FLDS Polygamy: Did God know?

I think “God knew” the way he knows that I’ll get hurt if I step in front of a bus. And when I picture all the heartache restoration-era polygamy caused and still causes, I can’t help but think that God is displeased with any and all efforts to implicate him in it. Past polygamists’ sincere beliefs and lives well-lived can be respected without insisting now, within earshot of our daughters, that God needed this to happen.

I loved President Hinckley, but I also think it was wishful thinking to insist that fundamentalist polygamists “have nothing to do with us,” and that they’re a matter for the law. I believe we can only say that in truth when something has been done to address Section 132.

Could this be a more orthodox answer:

https://www.lds.org/new-era/2005/07/wrong-roads-and-revelation?lang=eng” class=”bbcode_url”>https://www.lds.org/new-era/2005/07/wrong-roads-and-revelation?lang=eng

It’s the story about the father and son that pray to know which road to go down, they both feel impressed to take the road to the left, after 10 minutes they reach a dead end.

Their takeaway:

The Lord has taught us an important lesson today. Because we were prompted to take the road to the left, we quickly discovered which one was the right one. When we turned around and got on the right road, I was able to travel along its many unfamiliar twists and turnoffs perfectly confident I was headed in the right direction.

If we had started on the right road, we might have driven for 30 minutes or so, become uneasy with the unfamiliar surroundings, and been tempted to turn back. If we had done that, we would have discovered the dead-end so late that it would have been too dark to find our way back in totally unfamiliar territory.

Are prophets and apostles entitled to higher quality or more error free revelations than the rest of us? Perhaps we reached a dead end with polygamy. 200 years is as short as 10 minutes when measured against the eternities. Also, once you see the dead end you’ve still got a 10 minute walk to get back to the fork in the road.

The analogy isn’t perfect, none are.

Then there’s Alma’s story of the seed. Maybe it’s taken a few hundred years for the fruit to mature, now that it has we’re in a better position to determine whether it was good fruit. The results weren’t immediate but there are results.

I really love the year of polygamy series. I would recommend starting from the beginning if you can at all. I think Lindsey Hanson Park does a really good job at being honest, but really looking at it fully and objectively – even the sects today. She talks about how she really cares for some of these people (FDLS leadership no so much). I feel for her in that in the latter part of series she had to stop for a bit as emotionally she had to stop for a while.

Finally, there is NO orthodox apologetic for the FLDS situation.

I would be interested in hearing an orthodox answer to the question, “Did God know that commanding Joseph Smith to restore polygamy would eventually lead to Warren Jeffs, the LeBarons, etc.?” Because as long as we continue to give the apologetic answer that God was the one commanding JS’ polygamy, I don’t think you can argue that God was somehow shocked or unprepared for the eventual consequences. He is God, after all.

So if you accept the premise that God wanted Joseph Smith to restore polygamy knowing that it would lead to the nasty fundamentalist messes that we see today, you have to ask the question why? What was God hoping to accomplish with polygamy that He couldn’t achieve without it, and what was the positive of <60 years of official polygamy that outweighs the 100+ years of unofficial, problematic fundamentalism? The positive arguments I have heard in favor of polygamy is 1) it increased the population and 2) it strengthened the Saints' sense of community. But is the modern, monogamist Mormon church really lacking a sense of community and a lot of babies? Couldn't we have gotten here without a disastrous experiment that has had all these lingering side effects?

People over the ages have justified polygamy due to its existence in the OT. The problem with that belief is the lack of God’s approval stated within the OT. Polygamy existed. It was part of the culture during OT times. That does not mean it was condoned or ordained by God.

It annoys me that every time some random guy starts a religion, the next step is sister wives, polygamy, and free love. It would be wonderful to see someone start a religious movement and manage to remain married and monogamous. The whole polygamy thing makes it hard to keep JS separate from the Oneida Order, Jim Jones, or David Koresh.

I would love to see a list by someone of reasons why JS was truly a prophet and these other polygamous religion starters were not.

What facts make his story more believable? I’m not trying to be obtuse. I really would like to know.

I don’t believe plural marriage was inspired. I think JS had a pretty big libido and made a mistake with Fanny Alger. He then used his ability to convince others that he had divine connection to justify the libido with plural marriage doctrine. That way he could retain his role as a prophet, and NOT be considered a fallen prophet.

Over time, this morphed so that only the righteous were allowed to practice plural marriage. It also became a way of fueling internal growth of the most committed members.

So, it started out as a form of justification for unfaithfulness, and then turned into a doctrinal practice that only the righteous could practice. So, Warren Jeffs is the result of mistakes JS made. The fact that God lets it happen is under the umbrella of the “why does God let bad things happen to good people??” question. I suppose we could give lots of generic answers to that question.

Amen, Ann.

A-freaking-men.