Plural marriage
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Plural marriage (also sometimes called "celestial marriage" or "spiritual wifery") is a type of polygamy that was practiced by Joseph Smith, Jr., founder of the Latter Day Saint movement, and continues to be practiced today by several small groups of Mormon fundamentalists in the western United States, Canada, and Mexico. It included polygyny and rare cases of polyandryTemplate:Fact. Most plural marriage relationships involved sexual relations between the husband and each of the wives, though some plural marriage relationships were celibate. Group sex was not included as part of teaching of Mormon plural marriage. The most extensive use of plural marriage was by a minority of Mormon leaders in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints during the mid- to late-19th Century. The Church renounced the practice in 1890 under pressure from the United States, however, there is some evidence that the practice continued among some Mormon elites into the early 20th Century. The church began formally excommunicating polygamists around this same time.
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Origin
In the process of re-translating the Bible, Joseph Smith, Jr., the founder of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, prayed about the polygynous practices of biblical figures such as Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He said he received a revelation from God regarding plural marriage (see Doctrine and Covenants 132), and a new commandment from God to take more wives. Compton, in his book In Sacred Lonliness recounts Joseph stating, "The angel came to me three times between the year of '34 and '42 and said I was to obey that principle or he would [s]lay me." Others, specifically Joseph B. Noble and Benjamin F. Johnson, recounted similar stories in the form of affidavits, but with an embellishment: the angel held a drawn sword. In 1842, at Nauvoo, a small pamphlet named The Peace Maker, with Joseph Smith as printer, expounded Bible verses in support of polygyny. This pamphlet was not well accepted, and Smith spoke against it, but many believe its real purpose was to open the way for church acceptance of polygyny.
The practice of polygyny
Polygyny was practiced by Joseph Smith as early as 1833 although the practice was not publicly taught until 1852, some five years after the Mormons came to Utah, and eight years after Smith's death. Smith introduced the doctrine to select individuals, some of whom (such as Brigham Young) were directed to take more wives. Some Mormon leaders at the time voiced their objection to the practice and left the Church. Others struggled with their consciences and agreed to the practice only after much prayer. Brigham Young famously said that after the doctrine was communicated to him, he would gladly have traded places with the body in a hearse he saw passing down the street, than embrace this new doctrine. The first mayor of Nauvoo, John C. Bennett, a recent convert to the church was excommunicated for the adulterous practice of "spiritual wifery", a very different practice than plural marriage.
Census studies of various Utah counties show that the percentage of the community practicing plural marriage in 1880 varied from community to community: for example, only 5% in South Weber, but 67% in Orderville. Studies suggest that the majority of Utah polygamists in the 19th century only had two wives, the man often being a local church leader and the second wife typically being younger.
Joseph Smith's wives
Main article: Joseph Smith, Jr. and Polygamy
Although there is some disagreement as to the precise figure, many estimates state that Joseph Smith was married to about 33 wives during his life. Smith's followers believe that he did not marry women to create a personal relationship, but rather to create a bond of related wives, children and other family members that would endure throughout eternity.
Under the doctrine of plural marriage, the first wife's consent should be sought before a man marry another wife. A revelation given to Joseph Smith says, "then shall she believe and administer unto him, or she shall be destroyed...and she then becomes the transgressor; and he is exempt" from having her permission (Doctrine and Covenants 132:64-65). Smith's first wife, Emma Hale Smith, was publicly opposed to the practice and Joseph may have married some women without Emma knowing beforehand.
Some of Joseph's wives were older women and some of them younger, the youngest known being Helen Mar Kimball, who was 14. Although such a marriage would be viewed as unacceptable in current Western culture and is illegal in most United States jurisdictions, girls occasionally wed at that age in the 20th century. No evidence exists that Smith had or did not have sexual relations with Helen Mar. Accounts of the marriage strongly suggest that one of the primary reasons was to join the Smith and Kimball families into the eternities through the sealing of marriage. Initially believing the marriage applied to eternity and not this life, Helen Mar stated she was surprised that she was not allowed by family to attend a youth dance. If there had been sexual relations at that point in the marriage, it seems unlikely she would have had this confusion. Heber C. Kimball, Helen Mar's father, was a devout Church member, Church leader, and close friend of Smith. Heber C. Kimball later married thirty-nine wives. (Stan Kimball lists 43 wives in his biography of Kimball.)
Anthropologist Richard Francis Burton, who visited Salt Lake City in 1860, believed that the wives in a plural marriage were amenable to the practice because it imposed fewer burdens on each individual wife - sexual or otherwise.
Polyandry, sexual relations and fathering children
About eleven of Smith's wives were also married to other men (usually other Mormon men in good standing, who in a few cases acted as a witness in Smith's marriage to his wife) at the time they married Smith. Typically, these women continued to live with their first husband, not Smith. Some accounts say Joseph may have had sexual relations with some of his other wives and one wife later in her life stated that he fathered children by one or two of his wives.Template:Fact
Groups continuing the practice
After the death of Joseph Smith, there was confusion as to who was heir to leadership of his church. As a result, several factions formed. Of these, only two continued the practice of plural mariage. The most well known was the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints led by Brigham Young. However, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints led by James J. Strang, also adopted the practice. This began after John C. Bennett, the former mayor of Nauvoo, joined the group, and informed Strang that Smith had been involved in it. Strang himself took five wives. When Strang was shot to death in 1856, the practice effectively ended within this group.
Abandoning the practice
As The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints settled in the Utah Territory, they began to participate in national politics. The general opinion of the rest of the United States was that the practice of plural marriage was offensive. On July 8, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln signed the Morrill Anti-Bigamy Law which forbids the practice in US territories. President Lincoln told the church that he had no intentions of enforcing it if they would not interfere with him, and so the matter was laid to rest for a time. After the Civil War, immigrants to Utah who were not members of the church began contesting for political power. They were frustrated by the consolidation of the members. Forming the Liberal Party, they began pushing for political changes and to weaken the church's advantage in that state. In September of 1871, President Brigham Young was indicted for adultery due to his plural marriages. On January 6, 1879, the Supreme Court upheld the Morrill Act in Reynolds v. United States. The decision was not well-received by the members and leadership of the church.
In February of 1882, George Q. Cannon, a prominent leader in the church, was denied a seat in the House of Representatives due to his polygamous relations. This revived the issue in national politics. One month later, the Edmunds Act was passed, amending the Morrill Act by revoking the right of polygamists to vote or hold office, and allowing them to be punished without due process. Even if people did not practice polygamy, they would have their rights revoked if they confessed a belief in it. In August, Rudge Clawson was imprisoned for having entered into polygamous marriage before the 1862 Morrill Act, which imprisonment was in clear violation of the constitutional ban on ex post facto laws. In 1887, the Edmunds-Tucker act seized control of the church and further extended the punishments of the Edmunds Act of 1882. In July of the same year, the U.S. Attorney General filed a suit to seize the church and all of its assets.
The church had clearly lost control of the territory government, and the members and leaders of the church were being actively pursued as fugitives. Without being able to appear publicly, the leadership was left to navigate underground. President Wilford Woodruff and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles issued a manifesto in 1890 banning the practice of plural marriage. Although it is still considered correct doctrine, it is no longer sanctioned by the church. This set in motion the restitution of all the rights of the members of the church and the eventual statehood of Utah in 1896.
The aftermath of the issue was exacerbated by rumors that leaders of the church were continuing the practice by sealing more polygamous marriages. Some leaders interpreted the manifesto as allowing polygamy anywhere but in the United States. Others thought it merely pushed the practice underground and out of the eyes of the world. This led to problems in seating B. H. Roberts in the House of Representatives due to his polygamous relations. New accusations of plural marriage and insincerity on the part of the church were made. It also led to the Smoot Hearings wherein Apostle Reed Smoot was challenged upon election to the Senate. During the hearings, President Joseph F. Smith issued the second manifesto in 1904, declaring that any who participated in additional plural marriages, and those officiating, would be excommunicated from the church. Disagreeing with the second manifesto, two apostles (John W. Taylor and Matthias F. Cowley) left the quorum. Taylor was later excommunicated for violating the second manifesto.
The last person to participate in plural marriage with the sanction of the church died in 1974. Since the second manifesto, the church has never sanctioned plural marriages. Those who are caught trying to perform such are excommunicated without question. Today, the church does not teach about plural marriage except to say that it is banned and will be punished with excommunication.
Fundamentalist beginnings
Relinquishment of plural marriage by church members was not universal, however; some did not accept as divinely inspired the pronouncements truncating polygyny, and were either expelled from the church or left on their own. Over time, many such individuals formed small, isolated, and close-knit communities in areas of the Rocky Mountains. These groups continue to practice 'the principle' despite the ostensible opposition of the government and LDS church leaders, and consider the practice to be a requirement for entry into the highest heaven, which they call the "third degree" of the Celestial Kingdom. These people are commonly called 'Mormon fundamentalists', and may either practice as individuals, as families, or as part of organized denominations.
In consequence of the tendency of outsiders to confuse the LDS church with the breakaway groups, the church today seeks vigorously to disassociate itself from the practice of plural marriage, emphasizing that it still excommunicates any polygamist members. Moreover, the church has attempted to convince journalists not to refer to the various polygamist sects as "Mormons" or "Mormon fundamentalists". The press, however, has generally not complied, because modern polygamists themselves still embrace the term Mormon, viewing themselves as the rightful stewards of the LDS tradition.
Critical views
According to sympathizers, Smith, Young and other prominent Church leaders were reluctant to embrace the practice of plural marriage especially given their strict Victorian morals. Some critics contend that Smith at first committed adultery with Fanny Alger, a young maid in the Smith household, and later relied on the Biblical rationale of plural marriage to legitimize his immorality.
Some critics, expecting the LDS Church's formal departure from plural marriage to equate with a doctrinal renunciation, see the church's current policy as disingenuous for several reasons: Plural marriage is still a seminal doctrine to Mormons, even if it is not practiced and is officially discouraged from being taught. Moreover, in the case of death, and sometimes in cases of civil divorce or excommunication, men may be sealed in LDS temples to more than one woman simultaneously, while living women cannot be "sealed" to more than one man (see next section) —devout Latter-day Saints consider such sealings to be eternal, outlasting mortal life and civil marriages.
Some critics of the LDS church believe that it is inappropriate for the church to ask that the term Mormon not be applied to believers in the Book of Mormon who practice plural marriage.
Relationship of Current Practice Regarding Temple Sealings to Plural Marriage
Marriages ending in divorce
A man who is sealed to a woman, but later divorced must apply for for a "sealing clearance" from the First Presidency in order to be sealed to another woman. This does not void or invalidate the first sealing. A woman in the same circumstances would apply to the First Presidency for a "cancellation of sealing," (sometimes incorrectly called a "temple divorce") allowing her to be sealed to another man. This approval voids the original sealing as far as the woman is concerned. Divorced women who have not applied for a sealing cancellation are considered sealed to the original husband, however, one might presume that a civil divorce in this life would invalidate any claim in the next life of the woman on the man or vice versa inasmuch as it breaks the marriage covenant made at the time of sealing. On occasion, divorced women have been granted a cancellation of sealing, even though they do not intend to marry someone else. In this case, they are no longer considered as being sealed to anyone and are presumed to have the same eternal status as single women who have never married.
Sealed marriages ended through death
In the case where a sealed marriage ends through the death of one of the spouses, the requirements are different. A man whose sealed wife has died does not have to request any permission to be married in the temple and sealed to another woman, unless the new wife's circumstance requires a cancellation of sealing. However, a woman whose sealed husband has died is still bound by the original sealing and would have to request a cancellation of sealing to be sealed to another man. In some cases, women in this situation who wish to remarry choose to be married to subsequent husbands in the temple "for time only," and are not sealed to them, leaving them sealed to their first husband for eternity. It would seem that after death the presumed status of widowers who are re-sealed is an effective plural marriage. If a man leaves this life having been sealed to two or more women, and having been faithful in life to both of them, one would presume that in the hereafter those relationships would continue. It is not possible under current practice for a woman to leave this life sealed to two or more men.
Proxy sealings where both spouses have died
According to Church policy, after a man has died, he may be sealed by proxy to all of the women to whom he was legally married to while he was alive. The same is true for women, however, if a woman was sealed to a man while she was alive, all of her husbands must be deceased before she can be sealed by proxy to another man (see Church Handbook of Instructions, page 72, "Sealing Policies: Sealing of a Husband and Wife").
Church doctrine is not entirely specific on the status of men or women who are sealed py proxy to multiple spouses. There are at least two possibilities:
- Regardless of how many people a man or woman is sealed to by proxy, they will only remain with one of them in the afterlife, and that the remaining spouses, who might still merit the full benefits of exaltation that come from being sealed, would then be given to another person in order to ensure each has an eternal marriage.
- These sealings create effective plural marriages that will continue after death. However, the Church does not teach that polyandrous relationships can exist in the afterlife, so this possibility would probably not apply to women who are sealed by proxy to multiple spouses.
Implications
The conundrum presented for men and women who have multiple spouses in this life is not unique among religions and should not present a connection or argument that current LDS policy supports plural marriages in this life. Any religion that teaches that the husband-wife relationship continues after death must also address the status of people in the same situation in the afterlife, regardless of whether they support plural marriage in this life.
It should be noted that the LDS Church teaches that even in the afterlife the marriage relationship is voluntary so it is presumed that no man or woman can be forced into an eternal relationship through temple sealing that they do not wish to be in.
See also
External links
References
- Richard S. Van Wagoner; Mormon Polygamy: A History; Signature Books; ISBN 0941214796 (Paperback, 2nd edition, 1992)
- Jessie L. Embry; Mormon Polygamous Families: Life in the Principle; University of Utah Press; ISBN 0874802776 (Hardcover 1987)
- Todd Compton; In Sacred Loneliness: The Plural Wives of Joseph Smith; Signature Books; ISBN 156085085X (Hardcover, 1997)
- Anne Eliza Young; Wife No. 19 (1876); Ayer Co Publishing ISBN 0405044887 (Hardcover, 1978); Kessinger Publishing, LLC ISBN 0766140482 (Paperback, 2003)
- Martha Sonntag Bradley "Four Zinas" ; Signature Books; ISBN 1-56085-141-4 (Hardcover, 2000)
- B. Carmon Hardy "Solemn Covenant: The Mormon Polygamous Passage"; University of Illinois Press; ISBN 0-252-01833-8; (hardcover)
- D. Michael Quinn, "LDS Church Authority and New Plural Marriages, 1890–1904", Dialogue 18, no. 1 (Spring 1985): 9–105
- Thomas G. Alexander, "Mormonism in Transition: A History of the Latter-day Saints, 1890–1930", University of Illinois Press.