| Subject: | Lying for the Lord and to the Press: The LDS Church on Its Actual Polygamous Beliefs and Practices |
| Date: | Apr 19, 2008 |
| Author: | steve benson |
| INTRODUCTION: MORMONS ON MARRIAGE--POLYGAMOUS WOLVES
IN MONOGAMOUS SHEEP'S CLOTHING It is a matter of documentary history that the so-called ”mainstream” Mormon Church—despite its deliberate attempts to mislead the public and the press—has: --long sanctioned the practice of polygamy, --lied about is practice, despite alleged “official" repudiations of polygamy; --considered (and still considers) polygamy to be official Mormon doctrine; and --performs polygamous marriages for time and all eternity in its present-day Mormon temples. An examination of the record will establish the factual nature of the above assertions. _____ THE LYING, POLYGAMOUS PRACTICES OF MORMONISM'S FOUNDER JOSEPH SMITH It is clear from Smith's own behavior (as well as from the acceptance of that behavior by faithful Mormons of Smith’s day), that polygamy was considered the official, canon law of the LDS God and the LDS Church. The following is excerpted from a Salt Lake Tribune review of practicing Mormon and author Todd Compton's book, "In Sacred Loneliness," which chronicles the multiple wifery of Mormonism’s founder Joseph Smith: "In identifying 33 well-documented wives of [Joseph] Smith — other researchers have placed the figure as high as 48 — Compton found that in the case of 11 women, Smith's polygamy was polyandrous; that is, the women were married and cohabiting with their husbands, who mostly were faithful Mormons, when Smith married them. "Yet not one divorced her 'first husband' when Smith was alive. Indeed, they continued to live with their civil spouses while married to Smith. . . . "Eleven of Smith's wives were between ages 14 and 20, nine were in their 20s, eight were in Smith's own peer group of 31 to 40, two were in their 40s and three in their 50s. . . . "Toward the end of Smith's life, knowledge of his secret marriages began to leak out. William Law, Smith's second counselor . . . filed suit against the church leader for living 'in an open state of adultery' with 19-year-old Maria Lawrence. "In a speech a month before his death, Smith responded by flatly denying polygamy, which was illegal under federal law: 'What a thing it is for a man to be accused of committing adultery, and having seven wives, when I can only find one,' he said. " (Salt Lake Tribune, December 13, 1997, p. C2; for Smith's speech in toto, see "History of the Church,” vol. 6, pp. 408-12.) _____ LDS PRESIDENT BRIGHAM YOUNG DECLARED POLYGAMY ESSENTIAL TO MORMON SALVATION To not practice polygamy, Young warned, would mean denial to disobedient Mormon men of the chance to become gods in the Mormon hereafter. As Young sternly warned Mormons in a sermon on 6 August 1862: "The only men who become Gods, even the Sons of God, are those who enter into polygamy ("Journal of Discourses," vol. 11, p. 269) Young went on in the same sermon, as reported in the LDS-owned Deseret News, to pound home the absolute necessity of polygamy in the Mormon God's plan of salvation. In so doing, he denounced monogamy as a second-rate form of marriage, blaming its emergence on the ancient, degraded and criminal Romans: "Monogamy, or restrictions by law to one wife, is no part of the economy of heaven among men. Such a system was commenced by the founders of the Roman Empire . . . "Rome became the mistress of the world, and introduced this order of monogamy wherever her sway was acknowledged. Thus this monogamic order of marriage, so esteemed by modern Christians as a holy sacrament and divine institution, is nothing but a system established by a set of robbers . . . "Why do we believe in and practice polygamy? Because the Lord introduced it to his servants in a revelation given to Joseph Smith, and the Lord's servants have always practiced it. ‘And is that religion popular in heaven?’ It is the only popular religion there . . . " _____ MORMON CHURCH PRESIDENTS WHO HAVE FAITHFULLY PRACTICED POLYGAMY The first seven presidents of the Mormon Church were devoted, practicing polygamists. Count your many plural wives, name them one by one: Joseph Smith, LDS Church president (1830-1844), had at least 33 wives, with seven children by Emma Hale Smith. It is unknown if he had any children by plural wives. Brigham Young, LDS Church president (1847-1877), had 50 wives and 56 children. John Taylor, LDS Church president (1880-1887), had least 14 wives and an estimated 36 children. Wilford Woodruff, LDS Church president (1889-1898), had least 10 wives and an estimated 34 children. Lorenzo Snow, LDS Church president (1898-1901), had at least nine wives, with 33 children. Joseph F. Smith, LDS Church president (1901-1918), had six wives and 43 children. Heber J. Grant, LDS Church president (1918-1945), had three wives and 12 children. As Sandra Tanner, in her article, “LDS Leaders Still Believe There Will Be Polygamy in Heaven,” points out: “According to LDS doctrine, these men will have all of their faithful wives and children with them in the resurrection, which would mean they will be living polygamy in the Celestial Kingdom.” _____ EVEN AFTER THE SO-CALLED "OFFICIAL" 1890 ABANDONMENT OF POLYGAMY, THE MORMON CHURCH CONTINUED TO DISHONESTLY AND SECRETLY SANCTION NEW PLURAL MARRIAGES Confirming the deliberately deceitful practice by the Mormon Church of post-Manifesto polygamy as uncovered by excommunicated Mormon and noted historian D. Michael Quinn, ex-Mormon researchers Jerald and Sandra Tanner write in their article, "Wanted: 'One Mighty and Strong'-- Fundamentalists Charge LDS Church Has Fallen Into Apostacy": "As the United States government continued to press the [Mormon] Church to give up the practice [of polygamy], new laws were enacted to force compliance . . . . Historian B. Carmon Hardy explains: ‘ . . . [O]n September 24, 1890, President Woodruff produced his famous Manifesto, advising Church members to obey the laws of the land as they related to polygamy.' (Hardy, 'Solemn Covenant: The Mormon Polygamous Passage,' p. 130). Not so fast. As the Tanners further report: "However, many were left to wonder if this statement was to be considered a revelation or just an admonition. Did it mean all Mormons were to discontinue living with their plural families, refrain from having more children born to these unions, or just that they were not to take any additional wives. There seemed to be one policy for the public and another in private . . . . Hardy lists the names of 220 LDS men, including bishops, stake presidents and apostles, who continued to take plural wives after the Manifesto. ("Solemn Covenant," Appendix II)" Citing the research of Richard Van Wagoner in his book, "Mormon Polygamy" (p. 159), the Tanners note that between "1902 to April 1904 . . . 'at least sixty-three plural marriages were sealed throughout the Church.'" (Van Wagoner, “Mormon Polygamy,” p. 159) In the famous three-year-long Reed Smoot hearings that commenced in 1904, the U.S. Senate--by now aware of disturbing evidence that Mormon Church leaders were, in fact, marrying additional wives, including some outside the territorial boundaries of the United States--challenged the right of Mormon Apostle Smoot to take elected office in the federal legislative body. Subsequent testimonial evidence at the hearings revealed that several high-ranking Mormon Church officials had continued to engage in polygamous relations--including the fathering of offspring with their plural wives--after the ostensible anti-polygamy 1890 Manifesto had been issued and supposedly cemented into place. As the Tanners write, the pressure from the federal government now was on. "Finally,” they write, "on April 7, 1904, President Joseph F. Smith issued a second Manifesto declaring that members were to enter into no new plural marriages. However, these statements were understood by some to simply mean that there were to be no new marriages in the United States, that they did not apply to plural marriages in Mexico or outside of the country." Indeed, as Van Wagoner notes, some Mormon leaders continued to practice polygamy in Mexico: "Though the 1904 Manifesto sought and obtained Mormon confirmation of President Smith's statements before the Smoot hearings, most Saints knew little of the covert post-Manifesto polygamy that Church leaders had been supporting." ("Mormon Polygamy," p. 168) Eventually, as the Tanners note (again citing Hardy), "two apostles--John W. Taylor, son of President John Taylor, and Matthias F. Cowley--were dropped from the [Q]uorum [of the Twelve] for their continued practice of the principle." _____ THE EXCOMMUNICATION OF D. MICHAEL QUINN FOR HIS WRITINGS ON POST-MANIFESTO POLYGAMY Conducting rigorous historical research on polygamy has proven to be hazardous to one's Church membership. One need only review the case of former Mormon and noted historian D. Michael Quinn, who was stripped of his Church membership for his scholarly examination of LDS polygamous practices--a study which indisputably revealed that even after supposedly denouncing and discontinuing the practice of polygamy with its 1890 “Manifesto,” the Mormon Church, through many of its highest leaders, continued its secretive practice. (Quinn, “LDS Church Authority and New Plural Marriages, 1890 – 1904,” in “Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought," Spring 1985) Quinn's "Dialogue" article provided a devastating historical account of the shell game played for decades by the Mormon Church in a deliberate campaign of misdirection and misinformation. Quinn explains in another article, "On Being a Mormon Historian (and Its Aftermath)," how his research into post-Manifesto Mormon polygamy took form, despite a decided lack of cooperation from the highest levels of the LDS Church, and as part of Quinn's attempts to notify ranking Church leaders of both his research efforts and publication intents. He writes: "President [Gordon B.] Hinckley telephoned in June 1982 to say that he was sympathetic about a request I had written to obtain access to documents in the First Presidency fault [about post-Manifesto polygamy] but that my request could not be granted. "Since I now knew all I ever would about post-Manifesto polygamy, I told him I would go ahead and publish the most detailed and supportive study I could of the topic. “President Hinckley said the decision was up to me, that he had done what he could to help." (Quinn, "On Being A Mormon Historian (and Its Aftermath)", in Smith, George D., ed., "Faithful History: Essays on Writing Mormon History" [Salt Lake City, Utah: Signature Books, 1992], p. 90) Quinn also details in the same article the reasons for his excommunication: “In 1985, after 'Dialogue' published my article ‘LDS Church Authority and New Plural Marriages, 1890 - 1904’, three apostles [Boyd K. Packer, Mark E. Petersen and Ezra Taft Benson] gave orders for my Stake President to confiscate my temple recommend. "Six years earlier, I had formally notified the First Presidency and the Managing Director of the Church Historical Department about my research on post-Manifesto polygamy and my intention to publish it . . . Now I was told that three apostles believed I was guilty of ‘speaking evil of the Lord's anointed.’ The Stake President was also told to ‘take further action’ against me if this did not ‘remedy the situation’ of my writing controversial Mormon history . . .. "I told my Stake President that this was an obvious effort to intimidate me from doing history that might ‘offend the Brethren’ (to use Ezra Taft Benson’s phrase) . . . . The Stake President also saw this as a back-door effort to have me fired from BYU . . . . “At various stake and regional meetings, Apostle Packer began publicly referring to ‘a BYU historian who is writing about polygamy to embarrass the Church.’ At firesides in Utah and California, a member of BYU’s Religious Education Department referred to me as ‘the anti-Christ of BYU.’ . . . Church leaders today seem to regard my post-Manifesto polygamy article . . . as ‘speaking evil of the Lord’s anointed’ because they themselves regard certain acts and words of those earlier Church leaders as embarrassing, if not actually wrong. I do not regard it as disloyal to conscientiously recreate the words, acts and circumstances of earlier prophets and apostles . . . . “No one ever gave me an ultimatum or threatened to fire me from Brigham Young University. However, University administrators and I were both on the losing side of a war of attrition mandated by the General Authorities . . . . “On 20 January 1988, I wrote a letter of resignation, effective at the end of the current school semester . . . . I explained [that] ‘the situation seems to be that academic freedom merely survives at BYU without fundamental support by the institution, exists against tremendous pressure and is nurtured only through the dedication of individual administrators and faculty members.’ . . . “Three months after my departure, it angered me to learn that BYU had fired a Hebrew professor for his private views on the historicity of the Book of Mormon. Although I personally regard the Book of Mormon as ancient history and sacred text, I told an inquiring newspaper reporter: ‘BYU officials have said that Harvard should aspire to become the BYU of the East. That’s like saying the Mayo Clinic should aspire to be Auschwitz. BYU is an Auschwitz of the mind.’ . . . “When BYU’s Associate Academic Vice-President asked me if that was an accurate quote, I confirmed that it was. ‘Academic freedom exists at BYU only for what is considered non-controversial by the University’s Board of Trustees [meaning the Quorum of the Twelve] and administrators,’ I wrote. ‘By those definitions, academic freedom has always existed at Soviet universities (even during the Stalin era) . . . “It is . . . my conviction that God desires everyone to enjoy freedom of inquiry and expression without fear, obstruction or intimidation. I find it one of the fundamental ironies of modern Mormonism that the General Authorities, who praise free agency, also do their best to limit free agency's prerequisites--access to information, uninhibited inquiry and freedom of expression.” (Quinn, “On Being a Mormon Historian,” pp. 91-95) _____ Additional sordid details behind the excommunication of Quinn seeped out some eight years after his post-Manifesto essay was first published. The facts behind the ecclesiastical execution of Quinn were provided directly to me by two of the Mormon Church's highest henchmen—“Apostle-ologists” Neal A. Maxwell and Dallin H. Oaks. On 9 September 1993, I met with Oaks and Maxwell in Maxwell's Church office, #303, located in the Church Administration Building, in downtown Salt Lake City. There I presented them with a list of detailed and wide-ranging questions concerning fundamental doctrines, teachings, practices and policies of the Mormon Church that significantly troubled me--and about which I felt I deserved credible and straight-forward answers. In the broad sense on the polygamy question, I wanted to know from these pre-eminent LDS damage controllers why the Mormon Church had not been more forthcoming and honest with its history in regard to the official practice (and later blatant denial of) polygamy. Specifically, I wanted to know about what I regarded as the mystery of history--and those who tell the truth about polygamy without permission. In that meeting, “good cop” Maxwell offered unconvincing rationalizations for the Mormon Church’s failure to be honest and forthcoming about its practice of polygamy. “Bad cop” Oaks followed up by launching a shockingly shabby attack on Quinn’s personal integrity. In answer to the larger inquiry, Maxwell cagily replied by noting that the process of writing history is frustrating, complex and incomplete. He handed me a photocopy of a sermon. (The copy turned out, I discovered later, to be a talk Maxwell himself had delivered during the 1984 October General Conference entitled, “Out of Obscurity.” However, the single sheet excerpts that he provided me contained no title or author, although it had been marked up in red ink for my benefit. Maxwell’s address ultimately appeared in the General Conference issue of the "Ensign," 10, November 1984, p. 11). Quoting from a "Tribute to Neville Chamberlain," delivered in the British House of Commons, 12 November 1940, Maxwell’s sermon declared: "History with its flickering lamp stumbles along the trail of the past, trying to reconstruct its scenes, to revive its echoes, and kindle with pale gleams the passion of former days." The sermon then addressed what Maxwell verbally described to us as the definition of history: a collection, he said, of "floating mosaic tiles": "The finished mosaic of the history of the Restoration will be larger and more varied as more pieces of tile emerge, adjusting a sequence here or enlarging there a sector of our understanding. "The fundamental outline is in place now, however. But history deals with imperfect people in process of time, whose imperfections produce refractions as the pure light of the gospel plays upon them. There may even be a few pieces of tile which, for the moment, do not seem to fit . . . "So, belatedly, the fullness of the history of the dispensation of the fullness of times will be written. "The final mosaic of the Restoration will be resplendent, reflecting divine design and the same centerpiece--the Father's plan of salvation and exaltation and the atonement of His Son, Jesus Christ." What Maxwell’s excuses lacked in clarity, Oaks’ made up for in character assassination. While Oaks was much less colorful than his charming co-charlatan Maxwell, he was much more direct in dealing with the substance of my inquiry. Oaks acknowledged that he had read Quinn's article on post-Manifesto polygamy, covering the period from 1890 into the early 20th century. Oaks confessed that the Mormon Church had not, in fact, been honest about its practice of polygamy during that time. He admitted that the case, as laid out by Quinn, was, in fact, true. Oaks admitted that, in his opinion, lies had indeed been told by Mormon Church leaders about the continuing practice of polygamy after it supposedly was ended by the Manifesto of 1890. But enough of admitting "divinely-inspired" Church wrongdoing. Oaks then proceeded to attack Quinn personally by accusing him of breaking his word. Oaks said that Quinn had been given access to all of J. Reuben Clark's papers for the purpose of writing a book on Clark's years of Church service. Oaks said he had assured the Church that Quinn was credible, in order that Quinn could be given access to those records. Oaks noted that shortly after Quinn's research was published on Clark, out came Quinn's article on post-Manifesto polygamy. Quinn, Oaks said angrily, had violated Oaks' confidence. He accused Quinn of having taken more information out of Church archives than he had been given permission to examine and research, going in. Oaks said that Quinn was not an innocent victim in this affair. Oaks indicated that he subsequently wrote Quinn a letter, in which he expressed his "deep disappointment" with him and telling Quinn he had exceeded the limits of their original understanding. In that letter, Oaks further said, he told Quinn that he now regarded him as someone who could not be trusted. Oaks added that Quinn would not tell us about these things, if asked, because of Quinn's involvement. On that last point, I wanted to see for myself. In August 2001, I personally recounted to Quinn Oaks' version of events and asked him for his own recollections. Visibly agitated but in a controlled and calm voice, Quinn emphatically denied that he had violated any research agreement with the Church Historical Department. He told me that it was clearly understood going in that he had open access to archival materials. _____ CURRENT OFFICIAL MORMON BELIEF IN POLYGAMY It is matter of doctrinal record that polygamy remains the canonized, scriptural, official and unrepudiated law of the Mormon Church, as laid out in Section 132 of the its official scripture, the Doctrine & Covenants. To be sure, this so-called "revelation" is described in the D&C has having been given "through Joseph Smith [in] Nauvoo, Illinois, [and] recorded on July 12, 1843 [as cited in] 'History of the Church' 5:501-7"]. To this day, D&C 132 remains the official, standing doctrine of the Mormon Church and Mormons are explicitly warned in this section that if they do not follow the God's eternal law of polygamy, they will be damned. The text of the "revelation” follows: "1 Verily, thus saith the Lord unto you my servant Joseph, that inasmuch as you have inquired of my hand to know and understand wherein I, the Lord, justified my servants Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as also Moses, David and Solomon, my servants, as touching the principle and doctrine of their having many wives and concubines- "2 Behold, and lo, I am the Lord thy God, and will answer thee as touching this matter. "3 Therefore, prepare thy heart to receive and obey the instructions which I am about to give unto you; for all those who have this law revealed unto them must obey the same. "4 For behold, I reveal unto you a new and an everlasting covenant; and if ye abide not that covenant, then are ye damned; for no one can reject this covenant and be permitted to enter into my glory. "5 For all who will have a blessing at my hands shall abide the law which was appointed for that blessing, and the conditions thereof, as were instituted from before the foundation of the world. "6 And as pertaining to the new and everlasting covenant, it was instituted for the fullness of my glory; and he that receiveth a fullness thereof must and shall abide the law, or he shall be damned, saith the Lord God. "7 And verily I say unto you, that the conditions of this law are these: All covenants, contracts, bonds, obligations, oaths, vows, performances, connections, associations, or expectations, that are not made and entered into and sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise, of him who is anointed, both as well for time and for all eternity, and that too most holy, by revelation and commandment through the medium of mine anointed, whom I have appointed on the earth to hold this power (and I have appointed unto my servant Joseph to hold this power in the last days, and there is never but one on the earth at a time on whom this power and the keys of this priesthood are conferred), are of no efficacy, virtue, or force in and after the resurrection from the dead; for all contracts that are not made unto this end have an end when men are dead. "8 Behold, mine house is a house of order, saith the Lord God, and not a house of confusion. "9 Will I accept of an offering, saith the Lord, that is not made in my name? "10. Or will I receive at your hands that which I have not appointed? "11 And will I appoint unto you, saith the Lord, except it be by law, even as I and my Father ordained unto you, before the world was? "12 I am the Lord thy God; and I give unto you this commandment-that no man shall come unto the Father but by me or by my word, which is my law, saith the Lord. "13 And everything that is in the world, whether it be ordained of men, by thrones, or principalities, or powers, or things of name, whatsoever they may be, that are not by me or by my word, saith the Lord, shall be thrown down, and shall not remain after men are dead, neither in nor after the resurrection, saith the Lord your God. "14 For whatsoever things remain are by me; and whatsoever things are not by me shall be shaken and destroyed. "15 Therefore, if a man marry him a wife in the world, and he marry her not by me nor by my word, and he covenant with her so long as he is in the world and she with him, their covenant and marriage are not of force when they are dead, and when they are out of the world; therefore, they are not bound by any law when they are out of the world. "16 Therefore, when they are out of the world they neither marry nor are given in marriage; but are appointed angels in heaven, which angels are ministering servants, to minister for those who are worthy of a far more, and an exceeding, and an eternal weight of glory. "17 For these angels did not abide my law; therefore, they cannot be enlarged, but remain separately and singly, without exaltation, in their saved condition, to all eternity; and from henceforth are not gods, but are angels of God forever and ever. "18 And again, verily I say unto you, if a man marry a wife, and make a covenant with her for time and for all eternity, if that covenant is not by me or by my word, which is my law, and is not sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise, through him whom I have anointed and appointed unto this power, then it is not valid neither of force when they are out of the world, because they are not joined by me, saith the Lord, neither by my word; when they are out of the world it cannot be received there, because the angels and the gods are appointed there, by whom they cannot pass; they cannot, therefore, inherit my glory; for my house is a house of order, saith the Lord God. "19 And again, verily I say unto you, if a man marry a wife by my word, which is my law, and by the new and everlasting covenant, and it is sealed unto them by the Holy Spirit of promise, by him who is anointed, unto whom I have appointed this power and the keys of this priesthood; and it shall be said unto them-Ye shall come forth in the first resurrection; and if it be after the first resurrection, in the next resurrection; and shall inherit thrones, kingdoms, principalities, and powers, dominions, all heights and depths-then shall it be written in the Lamb's Book of Life, that he shall commit no murder whereby to shed innocent blood, and if ye abide in my covenant, and commit no murder whereby to shed innocent blood, it shall be done unto them in all things whatsoever my servant hath put upon them, in time, and through all eternity; and shall be of full force when they are out of the world; and they shall pass by the angels, and the gods, which are set there, to their exaltation and glory in all things, as hath been sealed upon their heads, which glory shall be a fullness and a continuation of the seeds forever and ever. "20 Then shall they be gods, because they have no end; therefore shall they be from everlasting to everlasting, because they continue; then shall they be above all, because all things are subject unto them. Then shall they be gods, because they have all power, and the angels are subject unto them. "21 Verily, verily, I say unto you, except ye abide my law ye cannot attain to this glory. "22 For strait is the gate, and narrow the way that leadeth unto the exaltation and continuation of the lives, and few there be that find it, because ye receive me not in the world neither do ye know me. "23 But if ye receive me in the world, then shall ye know me, and shall receive your exaltation; that where I am ye shall be also. "24 This is eternal lives-to know the only wise and true God, and Jesus Christ, whom he hath sent. I am he. Receive ye, therefore, my law. "25 Broad is the gate, and wide the way that leadeth to the deaths; and many there are that go in thereat, because they receive me not, neither do they abide in my law. "26 Verily, verily, I say unto you, if a man marry a wife according to my word, and they are sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise, according to mine appointment, and he or she shall commit any sin or transgression of the new and everlasting covenant whatever, and all manner of blasphemies, and if they commit no murder wherein they shed innocent blood, yet they shall come forth in the first resurrection, and enter into their exaltation; but they shall be destroyed in the flesh, and shall be delivered unto the buffetings of Satan unto the day of redemption, saith the Lord God. "27 The blasphemy against the Holy Ghost, which shall not be forgiven in the world nor out of the world, is in that ye commit murder wherein ye shed innocent blood, and assent unto my death, after ye have received my new and everlasting covenant, saith the Lord God; and he that abideth not this law can in nowise enter into my glory, but shall be damned, saith the Lord. "28 I am the Lord thy God, and will give unto thee the law of my Holy Priesthood, as was ordained by me and my Father before the world was. "29 Abraham received all things, whatsoever he received, by revelation and commandment, by my word, saith the Lord, and hath entered into his exaltation and sitteth upon his throne. "30 Abraham received promises concerning his seed, and of the fruit of his loins-from whose loins ye are, namely, my servant Joseph-which were to continue so long as they were in the world; and as touching Abraham and his seed, out of the world they should continue; both in the world and out of the world should they continue as innumerable as the stars; or, if ye were to count the sand upon the seashore ye could not number them. "31 This promise is yours also, because ye are of Abraham, and the promise was made unto Abraham; and by this law is the continuation of the works of my Father, wherein he glorifieth himself. "32 Go ye, therefore, and do the works of Abraham; enter ye into my law and ye shall be saved. "33 But if ye enter not into my law ye cannot receive the promise of my Father, which he made unto Abraham. "34 God commanded Abraham, and Sarah gave Hagar to Abraham to wife. And why did she do it? Because this was the law; and from Hagar sprang many people. This, therefore, was fulfilling, among other things, the promises. "35 Was Abraham, therefore, under condemnation? Verily I say unto you, Nay; for I, the Lord, commanded it. "36 Abraham was commanded to offer his son Isaac; nevertheless, it was written: Thou shalt not kill. Abraham, however, did not refuse, and it was accounted unto him for righteousness. "37 Abraham received concubines, and they bore him children; and it was accounted unto him for righteousness, because they were given unto him, and he abode in my law; as Isaac also and Jacob did none other things than that which they were commanded; and because they did none other things than that which they were commanded, they have entered into their exaltation, according to the promises, and sit upon thrones, and are not angels but are gods. "38 David also received many wives and concubines, and also Solomon and Moses my servants, as also many others of my servants, from the beginning of creation until this time; and in nothing did they sin save in those things which they received not of me. "39 David's wives and concubines were given unto him of me, by the hand of Nathan, my servant, and others of the prophets who had the keys of this power; and in none of these things did he sin against me save in the case of Uriah and his wife; and, therefore he hath fallen from his exaltation, and received his portion; and he shall not inherit them out of the world, for I gave them unto another, saith the Lord. "40 I am the Lord thy God, and I gave unto thee, my servant Joseph, an appointment, and restore all things. Ask what ye will, and it shall be given unto you according to my word. "41 And as ye have asked concerning adultery, verily, verily, I say unto you, if a man receiveth a wife in the new and everlasting covenant, and if she be with another man, and I have not appointed unto her by the holy anointing, she hath committed adultery and shall be destroyed. "42 If she be not in the new and everlasting covenant, and she be with another man, she has committed adultery. "43 And if her husband be with another woman, and he was under a vow, he hath broken his vow and hath committed adultery. "44 And if she hath not committed adultery, but is innocent and hath not broken her vow, and she knoweth it, and I reveal it unto you, my servant Joseph, then shall you have power, by the power of my Holy Priesthood, to take her and give her unto him that hath not committed adultery but hath been faithful; for he shall be made ruler over many. "45 For I have conferred upon you the keys and power of the priesthood, wherein I restore all things, and make known unto you all things in due time. "46 And verily, verily, I say unto you, that whatsoever you seal on earth shall be sealed in heaven; and whatsoever you bind on earth, in my name and by my word, saith the Lord, it shall be eternally bound in the heavens; and whosesoever sins you remit on earth shall be remitted eternally in the heavens; and whosesoever sins you retain on earth shall be retained in heaven. "47 And again, verily I say, whomsoever you bless I will bless, and whomsoever you curse I will curse, saith the Lord; for I, the Lord, am thy God. "48 And again, verily I say unto you, my servant Joseph, that whatsoever you give on earth, and to whomsoever you give any one on earth, by my word and according to my law, it shall be visited with blessings and not cursings, and with my power, saith the Lord, and shall be without condemnation on earth and in heaven. "49 For I am the Lord thy God, and will be with thee even unto the end of the world, and through all eternity; for verily I seal upon you your exaltation, and prepare a throne for you in the kingdom of my Father, with Abraham your father. "50 Behold, I have seen your sacrifices, and will forgive all your sins; I have seen your sacrifices in obedience to that which I have told you. Go, therefore, and I make a way for your escape, as I accepted the offering of Abraham of his son Isaac. "51 Verily, I say unto you: A commandment I give unto mine handmaid, Emma Smith, your wife, whom I have given unto you, that she stay herself and partake not of that which I commanded you to offer unto her; for I did it, saith the Lord, to prove you all, as I did Abraham, and that I might require an offering at your hand, by covenant and sacrifice. “52 And let mine handmaid, Emma Smith, receive all those that have been given unto my servant Joseph, and who are virtuous and pure before me; and those who are not pure, and have said they were pure, shall be destroyed, saith the Lord God. “53 For I am the Lord thy God, and ye shall obey my voice; and I give unto my servant Joseph that he shall be made ruler over many things; for he hath been faithful over a few things, and from henceforth I will strengthen him. “54 And I command mine handmaid, Emma Smith, to abide and cleave unto my servant Joseph, and to none else. But if she will not abide this commandment she shall be destroyed, saith the Lord; for I am the Lord thy God, and will destroy her if she abide not in my law. “55 But if she will not abide this commandment, then shall my servant Joseph do all things for her, even as he hath said; and I will bless him and multiply him and give unto him an hundredfold in this world, of fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters, houses and lands, wives and children, and crowns of eternal lives in the eternal worlds. “56 And again, verily I say, let mine handmaid forgive my servant Joseph his trespasses; and then shall she be forgiven her trespasses, wherein she has trespassed against me; and I, the Lord thy God, will bless her, and multiply her, and make her heart to rejoice. “57 And again, I say, let not my servant Joseph put his property out of his hands, lest an enemy come and destroy him; for Satan seeketh to destroy; for I am the Lord thy God, and he is my servant; and behold, and lo, I am with him, as I was with Abraham, thy father, even unto his exaltation and glory. “58 Now, as touching the law of the priesthood, there are many things pertaining thereunto. “59 Verily, if a man be called of my Father, as was Aaron, by mine own voice, and by the voice of him that sent me, and I have endowed him with the keys of the power of this priesthood, if he do anything in my name, and according to my law and by my word, he will not commit sin, and I will justify him. “60 Let no one, therefore, set on my servant Joseph; for I will justify him; for he shall do the sacrifice which I require at his hands for his transgressions, saith the Lord your God. “61 And again, as pertaining to the law of the priesthood-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 is he justified; he cannot commit adultery for they are given unto him; for he cannot commit adultery with that that belongeth unto him and to no one else. “62 And if he have ten virgins given unto him by this law, he cannot commit adultery, for they belong to him, and they are given unto him; therefore is he justified. “63 But if one or either of the ten virgins, after she is espoused, shall be with another man, she has committed adultery, and shall be destroyed; for they are given unto him to multiply and replenish the earth, according to my commandment, and to fulfil the promise which was given by my Father before the foundation of the world, and for their exaltation in the eternal worlds, that they may bear the souls of men; for herein is the work of my Father continued, that he may be glorified. “64 And again, verily, verily, I say unto you, if any man have a wife, who holds the keys of this power, and he teaches unto her the law of my priesthood, as pertaining to these things, then shall she believe and administer unto him, or she shall be destroyed, saith the Lord your God; for I will destroy her; for I will magnify my name upon all those who receive and abide in my law. “65 Therefore, it shall be lawful in me, if she receive not this law, for him to receive all things whatsoever I, the Lord his God, will give unto him, because she did not believe and administer unto him according to my word; and she then becomes the transgressor; and he is exempt from the law of Sarah, who administered unto Abraham according to the law when I commanded Abraham to take Hagar to wife. “66 And now, as pertaining to this law, verily, verily, I say unto you, I will reveal more unto you, hereafter; therefore, let this suffice for the present. Behold, I am Alpha and Omega. Amen. " _____ DESPITE LDS CANON LAW, MORMON CHURCH PRESIDENT GORDON B. HINCKLEY CLAIMS POLYGAMY NOT DOCTRINAL The Mormon Church’s still-official embrace of polygamy as the eternal law of God has not kept the Mormon Church president from lying about it still. In a nationally-televised interview with Larry King on 8 September 1998, then-LDS president Gordon B. Hinckley, in blatant contradiction of canonized Mormon scripture on the doctrine of polygamy, falsely asserted to King: “I condemn it, yes, as a practice, because I think it is not doctrinal. It is not legal. And this church takes the position that we will abide by the law. We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, magistrates in honoring, obeying and sustaining the law.” As Sandra Tanner points out in her examinaton of Mormon belief in polygamy, Hinckley’s lie contains some substantial and serious defects: “There are two problems with Hinckley's answer. “First, he failed to explain why [D&C] section 132 is still contained in their scriptures if it does not represent doctrine. “And second, his statement that they don't practice polygamy today because it is illegal contradicts the fact that it was illegal to practice plural marriage when Joseph Smith introduced the teaching, and was the reason why Utah was denied statehood until 1896. . . . “ _____ POLYGAMOUS MARRIAGES AND SEALINGS STILL BEING PERFORMED IN PRESENT-DAY MORMON TEMPLES Despite its efforts to mislead the public and the press, the “mainstream” Mormon Church continues to permit faithful Mormon men to be polygamously married in heaven-sanctioned, temple-performed, secret ceremonies to other women, in the event of the death of the man’s previous wife or in the case of divorce. Mormon Apostle Charles W. Penrose explained this practice some 111 years ago--one which is still being officially followed by the Mormon Church today: “In the case of a man marrying a wife in the everlasting covenant who dies while he continues in the flesh and marries another by the same divine law, each wife will come forth in her order and enter with him into his glory.” (Penrose, "’Mormon’ Doctrine Plain and Simple, or Leaves from the Tree of Life,” p. 66). Sandra Tanner lists examples of modern-day polygamous marriages that have been present-day sanctioned and performed in Mormonism’s temples: “This doctrine [of polygamous marriage] was reaffirmed in October of 2007 at the funeral for the second wife of President Howard W. Hunter, the fourteenth President of the LDS Church. The Deseret News reported: “’President Hinckley affirmed the eternal nature of the marriage between Sister [Inis] Hunter and the former church president, whose first wife, Claire Jeffs, died after a long battle with Alzheimer's disease and is now buried beside him in the Salt Lake Cemetery. Inis Hunter "will now be laid to rest on the other side," he said. "They were sealed under the authority of the Holy Melchizedek Priesthood for time and for all eternity," he said, recalling the marriage ceremony he performed for them in the Salt Lake Temple in April 1990.’ ("Sister Hunter's humor and cheerfulness remembered as she is laid to rest," Deseret News, Oct. 22, 2007). “Another example of plural sealings is Apostle Russell M. Nelson's marriage in 2006 to a BYU professor. The BYU NewsNet for April 7, 2006, announced the temple marriage of Apostle Nelson, age 81, to Wendy Watson. . . . His first wife died in February of 2005 and this was the first marriage for his new wife. This would mean, according to LDS beliefs, that Nelson has two wives sealed to him for eternity. “Joseph Fielding Smith, tenth president of the LDS Church, remarried twice after the death of his first wife, and in his book, ‘Doctrines of Salvation,’ Vol. 2, p. 67, he remarked, ‘ . . . [M]y wives will be mine in eternity.’ “Harold B. Lee, the eleventh president of the Church, also remarried after his wife’s death and was sealed to another woman and was looking forward to a polygamous relationship in heaven. He, in fact, wrote a poem in which he reflected that his second wife, Joan, would join his first wife, Fern, as his eternal wives: “’My lovely Joan was sent to me: So Joan joins Fern That three might be, more fitted for eternity. "O Heavenly Father, my thanks to thee.’ “(Deseret News 1974 Church Almanac, p. 17) According to cagily-talking Mormon apostle Quentin L. Cook, as recently quoted by the LDS Church-owned news station KSL: "Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, often called Mormons, do not practice polygamy, and they have not practiced polygamy for over a century." Yet, by his own admission and practice, fellow Mormon apostle and eternally blessed multi-wifer Dallin H. Oaks expressly contradicts his colleague Cook, claiming exactly the opposite in Oaks' own acknowledgment of what faithful Mormons currently are up to behind the secrecy-veiled walls of their present-day temples: "When I was 66, my wife June died of cancer. "Two years later--a year and a half ago--I married [in the LDS temple] Kristen McMain, the eternal companion who now stands at my side." (Dallin Oaks, "Timing," speech delivered at Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah, 29 January 2002) _____ Determining the maze of multiple Mormon matrimony in the hereafter can be messy, to say the least. According to the official LDS Church Handbook of Instruction (p. 72), the following living, loyal Latter-day Saints can be polygamously and eternally sealed, or married in Mormon temples: “Living Women — A living woman may be sealed to only one husband. . . . “Living Men — If a husband and wife have been sealed and the wife dies, the man may have another woman sealed to him if she is not already sealed.” Despite the confusing doctrinal problem of attempting to determine, in essence, who’s on first, second or third base in Mormonism’s polygamous marriage ballgame, the LDS Church continues to advocate temple sealings to multiple spouses. For example, Mormon General Authority Robert E. Wells, in a article entitled “United Blended Families,” gave the example of Mormon and former U.S. Senator Jake Garn, following the death of Garn’s first wife: “Former Utah senator Jake Garn was reluctant to remarry following the death of his first wife, Hazel, in 1976, but he soon realized that he could not be both a father and a mother to his children. When he began dating Kathleen Brewerton, who would become his second wife, questions soon arose about how his first wife would feel should he become sealed to a second wife. The couple took their questions to President Spencer W. Kimball. “He said he did not know exactly how these relationships will be worked out, but he did know that through faithfulness all will be well and we will have much joy. Brother Garn later recalled. Kathleen told him that she was afraid of offending Hazel. President Kimball's demeanor seemed to change. From being somewhat hesitant in his earlier answers, he now became sure and spoke with firmness. He looked right at Kathleen and with a tear forming in his eye, he said, ‘I do know this: you have nothing to worry about. Not only will she accept you, she will put her arms around you and thank you for raising her children.’ (Jake Garn, "Why I Believe" [1992], p. 13). “Family members need not worry about the sealing situation of blended families as it might be in the next life. Our concern is to live the gospel now and to love others, especially those in our family. If we live the gospel to the best of our ability, the Lord in His love and mercy will bless us in the next life and all things will be right” (Wells, "Uniting Blended Families," "Ensign," Aug. 1997, p. 24) Sandra Tanner points out the problems presented by polygamous temple sealings—a practice secretly engaged in by the present-day Mormon Church: “Temple sealings are all-important to the LDS people and designate who will be joined to whom in the hereafter. “These blended families raise a number of problems for the LDS concept of the eternal union of the family unit. In the case of children born to a mother in a second marriage, but where the mother was sealed to the first husband, would the children be considered part of the first temple marriage? Wouldn't this leave the second husband, the actual father, out of the picture? “Assuming the second husband has gone through the temple, but not sealed to this wife, would the children stay with the second husband? Would they then be deprived of their mother, who is sealed to the first husband? The LDS Church has no answer.” _____ CONCLUSION: HAS THE SO-CALLED "MAINSTREAM" MORMON CHURCH REALLY DISCARDED POLYGAMY? Based on the historical record, both past and present, Sandra Tanner addresses that central issue succinctly: “ . . . [T]he doctrine and practice of plural marriage has not been abandoned, but only delayed until the afterlife. It seems the LDS Church simply wants to keep it out of the public eye for better public relations and fear of being identified with polygamist splinter groups.” |
| Subject: | what an ego Joseph Smith had.... |
| Date: | Apr 19 09:04 |
| Author: | gemini |
| making up scriptures in order to satisfy his own lust
for other women. That's all it was, pure and simple. Reading that again
makes me sick to my stomach. It appears that the FLDS cult uses that one section of the D & C as the main foundation of their so called religion. I hope each and every one of those children, somehow, can escape this mess and go on to lead somewhat normal lives. |
| Subject: | A man who wore a uniform and called himself General ego? |
| Date: | Apr 20 03:10 |
| Author: | Rubicon |
| Joe was a two bit dictator of his own penis republic. |
| Subject: | Re: Lying for the Lord and to the Press: The LDS Church on Its Actual Polygamous Beliefs and Practic |
| Date: | Apr 19 09:30 |
| Author: | lightfingerlouie |
| I never cease to be amazed at what a snake Oaks is. He
is the ultimate reptile in a white shirt. I recall the great enthusiasm many felt when he became the President of BYU. Surely, people thought, he will open the drapes, let the light in, and rid us of the Wilkinson nightmare. It was not to be. Oaks, too, was repressive---with a smile. He has been such a jerk over the years. His high point came during the Hofman fiasco, with his news conference performance. There was the real Oaks--- another lying lawyer. |
| Subject: | Has this been sent to mainstream news? |
| Date: | Apr 19 10:37 |
| Author: | Elizabeth |
| I'm confident this information would be received and
filed for future reference as the news coverage of the Texas litigation
continues. I've saved this excellent information and think every active member needs to read it carefully so they understand the beginning of the FLDS. It is their own beginning. The lds churh wanted exposure to the world, from the rooftops, and they are getting their wish. Not in the way they intended, but exposure which will disgust the moral fiber of mainstream religious congregations and individuals. It happened in Joseph Smith's day, and it will continue. Decent people will recoil from the lds church and its missionaries. The stone that is rolling forth is not exactly what was expected nor envisioned. Excellent post. Thanks. |
| Subject: | They've been lying about polygamy since the very beginning... |
| Date: | Apr 19 09:43 |
| Author: | anon4reply |
| In 1833, the same year that Smith began his
involvement with polygamy by 'marrying' Fanny Alger, the church published
the Book of Commandments (the predecessor of the Doctrine & Covenants) which
contained the following statement: “Inasmuch as this church of Christ has
been reproached with the crime of fornication, and polygamy: we declare that
we believe, that one man should have one wife; and one woman, but one
husband, except in case of death, when either is at liberty to marry again.”
(Section C1, 251). This statement was affirmed as canonized doctrine in August 1835 in a vote by the church’s General Assembly (Van Wagoner, 8). This statement continued to appear in subsequent publications of the Doctrine & Covenants until well after Smith’s death in 1844. Smith again denied involvement in the 1838 church publication Elder’s Journal where he answered the specific question “Do the Mormons believe in having more wives than one?” with an insistent “No, not at the same time.” (Van Wagoner, 16). Rumors persisted, however, and in October 1842 the church publication Times & Seasons printed a statement reaffirming the church’s condemnation of the practice of plural marriage. The statement was signed by many of Nauvoo’s prominent male citizens and was accompanied by a separate declaration supported by the leading ladies of the Relief Society (Times & Seasons, October 1842). Notable among the signatories were Eliza Snow and Sarah Cleveland who had already become plural wives of Joseph Smith. Also notable were N.K. Whitney and his wife Elizabeth who added their support for the declarations despite knowing that their daughter, seventeen-year-old Sarah Ann, had married Joseph Smith the previous July (Compton, In Sacred Loneliness 4-6). On March 4, 1843, nineteen-year-old Emily Partridge was married to Smith becoming his nineteenth wife. Her sister, Eliza (age twenty-two), became his twentieth wife four days later (Compton, In Sacred Loneliness 6). On March 15th, the church publication Times and Seasons printed a statement declaring the charge that polygamy was being practiced among the saints as “false and ridiculous”; further stating that no group had a greater respect for the “laws of matrimony” than they. Within one year of that published statement, Smith would go on to marry at least seven additional women (Van Wagoner, 55). Smith’s final denial came just a few months before his death in 1844 when, speaking to a group of loyal followers, he protested the unjust accusation of having multiple wives when he had only one (History of the Church, 6:411). Despite his emphatic declaration of innocence, Smith had at least thirty-three plural wives at the time of the speech (Compton, In Sacred Loneliness 4-7). After Smith’s murder, the Church continued to deny that polygamy was a practice among the saints. In 1848, the church publication Millennial Star called for retaliation against those who continued to perpetuate the lie that “such odious practices as spiritual wivery and polygamy” was being practiced in the church. During a famous 1850 debate with a clergyman in France, LDS Church leader John Taylor declared to be false the accusation “of polygamy and actions the most indelicate, obscene, and disgusting, such that none but a corrupt and depraved heart could have contrived. These things are too outrageous to admit of belief.” At the time of that emphatic pronouncement, Taylor (who would later become church president) had ten plural wives. (Hirschon, 117) Church leaders would not openly declare polygamy as official church doctrine until 1852 (Van Wagoner, 5). Emma Smith never reconciled herself to the doctrine of plural marriage. She was initially unaware of her husband’s liaisons and later alternated between begrudging acceptance and outright hostility to the practice. When Emma was initially presented the written revelation commanding polygamy by her brother-in-law Hyrum in July 1843, he reported that “he had never received a more severe talking to in his life….Emma was very bitter.” (Van Wagoner, 76-87). After Joseph’s murder, she continued to deny his involvement both publicly and privately to her children. When Joseph Smith III accepted the call to lead what would become the Reorganized LDS Church, he denounced the practice of polygamy claiming that it had been introduced by Brigham Young and insisting that his father had never “taught such doctrine.” Later, when her two sons Joseph III and Alexander presented her with specific written questions regarding the topic of polygamy, Emma continued to deny that their father had ever taken additional wives. (Van Wagoner, 113-115). The lying continues. |
| Subject: | There WAS NO MANIFESTO......... read it . < link > |
| Date: | Apr 19 12:57 |
| Author: | dja |
| Mail Address: |
| There WAS NO MANIFESTO......... It's a load of crap. Read it. Please read this, closely. http://scriptures.lds.org/en/od/1 It's a few lines of fractal doublespeak. This "Official Declaration-1" is regarded as the "Manifesto". It's a farce written by career fabulists. 1. Wilford Woodruff (then President) just says "I (personally) don't do it any more (myself)", and "the Lord told me to write: "I leave this with you, for YOU to consider". WW then "veto-ed" himself, later. WW reneged and "declared"....."this Manifesto only refers to future marriages, and does not affect past conditions." ¹ Sedition. This authorizes the practice of Polygamy. De Facto consent. It was ALREADY ILLEGAL to even PRACTICE Polygamy with the passing of the Edmunds-Tucker act 1887 (WW's first year as President). That is a MANIFESTO? "my advice is..." and "(this)to consider" is a MANIFESTO? How freakin' lame is that? Not even close. "...my intention to submit to those laws" "Intention".....? When? At some time in the future? "my advice.. to refrain from (marriage)forbidden by the law of the land". "Advice"..? What happened to "Ordinance"? Oh, I see. He just recommends against marriage "forbidden" by the U.S (only). He does not make it an "Ordinance" forbidden by the church. It is only a warning "not to get caught" by the U.S. Since when does (then GA)Lorenzo Snow presonally declare "MANIFESTO"(1890) on behalf of President Wilford Woodruff? He wasn't President himself until 1898. Vice president self-ordained as Commander in Chief? "we accept his declaration concerning plural marriages as authoritative and binding" What declaration? There was no "declaration". W/W wussed out with a "No Bill". Ahhh, I get it. an "authorative and binding" No Bill. That explains it. 2. Wilford Woodruff LIES from start to finish about his complicity in the practice and teaching of Polygamy. How is a LIE sustained as a MANIFESTO? Now, that makes sense, too. The MANIFESTO was just one big LIE (and a warning not to get caught by the U.S.) Notes: -Polygamy was only illegal state-by-state until the "Morril Anti-Bigamy Act" of 1862. ...courtesy of Abe Lincoln. -Reynolds vs. United States (1879) objection failed. Illegal Polygamy was here to stay. - ¹ "this Manifesto only refers to future marriages, and does not affect past conditions. - WW in Solemn Covenant: The Mormon Polygamous Passage; and LDS Church archives. -D. Michael Quinn (historian) was ex-communicated for exposing only "some" of the above. - "we excommunicate members for practicing Polygamy" Clarification: (we) only excommunicate "some" Polygamous members. Not all. -The "Manifesto" was desperation move by the Morg in 1890 to recover seized money and property after the U.S. disenfranchised and penalized them with the Edmunds-Tucker Act 1887. It took 3 years for them to realize the "confiscations" were very real. |
| Subject: | Re: Lying for the Lord and to the Press: The LDS Church on Its Actual Polygamous Beliefs and Practices |
| Date: | Apr 19 23:08 |
| Author: | Tom Donofrio |
| I've been watching the interviews of FLDS women
online. It struck me that some look and sound like Viet Nam POWs who were forced to make confessions on film. The lies are so endemic in Mormonism that there seems to be no other means of communication. Generational lies coexist with generational abuse. Since the whole kaboodle is based on a fraud it is no wonder these women are mere shells of humanity. And the big brave Priesthood holders are hiding out shaking in their boots because once court ordered DNA tests are complete they will have to pay for their kids instead of the state. |
| Subject: | Speaking of the DNA tests, the Texas judge has decided that after it's done, the kids and their moms |
| Date: | Apr 19 23:27 |
| Author: | steve benson |
| . . . will be separated: "Moms and young children from Texas ranch to be parted By Michelle Roberts, Associated Press Writer "SAN ANGELO, Texas - Adult mothers who have been allowed to stay with their young children since they were taken from a polygamous sect will be separated from them after DNA sampling is completed next week, a child welfare official said Saturday. . . . "Child welfare officials allowed adult mothers with children ages 4 and younger to stay together when the state took custody of the rest of the children from the ranch. Now, only mothers younger than 18 will be allowed to remain with their children once the sampling is complete. The welfare agency will also try to keep siblings together, he said. "'We're going to make these transitions as easy as possible,' Azar said. 'We want to keep them together as much as possible so they don't feel they're completely isolated from their culture or the people they know.' . . . "Families that include half brothers and sisters, and those that include reportedly married first cousins, can be particularly challenging to unravel. Dr. Arthur Beaudet, chairman of the Department of Molecular and Human Genetics at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, said DNA testing can easily deal with these types of complexities. "It's reasonable to say the information (from testing) will give full proof documentation" as to which parents belong to which children, he said. . . . "Walther on Friday continued an emergency order giving the state custody of the children after a sometimes chaotic two-day hearing in which the state argued that the teachings of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints jeopardized children. "The child welfare agency has said that the sect encourages adolescent girls to marry older men and have children, and that boys are groomed to become future perpetrators. Sect members deny the allegations. . . ." http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080419/ap_on_re_us/polygamist_retreat |
Polygamy, Big Love and Joseph Smith: Mormon Polygamy
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Recovery from Mormonism - The Mormon Church www.exmormon.org |