Mormons in Mexico: A brief history of polygamy, cartel violence and faith
by Rebecca Janzen
Along with the Romneys – relatives of Sen. Mitt Romney, whose father was
born in Mexico – the LeBarons are among the most storied families in
Mormon history.
Members of Utah’s Latter-Day Saints community emigrated to Mexico in the 1880s to follow their religious beliefs by living in polygamous families, which was illegal in the United States.
Legal definition of polygamy:
The offense of willfully and knowingly having more than one wife or husband at the same time. The offense of willfully and knowingly entering into a second marriage while validly married to another individual is bigamy.
Anti-polygamy laws in
the United States also sprang from religious conflict. In
the mid-1800s, widespread public hostility arose toward the practice of
polygamy by
members of
the Church of
Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints, known as
Mormons. A
small religious sect in
the territory of
Utah, the Mormons believed that their founder and prophet, Joseph Smith, had a
divine revelation in
1843 that called for men to
marry more than one woman; in
1852 the church announced that the practice was religiously superior to
monogamy. This position angered critics throughout the country, ranging from religious leaders to
novelists, editorialists, and particularly politicians. In
1856 the Republican party's first national platform denounced polygamy and Slavery as
"those twin relics of
barbarism."
Legal controversies over the propriety of
prohibiting polygamous marriages persisted in
the United States for 150 years and were expected to
continue as
long as
sects within the Mormon religion continued to
openly support the practice of
plural marriage. The Church of
Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints disavowed polygamy in
1890 and excommunicates those members who practice plural marriage.
Source
Think so?
absolute power depends on absolute control over knowledge, which in turn necessitates absolute corruption
Think about this
“Politicians, Priests, and psychiatrists often face the same problem: how to find the most rapid and permanent means of changing a man’s belief…The problem of the doctor and his nervously ill patient, and that of the religious leader who sets out to gain and hold new converts, has now become the problem of whole groups of nations, who wish not only to confirm certain political beliefs within their boundaries, but to proselytize the outside world.”
– William Sargant “Battle of the Mind”
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