Assignment 11: Polygamy in the United States

Assignment 11:  Polygamy in the United States

While it is not surprising that we may see polygamous marriage as something that occurs only "somewhere else," there are cases of polygamous communities in the United States both historically and today. Many of the more notable recent cases have involved members of a fundamentalist group of Mormons (who should be distinguished from the main Mormon Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints). In September 2002, Rulon T. Jeffs, who had been the fundamentalist group's prophet for many years, died at the age of 92, leaving an estimated 75 widows and 65 children.In the early 20th century, a split in the Church is believed to have originated in large part because of the main Church's renunciation of polygamy and its decision to excommunicate practitioners of polygamous marriage. This stand by the Church was affirmed in 1998 by Church President Gordon B. Hinckley, who gave the following statement on the Church?s attitude toward modern-day polygamy:

"This church has nothing whatever to do with those practicing polygamy. They are not members of this church. If any of our members are found to be practicing plural marriage, they are excommunicated, the most serious penalty the church can impose. Not only are those so involved in direct violation of the civil law, they are in violation of the law of this church."

Background reading on the LDS Church can be found at: http://www.pbs.org/mormons/faqs/.Read about polygamy as associated with the LDS Church historically and through contemporary groups who continue to promote and practice plural marriage as a central tenet of their faith through the interviews at the PBS site: http://www.pbs.org/mormons/themes/religpolygamy.html.Read the opinion piece "Polygamy Laws Expose our own Hypocrisy" written by Jonathan Turley, a Professor of Public Interest Law at George Washington Law School, at http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/columnist/2004-10-03-turley_x.htm#. Answer the following questions after having carefully read the material above.

1. In her interview at the PBS site, Karen Flake states that for Mormons "to walk away from polygamy was to walk away from an entire kinship structure that not only gave meaning to their most intimate associations but also was related very directly to their understanding of how one was saved." Discuss what she means by this statement in light of what you have learned in this course about marriage, kinship, and religious life.
   
2. How does the particular polygamous practice described by fundamentalist Mormons appear similar to and/or different from those discussed in the text?
   
3. Why do you think that polygamy is against the law in the United States? Given that we have learned that it is practiced in many different cultural groups around the world, how is its illegal status an expression of culturally and historically particular circumstances of society in the United States?
   
4. What is your reaction to the article by Jonathan Turley? Do you agree or disagree with him that the illegality of polygamy in the United States exhibits a hypocritical position? Why or why not?

Copyright (c) Oxford University Press USA. All rights reserved.