The Voice Of One Crying Out In Suburbia

More on Mitt

Mitt Romney is quoted in an article on Yahoo! News titled Romney says being Mormon won't hurt him. The article is pretty uninteresting until more than half way through...

Mitt on polygamy:

"Look, the polygamy, which was outlawed in our church in the 1800s, that's troubling to me," he said. "I have a great-great grandfather. They were trying to build a generation out there in the desert. And so he took additional wives as he was told to do. And I must admit, I can't imagine anything more awful than polygamy."

This is either intentionally deceptive or lacking any sort of understanding of the history of his own church. I have a hard time believing that Romney, coming from the family he does and being a former bishop and stake president, is unfamiliar with the doctrines and history of the mormon church. True that polygamy was no longer practiced, openly, at the end of the 1800's but it was certainly practiced in secret and in foreign lands after it was "outlawed" in Utah.

The repopulating argument is a common one when mormons get pressed on polygamy, making it out to be this terrible burden that mormon men were forced to endure for the good of the church. But the truth is somewhere else I think. Joseph Smith selected young girls because they struck his fancy. The reality is that having extra wives was a privilege for Smith's cronies, who were rewarded for their loyalty with extra wives. It certainly wasn't awful for the men involved, although it likely was for the women. Doctrine & Covenants 132 declares the doctrine of polygamy, which Smith had been practicing for some time prior to publicly announcing it, and it has never been revoked. Polygamy is still a valid doctrine in mormonism, one that is not currently practiced openly. I still cringe when I read the portion of revelation directed at Joseph Smith's wife Emma, who was being chastised in this "revelation" for objecting to her husband's adulterous behavior...

54 And I command mine handmaid, Emma Smith, to abide and cleave unto my servant Joseph, and to none else. But if she will not abide this commandment she shall be destroyed, saith the Lord; for I am the Lord thy God, and will destroy her if she abide not in my law.

55 But if she will not abide this commandment, then shall my servant Joseph do all things for her, even as he hath said; and I will bless him and multiply him and give unto him an hundredfold in this world, of fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters, houses and lands, wives and children, and crowns of eternal lives in the eternal worlds.

56 And again, verily I say, let mine handmaid forgive my servant Joseph his trespasses; and then shall she be forgiven her trespasses, wherein she has trespassed against me; and I, the Lord thy God, will bless her, and multiply her, and make her heart to rejoice.

Polygamy is often laughed about in mormon circles today. But in those days it was nothing to sneer at, and Joseph Smith is a man who was willing to cheat on his wife and then threaten her with his fake revelations to shut her up when she complained. I hardly think Mitt Romney is ignorant of his own past.