Understanding Polygamy
The Cultural and Historical Context of Warren Jeff's Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints
Why is it that polygamists, such as the followers of Warren Jeffs stick to their way so staunchly, and refuse to change, even when threatened with arrest by the FBI?
Understanding Polygamy: Introduction
Current followers of polygamy, also called plural marriage or the Principle, as it is referred to by those who practice it must can only be understood within the context of its social and historical ties. We should be careful to note, however, that the history of any practice is irrelevant to understanding its importance as a religious practice. While history can help us understand polygamy as outsiders, those within the group would likely consider the historical context irrelevant to the religious importance of the practice. Whether we as outsiders think the practice is legitimately based on religious tenets or is recently "made-up" will not help us to understand the role that it plays. This article then, will attempt to examine the importance of polygamy within the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints (FLDS) church of Warren Jeffs and similar groups in the United States without assigning value, either positive or negative.
Why is it that polygamists stick to their way so staunchly, and refuse to change, even when threatened with arrest by the FBI?
One answer is this: Warren Jeff's group and others like it identifies itself solely on the basis of its family structure. The Principle is their identity - their cultural and religious core as individuals and as a people.
The History of Polygamy Within the LDS Church
So, how did this group of people came to identify themselves solely on the basis of plural marriage? Polygamy has been practiced in the Salt Lake Valley ever since the Mormon community, led by Brigham Young settled there in 1847. The founder and prophet of Mormonism (the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is colloquially called the Mormon Church, and its members Mormons), Joseph Smith wrote in Doctrine and Covenants of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints: "If any man espouse a virgin, and desire to espouse another, and the first give her consent; and if he espouse the second, and they are virgins, and have vowed to no other man, then he is justified", and similar passages can be found throughout the extensive body of Smith's revelations. The founding fathers of the Church of Jesus Christ of Later-Day Saints (I'll call it the Official Church herein), including the prophet Joseph Smith himself, had several wives.
Fundamentalists, then, have not invented a new practice, but rather have retained what the larger congregation of Mormons has since rejected.
Although the Official Church of Jesus Christ Latter Day Saints has disassociated with the teachings of its polygamous past, the break was not without a plague of problems and dissenters. The Official LDS Church does not deny the validity of texts which clearly sanction and advocate plural marriage and does not offer a "reinterpretation" of these passages as other Christian groups have done with controversial Biblical passages. Polygamy was a common and accepted practice in the LDS church up until the late 19th century. It wasn't until the territory of Utah decided to become a state in the Union that the practice was questioned. As a federally mandated condition of Utah statehood, polygamy was officially revoked by the Church in 1890 via a church edict called the Manifesto of 1890, and the present day Official Church refers to this Manifesto when explaining why polygamy is no longer accepted.
But statehood did not provide a clean break with polygamy. In the decades following the Manifesto of 1890, many polygamous families lingered and were still accepted within the church, and a few new marriages were silently performed, particularly amongst higher-ups in the church.
The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ Latter Day Saints (the FLDS of Warren Jeffs), the Corporation of the Fundamentalist Church, the Apostolic United Brethren and numerous other associated and unaffiliated fundamentalist Mormon families have retained the practice through the generations and up to the present time (The official LDS church has made a point recently to state that these groups have nothing to do with their church and are not at all related to Mormonism. While the former may be true, the latter clearly is not. Nonetheless, released statements by the Official Church have requested that the media not refer to polygamist groups as Mormon fundamentalists or Mormon at all.). Many of these groups started as a single polygamous family, quickly growing into large, interrelated and religiously united clans. As nearly all couples have rather large numbers of children, this transformation from a single family to clan-unit can occur over a single generation.
The Geography of Polygamy and the Split from the Official Mormon Church
Most polygamist groups reside in rural Utah, and in particular the neighboring border towns of Hildale, Utah and Colorado City, Arizona, an area with an estimated 6000 fundamentalists. Originally called Short Creek, these communities were established 1928 by a small handful of pioneer polygamists wishing to retain their family structure after the Official Church outlawed polygamy. Smaller pockets of practicing Mormon fundamentalist polygamists inhabit other states as well, particularly Montana and Nevada.
The issue of plural marriage was the single cause that motivated the fundamentalist split from the Official Church in the decades after the Manifesto, and the beliefs, practices and general culture of fundamentalist groups remain to this day quite similar to that of other Mormons. The official Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and the fundamentalist church both adhere to Doctrine and Covenants, The Book of Mormon and A Pearl of Great Price, and share a common religious history.
Because the prophet, texts, and basic religious tenets of the Official Church and fundamentalist groups are nearly the same, family structure remains the sole defining difference between mainstream Mormons and ex-communicated fundamentalists who have set up their own churches, often accusing the Official LDS Church of straying from the true revelations of the prophet and other founders. As shown, this accusation is clearly not without merit.
The Role of Marriage Within the Offical Church
Why, then was plural marriage so important to these original fundamentalists? The consequences of polygamy have always been potentially quite steep. Though law enforcement usually has a laissez-faire approach after a failed raid of the Hildale/Colorado City community decades ago, todays polygamists, both men and women, potentially risk several years of jail time, separation from their children and loss of assets if found guilty in a court of law. Similarly, the families who left the church in the decades after the Manifesto of 1890 voluntarily accepted not only excommunication from the Church and social ostracism in the only community they had ever known, but many individuals and families also left their homes in search of land where they could practice their beliefs on their own.
Rural southern Utah is by no means a paradise. The desert areas are hot and arid in the summer and snowy in winter. Much of the soil is rocky, making agriculture difficult. One can imagine the host of difficulties that must have been faced by these religious pioneers. Clearly, the stakes were high for those who left the Church, and remain high for those who practice polygamy today.
The role marriage takes within the Official Church must be understood in order to understand the role plural marriage takes within fundamentalist groups.
For members of the LDS Church, doctrine teaches that marriages performed within the church are for eternity. That is, the family unit is bound together in the afterworld much like on Earth when married in the church. Further, such a marriage, "celestial marriage" is necessary in order to reap all the benefits of the afterlife. So, only those who are married within the Church will be able to achieve all of the benefits of "heaven". Those few who remain single and never marry have a very different role in the Church than married couples and families, and are often excluded from certain events and benefits.
So too, for the fundamentalists, who have a common history, share sacred texts and nearly all beliefs with the LDS church, a celestial marriage is needed and is the only union which provides this eternal bond. The difference, of course, is that for the fundamentalists, it is only a polygamous union that can serve as a celestial marriage, as it was before the Manifesto of 1890. Like a marriage outside the church, a monogamous marriage is not celestial - is not eternal - and will not provide all the benefits in the afterlife and ensure that families are eternally bound.
As an additional factor, procreation is also deemed necessary (for both fundamentalists and the Official Church) in order to attain the maximum full blessings in the afterlife, and polygamists believe (rightly or wrongly) that their family structure facilitates this. When a man serves as patriarch over his large family, he is said to be emulating the Biblical fathers of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Moses, amongst others. These are great religious leaders who were historically influential in Biblical times and are revered by Bible-based religions.
Women in Polygamy
Today, estimates vary as to how many people in the western United States practice polygamy, with conservative estimates beginning at 25,000, and others estimating up to 100,000. Similarly, debate rages regarding just how much abuse is suffered by the women and girls of polygamous families.
Many women claim to be satisfied with their lifestyle and claim to have openly chose it for themselves. We have no choice to but to believe the autonomy and word of these women. Also, numerous women have left the polygamous lifestyle for a monogamous one while retaining their family bonds and without being forced into marriages. On the other hand, however, are the cases of young teenage girls who "escape" their families, telling how they narrowly escaped a forced marriage to a male several decades their senior.
Clearly, the debate will continue to rage on, but hopefully, by placing the practice of polygamy within its religious and historical context, we will be better prepared to understand these enigmatic people whose lives have recently been splashed accoss the evening news.
Conclusion
I'll conclude with a quote extracted from a book written in favor of polygamist unions written by Mary Batchelor, entitled Voices in Harmony: Contemporary Women Celebrate Plural Marriage. She eloquently writes:
Despite scorn and rejection from the mainstream Mormon community and the rest of America, and despite government proceedings against them, fundamentalists continue to display a tenacity and a deep commitment to their beliefs in the face of tremendous opposition...Over the long haul, actions against Fundamentalist Mormons seem, rather, to invigorate the community and vindicate their conviction that God's chosen people will always be persecuted. Patterns of history would suggest that Fundamentalist Mormon polygamy is here to stay, whatever the cost.
