They are now. But did you know...?
- Prophet Joseph Smith said God started the whole polygamy thing in this revelation:
"61 And again, as pertaining to the law of the priesthood—if any man espouse a virgin, and desire to espouse aanother, and the first give her consent, and if he espouse the second, and they are virgins, and have vowed to no other man, then is he justified; he cannot commit adultery for they are given unto him; for he cannot commit adultery with that that belongeth unto him and to no one else.
62 And if he have ten virgins given unto him by this law, he cannot commit adultery, for they belong to him, and they are given unto him; therefore is he justified." - Doctrine and Covenants 132
- Early LDS apostles and presidens said that if polygamy wasn't true, the whole religion was worthless:
"If the doctrine of polygamy, as revealed to the Latter-day Saints, is not true, I would not give a fig for all your other revelations that came through Joseph Smith the Prophet; I would renounce the whole of them..." - Apostle Orson Pratt, Journal of Discourses, vol 17, pp. 224-25.
"If we were to do away with polygamy...then we must do away with prophets and Apostles, with revelation and the gifts and graces of the Gospel, and finally give up our religion altogether." - Wilford Woodruff, fourth President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Journal of Discourses, vol 13, p. 166.
"I want to prophecy that all men who oppose the revelation which God has given in relation to polygamy will find themselves in darkness; the Spirit of God will withdraw from them the very moment of their opposition to that principle, until they will finally go down to hell and be damned, if they do not repent... if you do not become as dark as midnight there is no truth in Mormonism." Apostle Orson Pratt, Journal of Discourses, vol. 17, pp. 224-225.
- Brigham Young said polygamy was essential to becoming Gods:
"The only men who become Gods, even the Sons of God, are those who enter into polygamy." - Bigham Young, second President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Journal of Discourses, vol 11, p. 269.
So, as a "monogamous Mormon"...
- If Joseph's revelation is correct (it is still in D&C 132), and those who married 10 virgins are not adulterers and are justified, on what grounds do the LDS excommunicate polygamists?
- If Pratt and Woodruff were correct in their teaching that if you give up polygamy you might as well give up Mormonism, then how can one justify being a monogomous Mormon?
- If Pratt was correct in his teaching that if you give up polygamy you will become as dark as midnight, have you started turning yet?
- If Young was correct when he said you can't become a God or a Son of God if you're not a polygamist, what's your hope?
And here's another interesting fact. The first edition of the Doctrine and Covenants, printed in 1835, denounced the practice of polygamy:
"Inasmuch as this church of Christ has been reproached with the crime of fornication, and polygamy: we declare that we believe, that one man should have one wife; and one woman, but one husband, except in the case of death, when either is at liberty to marry again." - Doctrine and Covenants, section 101, verse 4
This denial of polygamy was printed in all editions of the Doctrine and Covenants until the year 1876. At that time the Mormon leaders inserted section 132, which permits a plurality of wives, and removed the revelation above condemning polygamy.
President Young's JoD 11 on the "benefits of polygamy" is a revealing read.
