Saturday, September 29, 2012

Who Owns The Term Mormon?


          Polygamy is a touchy subject for many Mormons. Mention the word polygamy to a faithful Mormon and you will observe an almost universal knee-jerk reaction – an explanation that Mormons do not practice polygamy and that polygamist groups covered in mainstream media are not Mormon. To counter the image of polygamy, Mormon authorities made an unsuccessful attempt to trademark the term “Mormon”, as an attempt to prevent fundamentalist Mormon groups from using the term. Members are also instructed to refer to themselves as members of the Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter-Day Saints, LDS for short, as a way of combating the stigma of polygamy associated with the term Mormon, although in an ironic twist, the latest attempt to improve the image of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints has been an expensive ad campaign titled “I’m A Mormon”.
          What I find interesting about this reaction is the fact that polygamy was an integral part of early Mormonism. Joseph Smith – the founder of the Mormon Church and considered to be a modern-day Prophet, Seer, and Revelator – married an estimated 33 women. His successor, Brigham Young, had an estimated 55 wives. The third leader of the Mormon Church, John Taylor, had seven wives. In 1882, when the U.S. government began cracking down on polygamy in Utah, there was a lot of confusion within the church. John Taylor – leader of the church at the time - wrote a document in 1886 that fundamentalists argue affirms the permanency of plural marriage. In 1890 the Mormon president Wilford Woodruff issued a Manifesto disavowing the practice of polygamy. Polygamy was still practiced in secret, with some Mormons choosing to move to either Canada or Mexico to continue the practice of plural marriage. Eventually, after much controversy, the President Joseph Fielding Smith issued the Second Manifesto in 1904, which once again disavowed the practice.
          Fundamentalist Mormons still believe in and practice polygamy. The difference between fundamentalist Mormons and mainstream Mormons is that fundamentalists do not believe the 1890 Manifesto was a divine revelation. Instead, they point to the 1886 revelation by John Taylor that re-iterates the permanence of God’s commandments, one of which they argue is the practice of polygamy. In a nutshell, the only difference between mainstream Mormon and fundamentalist Mormons is the fact that fundamentalist Mormons believe in a literal interpretation of the past Mormon leaders, rather than following the leaders that came after John Taylor. When Martin Luther split off from the Roman Catholic Church, he did not lose the right to call himself a follower of the Bible and Jesus Christ; neither should fundamentalist Mormons lose the right to call themselves followers of Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon.
          Furthermore, LDS members do believe polygamy exists in Heaven – they just don’t believe in practicing polygamy on Earth, where the laws of the land prohibit the practice. Growing up, I was taught that if a man was widowed, he could be sealed in an eternal marriage to another wife. When he went to Heaven, he would be reunited with all of his wives. Mormons believe that only married people can gain access to the highest level of Heaven. We were assured that if we didn’t receive the opportunity to be married in this life, then we would have the opportunity to get married in the next life. There was, however, no assurance that the celestial marriage would be monogamous.
          This begs the question – what defines the term Mormon? Are the members of the mainstream Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints the only people who can lay claim to the term Mormon? Or does this term extend to all the sects that follow the teachings of the early leaders and the Book of Mormon?
          Even those who still practice polygamy?

9 comments:

  1. I didn't know that The LDS Church was trying to trademark "Mormon." I suppose it comes as no surprise. They have been trying to control and define what a qualifies as a real Mormon for many years by shunning the broader community and limiting the definition to the tithe paying mainstream church attenders.

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    1. I was surprised to find this out as well, although it wasn't a huge surprise given how strident we all were about polygamists groups not being Mormon.

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    2. Xo, pmg.
      good point. Don't "we" all believe in JS and the BOM? I just finished "under the banner of heaven" and it rocked my quickly growing world. Write a review! ! :)

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    3. Xo, pmg.
      good point. Don't "we" all believe in JS and the BOM? I just finished "under the banner of heaven" and it rocked my quickly growing world. Write a review! ! :)

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    4. I'll work on it. In the meantime, I just finished Mormon Diaries, which I think you would really like!

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    5. And on a side note, it was really nice to hear from you again, Dolly Anna!

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  2. This seems to be a issue in many large religious communities -- who is the gatekeeper? Who defines which people belong to a religion and which don't? Who, exactly, speaks for a religion?

    As for the polygamy issue, the LDS really needs to be honest and make peace with its past -- ALL aspects of its past.

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    1. Yes, they do. Although there just doesn't seem to be that mentality among the authorities, mostly they are just trying to sweep these issues under the rug.

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  3. An excerpt from a post that that will go up in a couple of days:

    I know I am not always in line with the LDS establishment, but I really don't care that much whether Mormons are called Christians, or if lots of groups use Mormon as part of how they identify themselves. I think post-Mormon, ex-Mormon, anti-Mormon, cultural Mormon, polygamist Mormon, etc., are all correct, as long as the definitions of things are fairly well laid out. The name of the church; The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, should be under the control of the LDS church. I see Mormon as a descriptor, so I am pretty okay with people using it if they think it applies to them.

    I am going to address the idea of who gets to choose what things describe them in another one of my Mormon Moment Series posts, as it relates to the term Christian, and will go into more detail about that then. What I am most interested in is the discussions I think that people should have about what their definition of Mormon means. Then again, I am kind of crazy with my commitment to talking with people who are not me. (Did you know that most people in the world aren't me?) ;-)

    To be extra out there, I think that all Mormons believe that polygamy is not in and of itself a sin, at least in the eternities. Polygamy was allowed in the Old Testament, and anyone who claims a belief in the Bible, has to accept that there are some times when God has embraced and/or allowed polygamy to be practiced among His chosen people. That is true for any Christian who claims the Bible to be the word of God, and contains the instructions of God to His people during that time.

    When talking about Mormons and polygamy, I think that the distinction that is important, is whether someone currently practices polygamy, and why. If they do practice polygamy, the important question, to me, is what they feel gives them the authority to practice it. The current laws of the United States do not allow for polygamous marriages, although there are countries that do accept polygamous marriages, and so in those countries there is no law being broken for adults who choose polygamous marriages. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has the right to have a policy against having more than one wife at a time, and to excommunicate people who do not follow that proscription, no matter what country they live in. People who practice polygamy now can call themselves Mormon, if they identify themselves as Mormons who are not members of the LDS church. Really, the church only has a dog in the fight if they are making Mormon only mean "member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints."

    Heck, if someone who has never read the Book of Mormon, or studied the LDS gospel, but who DOES love Book of Mormon the Musical, wants to call themselves Mormon, I don't think there is much for LDS church members or leaders to worry about. Not surprisingly, not everyone agrees with me, but having multiple views allowed to exist in the minds of a variety of members, is very much a Mormon trait.

    I think that the unfortunate decision to have the church's current PR campaign use "I'm a Mormon," instead of "I'm a Member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints." In choosing a snappy PR phrase, "I'm a Mormon," it actually leaves out the precision that using the full name of the church would have given.

    So, if you aren't a current member of the LDS church, but want to use "Mormon" as a descriptor of some kind, how would you define Mormon in your life? (I may use your comments in my post, if it gives more insight to the topic.) :-)

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I love hearing comments and I welcome all viewpoints; however, I request that if you do choose to comment, please do so in a manner that is constructive and respectful of others.