A fundamentalist reader writes...
As you
probably know, the resurgence of the practice of polygamy in the Latter
Days in America, is attributed to Mormonism's Prophet, Seer and Revelator,
Jos. Smith. Though officially illegal in Utah, it is still practiced here
by many fundamentalist groups and offshoots or splinter groups from the
Latter-Day Saint church (Mormons) such as the FLDS ( COC ).
Polygamy is not illegal in some of the other states and current U.S.
Supreme Court Justice Scalia is of the opinion that Polygamy would need to
be upheld as constitutional if it were to be presented in front of the
Supreme Court. He bases this decision on the rights of the
Polygamist being equal to the rights of the Homosexual.
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Polygamy
Library: |
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God's Brothel
The Extortion of Sex for Salvation in
Contemporary Mormon and Christian
Fundamentalist Polygamy and the
Stories of 18 Women Who Escaped
by Andrea Moore Emmett
Get one for a friend! |
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Polygamy was practiced anciently and is
practiced currently by many cultures. While it may seem unnatural to you and me, it
is and has been a way of life for many, if not most cultures throughout history. We
find that Polygamy was practiced in the Old Testament by the likes of Abraham, Jacob,
David and Solomon. The New Testament does not explicitly condemn the practice of
polygamy, so some other Christian groups practice it today as well. Joseph Smith
received his interest from studying these Old Testament scriptures and claims to have
received a revelation from God that it is not only acceptable, but desired by God for
righteous men to have more than one wife throughout eternity. Of course, who among
us is righteous enough to be worthy of one wife, let alone several.
I offer the following
statistics as my evidence that those who currently engage in this relationship would
probably have been better off if they followed the more recent Latter-Day Saint doctrine
which abolishes the practice in the church on this earth. Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints who enter into polygamous relationships are excommunicated from the
church, but there are other "Mormon" splinter groups that are waiting to accept
them with open arms. :-)
I am not trying to write your WWW page for you and I
have no burning desire to do so. I was checking around for some various things on
the net and happened to come upon you page. When I read that you fealt that Joseph
Smith "practically" invented Polygamy, I just had to E-mail you and let you know
I thought it inaccurate.
I certainly didn't (and still don't) mean to be contentious. While I am a Latter-day
Saint, I do believe in the doctrine of Polygamy more than I do the Manifesto which
"abolished" it in the LDS church. I have sympathy for both sides.
There are many I know who could and maybe should practice it, but don't. There are
others who do practice it, but probably shouldn't. Who am I to judge. I only have
control of my life and am only accountable for the same. I may one day practice
polygamy, who knows. Maybe you will one day also. :-)
Excuse any errors as I did this off the top of my head.
Hoping to hear back from you,
Stan Shepp
York, PA
Center of the Universe
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Outside, Looking in
by Gil Gaudia
Paperback
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This is an atheist
novel, not merely a secular novel. Many novels, including whodunits, science
fiction and romance novel are secular, in that religion is not mentioned or
does not play any role. But that merely means, the author does not bring up
the topic of religion, as we mostly don't in everyday life. This book is
about the main character having no religion and god being an illogical
construct. This first-time novel, written by an Atheist, is about one man's
struggle to find a sense of place in a religious society. |
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