should the LDS Church embrace its polygamist past?

[© tweed]

any mention to an LDS higher-up of the LDS Church's relationship to polygamy will most certainly send them into a tizzy.  and perhaps rightfully so; misconceptions abound about the present-day relationship of the LDS Church to polygamy.

but, yet, polygamy remains an important part of Mormon history.  Church pioneers and prophets alike were polygamists, and the Church endorsed the practice through 1890.  but, in the present, is it going to far?

many influential Mormons alive today are descendants of plural wives.  is their existence illegitimate?  of course not.  but by blanketly minimizing the impact of polygamy on Mormon history, and even dismissing it as some sort of a black mark in said history, LDS higher-ups are sending the wrong message.

case-in-point, sort of: in 1998, the late former LDS President (and 'prophet') Gordon B. Hinckley, who was, by all accounts, a wonderful man, sat down for an interview with Larry King.  when asked about polygamy, Hinckley, as part of his remarks, stated, "it is not doctrinal."  now, this is not incorrect, but perhaps (intentionally) misleading, and has become the target of anti-Mormons on YouTube who claim that the statement is in contrast with a statement Hinckley made earlier in the interview, "thou shalt not bear false witness."

my question/suggestion: why couldn't Hinckley have said "polygamy is no longer doctrinal"?  this would have been just as, if not more, accurate a statement, and also deprived anti-Mormons of some of their ammo.

[??????????]

They still approve of it in the shadows.

[© tweed]

They still approve of it in the shadows.

no, not at all.  there are still pockets of 'closet' polygamists that are LDS members in and around Salt Lake City, but the practice is no longer condoned by the church leadership and if such people are 'found out' they are faced with excommunication.

[??????????]

Depends on how much trust you have in the Mormon church to begin with.

[Alcon]

They still approve of it in the shadows.

Mainstream Mormon culture is really self-correcting and strict so any 'shadow' approval would be essentially meaningless in the mainstream view.  Really nothing to do with secret Mormon Church conspiracies.  Those outside of said culture are more likely to be social moderates, and tow line to secular culture, which is hardly a hotspot of polygamy.

Rocky Ridge, Utah; Colorado City, Ariz.; Hildale, Utah; Pinesdale, Mont.; Bountiful, B.C.

That's pretty much it.

[© tweed]

Mainstream Mormon culture is really self-correcting and strict so any 'shadow' approval would be essentially meaningless in the mainstream view.  Really nothing to do with secret Mormon Church conspiracies.  Those outside of said culture are more likely to be social moderates, and tow line to secular culture, which is hardly a hotspot of polygamy.

Rocky Ridge, Utah; Colorado City, Ariz.; Hildale, Utah; Pinesdale, Mont.; Bountiful, B.C.

That's pretty much it.

the residents of the above places are not members of, nor are they affiliated with, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

They still approve of it in the shadows.

Mainstream Mormon culture is really self-correcting and strict so any 'shadow' approval would be essentially meaningless in the mainstream view.  Really nothing to do with secret Mormon Church conspiracies.  Those outside of said culture are more likely to be social moderates, and tow line to secular culture, which is hardly a hotspot of polygamy.

Rocky Ridge, Utah; Colorado City, Ariz.; Hildale, Utah; Pinesdale, Mont.; Bountiful, B.C.

That's pretty much it.

Pringle, SD

[Alcon]

They still approve of it in the shadows.

Mainstream Mormon culture is really self-correcting and strict so any 'shadow' approval would be essentially meaningless in the mainstream view.  Really nothing to do with secret Mormon Church conspiracies.  Those outside of said culture are more likely to be social moderates, and tow line to secular culture, which is hardly a hotspot of polygamy.

Rocky Ridge, Utah; Colorado City, Ariz.; Hildale, Utah; Pinesdale, Mont.; Bountiful, B.C.

That's pretty much it.

Pringle, SD

How big of a population is there?  Certainly doesn't vote like an FLDS stronghold.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

They still approve of it in the shadows.

Mainstream Mormon culture is really self-correcting and strict so any 'shadow' approval would be essentially meaningless in the mainstream view.  Really nothing to do with secret Mormon Church conspiracies.  Those outside of said culture are more likely to be social moderates, and tow line to secular culture, which is hardly a hotspot of polygamy.

Rocky Ridge, Utah; Colorado City, Ariz.; Hildale, Utah; Pinesdale, Mont.; Bountiful, B.C.

That's pretty much it.

Pringle, SD

How big of a population is there?  Certainly doesn't vote like an FLDS stronghold.

Pop. 125. How does it vote?

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Oh yeah how did Alcon forget Eldorado, Texas? That place was just raided a few months ago.

[Alcon]

They still approve of it in the shadows.

Mainstream Mormon culture is really self-correcting and strict so any 'shadow' approval would be essentially meaningless in the mainstream view.  Really nothing to do with secret Mormon Church conspiracies.  Those outside of said culture are more likely to be social moderates, and tow line to secular culture, which is hardly a hotspot of polygamy.

Rocky Ridge, Utah; Colorado City, Ariz.; Hildale, Utah; Pinesdale, Mont.; Bountiful, B.C.

That's pretty much it.

Pringle, SD

How big of a population is there?  Certainly doesn't vote like an FLDS stronghold.

Pop. 125. How does it vote?

187-117 McCain, Baldwin & Nader 3, Barr 1.  Obviously lots of rural in there, but it's less Republican than Custer Co. average.  And the almost total absence of a protest vote is a bit weird for FLDS as we've seen it this year.

Besides what kind of FLDS enclave has a median age above national average and English as the third-ranked ancestry?  Clearly they don't live in the CDP, weren't counted or weren't at all numerous.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Unless you're looking at the wrong place. It's just near Pringle.

Same thing with Eldorado which you blatantly forgot, despite being raided a few months ago for raping teenagers.

[Alcon]

Unless you're looking at the wrong place. It's just near Pringle.

Well, if it's near Pringle it would probably be in the Pringle precinct since it has such a big population relative to the CDP.  Either way I'm not seeing an unusual number of Baldwin or even Nader voters anywhere.

Alternatively to my having the wrong place, there could be very few people (as Google indicates -- it says the FLDS owns a compound, and it has a watchtower, but not much else is known) and no established system of governance or anything.  Either way, looks a lot more spartan and unestablished than other FLDS communities.

Same thing with Eldorado which you blatantly forgot, despite being raided a few months ago for raping teenagers.

I did forget Eldorado.  I didn't realize my forgetting was blatant, God forbid.  What exactly makes one instance of forgetting "blatant" relative to another?

I'm also pretty sure that the town of Eldorado, Texas, cannot itself commit rape, if we're going to be a snarky ass about things.

(Can you totally tell it's finals time? )

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Eldorado is blatant because the FLDS compound there was in the news the few months ago for exactly what I mentioned.

[Alcon]

Eldorado is blatant because the FLDS compound there was in the news the few months ago for exactly what I mentioned.

I got you, I just thought "blatantly forgot" was an amusing (not incorrect, but amusing) use of English

[memphis]

Nobody really wants to talk about elements of their past that are no longer acceptable.  It seems pretty normal, though not completely healthy, to close one's minds to such things. As recently as the 1970s, Mormons were still holding on to some crackpot theory about blacks being cursed or some such nonsense.

[Matt Damon™]

Given how utah's statehood was conditional on them tossing polygamy, that's fine with me. 2 less senators and 5 less reps for the GOP. NY would get it's 2 reps back, Pennsylvania 2 reps back and Connecticut a represenative back.

[RosettaStoned]

screw the LDS cult

[Scam of God]

screw the LDS cult