The recent US Supreme Court ruling legalizing same-sex marriages nationwide has sparked a great deal of conversation and debate. Mormons who comment on the news are understandably concerned as this new ruling is at odds with what church leaders have been teaching about marriage. Since Mormons get their information for what is God’s will from the church leaders, certain talking points inevitably come up. “Marriage between one man and one woman is sanctioned by God” or some variant of that statement are among the most frequently encountered. An example meme illustrates this well:
Gay marriage isn’t the first time that the church has had something to say on the topic of the definition of marriage and what forms enjoy God’s sanction. Since polygamy was a significant feature of early LDS Church history and doctrine, the leaders spent some effort making it’s case in contrast to the prevailing traditional monogamous marriage of the 19th century.
Unchangable truths
In the modern era the LDS Church is working to preserve it’s own views of traditional marriage. In doing so they are making a very strong case for preserving traditional monogamous marriage between one woman and one man. If such a traditional marriage is worth preserving today, then it should not be controversial to say that it also should have been worth preserving in the 19th century.
Prophets of the church, who claim the authority and privilege to speak for God on earth should reflect a consistent doctrine and teaching on something so fundamental to the faith as the definition and justification for a divinely ordained system of marriage. This notion of the constancy of God’s truth was recently reinforced in the 2013 General Conference when Apostle Dallin H Oaks said:
Dallin H Oaks, Apostle
“And, unlike other organizations that can change their policies and even their doctrines, our policies are determined by the truths God has identified as unchangeable.”
(“No Other Gods” Apostle Dallin H Oaks, October 2013 General Conference lds.org)
Let’s examine some statements from early Mormon church leaders to see if the messaging has been consistent on the unchanging truth of the divinely sanctioned order of marriage.
Quotes
Early LDS prophets were true to their calling of sounding a warning cry about the evils which threaten society. When I was young, I remember hearing again and again that it was the debauchery and homosexual permissiveness of the Roman society which led to the fall of the Holy Roman Empire. Let’s see what the early Mormon Apostles and Prophets had to say about the matter:
Brigham Young, Prophet
“Just ask yourselves, historians, when was monogamy introduced on to the face of the earth? When those buccaneers, who settled on the peninsula where Rome now stands, could not steal women enough to have two or three apiece, they passed a law that a man should have but one woman. And this started monogamy and the downfall of the plurality system. In the days of Jesus, Rome, having dominion over Jerusalem, they carried out the doctrine more or less. This was the rise, start and foundation of the doctrine of monogamy; and never till then was there a law passed, that we have any knowledge of, that a man should have but one wife.”
( Brigham Young Journal of Discourses Vol. 12, page 262 archive.org )
Apparently it was monogamy – marriage between only one man and one woman which was actually the cause of the fall of that once great Empire. I could have sworn it was the gays. Oh well.
George Q Cannon, Apostle
“It is a fact worthy of note that the shortest lived nations of which we have record have been monogamic. Rome with her arts, sciences and warlike instincts, was once the mistress of the world; but her glory faded. She was a monogamic nation and the numerous evils attending that system early laid the foundation for that ruin which eventually overtook her.”
(Apostle George Q. Cannon, Journal of Discourses, Vol. 13, p. 202 archive.org)
America has been quite monogamous since it’s founding – but she is still a young nation and so it may be that the evils of monogamy are still working their nefarious ruin on her.
Brigham Young, Prophet
“Since the founding of the Roman empire monogamy has prevailed more extensively than in times previous to that. The founders of that ancient empire were robbers and women stealers, and made laws favoring monogamy in consequence of the scarcity of women among them, and hence this monogamic system which now prevails throughout Christendom, and which had been so fruitful a source of prostitution and whoredom throughout all the Christian monogamic cities of the Old and New World, until rottenness and decay are at the root of their institutions both national and religious.”
(Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, Vol. 11, p. 128 archive.org)
Okay, other than Monogamy – What have the Romans ever done for us?
Monogamy is the root of prostitution and whoredom? Does this mean that the church is now promoting prostitution and whoredom? I have been monogamously married for almost 20 years and have yet to be compelled into either – I am so confused!
Official Church Publication
“…the one-wife system not only degenerates the human family, both physically and intellectually, but it is entirely incompatible with philosophical notions of immortality; it is a lure to temptation, and has always proved a curse to a people.”
(Official LDS periodical , Millennial Star, Vol. 15, Samuel W. Richards, editor. p. 227 archive.org)
I am pretty sure that the inbreeding that happens in polygamy is what degenerates the human family physically and intellectually – but I am the product of monogamy and so it may be my degenerate intellect which has this wrong.
“Monogamy, or restrictions by law to one wife, is no part of the economy of heaven among men. Such a system was commenced by the founders of the Roman empire….Rome became the mistress of the world, and introduced this order of monogamy wherever her sway was acknowledged. Thus this monogamic order of marriage, so esteemed by modern Christians as a holy sacrament and divine institution, is nothing but a system established by a set of robbers…. Why do we believe in and practice polygamy? Because the Lord introduced it to his servants in a revelation given to Joseph Smith, and the Lord’s servants have always practiced it. ‘And is that religion popular in heaven?’ it is the only popular religion there,…”
(Brigham Young, Deseret News, August 6, 1862 (page 1, column 4) Utah Digital Newspaper Archive )
Oh boy. How dare those modern Christians consider marriage between one man and one woman holy or divine! Who should we blame for being saddled with such a degenerate system as monogamy? Robbers, I tells ya! That’s who!
Orson Pratt, Apostle
“This law of monogamy, or the monogamic system, laid the foundation for prostitution and the evils and diseases of the most revolting nature and character under which modern Christendom groans,…”
(Apostle Orson Pratt Journal of Discourses, Vol. 13, page 195 archive.org )
Okay – so we know that Monogamy causes prostitution and whoredom – but the revolting diseases as well?
Syphilis, Gonorrhea, Chlamydia and Herpes: brought to you by Monogamy!
George A Smith, Apostle
“We breathe the free air, we have the best looking men and handsomest women, and if they [Non-Mormons] envy us our position, well they may, for they are a poor, narrow-minded, pinch-backed race of men, who chain themselves down to the law of monogamy, and live all their days under the dominion of one wife. They ought to be ashamed of such conduct, and the still fouler channel which flows from their practices; and it is not to be wondered at that they should envy those who so much better understand the social relations.”
(Apostle George A Smith, Journal of Discourses, Vol. 3, page 291 archive.org)
So the men in polygamy are handsome and the poor saps in monogamy are narrow-minded and pinch-backed. What about the women? I guess they don’t really matter – they are having to deal with all the jelly coming from the monogamists.
Heber C Kimball, Apostle
“I have noticed that a man who has but one wife, and is inclined to that doctrine, soon begins to wither and dry up, while a man who goes into plurality [of wives] looks fresh, young, and sprightly. Why is this? Because God loves that man, and because he honors his word. Some of you may not believe this, but I not only believe it but I also know it. For a man of God to be confined to one woman is small business. I do not know what we would do if we had only one wife apiece.”
(Apostle Heber C. Kimball – Journal of Discourses Vol 5, page 22 archive.org )
So that’s why my skin gets dry and flaky. I thought it was seborrheic dermatitis – turns out it’s monogamy.
Also, note that Kimball emphatically testifies that God loves polygamous men over monogamous ones. As an Apostle and special witness of Christ, Kimball’s testimony about spiritual things was supposed to carry much more weight. So when he says “I also know it” we can be sure that it is true – otherwise, we would have no grounds to give credence to other things that he bears the same type of testimony about. Things like – Christ.
I bet the current church leaders are going to have egg on their face when they get to heaven and see that they have been excommunicating all the men whom God loves more.
Conclusion
It appears that you can take whatever you want to demonize and say that it was the cause of the fall of the Roman Empire. I thought it was the gays – but the Mormons prophets taught me better. It was marriage between one man and one woman. I am waiting for prostitution, whoredoms, sexually transmitted disease and ruin to befall my family and when it does I will cry out with great lamentation that it all comes from being shackled to but one wife.
I apologize for the facetious tone of this post, but it was treated with all the dignity that the above quotes deserve. If you are upset by the comments, consider what is more offensive – that men claiming authority to speak God’s truth made the above claims, or that I have made light of such outlandish and false statements.
Mormons Prophets claim to be the sole legitimate authority on God’s unchanging will. The statements of early Church leaders attempting to justify and defend polygamy completely destroys any credibility modern church leaders have in telling others what forms of marriage enjoy the sanction of God.
Great post, along with all of the research material (love the photo of Orson Pratt)!
I knew about the Heber C. Kimball “young and sprightly” quote, but not the others. Wow, I never realized so many of these past leaders were so against monogamy to the extent they were with such weird reasoning. Total loss of respect for these guys. And to think that so many years of official priesthood manuals were themed exclusively around their teachings!
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist (or social anthropologist) to know what kind of problems (harm and sadness, etc) are resultant from the total community practice (and insistence) of polygamy. We are not wolves, or chickens (which eliminate in various ways the so-called ‘lesser’ breeding males of the species)—we are homo sapiens! Even nature ‘breeds’ us with an almost perfect 50-50 ratio of male/female births.
Check his quotes against the actual talks and they are all out of context. For example, the first quote by Brigham Young. Young is making reference to all of the men who are not marrying and taking advantage of women, thus making the need for polygamy. In his reference to Rome, he says, “When those buccaneers, who settled on the peninsula where Rome now stands, could not steal women enough to have two or three apiece, they passed a law that a man should have but one woman. And this started monogamy and the downfall of the plurality system.”
The downfall of the plurality system. NOT Rome. Thus giving the paper no credibility.
Dude, he didn’t misquote BY. You just repeated his exact quote – in context. lol
Direct from Thinker’s blog article above:
“Just ask yourselves, historians, when was monogamy introduced on to the face of the earth? When those buccaneers, who settled on the peninsula where Rome now stands, could not steal women enough to have two or three apiece, they passed a law that a man should have but one woman. And this started monogamy and the downfall of the plurality system. In the days of Jesus, Rome, having dominion over Jerusalem, they carried out the doctrine more or less. This was the rise, start and foundation of the doctrine of monogamy; and never till then was there a law passed, that we have any knowledge of, that a man should have but one wife.”
( Brigham Young Journal of Discourses Vol. 12, page 262 archive.org )
Dude. Young’s quote has nothing to do with the fall of Rome.
This is where the big sigh gets inserted. Satire much? People are getting there panties in a wad and have been over ‘teh gays’ being able to get married. “It’ll lead to the downfall of civilization! Rome in the past was cited as an example of teh gays debauchery leading to the downfall thereof (in part). Past Mormon prophets and leaders actually called out Rome not for homosexuality, but for MONOGAMY. And, there is the interesting – and some might find humorous – blogpost therein and above. The quotes are not out of context. They have everything to do with calling out Rome for being in a horrible state of moral decay because of their practice of MONOGAMY. This is in direct contrast to others having called out Rome for its supposed moral decay due to other practices (such as homosexuality within its culture and society at certain times). I’m kind of embarrassed that I had to actually spell that out for you. Google much? Or even college much?
“It is a fact worthy of note that the shortest lived nations of which we have record have been monogamic. Rome with her arts, sciences and warlike instincts, was once the mistress of the world; but her glory faded. She was a monogamic nation and the numerous evils attending that system early laid the foundation for that ruin which eventually overtook her.”
(Apostle George Q. Cannon, Journal of Discourses, Vol. 13, p. 202 archive.org)
Absolutely amazing. I find it so difficult to take Mormon’s seriously as they take to social media projecting their righteousness. It’s a load of hypocrisy.
The Romans were fine for a thousand years. Then they became Christian and were gone in a couples centuries. Coincidence? I don’t think so.
Actually, it was the invasions by Attila the Hun, forcing Visigoths, Ostrogoths and others to flee in his wake past the borders and into the Roman Empire, that assisted in it’s “fall”. Actually Rome didn’t fall. It moved to Constantinople where it lived on for another thousand years until the Turks took over. Gibbon blamed Christianity for Rome’s “fall” but most modern historians are not of that opinion.
Thanks for this post! Had a good laugh. Just found out a year ago that our church is built upon the sand.
Oh man! Stuff like this makes me SO regret the two years I gave up, in the prime of my life, to go and sell this nonsense. Ahhh!
Now, I feel like I have to dedicate more time to undoing what I did.
Note to anyone thinking of joining the LDS Church: DON’T DO IT! IT’S A TRICK! RUN AWAY!
Did you gain anything positive from your mission experience, e.g. learning a new language or culture, meeting interesting people, developing presentation skills, cultivating discipline? It’s a shame you feel that you regret that time in your life. I hope you can find some positive experiences from it, in retrospect.
You can’t tell me that George A. Smith was not a transgender candidate. Check out that hair.
Polygamy would get really complicated in present day western society. Men and women are both equals now so how would we go about having polygamous marriages considering women would want multiple husbands (polyandry) while their husbands would have multiple wives (polygamy)? The process would also need to be heavily regulated to prevent inbreeding. And yet monogamy is so difficult to maintain (look at Ashley Madison having over 30 million paying members).
God doesn’t take men and turn them into all-knowing replicas of himself when he calls them into his service. Don’t reject the revelations of God through his living oracles just because they have incorrect opinions of their own that go beyond what is revealed. Every one of the quotes you give from early leaders is them expression
their own personal view, not the doctrine of the church, and given the manner the JoD was put together any scholar should be wary of blindly accepting it as an accurate record.
As for polygamy, I don’t see it as running contrary to the definition of marriage as one man and one woman. A man with 2 wives has 2 marriages, each one between one man and one woman. The women are not married to each other, the three of them do not constitute one marriage. That’s why we tend to call it Plural Marriage, because each marriage is between one man and one woman.
Likewise, the language used by the church in talking about marriage doesn’t conflict with the past practice of polygamy. The Proclamation on the Family talks of ‘marriage between a man and a woman’ and the church, the letter following the USSC ruling on gay marriage says marriage is ‘the union between a man and a woman’. There is no ‘only one woman’ in that. Polygamous marriages are not sinful at the times when God allows it, and only if the marriage is done by Priesthood authority, so there is no such thing as a valid polygamous marriage today and the church has policies designed around that, but I don’t think it is fair to say the church has been inconsistent. You can say that some early leaders went a bit overboard promoting it at the time when it was allowed, but they are personally accountable for that. Don’t lay it at the feet of the church or let the weakness of men cause you to reject truth.