FUNDAMENTALIST
MORMONS & POLYGAMY
Matthew Aquino
Jose Alvarado
Brandon Washington
Selena Palomares
Jeannae Carmichael
Alison Gutierrez
H I S T O RY O F P O LYG A M Y W I T H I N
THE MORMON CHURCH
Joseph Smith
• Founder of LDS
• Translated the Book of Mormon
• (Golden Plates)
• Seen as a prophet to followers
• Seen as a charlatan to outsiders
DEATH OF JOSEPH SMITH
MORMONS OSTRACIZED
(HISTORICALLY)
• Multiple objections to Mormonism
(Mainly Polygamy)
• Faith-based objections
• Family-values-based objections
• Political Objections (Masking a
greater debate)
THE CIVIL WAR
• Civil war became background
for Mormon question
• North wanted Government
intervention
• South wanted government to
stay out of the issue of Polygamy
R E P R E S E N TAT I V E A L E X A N D E R H .
S T E P H E N S O F G E O RG I A
“If we discriminate to-ay against Mormons, tomorrow, perhaps, we shall discriminate against
Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians, or Catholics.
The evils of such discrimination …have been wisely
provided against in the Constitution.”
S M I T H T E AC H I N G P O LYG A M Y
• The affair with Fanny Alger
• Keeping quiet
• Recurring Visions
• Afraid of both outcomes
• Eventually taught polygamy as the word
of God
BRIGHAM YOUNG
• Key Spiritual Leader of Mormon
church
• Adopted Polygamy through Smith’s
teaching
• BYU is named after him
QUICK POLL
HISTORICAL POLYGAMY
• Brigham Young was one of the
finest candidates
• Unusual to have more than 4 wives
(Most had 1-2)
• Freeing for women in some respects
• Mormon acceptance was slow
• Societal acceptance was near
impossible
SECTION OF ORDER 44
 ”The Mormons must be treated as enemies, and
must be exterminated or driven from the state if
necessary for the public peace--their outrages are
beyond all description. If you can increase your
force, you are authorized to do so to any extent you
may consider necessary.”
THE END OF THE
BEGINNING
• Many objections to the Mormon faith, spiritual, social, and
political.
• This led to a long history of persecution that led to the death of
their spiritual leader, the loss of their homes, and an assault on their
spiritual beliefs.
• This most likely causes the Fundamentalist Mormons to be more
resolute and not give in to societal pressures.
T H E S P L I T O F P O LYG A M Y A N D
T H E M O R M O N C H U RC H
Mormon Fundamentalists
• Seek to uphold tenets and practices no longer
held by mainstream Mormons (members of
the LDS Church)
• Principle most often associated with
Mormon fundamentalism is plural
marriage
T H E S P L I T O F P O LYG A M Y A N D
T H E M O R M O N C H U RC H
• Many of the views are essential for
obtaining the highest degree of exaltation
in the celestial kingdom.
• Today, the LDS Church will excommunicate
any of its members who practice plural
marriage or who otherwise closely associate
themselves with Mormon fundamentalist
practices.
S TA RT O F F U N DA M E N TA L I S T
MORMONISM
Laws Passed Against Polygamy:
•
•
•
•
•
1862 – The Morrill Anti-Bigamy Act
1874 – The Poland Act
1882 – The Edmunds Act
1887 – The Edmunds-Tucker Act
1904 – “Second Manifesto” by Joseph Smith
WA R R E N J E F F S
Born: December 3, 1955
After his fathers’ death, he became the prophet
He was raised to be the “Chosen One"
JEFFS’ BELIEFS/ROLES IN
POLYGAMY
He ran everything in his “colony”
• Jobs
• Education
• Money
• Children
• Wives
JEFFS’ BELIEFS
CONTINUED
Jeffs was later arrested for sexually abusing the
young girls.
Warren Jeffs is currently in Jail for the things he
did in the “colony” with the women.
• Sexual Abuse
• Forced Marriage
• Plural Marriages
WARREN JEFFS NOW
He continues to run the church from jail
He still continues to arrange marriages
POLYGAMY TODAY
• Polygamy in the US has been present for a very
long period of time.
• When the European settlers, came they very
often took native wives and the tribes since have
adopted the practice.
POLYGAMY TODAY
• Some of these tribes have also continued to use the
polygamy practice in the 20th century
• These practices began the spread of polygamy in the US
• More precisely members of the Fundamentalist Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS) still participate in
polygamy today
BUSTING MYTHS
 Not proving wrong, but rather
exposing lack of hard evidence
 Sex and Polygamy (Celestial
Sealing)
 Polygamy and Harems
 Frontier Life
POLYGAMOUS FAMILIES
 My Five Wives
• Husband to five wives dad to twenty four
children
• “Believing in equality for everyone and a
God who loves and accepts all -- a belief
system Brady and his family call
progressive polygamy -- the Williams
family emphasize that their choice to be
together is more about their mutual love
and commitment than it is about religion.
Though their beliefs and their decision to
leave their church have led them to be
shunned by their community and
estranged from many family members,
the Williams believe their sacrifices are
worth it.”
POLYGAMOUS FAMILIES
Sister Wives
• “The family at the center of the
reality show Sister Wives is
celebrating after a federal judge
ruled that key parts of Utah’s
anti-polygamy laws are
unconstitutional, and that
polygamous families could no
longer be arrested on felony
charges.”
M O R M O N I S M & P O LYG A M Y
V S.
D O M I N A N T U S C U LT U R E
Plural
Marriage
Singular
Marriage
Marriage
/sealing
ONE
SOLE
LEADER
FLDS/
Polygamy
Family
Outlook
Marriage
US
dominant
culture
Religious
Values
No
freedom
or rights
for youth
Much more
Youth
Freedom
and rights
DEMOCRATIC
GOVERNMNET