My current passion is LDS Polygamy. Earlier in life I just accepted the "company" line that it was part of the Gospel and you just need to take our word for it, thank you very much. A difficult thing to do having some knowledge of its bizarre and often dodgy history. I recall hearing it mentioned occasionally in the decades of the late 60's and 70's. "It's not required of us today but will be restored again sometime in the future I was told". Nothing to see here, just believe it and move on. "Why does it matter anyway? I'm not expected to live it currently". Today it seems that we just try to ignore it as much as possible. If not for the Internet that strategy probably would've worked. Well it didn't work and there's a lot of information out there, both from the anti's and the apologetics. The LDS Church even came out with an essay on polygamy in Nauvoo. Here's a link: Essay on Polygamy
That essay really got me thinking.
Was it a true principle revealed by the Lord through the Prophet Joseph Smith? Or was it just a bunch of perverted men enjoying multiple sex partners all the while proclaiming God was not only supportive of it but actually expected them to partake of it? After reading the essay the perverted men choice actually made the most sense. That was very disturbing to me. The ramifications if true were to much for me to contemplate. So instead I decided to take a somewhat scientific approach to it and try to come to some conclusion/truth that I could live with. I realize that the ultimate truth comes from God and it's his opinion that counts the most. I think the effort in studying the history of polygamy will not be wasted and the answer I hope to receive from the Lord will be more meaningful with some effort into "studying it out in my mind" instead of just asking whether it's true or not with no clear understanding of polygamy and it's history.
So it comes down to the following scenarios:
- Polygamy was a true principle reveled to the Prophet Joseph Smith and was practiced by him and others until discontinued with the manifesto.
- Polygamy was a true principle but went off the rails after the Prophet Joseph Smith's death
- Polygamy was not a revelation to the Prophet Joseph Smith and was purely a ploy to have multiple sex partners
I aim to look at each of these possibilities and at the end hopefully find the truth.
