well polygamy is the major part of the Mormon religion (first principle) and Utah Territory was probably one of the most violent area in North America 1845-1877 for white on white crime during Brigham Young’s reign of terror.....
Mormons were often on the receiving end of violent persecution before 1845, culminating in the battle of Nauvoo (Ill.) in 1844, eventually forcing the Mormons to flee to Utah. I am not promoting Mormonism but I do think people have a right to live as they please, especially after being forced to leave their homes at gunpoint. Finally, anti-polygamist sentiment was taken advantage of to gain followers for political gain during the formation of the Republican Party. Before placing exclusive blame on Mormons in Utah for violence, one question that seems relevant is to ask what is the proximate cause of the Mormons to be living in Utah in the first place.
I am all for people who get sexually and emotionally uptight about what other consenting adults do behind closed doors to voice their (sexually and emotionally uptight) opinions. The point at which the sexually and emotionally uptight people start to advocate or condone violence against some folks merely because those folks do not share their sexually and emotionally uptight views on what consenting adults choose to do in private is the height of irrationality and the point where i depart from them. For sexually and emotionally uptight people with violent intentions everywhere, the cliched adage “make love, not war” is IMHO still appropriate. And yet another adage is that those who cannot remember the past are doomed to repeat it.
Did you ever read “A Study in Scarlet”, the first Sherlock Holmes story? He’s not actually in it very much, it’s a long recounting of some man’s misadventures among the early Mormons. I don’t remember it very well, but I do remember thinking: woah, this isn’t the Donnie & Marie Mormons we’ve come to know and love.
Of course it is a made up story, but clearly things have changed with that group.
It might be interesting to study how much getting rid of polygamy had to do with that, if anything.