This is the last post of this series! It’s been such a great learning experience for myself researching the best ways to understand and defend these topics against critics of The Church. What I’ve enjoyed more is sharing all of this with all of you! Thank you to all who have shared stories and insights!
So far we’ve covered some common topics that come up in religious debates. Today we’re going to discuss two more that conjure questions that can be hard to answer.
Let’s Jump in.
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Photo from The Salt Lake Tribune
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The unfortunate truth is that when people think about members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, they think of polygamy. When The Church was restored and began to grow in membership, what a lot of people quickly learned about us was that we practiced polygamy.
The practice of polygamy ended in 1890 but was not well publicized. Even today, we still encounter people who think we continue to practice plural marriage. Sometimes, all it takes to end an argument about polygamy is to simply inform people that we haven’t done that in over a century!
In Be Ye Wise As Serpents, Scott Frazer offers a few explanations as to why God commanded the early saints to practice polygamy. The first explanation is that polygamy was a way to protect women from potentially bad relationships.
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“Consider the following fictional explanation, which may illustrate this idea. Let’s say there was a small remote village where lived 100 single women and 100 single men. As pairings usually go, the prettiest girl married the best provider in the village. The marriages continue, as the girls pick out, court, and marry men who are good providers. Eventually, we come down to the last five single women, who have to choose between the five poorest providers in the village. These last five men are lazy, drunk, dirty, and possibly abusive. Does it make more sense for these last five women to marry these five bottom-of-the-barrel men—or for them to seek to be second wives of one of the better providers in the village? Granted, second wives did not have the privileges of first wives. But then again, they would not have to live in poverty and squa- lor. How would you choose? What would you wish for these five women?
Thus, for the first 4,000 years of Earth’s history, polygamy was a means for the societies of men to take care of God’s daughters. That was the original principle behind polygamy.” (Be Ye Wise As Serpents, Scott Frazer)
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Another likely theory as to why polygamy was practiced is that it helped grow the membership of The Church. Back then, missionaries worked diligently to bring people to the Gospel. However, having many children and raising them in the Gospel was another way to ensure future generations of strong, faithful members capable of holding important callings.
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“If the Lord needs a particular people to grow in numbers, He will com- mand it. We may not be comfortable with that reason, but some of that inability is due to our modern way of thinking. We are used to being surrounded by millions of people. The thought that an entire people could be extinguished from the earth is unthinkable. However, in ancient days, entire civilizations disappeared from history. In the Americas, for example, the Olmecs, Anasazi, and even Mayan civilizations were lost. In the scriptures, we read of the demise of Ten Lost Tribes of Israel and the Nephites. In view of such a possibility, if the Lord rises up a people that He doesn’t want to lose, He reserves the right to command polygamy.” (Be Ye Wise As Serpents, Scott Frazer)
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Today, nobody in The Church practices polygamy (or at least, they shouldn’t be). Widows, single mothers, and women in any situation have access to better resources, and church membership is at an all-time high, so there is no longer a need for plural marriage.
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Photo from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
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This topic was actually a recommendation from someone who replied to one of our emails!
Most members of The Church get asked why they don’t drink coffee or tea. Millions of people around the world drink these two beverages, so we often get regarded as "weird" for choosing not to partake. It’s obvious why God commands us to stay away from drugs, tobacco, and alcohol, as we know the harm those substances can have on our health. But to my understanding, there isn’t a lot of scientific research to prove that coffee and tea are harmful to our health. Clearly, God knows something we don’t about these two drinks.
What I’m about to say is not confirmed doctrine but is my own opinion. I believe that a big part of not drinking coffee or tea is a test of obedience. I may never understand why God has commanded us to avoid these beverages, but I do know that if I follow Him with faith and do what He asks, I will be blessed.
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“The Lord promises increased health, wisdom, knowledge, and protection to those who obey the Word of Wisdom.” (Church Manuals)
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The Word of Wisdom is essentially a commandment to be healthy. Our Heavenly Father clearly wants us to have good health, wisdom, knowledge, and protection.
I think another part of the Word of Wisdom is to keep our minds in a state where we can heed spiritual promptings. Modern-day prophets and apostles have made it clear over the years that we need to learn how to follow the promptings of the Holy Ghost. There is no way we can do that if our minds are impaired by harmful substances.
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I just wanted to say it’s okay to not know the answer to everything. We’re going to be hit with tough questions and harsh comments, and it’s okay to not know how to respond. In fact, it’s better to refrain from answering questions you don’t know the answer to.
Luckily, we have so many resources available to help us learn the answers to these hard questions and comments. We also have the greatest resource of all—getting on your knees and consulting with your Heavenly Father.
With the help of the Bible verse James 1:5, Joseph Smith was led to pray for guidance and answers. That scripture and act of faith led to the restoration of God’s one true church.
Thank you to everyone who read these emails. I hope they were just as enlightening to you as they were for me. I’ll make sure to post each of these emails as blog posts on cedarfort.com.
We plan to do more series like this in the future! If you have any topics or ideas for what we should cover, reply to this email and let us know!
Till next time!
-Mason and the Cedar Fort team
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