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OK. I admit, I’m on a bit of a polygamy jag. My wife calls it obsessive, but I do like to read books in groups by topic. I can really stop. Really. Maybe next month. Anyway, this is a good read, and it’s the second time I’ve read it. The book is well-researched and well-documented. In light of my recent readings about the FLDS (See ‘Escape’ Review), a couple of things hit me differently this time regarding early church doctrine that I thought I’d share.
The first is the idea in the early church that marriages performed outside the covenant/temple/priesthood were ENTIRELY invalid. So much so, that on the trek west, Brigham Young ordered certain men to leave their civil union wives who had been sealed to Brigham and others. These women were then given to their ‘proper’ priesthood partners. The marriages were civil unions and therefore invalid in the eyes of God. I was aghast at this, and now see the link in the way Warren Jeffs and other fundamentalist leaders may feel justified in dictating who is married to whom and when.
The second is the notion that there is a hierarchy within priesthood and the higher priesthood office that is attained, then the higher that person and his spouses and children will be able to get within the celestial kingdom. This doctrine was used to justify the polyandrous marriages and meant that the highest leaders had the most wives and they all would go further than others. We are now told that all priesthood offices are equal and that no one has a chance of getting higher in heaven simply by virtue of the office he holds, although I’m not sure we believe that in practice. Again this seems to be a doctrine still held to by fundamentalists.
Anyway, I’m not completely through the book, but it is well worth the time.
I know you guys probably get tired of me speaking out when I see an unfair stereotype of fundamentalists. Sorry, I just can’t help it With respect SS,
” Again this seems to be a doctrine still held to by fundamentalists.”
Please, please (did I say please?) don’t assume that the FLDS is representative of the VAST Majority of fundamentalist mormons. They are not. They may be (very debatable after the Texas fiasco) the largest group but probably don’t represent 1/5 of fundamentalist mormons nationwide.
The members of the AUB and independents that I know don’t fit that category at all.
My 2 cents….
Sorry Bruce. I know my knowledge of fundamentalism is limited and that I painted that brush broadly. I’ve often thought contemporary secular society is hypocritical about polygamy. Why is it alright for someone to have multiple sexual partners at the same period, but not for them to marry more than one person? There’s a double standard there.
True, which I why I think that they go after charges other than cohabitation nowadays.
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