as something that would increase the LDS membership and certainly not enough to overcome the losses it would experience from reinstating it. I'd bet there are more women who want legalized pot than there are who want to marry polygamouslly.

[_Drifting]

Here's a hypothetical question to ponder on.

If the Prophet announces at the next conference that Polygamy is reinstated and requires all the High Priests and Elders of the Church to marry an additional wife and that the Bishops were to make the assignments:

What percentage would obediently comply?

Would you?

[_Yoda]

As I speculated on the MDD, if the Church is not more successful with reactivation, the ratio of active believing women to men will continue to grow and could trigger another spate of plural marriage at some point to prevent children from being raised in unfruitful and unbelieving part-member/inactive families.

Would you participate, if required, in marrying some of the single sisters and granting them children to be raised in righteousness?

I am guessing that BC would be willing to make that type of sacrifice. ;-)

ETA---In all seriousness, BC, what if your wife was adimately against plural marriage? Would you still do it?

[_ajax18]

Here's a hypothetical question to ponder on.

If the Prophet announces at the next conference that Polygamy is reinstated and requires all the High Priests and Elders of the Church to marry an additional wife and that the Bishops were to make the assignments:

What percentage would obediently comply?

Would you?

I couldn't help but think the split would be even enough that it would throw the Church into a state of civil war. Questions would arise such as which sect owns the buildings and the assets.

This is fun to talk about but we all know the Church today is looking to mainstream, a completely opposite direction of the Church during the days of polygamy.