No Place for Polygamy in Mormon Church
Ashlie Rasmussen of Falls Church, Virginia, wrote an excellent letter to the editor for the Washington Post, titled “No Place for Polygamy in Mormon Church”.
The letter is in response to the Post’s article titled “Polygamists Fight to Be Seen as Part of Mainstream Society”, which LDS News Watch previously reported about.
The text of the letter is as follows:
The Nov. 21 front-page article “Polygamists Fight to Be Seen as Part of Mainstream Society” asserted that “the politically powerful Mormon Church, while officially opposing polygamy, did not want the bad press strict enforcement might bring.”
Not only is this untrue but no source was given to back up this rather bold assertion. Are we supposed to just take the reporter’s word for it?
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints supports enforcement of the laws of the land. The “Articles of Faith” that were written by the church’s founder state: “We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates, in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law.”
In addition, calling polygamists “fundamentalist” Mormons is like calling Lutherans “fundamentalist Catholics.” It’s been more than 100 years since the Mormon Church practiced polygamy. The people who practice polygamy today are part of a distinct group that left the church in the 1890s. They are completely separate from the current Mormon Church.
They can call themselves fundamentalists if they choose, but they are certainly not fundamentalist Mormons.
