Food for thought!
FLDS-Their Roots
Joseph F. Smith, the Mormons 6th prophet, was under tremendous pressure to put an end to the Mormon church's polygamous activities which was declared illegal by the US government in 1874-the Poland Bill. Not only did Reed Smoot counsel him to stop polygamy, the church attorney Franklin S. Richards did likewise. Richards informed Smith that some sort of declaration be written to show that the church was now anti-polygamous.
As a result of the pressure from Smoot, Richards and others, Joseph F. Smith issued a Manifesto to the Mormon community. Not only did it uphold the first Manifesto from Woodruff, the 4th prophet, but there was a serious penalty for disobedience: "If any officer or member of the church shall assume to solemnize or enter into any such marriage he will be deemed in transgression against the church, and will be liable to be dealt with according to the rules and regulations thereof and excommunicated therefrom." (Joseph F. Smith, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Conference Report, April 7, 1904) Smith himself was in clear violation of both manifestos. He had six wives to himself, yet Smith's second manifesto marked the beginning of a separation within the church. Mormons continued with polygamous marriages that had been taken place in their temples, and had been published in the local paper as late as 1910.
The Mormon church struggled with getting the polygamous image removed from their church. Two of their own apostles were used as scapegoats by the LDS authorities to protect that image. This act was part of Mormons assimilation into mainstream society. "LDS leaders subsequently resorted to what has become a hallmark of Mormonism-revision of history. Even before Musser's [A Fundamentalist publisher of the "Truth" magazine.] arrest, the article "Leaves From An Old Scrapbook" had been published in the church's Deseret News (June 1, 1940). It stated that polygamy began among the saints primarily because Mormons needed to rapidly increase their population in Utah to do the "work of subduing the deserts and building Zion." After that had been accomplished, said the article, plural marriage was no longer needed, and so it was discontinued." (One Nation Under Gods, Richard Abanes, pg 346, brackets added)
Not all Mormon believers accepted all the changes that were happening within the church. Future presidents of the LDS church continued to distance mainstream Mormonism away from polygamy, and after cohabitation became a felony, the church excommunicated large numbers of polygamists. Such action only gave birth to a full-blown movement of people committed to following the old ways. They are known as the Mormon Fundamentalists, or the FLDS = Fundamentalist Latter-day Saints.
Political Power and Polygamy
All of this is a section taken from "One Nation Under Gods, by Richard Abanes." It is a valuable reference book that gives factual history about Mormonism.
"It was painfully obvious to the Committee on Privileges and Elections that the Mormon hierarchy, which included Smoot, had for many years been practicing, encouraging, and solemnizing polygamy......The Senate committee ended up voting seven to five against accepting Smoot as a senator. But by the time the committee's report and recommendation finally was debated before the senate in 1907, Smoot already had been in Congress for several years. He had formed political alliances, no doubt made quid pro quo agreements with various congressmen, and most importantly, during a private meeting had convinced U.S. president Teddy Roosevelt of his innocence. So when the full Senate voted, Smoot came out on top and he retained his congressional seat......Smoot himself had lied under oath. He claimed, for instance, that he had never heard a discussion of plural marriage in meetings of the apostles and had never himself "promulgated or advised the promulgation of the practice of polygamy." But it is now known that Smoot, prior to 1904, had been present at sixteen meetings, where plural marriage was discussed by the apostles, including a January 1902 meeting, during which Smoot told fellow apostles that the plural order of Marriage "if universally practiced would save the world much sorrow and distress." He also said he "looked forward to its restoration." Then, in October 1903, Smoot was present when LDS leader Marriner W. Merrill advised three apostles to marry plural wives. Yet in 1904, Smoot testified before the U.S. Senate that he had never heard a discussion of plural marriage in the Temple. Also in 1904, Smoot advised the First Presidency to have post-Manifesto plural wives hide in order to avoid arrest.
Despite these less than honorable acts, Smoot held his position in Washington for thirty years, eventually becoming one of the Most powerful of all congressmen. Consider the following assessment of Smoot that was written in 1932 by syndicated columnist Raymond Clapper: 'Utah has Senator Smoot and he has built up a dynasty of appointees which penetrates into a dozen or so of the most important branches of the government...Ramifications of the Smoot dynasty are intricate enough to provide rich diggings for a political genealogist. Chairman of the mighty Senate Finance Committee, ranking member of the powerful committees on Appropriations, Public Lands, Public Buildings, and Rules, Smoott's influence extends in all directions. With it all, he is probably the hardest working man in Congress, tireless in dealing with a tariff or tax bill, a demon for efficiency, once described by President Harding as the most valuable public servant in Washington."......Thus began the powerful political presence of Mormons in the Nation's capital. Meanwhile, back in Utah, the LDS church was facing yet another problem-a significant number of Mormons were continuing to practice plural marriage. Drastic steps would need to be taken; steps that would fracture Mormonism into two main groups: 1) the progressives, who agreed to follow the new anti-polygamy path of the church; and 2) the Fundamentalist, who refused to abandon the old ways and teachings of Joseph Smith, Brigham Young, and John Taylor." (One Nations Under Gods, Richard Abanes, pgs, 337, 341, 342)
There it is. Mormonism wedged its way into politics through Smoot and polygamy. While Smoot was dancing through Washington, DC, the Mormon church split in two: One side stuck with the real teachings of the Mormon prophets, thus The Fundamentalists; and the other side went away from eternal commands from leaders that were deemed to be the most holy Mormon men on earth, thus The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
An Eternal Doctrine
Polygamy, a problem that is still with us even unto this day. I think it is important for all those interested to understand that even though mainstream Mormonism no longer verbalizes the validity of a command that was spoken by the mouth of the very first Mormon; the practice is still in full force and no matter how many times the LDS deny its importance in their religion, it is still a very real part of their eternal exaltation.
"We shall pull the wool over the eyes of the American people and make them swallow Mormonism, polygamy and all." (Brigham Young, 1875)
"[Joseph] used to state to his intended victims, as he did to me: "God does not care if we have a good time, if only other people do not know it." He only introduced a marriage ceremony when he found out he could not get certain women without it....If any woman, like me, opposed his wishes, he used to say: "Be silent, or I shall ruin your character. My character must be sustained in the interest of the Church." (An 1880 interview with Sarah Pratt, Orson Pratt's first wife)
Brainwashing-Final Product
This is so sad. She looks as though she is ready to cry. Feelings---yeah, that's what the Mormons want you to use. That's the last thing you should use. Test the spirits.......not feel the spirits......
The Three Challenges
"Sisters, will you accept these three challenges: sustain your husband, strengthen your home, and serve your God? I promise, as a servant of the Lord, that as you do, the blessings of heaven will attend you." (Ensign, January 1971, Thomas S. Monson)
Sustain your Husband: Obedience, Submission, Control. To fully sustain your husband, a wife is to submit herself to the authority that their husband holds, or the priesthood. Full obedience to this authority is the focal point in a Mormon husband/wife relationship. A wife is to be controlled in all she does. She is not to hold the priesthood. That is just a male thing. A priesthood holder is given a wide open gate to do as he pleases with his wife. The wife must be fully acceptable to all that the husband puts before her. Even things like: lies, deception, mental abusiveness, ridicule, physical abuse, half-truths, his countless encounters with other women, disrespect, demeaning comments, and many more that I didn't mention. The priesthood authority even allowed him to have me excommunicated without my knowledge. All this was done to me all the while I was 'sustaining' my husband. If not, she/I will not be a part of the celestial kingdom and continue to have spirit children for her polygamist husband. (Yes, the Mormons still believe in being polygamists.)
Strengthen Your Home: How can a wife and mother strengthen the home if the priesthood holder is constantly loosing his job, moving himself and his family constantly from place to place, demeaning his wife in front of the children, telling his own children that their mother is no good, keeping the mother from home by keeping her busy with the home-based business, not letting her be the mother to her own children? Any priesthood holder should be proud of these qualities of a Mormon man because the priesthood allows men to do as they please with their wives. To strengthen ones home should not require the the constant discontent that I and my children had to suffer while in a Mormon house(s).
Serve your God: Attend church, pay tithes and offerings (not to mention the bishop's storehouse and the missionary fund), hold church callings that priesthood holders appoint you to, be the best homemaker that you can possibly be (canning, baking, cooking, sewing, gardening, cleaning, crocheting, knitting, crafts, art, music, etc.), whatever else that the husband needs her to do around the house or outside of the house, (except working for money, the husband wants the wife to be totally dependent of him only).
The role of the Mormon women are constantly changing, according to the Modern theology of the Mormon world. My sisters both work, my sister-in-laws all work. Education is a must in their lives. Strange though, when I was growing up and learning the works of a good upstanding young Mormon woman and wife, working outside of the home and getting an education beyond the 12th grade was not what was taught. It was frowned upon by the priesthood holders of the church. I can still recall my dad telling my that I couldn't even get married!
The HOLY PRIESTHOOD is only good for the male population. The history of the church proves this. The changes that are being made for the women of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are not really changes. They are pacifiers. The role of a woman in the church is not different now since from the beginning. Men hold womens lives in their authoritative hands and with one squeeze, the force and pressure will break more than physical bones. It ruins the minds of human beings that God has created.
The blessings of heaven started when I got out of Mormonism. While I was in Mormonism, hell prevailed. A nightmare that still taunts my dreams and alters my realities. The Mormon church did nothing for me, but teach me how to be the best slave to a man that clearly was not concerned for his family or wife.
