Mormon opinion poll: In your opinions, why did Plural Marriage in the LDS Church end?

Question

A) To obey the "law of the land"
B) After 2 generations of polygamy, there was finally equality in male and female population
C) For Utah to gain statehood and the protection & rights that such entailed
D) The practice was a mistake in the first place, and the leadership finally realized it
E) It was God's will; we will find out in the Millennium and shouldn't worry about it. It's over and doesn't matter anymore.
F) Other?


This is just an opinion poll. No hate or disrespect intended. I've tried to phrase this as objectively as possible. This question does not seek to "bring down the Church," and yes, I've read the Official Declaration, conveniently located on the lds.org website. Thanks in advance!

Answer 1

A - doesn't make sense. The Edmunds Tucker Law had been in effect for a LONG time before the Manifesto was issued in 1890.

B - Possible, but somehow I don't think so.

C - Very probable. Wilford Woodruff himself says that the revelation came after a long time of trying to come up with a plan to protect the Church's property (the federal government was even threatening to confiscate the temples).

D - I don't think so.

E - it was God's will. The Mormons had suffered much for living this commandment and were prepared to continue. Only when revelation came did they change their policy.

Answer 2

A and E. The law was put into effect first, and all those practicing polygamy either quit marrying any other women, or went into hiding. They didn't just dump all the other women and leave them high and dry, but they didn't do any more marriages after the law.

Then, the leaders of the church were praying about this, because it had caused so many problems with the government. They finally got the answer that they were to stop for now. That doesn't mean that sometime in the future it won't be put into effect again, but if there is still a law against it, then it won't be done.

It was also partly C. I'm not going to lie, we needed to get state hood, but that wasn't the main reason, but it sure was a consideration, I'm sure.

Answer 3

I believe it was solely a move to gain statehood. Historically, the church was still intent upon taking control of the government in retribution for the death of Smith and the general disrespect and discrimination they felt they received from government authorities.
The easier way to take control of any organization is from within, a coup costs money and often lives.


Moreover, When the federal government announced that they would start to seize the temples, the LDS Church decided to obey the law. At that time, the Church received a revelation from God that changed church beliefs and practices. The fourth president of the Church, Wilford Woodruff, issued a manifesto (called the "Great Accommodation") on 1890-SEP-24. It suspended the solemnization of new plural marriages for an indefinite interval.

Woodruff wrote, in part,

"And I now publicly declare that my advice to the Latter-day Saints is to refrain from contracting any marriage forbidden by the law of the land."

1862: The LDS Church's practice of polygyny was criminalized by the federal Morrill Anti-Bigamy Law which President Abraham Lincoln signed into law on 1862-JUL-8. There were actually two unrelated federal laws often referred to as the "Morrill Act;" the other deals with land grants for universities. 7 The anti-bigamy Morrill Act It made bigamy a federal offense and assigned a punishment of up to five years in jail and a $500 fine. The law also annulled all acts passed by the Territory of Utah's Legislative Assembly "pertaining to polygamy and spiritual marriage." Finally, in a direct attack on the LDS church, the law placed an upper limit of $50,000 on the real estate holdings that any one religious or charitable organization could hold in any U.S. territory. Any holdings over that amount were to be forfeited to the government. "The law, however, was not enforced in the Utah territory because Mormons controlled the judicial system. ...Probate courts functioning as local tribunals had jurisdiction over most criminal offenses, and federal indictments for polygamy could not be obtained from grand juries composed of Mormons. ...Thus, despite Congress's efforts, the Mormon Church still exercised considerable control in the [Utah] territory."

regardless:
"... polygamous weddings (or sealings, as we call them) are still performed in Mormon temples around the world today. These sealings unite living members of the church to deceased members in a 'spiritual' polygyny that the church teaches will become actual in the next life. For faithful LDS, in a very real sense it [polygamous marriages] never left." Salt Lake Tribune:

Answer 4

To gain statehood. The church had used lobbyists for years to try to convice Congress to admit Utah. They even moved the state capital out of Salt Lake to a town they had named after President Fillmore (Fillmore). They even named a county after President Fillmore (Millard).

There are a few historians that believe the Mormons settled in Utah just to practice polygamy ... Utah was the first place they came to that was not part of the US (it was part of Mexico at the time).

Answer 5

I would say most definitely the answer is E. I wasn't there with Wilford Woodruff, so I can't say if any of the other answers truly had much of a role in the decision.
Polygamy wasn't practiced by more than 1% of the chruch, and then it was only by men/women who could handle the cost of running a said household.
I have polygamists in my family, and the practice isn't anything new. Old Testament prophets practiced it too.
God doesn't need to give us reasons for the end of something. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. When He chooses to end the practice of something, He has a very good reason.
Thanks for the thought provoking question.

Answer 6

I would say E andB. I remember reading somewhere that many of the new saints coming from England and such places were women. These women of course gave up all they had to get here and had no way of supporting themselves. I can see my Heavenly Father seeing this and understanding their needs to be taken care of in the New World, thus bring in the commandment of Plural Marriage, and when it was no longer needed it taking it from us. God gives us commandments for a reason, some we no longer follow, like that of the sacrificing of animals for our sins. It was given for a time but when Christ came to earth and died upon the cross that commandment was taken from us.

Answer 7

A) It is one of the Articles of Faith.
B) There was a growing faction that wanted statehood in the Utah Territory.
E) This is the important reason. As a Latter Day Saint, we believe that then president and prophet Wilford Woodruff had a revelation that the practice of polygamy was no longer needed. This is the main reason why mainstream Mormons don't practice it anymore.

Answer 8

All of the above except for D. I think in addition it was getting out of hand. There was never more than 20% of the LDS population that practiced it. I don't think it was a mistake, I think God had his purposes in having the practice. I don't know what all of those purposes were, I have some speculation, but since it is not official doctrine, I will keep it to myself- so as not to be misquoted.

Answer 9

First I gotta say, I always like your notes at the end of your questions, although they do tempt me to just say "Go www.lds.org", or post the Articles of Faith. But I'll refrain. I guess my closest answer would be

E) It was God's will.

I think that God's reasons might have gone along with some of the other reasons you've provided; law of the land, statehood, enough "seed" (Jacob 2), etc. It's clear that the law of the land wasn't the only reason because they practiced for quite a while with it against the law.

Answer 10

This is not my opinion. It is fact the answer is A.

To give you the short version the Government had outlawed the practice of polygamy and then went after the church and started throwing the leaders of the church in jail and confiscating church property, and at this time the prophet under Gods direction ended the practice of polygamy.

The following is copied from web page listed in my sources. (under the additional information section.

" After God revealed the doctrine of plural marriage to Joseph Smith in 1831 and commanded him to live it, the Prophet, over a period of years, cautiously taught the doctrine to some close associates. Eventually, he and a small number of Church leaders entered into plural marriages in the early years of the Church. Those who practiced plural marriage at that time, both male and female, experienced a significant trial of their faith. The practice was so foreign to them that they needed and received personal inspiration from God to help them obey the commandment.

When the Saints moved west under the direction of Brigham Young, more Latter-day Saints entered into plural marriages.

Influenced by rumors and exaggerated reports, the United States Congress, beginning in 1862, enacted a series of laws against polygamy that became increasingly harsh. By the 1880s many Latter-day Saint men were imprisoned or went into hiding.

In 1889 in the face of increasing hardships and the threat of government confiscation of Church property, including temples, Wilford Woodruff, President of the Church at the time, prayed for guidance. He was inspired to issue a document that officially ended the sanction of plural marriage by the Church. The document, called the Manifesto, was accepted by Church members in a general conference held in October 1890 and is published in the Doctrine and Covenants as Official Declaration 1 (see also “Excerpts from Three Addresses by President Wilford Woodruff Regarding the Manifesto” following Official Declaration 1).

Just as the practice of plural marriage among the Latter-day Saints began gradually, the ending of the practice after the Manifesto was also gradual. Some plural marriages were performed after the Manifesto, particularly in Mexico and Canada. In 1904, President Joseph F. Smith called for a vote from the Church membership that all post-Manifesto plural marriages be prohibited worldwide.

More recently, President Gordon B. Hinckley has reiterated that plural marriage is “against the law of God. Even in countries where civil or religious law allows [the practice of a man having more than one wife], the Church teaches that marriage must be monogamous and does not accept into its membership those practicing plural marriage” (“What Are People Asking about Us?” Ensign, Nov. 1998, 72).

Groups who teach polygamy today are not part of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. "