Mormons Are Not Polygamists. Period.
Posted: Tuesday, April 22, 2008
by Mario Garibaldi
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Despite the fact tha
t the media still thinks that Mormons are polygamists and inevitably keeps associating the fiasco in Texas with the COJCOLDS - Church of Jesus Christ Of Latter-Day Saints, it's important to note that the people in Texas is a small group of folks who practice polygamy and that they are not a branch off the official LDS Church.
The LDS Church has insisted that the media notices the difference for obvious reasons. They don't want the public thinking that the two organization are the same. Of course, it doesn't help that the name FLDS is so close to LDS!
So what do we know about the FLDS? Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. First, they're not the Mormons. They're not LDS. The very reason they exist is because the LDS Church expunged polygamy and those who wanted the practice to continue ended up forming their own Church, the FLDS Church.
I won't go into historical details here because it's quite comprehensive and if the topic of polygamy intrigues you, it shouldn't. It's pretty straight foward, actually. One husband and several wives who agree to be in the same house and bear children. The current problem is that, in their religious fervor and by ignoring child protection laws, some of these FLDS men got carried away in their beliefs and have allegedly impregnated underage girls who were married to them. The whole problem stems from the age factor and allegations of sexual abuse.
In the absence of abuse, and if all the girls were married at age 18, this whole fiasco about the FLDS church wouldn't be making national headlines and become the subject of forum and blog posts all over the Internet.
Why can't FLDS men simply wait until the girls turn 18 and then marry them? It seems like a simple issue! Either their religious beliefs ignore child protection laws of the land or the urge to merge simply takes over. From the outside looking in, things look pretty bizarre.
The most important message of this article is that when you hear about the FLDS sect, polygamist, church, compound, etc. just make sure you do not confuse them with the Mormons or members of the official LDS Church based in Salt Lake City, Utah. The LDS Church has been working really hard to underline the differences between them an any polygamist groups. Most Mormons are decent, hard-working people who love Jesus Christ as their Savior, read the Bible, The Book Of Mormon and try their best to do good in their communities. They also have a complex history and their share of antagonists.
No religion has produced perfect people, perfect adepts and most religions have controversial doctrinal or moral issues. But it's not fair to pass judgment on any religion based on the actions of a few and more especially when those few aren't officially or directly attached to the main Church.
In other words, the Catholic Church has had its challenges with sex scandals. That's not to say that the entire Church or its members deserve criticism. There is the good, the bad and the ugly in every organization.
Hopefully, this article will help people distinguish between the LDS Church and the FLDS church or sect as some prefer to call it. The following non-commercial, reference sites have comprehensive information on the subject of Mormonism.
Official LDS Site: http://www.lds.org
Blogs Of Interest: http://www.mormontest.com
Apologetics: http://www.jefflindsay.com
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Top-level comments on this article: (4 total)Hi Mario, Good job on this article. You make good points and I agree wholeheartedly. We are imperfect people therefore, no perfect church exists. Thanks for clarifing the deference, I had not looked at them as part of any big organization, I only looked at the group as standing on its own. Blessings to you, Teresa
Donald Thomson Hello Mario, You have made the distinction between the two churches, FLDS and LDS very clear. I agree that most Mormons are decent, hard-working people who love Jesus Christ as their Savior. He is their Blessed Savior and Dear Redeemer. LDS believe the Bible (KJV) to be the word of God as far it is translated correctly; they also believe the Book of Mormon to be the word of God, and that the LDS church is the true church of Jesus Christ. LDS have a living prophet on the earth today. Heavenly Father's blessings to you. Donald
I think the following info (from wiki) helps clarify the situation a bit further, as different some groups have a broader definition of what the term "Mormon" covers: 'The LDS Church holds that it is incorrect to apply "Mormon" to other groups or their members Nevertheless, the term is also often used to refer to fundamentalist groups who continue to practice plural marriage, a practice that the LDS Church officially abandoned in 1890. These groups, while numerically much smaller than the LDS Church, continue to use the term "Mormon" and claim to represent "true Mormonism" as taught and practiced by Joseph Smith and Brigham Young.'
Hi, Mario. I do not at all agree with Mormon beliefs and particularly those about their leader and his writings. However, I found a few new things in this article that give more clarification toward recent child-protection news regarding a sect of the church, more info than most major news reports usually give. Your straightforward writing style and clear explanation and link for Twitter phenom. (another article) show talent for informing people on topics they may have no clue about. Your writing style has an easy flow and your info gives enough basics in clear language to catch interest and start readers off on their own research, if they want to learn more. That's two-cents-worth from me.
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