Who says they've risen above polygamy?
(That's your historical & theological presumptions about the Mormon church).
Let's telescope Mormon positions on polygamy, shall we?
1890-1910: LDS leaders solemnized at least 260+ known plural marriages in the post-manifesto years when the church was pretending to be 100% against polygamy (source: Hardy, A Solemn Covenant, 1992)...
...most of these were solemnized by either "apostles" like Taylor & Cowley (later ex-communicated)...
...or by Ivins in Mexico, who was rewarded for this & made a general authority in the early 1900s...
...or by others who became general authorities after solemnizing such plural marriage vows. [How long ago did these polygamists live? According to Hardy, some of these plural unions were still around in the early 1960s...]
Early-to-mid 1960s: Hardy cites an early 1960s poll taken of mainstream Mormons: 40% say they would engage in polygamy if told to by their "prophet." Then, LDS "apostle" Bruce McConkie’s book, Mormon Doctrine says that polygamy will return to the Saints before Jesus returns. (see pp. 577-579 of 1966 edition, which was approved by the LDS First Presidency…unlike the initial late 1950s version which was not)
(Well, that's interesting...could be Mormon polygamy might be right 'round the corner, eh?)
1998 LDS “Church Handbook of Instructions” for LDS: “A deceased woman may be sealed to ALL men to whom she was legally married during her life.”
Source: FR poster Paridel @ http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2004551/posts?q=1&;page=283 (Definition of "sealed” in this case = sealed for all eternity to her multiple husbands, making her a polyandrous woman) [This sounds contemporary doesn’t it, RT? If the LDS Church did not want this proxy sealing practice being done in its temples, it has total authoritative ‘say-so’—as it does in shutting the door on proxy baptisms in the cases of Jewish Holocaust victims]
Also current practice:: The LDS Church, as mentioned above, still allows a husband to be sealed in its temple to multiple wives (but only one "on this earth" wife at a time). If the Mormon church was serious about "eradicating" future polygamy, it would ban the temple ritual for eternal sealings for a second wife. It doesn't. It views itself as the polygamous “feeder system” for eternal life family life.
Therefore, Mormons not only believe those five found "prophets" I referenced are practicing polygamy on another colony they call Kolob, but at least two of the current Lds general authorities were sealed to more than one wife for eternity. If the Mormon afterlife as depicted is what occurs, they haven't "risen above" anything. When they die, they head off to a colony of eternal polygamists!
Mormons and polygamy — here are the facts:
(http://www.mormonsandpolygamy.org/)
There are 13 million Mormons in the United States and around the world, and not one of them is a polygamist.
“Mormon” is the most common and widely accepted name for a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, headquartered in Salt Lake City. “Mormons” have nothing whatsoever to do with the Texas sect known as “FLDS,” or with any other polygamous group.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints doesn’t allow anyone practicing polygamy to be a member.
Polygamy was part of our past, for about 50 years in the 19th century. But it is not part of our present. Polygamy was officially discontinued in 1890 — 118 years ago.
When practiced by Mormons in the 19th century, polygamy was quite unlike the depictions of polygamous groups now seen on TV. For instance, a woman had freedom of choice as to whom she would marry. She made her own decisions about life, education and personal pursuits and did not isolate herself from the world.
Today’s Mormons live in every state of the U.S. and in 162 countries. Mormon men and women can be found in all professional fields — doctors, teachers, police officers, scientists and soldiers. The Mormon Tabernacle Choir has sung at presidential inaugurations and at the 2002 Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City.
The FLDS group adopted the name “Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints” in the early 1990s (watch video). It is an isolated group numbering a few thousand members. There should be no confusion between Mormons and polygamists.
“Mormon” Polygamy:
Misconceptions
Polygamy, also known as plural marriage or plurality of wives, is not practiced by any, active contemporary member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In 1890, the Church (commonly known as the Mormon Church) officially disavowed polygamy as a practice and currently excommunicates any Latter-day Saint who embraces it.
Polygamists have no rightful association with the Mormon Church and many, if not most, have never been members of the Mormon Church. Some groups who have split off from the Church practice polygamy, but their practice has nothing to do with the activity of members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
President Gordon B. Hinckley, late Prophet and President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, stated the following about polygamy in the Church’s General Conference of October 1998:
“I wish to state categorically that this Church has nothing whatever to do with those practicing polygamy. They are not members of this Church. Most of them have never been members. They are in violation of the civil law. They know they are in violation of the law. They are subject to its penalties. The Church, of course, has no jurisdiction whatever in this matter.
“If any of our members are found to be practicing plural marriage, they are excommunicated, the most serious penalty the Church can impose. Not only are those so involved in direct violation of the civil law, they are in violation of the law of this Church. An article of our faith is binding upon us. It states, ‘We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates, in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law’ (Articles of Faith 1:12). One cannot obey the law and disobey the law at the same time.