Are there people that really think that Mormons are polygamists???

Question

I know that there are lots of jokes and rumors about Momons and their many wives.

MORMONS DO NOT PRACTICE POLYGAMY!

A small percentage of them did in the 1800's, and was officially abolished in 1890.

There are 12 Million Mormons. There are some small offshoot groups who call themselves things like "Fundamentalist Mormons" and things like that. These groups are small, isolated, illegal, and are not in any way associated with the "Mormon" church.

So...here are my 2 questions:

1. Is this news to you, and now you know and believe that Mormons aren't polygamists?

2. Have you known that Mormons aren't polygamists, but go on talking about us as if we are?

We tend to have a good sense of humor and don't mind the jokes, however, It's been 117 years and people still say that we are. Thats like saying the Catholics are still torturing people on racks in dungeons.

So is this a news flash to you or did you already know this? Sigh....and of course we'll have some Mormon bashing

K....this is exactly what I was talking about.

MORMONS DON'T PRACTICE POLYGAMY!!!
MORMONS DON'T PRACTICE POLYGAMY!!!
MORMONS DON'T PRACTICE POLYGAMY!!!
MORMONS DON'T PRACTICE POLYGAMY!!!
MORMONS DON'T PRACTICE POLYGAMY!!!

Get it? Yes they did. Now they don't.

When people say "Mormons" they are referring to members of "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints" and not some offshoot group that has 30 people in it.

The Prophet, Gordon B. Hinkley, has been explicitly clear on this point. There is no ambiguity. The Mormon leader says we don't. It's members say we don't. It's members with political power often prosecute those who do.

So far, most of you have answered my question indirectly. You know we don't, but you feel like propagating a lie in your efforts to smear the Mormon faith.

....and some of you call yourself christians in the same breath. Do you still believe in the "Thou shall not bear false witness" or is that outdated???

After the church abolished polygamy, of course there were still husbands, wifes, children, and families that were involved in polygamous relations. Obviously that was a sticky situation, however the church did not allow new plural marriages to occur.

Again, when people say "Mormon" they are not refering to a group of 100 people, they're refering the the church of Steve Young and Donny Osmond. That would be just as obsurd as saying "Christians are polygamists" because of these small pockets of people who are polygamists and also christians.

Answer 1

This is a great question. I'm not surprised by some of the christians responses to this question. If they spent as much time figuring out whats wrong with their religion as they do picking apart everyone Else's the world would be a FAR better place.
There are sects of Mormonism that still practice polygamy, but they are not the "Mainstream Mormons" They are crazy fundamentalists, like Al Kaeda to the Muslims and the Pentecostal snake charmers and the Born Agains to christians. There are many offshoots of the LDS. These fundamentalists rarely have much foothold in the true meanings of their faith. That's an argument for a different question. I am not a Mormon or a member of any organized religion.
PS
Mormons are Christians too.

Answer 2

What cave have you been living in. Mormons DO practice polygamy. The mormon church was forced by the US gov't to ban it's practice, but though they officially deny it, unofficially, they still practice. Here's an excerpt from an article about polygamy and mormonism:

Does polygamy still exist in Utah? You bet it does. Utah was admitted to the Union in 1896 but only under the condition that the Mormon Church ban polygamy, which they agreed to do. The Mormon Church remains opposed to polygamy to this day and immediately excommunicates any member who is discovered to be practicing polygamy. There are several ultra-orthodox offshoots of the Mormon Church though, especially in rural parts of Utah, which quietly practice polygamy today basically under a "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy. Most polygamists just want to be left alone and don't want notoriety.

The truth is, Joseph Smith, the inventor of Mormonism practiced it. Therefore, his followers believe it to be right, a way to fill the earth with Mormons.

Answer 3

And who's to say that Fundamentalist Mormons aren't Mormons? Thats like saying that Baptist Christians aren't Christians. The groups that are Mormon that are not LDS are still Mormon and some of those groups practice polygamy. There are a ton of them in Southern Idaho and Northern Utah.

Why don't you write about Joseph Smith practicing divination. That should open up a whole new can of worms. You can't tell me he didn't either, because I lived in SLC and I saw his divination tools in the LDS museum there by the temple.

Answer 4

Well, your research must have been pretty narrow, because there are still polygamous Mormons around, just not very many of them. They still follow the tenets of the early Mormon church. Mormons were polygamous in the early part of the development of their religion, but the practice was officially abolished, as you said. But you're right, it's too bad that some people latch on to what they perceive as a major flaw in a minority within a religion, and paint everyone with the same brush.

Answer 5

I know that not all Mormons do not practice polygamy, but polygamy is most associated with the Mormon faith. People hear stories all the time about old men with several underage "wives".

Answer 6

In a bit of denial are we? Do you really believe that there are NO polygamous Mormons? Someone has lied to you, sir. Yes, it has been "officially" abolished, but that doesn't mean it's not happening. A lot of things in America have been "abolished" or "outlawed", but they still take place every day.

Colorado City, Arizona has been the home for a notorious polygamist sect for more than 60 years. The mainstream Mormon Church (LDS) excommunicated its members and government officials have arrested its leaders three times. But the self-proclaimed "fundamentalist Mormons" still tenaciously cling to their exclusive doctrines, which they believe will afford them space within the highest level of heaven.

Mormon leaders later sent the notorious John D. Lee into the Pipe Springs area to evade federal law enforcement. Lee was wanted for the mass-murder of 120 settlers traveling from Arkansas on a wagon train through Utah. They were apparently killed because due to their status as unbelievers. John Lee took two wives into hiding with him and started a ferryboat business and settlement. That settlement is still known as "Lee's Ferry." Lee himself was finally caught and executed in 1877.

The town of Short Creek, which is now called Colorado City in Arizona was founded in 1913 by Jacob Lauritzen, a cattle rancher. But it eventually it became a stronghold for the Lee's Ferry polygamists, who were excommunicated from the LDS Church in 1935 after refusing to sign an oath against polygamy.

The FLDS Church set up shop in Short Creek, largely due to its isolation. Buffered by the Grand Canyon and with a hundred miles of barren desert between them and the nearest law enforcement in Kingman, Arizona, they felt comfortable there. These polygamists also knew they were near a Stateline, which could easily be strategically crossed if there was trouble.

The welfare problem became worse and Jesse Faulkner, a superior-court judge in Kingman, complained that there was a "taxpayer emergency'' regarding polygamist demands upon school facilities, even though they did not pay property taxes. Cattlemen were upset because the did pay grazing fees, which were allegedly used for polygamist schools.

Arizona Governor Howard Pyle hired private detectives to investigate Short Creek. Subsequently, on July 26, 1953 Pyle ordered a massive police raid. He said, "Here is a community...dedicated to the wicked theory that every maturing girl child should be forced into the bondage of multiple wifehood with men of all ages for the sole purpose of producing more children to be reared to become mere chattels."

Polygamist men from Short Creek were jailed in Kingman, while their plural wives children stayed behind. Arizona officials took days to sort through the families, determining who was related to whom. The LDS Church-owned Desert News supported this government action. But the raid became a public relations nightmare for Pyle, when people saw newsreels of children separated from their parents. The net result was only one year of probation for 23 polygamist men. But the negative publicity ironically helped Short Creek avoid interference from law enforcement for many years to come.

You need to study up on the history of your own religion, and stop burying your head in the sand.

Answer 7

the first idea that clicks in my mind when someone mentins mormon is a 3some .