Posted on 01/01/2012 4:51:53 PM PST by Colofornian
n Utah, the issue of polygamy is a very sensitive topic. Should the topic of one man marrying more than one wife somehow come up in a conversation, watch the eyes roll and folks run away from the conversation. So, needless to say, this is not an issue generally dealt with over the picket fence.
However, when a Mormon is willing to discuss the issue, it’s amazing how many folktales are used. For one, it is commonly asserted that polygamy was necessary back in the pioneer days of Brigham Young because there were not enough men for the women. (Note: According to all statistics I have seen, there NEVER was a time when Mormon men outnumbered Mormon women at any time in the Utah Territory.) Thus, having a man take two or more wives is somehow touted as actually being helpful to the women, as otherwise they would have ended up as Old Maids. (In case you’re wondering, being single for many years is NOT a good thing in Mormonism.) The men who sacrificed themselves in this way are almost made out to be heroes, as if they were taking one for the team so that women would have a chance at the celestial kingdom. I once had one Latter-day Saint tell me that the male/female ratios actually became close to 50/50 in the 1890s when the Manifesto abolishing polygamy was given, so the practice had somehow served its purpose and was no longer needed. Really.
Hence, imagine my surprise when I discovered that, according to a recent survey from Trinity College called “Mormons in the United States, 1990-2008” (Salt Lake Tribune, 12/15, p. A1), there appear to be many more Mormon women than Mormon men in the state of Utah. Consider these statistics: In 1990, a total of 53 percent of the Mormons in Utah were females (55% in the rest of the country). Eighteen years later, though, in 2008, there were 60% LDS females in Utah compared to 40% males (52% in the rest of the country).
In other words, if you’re female in Utah, there’s a good possibility you will be sitting home on Saturday night. Imagine, this equals three women for every two men in Utah. Go to a Saturday night dance and there are 60 girls to only 40 boys. Some are getting left out. For returning 21-year-old male missionaries, these are some pretty good odds when coming home. I can only wonder if there will soon be an influx of Mormon males moving to SLC from other parts in the country as well? Even with Vegas so close, these odds have to look pretty good.
Since Utah Mormons have a problem of too many females and not enough males, the question needs to be asked: Should the Mormon Church propose making polygamy legal once more? After all, there are possibly some women who won’t be able to attend the temple as married women unless willing men can lend a hand. There must be some willing married Mormon males out there who might be willing to do their duty and get married to two, maybe even three women. After all, if God intended polygamy back in the old days to provide assistance to the women, it seems like this practice ought to be reconsidered once more.
Of course, this is not going to happen. But the next time a Mormon uses the “too many women, not enough men” argument for support of 19th century polygamy, ask if they believe Mormonism’s prophet will soon be told by God to reinstitute this practice because many LDS women don’t have worthy husbands. Odds are, they’ll say “no.”
Long ago all marriage was a religious ceremony, and then at some time legal marriage was brought forth to establish inheritance (even now the law says if you are married when a child is born, the child belongs to the father - period), then marriage evolved for tax issues.
I suppose one could argue that marriage should have never been part of a government arrangement or preview.
If the tax laws eliminated marriage as a tax issue, and people were taxed on their own income, what sort of change would happen? Just questions, give me a glass of wine and I ask....;-)
I see yer video and raise you one audio!
Sounds like Glenn Beck's story!
Or even SUSPECT that someday that same 'government' would FORCE you to support BASTARDY in this country!
Take back the language!
Utah will override any state constitutional provisions if other states start allowing it and possibly would do so before to be the first state to legalize it.
Send all the surplus women to North Dakota. I read that they’ve got a shortage up there.
That is funny. I have 8 kids and three bedrooms. Oldest is 14 so I am not sure how number of bedrooms has anything to do with it but I am sure that perception is %120 of most opinions. I am not Mormon and no where near it.
A recent poll has 40% of folks thinking marriage comes from man and thus the state. Many more have been conditioned to think that marriage is whatever the state says it can be, it comes on little pieces of paper that say so.
Which the homosexualists and statists love, because no way would so many buy into the impossibility of “gay marriage” without the disaster the state has made of the institution in recent times. Once the state got involved, at least in the modern era, marriage was at the whim of whatever most folks think it happens to be at the time, at least as far as the state is concerned. Generally the more one looks to their faith, the less likely it is for them to buy into things like “gay marriage.”
Freegards
There are places in the bible that talk of Marriage as second best to chastity. Should we take that seriously and shun those that get married??
If you choose to get married then great for you. I personally don’t think that the government should be in the business of saying who gets married. The government (men) should not be dictating jack sh!t, when it comes to religious affairs. So my take is that Government dictating marriage is bad, dumb asses wanting to marry other dumb asses is bad.
Look, they are the same in many aspects.
Excellent point. My oversight.
I'm not impressed with them. Polygamy is actively practiced in both Utah and Arizona. There are cities that are known polygamist strongholds, where members of law enforcement are polygamists.
And the official website of Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff notes that although polygamy is illegal in Utah (he conveniently forgets to point out that it's prohibited by the Utah Constitution) and against the constitution in Arizona (and against the law in Arizona, which isn't mentioned), he says that law enforcement in both states have decided simply to concentrate on welfare fraud and child abuse. Translation? We're not going to enforce polygamy laws (that would be embarrassing to the LDS Church, because LDS members have to keep on explaining history and how these groups are different from mainstream Mormons). And there are members of the LDS church who are polygamists. It's still a part of their doctrine - Doctrine & Covenants 132 to be precise - despite the 1890 and 1904 Manifestos.
Same thing with the Christian Science cult.
LOTS & LOTS & LOTS of elderly women. (It's a dying cult)
Interesting. A very complex and organized subculture. I did not know that polygamous households were still around in such numbers.
There has to be a great deal of paranoia and alienation directed towards the non-Mormon culture out there, be it Hollywood, Dixie, Midwestern or Yankee - whatever the ‘gentile’ cultural base. It does not sound like a comfortable place to be. Besieged from the outside, driven from the inside, and so many in house details to keep quiet.
And if the older men in those communities need young women as wives, imagine what happens when the young men reach an age that they present a threat to the men as possible romantic interests? They are outcast, with no belongings and no real education. They're called 'lost boys." There's been a documentary made about them. There are charities to deal with them. Here's one.
I heard a rumor(?) that the young men were kicked out of the church to keep the ratio of women high. THAT makes sense. the older men do not want any competition. Are there any Chinese LDS groups? Just wondering.
Well, did you become a Mormon or not
I thought I had canceled it. Wasn’t too sure it would have been accepted but I guess I hit the wrong button.
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