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Disagreement over Smith's doctrine of "plural marriage" has been among the primary reasons for multiple church schisms. In the lateth century and earlyth century, the practice was formally abandoned as various laws banned polygamy in the United States, and the LDS Church was persecuted for violating those laws, resulting in confiscation of LDS Church properties.
The LDS Church no longer sanctions open polygamy.
However, many LDS men were sealed in LDS temples to more than one woman "for eternity", following the divorce or death of the first wife, the latter example being the case with two current LDS apostles, Russell M. Nelson and Dallin H. However, the LDS Church considers polygamy to have been a divinely inspired commandment that is supported by scripture; [3] today, the LDS Church teaches the historical aspects in an adult Sunday School lesson once every four years.
Church apostle Joseph F. Smith explained, "The doctrine is not repealed, the truth is not annulled, the law is right and just now as ever, but the observance of it is stopped". However, all of the First Presidency and almost all of the apostles of the time continued to maintain multiple families into the 20th century, feeling they could not dissolve existing unions and families.
As of , by proxy "A deceased woman may be sealed to all men to whom she was legally married during her life. However, if she was sealed to a husband during her life, all her husbands must be deceased before she can be sealed to a husband to whom she was not sealed during life. The Community of Christ formerly the RLDS Church has rejected the practice of polygamy since its inception and continues to affirm monogamy "as the basic principle of Christian marriage".
Although some past leaders of the RLDS Church—most notably Joseph Smith III and others who were descendants of Joseph Smith—have strenuously denied that Smith taught or practiced polygamy, the Community of Christ today states that it "does not legislate or mandate positions on issues of history".
Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints Strangite have historically taught and, in limited numbers, have practiced plural marriage. However, the Strangites reject the revelation on polygamy by Joseph Smith.
Over time, many who rejected the LDS Church's discontinuation of plural marriage formed small, close-knit communities in areas of the Rocky Mountains. These groups continue to practice what they refer to as "the principle", despite its illegality, and consider polygamy a requirement for entry into the highest heaven. Commonly called Mormon fundamentalists , they may practice as individuals, as families, or within organized denominations. Members of the FLDS Church generally believe at least three wives are necessary for entrance to the highest heaven.
The FLDS Church currently practices the law of placing , whereby a young woman of sufficient age is assigned a husband by revelation through the leader of the FLDS Church, who is regarded as a prophet. The AUB currently supports plural marriage , justified on the " Meeting". From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Mormonism and polygamy Portrait of Ira Eldredge with his three wives: Current state of polygamy. For a more expansive list of Mormon fundamentalist denominations, see List of Mormon Fundamentalist sects.
Sects in the Latter Day Saint movement. Church of Christ Organized by: Joseph Smith Joseph Smith's original organization; multiple sects currently claim to be true successor trust reorganized [note 1] incorporated The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Organized by: Marion Hammon and Alma Timpson approx. Confederate Nations of Israel Organized by: Shepard Book Company, [February 4, ], p. LDS Church, pp. Smith to the Honorable A.
Saxey, Provo, Utah, 9 January The LDS Church believed that their religiously based practice of plural marriage was protected by the United States Constitution , [] however, the unanimous Supreme Court decision Reynolds v. United States declared that polygamy was not protected by the Constitution, based on the longstanding legal principle that "laws are made for the government of actions, and while they cannot interfere with mere religious belief and opinions, they may with practices.
Increasingly harsh anti-polygamy legislation in the US led some Mormons to emigrate to Canada and Mexico. Anti-Mormon sentiment waned, as did opposition to statehood for Utah. By the LDS Church excommunicated those who entered into, or performed, new plural marriages. Even so, many plural husbands and wives continued to cohabit until their deaths in the s and s.
Enforcement of the Manifesto caused various splinter groups to leave the LDS Church in order to continue the practice of plural marriage. Polygamist churches of Mormon origin are often referred to as " Mormon fundamentalist " even though they are not a part of the LDS Church. Such fundamentalists often use a purported revelation to John Taylor as the basis for their authority to continue the practice of plural marriage. Buhman that the portions of Utah's anti-polygamy laws which prohibit multiple cohabitation were unconstitutional, but also allowed Utah to maintain its ban on multiple marriage licenses.
The Council of Friends also known as the Woolley Group and the Priesthood Council [] [] was one of the original expressions of Mormon fundamentalism , having its origins in the teachings of Lorin C. Woolley , a dairy farmer excommunicated from the LDS Church in For most of his career, Smith denied that his father had been involved in the practice and insisted that it had originated with Brigham Young.
Smith served many missions to the western United States where he met with and interviewed associates and women claiming to be widows of his father, who attempted to present him with evidence to the contrary. Smith typically responded to such accusations by saying that he was "not positive nor sure that [his father] was innocent", [] and that if, indeed, the elder Smith had been involved, it was still a false practice.
However, many members of the Community of Christ , and some of the groups that were formerly associated with it are not convinced that Joseph Smith practiced plural marriage, and feel that the evidence that he did is flawed. In Islamic marital jurisprudence , under reasonable and warranted conditions, a Muslim man may have more than one wife at the same time, up to a total of four. Muslim women are not permitted to have more than one husband at the same time under any circumstances.
Based on verse And among His Signs is this, that He created for you mates from among yourselves, that ye may dwell in tranquillity with them, and He has put love and mercy between your hearts: The polygyny that is allowed in the Koran is for special situations. There are strict requirements to marrying more than one woman, as the man must treat them equally financially and in terms of support given to each wife, according to Islamic law.
However, Islam advises monogamy for a man if he fears he can't deal justly with his wives. This is based on verse 4: If ye fear that ye shall not be able to deal justly with the orphans, Marry women of your choice, Two or three or four; but if ye fear that ye shall not be able to deal justly with them , then only one, or one that your right hands possess, that will be more suitable, to prevent you from doing injustice. Muslim women are not allowed to marry more than one husband at once. However, in the case of a divorce or their husbands' death they can remarry after the completion of Iddah , as divorce is legal in Islamic law.
A non-Muslim woman who flees from her non-Muslim husband and accepts Islam has the option to remarry without divorce from her previous husband, as her marriage with non-Muslim husband is Islamically dissolved on her fleeing. The verse also emphasizes on transparency, mutual agreement and financial compensation as prerequisites for matrimonial relationship as opposed to prostitution; it says:. Also prohibited are women already married, except those whom your right hands possess: Thus hath Allah ordained Prohibitions against you: Except for these, all others are lawful, provided ye seek them in marriage with gifts from your property,- desiring chastity, not lust, seeing that ye derive benefit from them, give them their dowers at least as prescribed; but if, after a dower is prescribed, agree Mutually to vary it , there is no blame on you, and Allah is All-knowing, All-wise.
Muhammad was monogamously married to Khadija , his first wife, for 25 years, until she died. After her death, he married multiple women, mostly widows, [] for social and political reasons. The Qur'an does not give preference in marrying more than one wife.
One reason cited for polygyny is that it allows a man to give financial protection to multiple women, who might otherwise not have any support e. In such a case, the husband cannot marry another woman as long as he is married to his wife. Usually the wives have little to no contact with each other and lead separate, individual lives in their own houses, and sometimes in different cities, though they all share the same husband.
In most Muslim-majority countries, polygyny is legal with Kuwait being the only one where no restrictions are imposed on it. Countries that allow polygyny typically also require a man to obtain permission from his previous wives before marrying another, and require the man to prove that he can financially support multiple wives.
In Malaysia and Morocco , a man must justify taking an additional wife at a court hearing before he is allowed to do so. In , the United Nations Human Rights Committee reported that polygamy violates the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights ICCPR , citing concerns that the lack of "equality of treatment with regard to the right to marry" meant that polygamy, restricted to polygyny in practice, violates the dignity of women and should be outlawed.
Bigamy is illegal in the United Kingdom.
In the UK, adultery is not a criminal offense it is only a ground for divorce []. In a written answer to the House of Commons, "In Great Britain, polygamy is only recognized as valid in law in circumstances where the marriage ceremony has been performed in a country whose laws permit polygamy and the parties to the marriage were domiciled there at the time.
In addition, immigration rules have generally prevented the formation of polygamous households in this country since The Government in the UK decided that Universal Credit UC , which replaces means-tested benefits and tax credits for working-age people and will not be completely introduced until , will not recognize polygamous marriages. A House of Commons Briefing Paper states "Treating second and subsequent partners in polygamous relationships as separate claimants could in some situations mean that polygamous households receive more under Universal Credit than they do under the current rules for means-tested benefits and tax credits.
This is because, as explained above, the amounts which may be paid in respect of additional spouses are lower than those which generally apply to single claimants. In October there was media attention in the UK concerning website over a dating website offering Muslim men an opportunity to seek second or third wives.
Website founder Azad Chaiwala created the website when he was seeking a second wife for himself. Polygamy is illegal in the United States. Federal legislation to outlaw the practice was endorsed as constitutional in , despite the religious objections of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Mormons , by the Supreme Court, in Reynolds v. On 13 December , a federal judge , spurred by the American Civil Liberties Union and other groups, [] struck down the parts of Utah's bigamy law that criminalized cohabitation, while also acknowledging that the state may still enforce bans on having multiple marriage licenses.
Authors such as Alyssa Rower and Samantha Slark argue that there is a case for legalizing polygamy on the basis of regulation and monitoring of the practice, legally protecting the polygamous partners and allowing them to join mainstream society instead of forcing them to hide from it when any public situation arises.