Mormons
Split Over Polygamy Practice
The Vancouver Sun
5 Jan 2011
Daphne Bramham
Can a tiger change his stripes? Can a leopard change his
spots?
Even though the Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints officially renounced polygamy in 1890, a religious
studies expert says that mainstream Mormons are nearly evenly split over
whether it should continue to be practised. W. John
Walsh said Wednesday in B.C. Supreme Court that the LDS church's official
position remains that polygamy is banned, but that it's possible that
somewhere
between 50 and 60 per cent of the church's members "would like a return of
polygamy, which they see as a holy practice."
The other half would not like to
see a return of polygamy and deem it to be "an archaic practise,"
said Walsh, who was testifying as an expert on behalf of the
Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in a constitutional
reference case that will determine the validity of Canada's law prohibiting
polygamy. (The FLDS split from the mainstream church over the practise of polygamy and the FLDS is the largest group
of so-called "fundamentalist Mormons" in
If Walsh is right, that suggests
that if
Prior to his testimony, Walsh's
academic credentials were questioned by lawyers for the attorneys general of
B.C. and
Under oath, Walsh said he didn't
recall having written either, noting that he wrote "hundreds and
hundreds" of articles 15 to 20 years ago after he first converted to
Mormonism. Some were posted on Internet bulletin boards and have since been
posted on other websites in full or in part. None of those, he said, reflect
his scholarly work.
In the first one, Jones
characterized the author as "a big cheerleader for polygamy". In it,
Walsh writes, “There is no doubt in my mind that your attitude toward plural
marriage will determine your place in eternity.” Those who choose 'plural' or
'celestial' marriage have a chance at the highest realm of heaven – the
celestial kingdom – while those who don't may find themselves alone for all
eternity.
Walsh went on to call polygamy “the natural order
of things” that men would have multiple wives (polygyny)
and women would not have multiple husbands (polyandry) because polyandry would
not result in the greatest number of children.
“When a man is limited to only one wife, some
women will have the choice of marrying a worldly, carnal man or remaining
unwed,” Walsh writes. “If men were eternally limited to only one wife each,
some women would never have the opportunity for exaltation.
“Plural marriage remedies these penalties by
enabling every woman the opportunity to have a righteous husband, enjoy the
blessings of motherhood and fill the measure of her creation.”
Under questioning, Walsh said
Wednesday that as a general principle, he believes polygamy should be legal
with "reasonable restrictions" as long as it is between consenting
adults. He also said that he believes it's unlikely that the U.S. Supreme
Court would today uphold that country's anti-polygamy law as it did
in the Reynolds case, which resulted in the mainstream Mormon church renouncing
polygamy in 1890.
[SNIP]
“There is no doubt in my mind that your attitude
toward plural marriage will determine your place in eternity.” Those who choose
'plural' or 'celestial' marriage have a chance at the highest realm of heaven –
the celestial kingdom – while those who don't may find themselves alone for all
eternity.
[SNIP]
“If men were eternally limited to only one wife
each, some women would never have the opportunity for exaltation."
(Excerpt) Read more at communities.canada.com ...