When I was a TBM, I learned that polygamy was instituted due to a shortage of men. Deaths due to persecution, etc. Well, today once again there is a shortage of men in the church.

The anti-polygamy laws on the books are not enforced. The church is becoming just another mainstream Christian sect. It doesn't have much to justify its high demands. A return to polygamy would once again set the church apart.

The church may not be for me, but it is a successful culture. Not because it is true or good, but because of its reproductive fitness. I'll give the devil his due and say Joseph knew the cultural value of that.

But since in reality the church is run by women (President Wendy, etc.) Polygamy will never happen because it would mess up the power structure.

I'm not sure that the church would ever accept polygamy even in countries where it is legal.

I remember looking into it long ago, and discovering that the idea that there was a "shortage of men" on the frontier is a myth. The numbers of men and women on the American frontier were always roughly equal. I suppose that Mormon church members can continue to spin that yarn for as long as they like, but there's no truth to it.

It's also a myth that women routinely married at a young age back then. The average age of first marriage for women back in the mid-1800s was nearly 23. Even on the frontier, it was just a couple of years younger than that (IIRC, it was 20-21.) Taking young teenagers as wives or "wives" was no more common back then than it is now. It would have been looked down upon by most of the population.

It would destroy what is left of the church in the rich educated world.

In fact, and for the reasons you indicate, polygamy crippled the church in the early 1840s in England. Proselytizing had been going gangbusters and then Orson Pratt announced that the Saints were practicing "the principle." Suddenly the ships conveying hoards of converts across the sea were becalmed. The ancient mariner had seen the albatross.

Today's Prophets, Seers, and Bureaucrats know full well that the same thing would happen now only on a larger scale. So it won't.

Every US census from 1850 to 1950 showed that there were more mon than women in tha territory/state of Utah.

Polygamy was definitely looked down on by most of the rest of the population. That is why the 1856 Republican platform condemned the "twin pillars of barbarism" - slavery and polygamy. It is why Congress passed the Morril, Edmunds, and Edmunds-Tucker anti-polygamy acts. That is why the church was disincorporated and had many of it's assets seized by the Feds. Which was why the church was in severe financial diffculty at the end of the 19th century.It is also why Utah didn't become a state until 1896.

LW is right. The brethren know that most current Mormons are not in favor of restoring polygamy, and outside of a few countries, it would kill missionary work.

Most important to church bureaucrats, polygamy would severely impact the financial bottom line.
Prophets, seers and bureaucrats:"Forget about it!"

QUOTE should the (MORmON)church bring back polygamy? UNQUOTE
In reality, LD$ inc has never really gotten rid of polygamy as polygamist pervert Joseph Smith is still its foundational head (and indispensible divine authority source) and LDS inc steadfastly leaves the polygamist marriages of early MORmON leaders and Smith cohorts in force and in good standing with ongoing official approval as far as LDS inc is concerned. the notion that LDS inc has rid itself of polygamy is Gordon BS Hinckley style PR which means MORmON propaganda ,intentional misdirection and blatant LIES. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ByBrwDacS-o

until LDS inc formally nullifies each and every plural marriage on its records, it is still practicing MORmON polygamy /wife collecting

Everyone I know and have talked to associates polygamy that is preached by a church/religious organization with that church being a cult/cultish. If they did start bringing it back, it would be easier to convince outsiders that it counts as a cult.

Absolutely.

It should have happened when GBH officially took over~1995. Both my convert parents would have left to look for a less intrusive church. My dad always thought it was bunk and he was very jealous of ward members eying my mom. She was always attractive.

True story. My Dad's sister had the most wonderful marriage. the love between them was palpable. You could slice it and sell it. But her husband died early in his late fifties and she lived to be nineties.

She used to cry a lot because she figured when she got to heaven that he would have a lot of wives when he greeted her. Lot's of bad dreams about it.

This men get all the wives they want in the CK is disgusting.

MY Mother on the other hand, whose true love has been dead a long time now, isn't bothered by it all because she "trusts in the Lord".

Right, “trust the Lard”, who has shown remarkably bad judgment any number of times in scripture.

Stuck with my ex-wife for eternity, now that's hell

Back in my brainwashed TBM days, I used to tell my husband that polygamy would be okay as long as the prospective "brides" were uglier than me.

The church will never consider bringing back polygamy, because it already has more black eyes than it needs right now. It would also create a financial nightmare for TSCC, plus, last but not least: it is illegal.

Right now in Utah, it is "illegal" to ask the State to sanction a man's second marriage if his first wife is still alive and no court has ended the state-recognized marriage.  

But that said, Utah will take no action against a man who declares he's added more wives to his collection by whatever method selected, such as a temple sealing (which the church currently won't do, but could!).

Based on mormon teachings and doctrine, plural marriage in Utah is totally doable.  Every day I check my email for requests for my hand in marriage from sufficiently motivated Senior Relief Society quorums...

"Sufficiently motivated" is a phrase that admits many possible interpretations.

the only upside w/could or might be is appeasing the fundys by claiming they can / are now allowed to live the 'higher law' which they've preferred & fought the gubberment about previously...

No.

They should go the other way and publicly renounce everything associated with it.

slskipper Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> No.
>
> They should go the other way and publicly renounce
> everything associated with it.
(EXACTLY!!!)which LDS inc has intentionally failed to do and actually refuses to do which actually leaves

MORmON polygamy in full force and in existence. SCREW the lying book of MORmON "church"/ scam https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ByBrwDacS-o

Of course, why shouldn't a woman have multiple husbands if she wants to?

Five husbands would be the ideal . . .

Think of how STRONG that family would be!

Think of one husband taking her shopping while the other four played golf!

share his wife willingly.

    

Your scammery will not fly here, Sir!

Polygamy will make a resurgence once all strip malls fail. That way, all female wives and partners will need to share their clothes........right?

Thrift stores.....the investment gold-mine of the future.

bradley wrote “ but it is a successful culture.”
I have resigned about 10 years ago. The following is just my own opinion I have never lived in Utah and I have not served a mission and I did not attend BYU. That being said. The “culture” did not work for me all those church callings were wearing me out. I have read that many missionaries are coming home early with depression. Utah has a high suicide rate and a many people who are taking anti depressants. Utah also has many plastic surgeries. I am sure the culture works for some people maybe even many? But I find that perfectionism culture dangerous. Never ending check lists temple attendance, paying tithing, paying fast offerings, cleaning the church building, and so forth.
The last thing I want is sharing my husband. Lol sorry for my rant. I never felt good enough in church trying to keep my small children quiet during sacrament meeting was near impossible.
After watching “sister wives” on tv no the church should not bring polygamy back. Kody lost 3 of his 4 wives polygamy did not work for Kody. Lol I know not every man is like Kody but the wives have to battle jealousy and that can not be fun.

Only reason it’s not in proctor is because the law of the land won’t allow it. Church would have never dropped it if it was t forced to drop it. As a man you need three wife’s to get into the top top place in heaven.

It's not the law that matters. It's the state of American and European public opinion.

The church practiced polygamy for many decades when it was illegal. It stopped in the 1920s or 1930s or 1940s, when the reputational cost grew too high, and that exigency remains vital today.

Polyamorous relationships are widespread in contemporary America. They are tolerated by the authorities as long as they do not negatively affect children and do not seek formal legal status. Whether some religious group wants to celebrate the secondary and tertiary relationships with silly snacks and party hats is irrelevant.

So the church could practice "the principle" today if it wanted. All it would take is a willingness to lose 40% of the present membership and any chance of gaining converts in the US, Europe, and much of East Asia.

What's Her Face Wrote:
------------------------------
>
> So the church could practice
> "the principle" today if it
> wanted. All it would take is
> a willingness to lose 40% of
> the present membership and any
> chance of gaining converts in
> the US, Europe, and much of
> East Asia.


Whoa! So that leaves Africa, Mexico, Central America, and South America!!  I don't know enough about Canada... (what's the word, Nightingale?  ...or in the alternative, you can just say the word!)

Also, dear shaker of salt, you being a hotshot internationalist and bon vivant, I would have figured that you'd know that we've ALWAYS been at war with East Asia!

I just addressed your problem in another thread.

"Hell, Judic . . ."

Did you add "...full of grace..."?

"Continue your researches, Grasshopper, and all will be revealed."

--Your Cousin in Christ and in New Jersey

The church is constantly evolving. Most of the church leaders who believed polygamy was a restoration of a high spiritual practice have passed away. I doubt most the modern church leaders today would want to bring polygamy back. I think many modern members wish polygamy never existed in the church.