What God thinks of Polygamy weddings of under-aged virgins to "husbands", already married, AGAINST GIRL's WILL

Question

Crusading prosecutor Smith has said his indictment of eight men from Colorado City is not an attack on the practice of polygamy, but instead an attack on the practice of some polygamist men who insist on taking underage girls as their plural wives.

A friend of mine wisely said "What about the poor young LDS boys - they are being thrown out of their homes because they are competition for the old lechers?"

Didn't Mohammed have multiple wives, including one under 10 years old? Is polygamy OK with Allah? Is statutory rape of minor children OK with God?

It is even rape when the woman is of age, but is not taught her rights, nor has rights!!!

The law has convicted a FLDS leader, Warren Jeffs, after a jury deliberated for `15 hours! What took so long???

GOD is our ultimate judge. From your reading of His Word, what is God's will in this controversial area???

I know it is very tempting to turn this issue into a womens rights crusade.

My question is not on the person-to-person level.

Didn't Solomon have a harrem like Mohammed, and these later day FLDS "saints"? Was it OK with God then? Is it OK with God now?

I think the question is clear. What do YOU say?

Answer 1

I don't pretend to know God's mind in any area. From my own time and culture, it seems to make sense that faithfulness to one spouse is the path to happiness and mutual contentment.

Answer 2

First of all PLEASE recognize that it is not the LDS church members who practice polygamy, but the RLDS church. There is a big difference between the two.

The LDS church members and the state of Utah are setting up homes for the "Lost Boys". Places where they can live while they finish school and get jobs. There is also counseling available.

Rape is not OK with God or any right thinking person. And that includes Allah.

The jury had to convict Jeffs on statutory law not God's law or else there would be a miss trial and Jeffs would have walked thus proving to his followers that God was behind him.

As far as God's will concerning polygamy, it was practiced in the old testament and God didn't mind Abraham having more than one wife. He also didn't seem to mind him taking his wife's servant.

Side note: Jeffs was tried in St George, Utah and when they are finished with him there they want him extradited to Arizona to stand trial on more charges.

Answer 3

I've always been taught that the rule is one husband and one wife. Exceptions are given by God to His prophets, in rare and very specific circumstances, never against the laws of the land.

In the exceptions, the women are told their rights, given the option to accept or reject marriage, as the law of the time/place states.


Abraham had a second wife- Hagaar. She was given to Abraham by his first wife, Sarah. As a slave, I don't know how much choice Hagaar had in accepting or rejecting this arrangement.

King David had many wives. That was fine with God. His great sin was in desiring Bathsheba... and killing her husband.

King Solomon also had many wives. Again, no negative repercussions because God condoned.

In the days of Joseph Smith, polygamy was practiced. At that time, it was not illegal (yet). At that time, age of consent was 10 or 12... in some states that age was 6 or 7. The wives were always consenting, and of age according to the law.

Note-- Up until about the turn of the century (1900), it was quite common in the US for a 15-17 year old girl to marry a late-20s or early 30s man (or older)... she was young, pretty, healthy... he was financially stable, able to provide, able to pay for a midwife... Joseph and his first wife, Emma were quite an anomoly- she was older than he was, and they got married when he was only in his early 20s!!!




In the situation of Warren Jeffs- Polygamy is currently illegal in the US, hence the polygamy he was teaching, even if he'd been arranging marriages for age 18+ girls, it still would have been illegal. It's doubly illegal as he was arranging marriages for girls under the age of consent (statutory rape, anyone?).



I agree- part of me wonders why it took 15 hours to convict. Maybe it's the whole freedom of religion thing. The law outlawing polygamy was originally passed for the specific purpose of limiting religious freedom for one specific group. That law was/is unConstitutional. A jury is not just to judge the accused, they are also to judge the law- if it is fair and just.



BTW- for those who can't read, FLDS is as much LDS as Lutherans are Catholic. Both the FLDS and the Lutherans broke off from the other churches.

Answer 4

Quite honestly I'm surprised that he got convicted at all. I'm guessing that the prosecutor got a change of venue and had the case tried in Nevada rather than Utah
I used to drive thru Colorado City AZ/Hilldale UT four times a week for about a year and even an atheist could feel that there were some bad things going on in those large unfinished houses that looked more like barracks than houses.
Edit
Me bad ..The dateline said Las Vegas and I didn't bother to notice that he was tried in St.George so the good folks of St.George are to be commended for a job properly done

Answer 5

First of all, one more time for those of you that don't get it: WARREN JEFFS IS NOT AFFILIATED WITH THE LDS CHURCH AT ALL!!!!!!!! I don't know how I could be more clear on this subject, but the original leaders of the FLDS were EXCOMMUNICATED from the LDS church for not stopping the practice of polygamy. They church has said numerous times that they are NOT part of our church. They decided to go off and make their own church on parts of our church that they liked, and then corrupted them. Polygamy was outlawed, as such, it was stopped by the church, as well as God saying it was time to stop polygamy, so they are against God right now too.

I believe that polygamy between CONSENTING adults, as long as God has ok'd it, is fine. Going against God, or allowing men to marry young girls against their will isn't. It isn't the young part that gets me, it's the against their will part. These girls were brought up being told that no matter what this guy says, it's law. There is no room for disobedience. Women are seen as objects, not as people, and are forced into things that they don't want to do, or that they wouldn't have done otherwise. Some think it's ok because they are following the "prophet". They have been told that this is what God wants.

That isn't the way God works. God wants us to think for ourselves, to have choices, to exercises our agency.

I'm glad Jeffs is getting what is coming to him. He needs to realize that when you don't follow God, you are subject to the results of those actions. I feel really bad for the girls who have had to live like that, and all the boys that were kicked out. That is horrible, and I hope a lot of people wake up from this and see that there is a better way to live.

Oh.. polygamy is OK as long as God says so. There have been multiple times in the bible when polygamy was OK. Look at Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and David. All were allowed multiple wives by God. In the case of David, it wasn't because he had multiple wives that was the problem, it's that he went against what God had given him and killed a man so he could have what he wanted- the man's wife.

*EDIT*

Jeffs was tried in St. Geore, Ut. About 5 hours away from me. He was convicted by both LDS and non-LDS people alike. They are also going after the other "leaders" of the sect and are trying to get Jeffs extradited to Arizona to face more allegations there.

There have been many girls that have gotten out of that sect, and have been welcomed into the LDS faith with open arms, and total understanding.

Answer 6

Unfortunately, Warren Jeffs is only one of MANY such men who are ring leaders in extremist Mormon sects that enslave young girls. It is happening all over, particularly all over the state of Utah. Jeffs just happens to be the most famous right now. The problem is that the areas of the state where this is happening are run by the extremists themselves - the mayors, the judges, the police officers - there is no one for these girls to go to. I don't understand why the United States government doesn't conduct more covert operations into these communities to root out these heinous individuals and free these poor little girls who are being so horribly physically and mentally abused. It is sad beyond words.

Answer 7

Marriage of underage girls against their will doesn't sound like polygamy as taught and practiced in the Bible. I'd say Warren Jeffs and his FLDS followers have strayed fairly far from the word of God.

Answer 8

With all due respect to religion, I don't think that is the point here. This isn't marriage, it is a case of CHILD ABUSE.

Religion be damned, get the law on his sorry a** and throw all the child abusers who engage in this kind of abuse in jail, and I don't care how many gods they count as being on their team!

Answer 9

Polygamy in any form strikes me as a primitive form of slavery and any religion that condones it needs to grow ethically and socially. I could not consider such a religion or social system as true and humane.

Answer 10

Nora Explora: Please correct your statement about it being the RLDS church and not the LDS church that practices polygamy. That is not true.

I think you meant to type FLDS, not RLDS. The RLDS have never practiced polygamy. The RLDS in fact deny that Joseph Smith Jr. ever advocated it in the first place. Polygamy was one of the issues that caused them to schism from the larger body. The RLDS believe that polygamy was instituted by Brigham Young.