The Baptists stand on polygamy among new converts does not reflect a wholesale softening of it’s stand against polygamy.
It’s not unusual for missions groups to have to address the issue and the conclusion is that if they forced the men to divorce wives that they legally (according to their culture) married, then they would not only be forcing them to commit a sin in divorce, but the women thus divorced would be cast out as those cultures have no way for a woman to provide for herself outside of marriage.
It’s then concluded that allowing the new converts at remain married to their multiple wives would be less of a evil than divorcing them and failing to provide for them.
Polygamy, however, is not practiced, encouraged, or condoned among converts who were single when they converted and that is accepted by the indigenous people.
I’d bet that the younger men were especially happy about the increased availability of marriageable women.
Yeah but unlike Calvinists, Baptists believe in two ways to Heaven