Posted by:
steve benson
(
)
Date: February 25, 2014 06:34AM
"Mormons believe that God is a polygamist, that polygamy is and will continue to be practiced in heaven and the Millennium, and is being practiced right now in temples, as Mormon men are sealed to more than one woman. This is why Mr. [Gordon B.] Hinckley’s comment of 'condemning it' and expressly stating 'I think it is not doctrinal' were so surprisingly shocking.
"Would Mr. Hinckley knowingly condemn God and his lifestyle and the order of heaven??? Declare something to not be doctrinal that his very own apostles have participated in—the sealing to more than one woman???
"Dallin Oaks recently said in 2002 'When I was 66, my wife June died of cancer. Two years later--a year and a half ago--I married Kristen McMain, the eternal companion who now stands at my side (http://magazine.byu.edu/?act=view&a=1...).' . . .
"Joseph Fielding Smith said this in regards to his experience in being sealed to more than one woman in the temple, 'my wives will be mine in eternity.' (Doctrines of Salvation, vol. 2, p.67).”
"Harold B. Lee said this, in a poem, of his similar situation of his two wives that were sealed to him, My lovely Joan was sent to me; So Joan joins Fern That three might be, more fitted for eternity. 'O Heavenly Father, my thanks to thee' (Deseret News 1974 Church Almanac, p.17).
"Even former Utah Senator was counseled by former Mormon president Spencer Kimball to embrace the idea of polygamy. Taken from the Ensign article 'Uniting Blended Families', by Robert E. Wells, Ensign, Aug. 1997, p.24:
“'Former Utah senator Jake Garn was reluctant to remarry following the death of his first wife, Hazel, in 1976, but he soon realized that he could not be both a father and a mother to his children. When he began dating Kathleen Brewerton, who would become his second wife, questions soon arose about how his first wife would feel should he become sealed to a second wife. The couple took their questions to President Spencer W. Kimball.
"'He said he did not know exactly how these relationships will be worked out, but he did know that through faithfulness all will be well and we will have much joy. Brother Garn later recalled. Kathleen told him that she was afraid of offending Hazel. President Kimball's demeanor seemed to change. From being somewhat hesitant in his earlier answers, he now became sure and spoke with firmness. He looked right at Kathleen and with a tear forming in his eye, he said, 'I do know this: you have nothing to worry about. Not only will she accept you, she will put her arms around you and thank you for raising her children' (Jake Garn, Why I Believe [1992], 13).'"
("Mormons Are Still Polygamists," posted by "shaman channel," 19 July 2007)
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Here's another examination, along the same lines, but a bit more expansive:
--Mormon Men are Today Being Secretly Polygamously Married in LDS Temples--
POLYGAMOUS MARRIAGES AND SEALINGS STILL BEING PERFORMED IN PRESENT-DAY MORMON TEMPLES
Despite its efforts to mislead the public and the press, the “mainstream” Mormon Church continues to permit faithful Mormon men to be polygamously married in heaven-sanctioned, temple-performed, secret ceremonies to other women, in the event of the death of the man’s previous wife or in the case of divorce.
Mormon Apostle Charles W. Penrose explained this practice some 111 years ago--one which is still being officially followed by the Mormon Church today:
“In the case of a man marrying a wife in the everlasting covenant who dies while he continues in the flesh and marries another by the same divine law, each wife will come forth in her order and enter with him into his glory.”
(Penrose, "’Mormon’ Doctrine Plain and Simple, or Leaves from the Tree of Life,” p. 66).
Sandra Tanner lists examples of modern-day polygamous marriages that have been present-day sanctioned and performed in Mormonism’s temples:
“This doctrine [of polygamous marriage] was reaffirmed in October of 2007 at the funeral for the second wife of President Howard W. Hunter, the fourteenth President of the LDS Church. The Deseret News reported:
“’President Hinckley affirmed the eternal nature of the marriage between Sister [Inis] Hunter and the former church president, whose first wife, Claire Jeffs, died after a long battle with Alzheimer's disease and is now buried beside him in the Salt Lake Cemetery. Inis Hunter "will now be laid to rest on the other side," he said. "They were sealed under the authority of the Holy Melchizedek Priesthood for time and for all eternity," he said, recalling the marriage ceremony he performed for them in the Salt Lake Temple in April 1990.’ ('Sister Hunter's Humor and Cheerfulness remembered as She is Laid to Rest,' in "Deseret News," Oct. 22, 2007).
“Another example of plural sealings is Apostle Russell M. Nelson's marriage in 2006 to a BYU professor. The BYU NewsNet for April 7, 2006, announced the temple marriage of Apostle Nelson, age 81, to Wendy Watson. . . . His first wife died in February of 2005 and this was the first marriage for his new wife. This would mean, according to LDS beliefs, that Nelson has two wives sealed to him for eternity.
“Joseph Fielding Smith, tenth president of the LDS Church, remarried twice after the death of his first wife, and in his book, ‘Doctrines of Salvation,’ Vol. 2, p. 67, he remarked, ‘ . . . [M]y wives will be mine in eternity.’
“Harold B. Lee, the eleventh president of the Church, also remarried after his wife’s death and was sealed to another woman and was looking forward to a polygamous relationship in heaven. He, in fact, wrote a poem in which he reflected that his second wife, Joan, would join his first wife, Fern, as his eternal wives:
“’My lovely Joan was sent to me: So Joan joins Fern That three might be, more fitted for eternity. "O Heavenly Father, my thanks to thee.’ ('Deseret News,' 1974 Church Almanac, p. 17)"
According to cagily-talking Mormon apostle Quentin L. Cook, as recently quoted by the LDS Church-owned news station KSL:
"Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, often called Mormons, do not practice polygamy, and they have not practiced polygamy for over a century."
Yet, by his own admission and practice, fellow Mormon apostle and eternally blessed multi-wifer Dallin H. Oaks expressly contradicts his colleague Cook, claiming exactly the opposite in Oaks' own acknowledgment of what faithful Mormons currently are up to behind the secrecy-veiled walls of their present-day temples:
"When I was 66, my wife June died of cancer.
"Two years later--a year and a half ago--I married [in the LDS temple] Kristen McMain, the eternal companion who now stands at my side."
(Dallin Oaks, "Timing," speech delivered at Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah, 29 January 2002)
Determining the maze of multiple Mormon matrimony in the hereafter can be messy, to say the least.
According to the official LDS Church Handbook of Instruction (p. 72), the following living, loyal Latter-day Saints can be polygamously and eternally sealed, or married in Mormon temples:
“Living Women — A living woman may be sealed to only one husband. . . .
“Living Men--If a husband and wife have been sealed and the wife dies, the man may have another woman sealed to him if she is not already sealed.”
Despite the confusing doctrinal problem of attempting to determine, in essence, who’s on first, second or third base in Mormonism’s polygamous marriage ballgame, the LDS Church continues to advocate temple sealings to multiple spouses.
For example, Mormon General Authority Robert E. Wells, in a article entitled “United Blended Families,” gave the example of Mormon and former U.S. Senator Jake Garn, following the death of Garn’s first wife:
“Former Utah senator Jake Garn was reluctant to remarry following the death of his first wife, Hazel, in 1976, but he soon realized that he could not be both a father and a mother to his children. When he began dating Kathleen Brewerton, who would become his second wife, questions soon arose about how his first wife would feel should he become sealed to a second wife. The couple took their questions to President Spencer W. Kimball.
“He said he did not know exactly how these relationships will be worked out, but he did know that through faithfulness all will be well and we will have much joy. Brother Garn later recalled. Kathleen told him that she was afraid of offending Hazel. President Kimball's demeanor seemed to change. From being somewhat hesitant in his earlier answers, he now became sure and spoke with firmness. He looked right at Kathleen and with a tear forming in his eye, he said, ‘I do know this: you have nothing to worry about. Not only will she accept you, she will put her arms around you and thank you for raising her children.’
(Jake Garn, "Why I Believe" [1992], p. 13).
“Family members need not worry about the sealing situation of blended families as it might be in the next life. Our concern is to live the gospel now and to love others, especially those in our family. If we live the gospel to the best of our ability, the Lord in His love and mercy will bless us in the next life and all things will be right."
(Wells, "Uniting Blended Families," "Ensign," August 1997, p. 24)
Sandra Tanner points out the problems presented by polygamous temple sealings—a practice secretly engaged in by the present-day Mormon Church:
“Temple sealings are all-important to the LDS people and designate who will be joined to whom in the hereafter.
“These blended families raise a number of problems for the LDS concept of the eternal union of the family unit. In the case of children born to a mother in a second marriage, but where the mother was sealed to the first husband, would the children be considered part of the first temple marriage? Wouldn't this leave the second husband, the actual father, out of the picture?
“Assuming the second husband has gone through the temple, but not sealed to this wife, would the children stay with the second husband? Would they then be deprived of their mother, who is sealed to the first husband? The LDS Church has no answer.”
_____
CONCLUSION: HAS THE SO-CALLED "MAINSTREAM" MORMON CHURCH REALLY DISCARDED POLYGAMY?
Based on the historical record, both past and present, Sandra Tanner addresses that central issue succinctly:
“ . . . [T]he doctrine and practice of plural marriage has not been abandoned, but only delayed until the afterlife. It seems the LDS Church simply wants to keep it out of the public eye for better public relations and fear of being identified with polygamist splinter groups.”
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 02/25/2014 06:38AM by steve benson.