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Chapter 3 - Polygamy PropagatedTHE WOMEN OF MORMONISM: Copyright, 1881 and 1882 Polygamy Denied Abroad While Practiced at Home. - Ingenious Liars. - Danger of Admitting Utah as a State. - Relief Societies. [42] WHILE Joseph and his deluded followers were practicing polygamy in Nauvoo, the missionaries abroad were sedulously preaching against it, and in pursuance of the prophet's private orders, were positively asserting that no such tenet was recognized by the Latter-day Saints. They were afraid to advocate the principle openly, because they knew it would bring upon them the just condemnation of the entire world, and prevent converts from embracing the new religion. Consequently, they were obliged to resort to the vilest kind of deceit, in order to screen themselves and their nefarious doctrine from the abhorrence so justly merited. They were afraid to acknowledge the truth, because they knew it would be their death-blow at that time, and it is a well-known fact that even to this day the missionaries in foreign countries are very reticent upon this point. There was considerable excitement in Europe when the rumors of the new ordinance were [43] brought to their shore, but the American missionaries assured the European Saints that the rumor was only started by their enemies to injure their cause. The most eloquent and remarkable denial was made by Apostle John Taylor (the present head of the Mormon church), at Boulogne, in France, where he presided over a large and successful mission. Apostle Taylor was at that time the husband of five wives, two of them sisters. A missionary who was laboring with him there had for wives a mother and daughter. The French converts were determined to know the truth in regard to polygamy, consequently Apostle Taylor preached an eloquent sermon, denying the charge emphatically, and quoting extensively from the " Book of Mormon " and " Doctrines and Covenants,"-works containing the articles of faith of the Mormon church. Being very earnest and impressive, he convinced his audience, without a doubt, that the Latter-day Saints had been vilely slandered by the accusation of polygamy. What a religion, which permits a man to lie so unblushingly, and that in the name of the God of truth, who cannot lie! One reason why a great many honest, straightforward Mormons declare against polygamy is because it involves such a sacrifice of truth. It makes a man a deceiver in spite of himself, in defiance of his better nature. Men who would scorn a falsehood in any other relation of life, who are faithful to the end in friendship and just in business to the uttermost farthing, do not scruple to descend [44] to the lowest grade of falsehood when polygamy is concerned. As a Mormon lady once said to a distinguished traveler, "A polygamist is the most ingenious liar imaginable, because he dare not tell the truth, that is, if he wishes to preserve a semblance of peace in the family. If the first wife remains the favorite, and he desires to please her without totally neglecting the others, he will invent the most plausible stories in regard to his absences from home, to avoid telling her that he has been visiting them. If he is an old man, and the slave of some concubine, there is no end to those falsehoods he will have to tell. But the deceit and treachery are most practiced when the men are looking for other wives." If you will talk with Mormon women you will find that the testimony on this point is overwhelming. Almost every woman, either first or plural wife could tell the same story of some kind of deception having been practiced upon her. Many of them were married to missionaries in foreign lands, thinking they were first wives, only to find upon their arrival in Zion, that two, three, or more women, as the case might be, had a previous right to call the same man husband. It was necessary to revert to the early history of polygamy, and show, for two reasons, how the women were forced to submit to it. First, to illustrate the principle which has made the women of Mormonism what they are to-day, and which can find no parallel anywhere on the face of the civilized globe; second to show that in Utah were admitted as a [45] State, unless polygamy were abolished as completely as slavery now is, the same things would be repeated. Given Statehood under the present condition of affairs, the Gentiles would soon be run out of the country, the liberal schools and newspapers suppressed and a reign of terror inaugurated that would cost the United States millions of money and lives before the abolition of polygamy could be accomplished, while now a very little legislation, coupled with determination on the part of the Government would soon stop the evil from spreading, and place it in the way of complete annihilation. It is not exaggeration to say that the system of persecution which compelled the Mormon women to submit to polygamy would again be adopted in case Utah were invested with the powers of State sovereignty, for there exists in Utah to-day as complete a system for teaching and preaching the abomination to the young girls. In every little settlement there is a female organization called the "Relief Society," which was instituted and is maintained by he orders of the priesthood. Here the young girls re brought every week, and the vile doctrine continually dinned into their ears. The same old story s ever repeated, that they can never obtain salvation except they enter it. They are also taught that polygamy is practiced all over the world in some form or other, that the Mormon system of plurality is the only pure and true one, and that all others are sinful. A young girl of sixteen who had been born [46] and raised in the Salt Lake Valley, seemed completely astounded when informed by a Gentile whose acquaintance she casually made, that a man in New York or Massachusetts who married more than one wife would be sent to the penitentiary. Then these children are asked if they would not prefer to have their husbands live in the pure relations of celestial marriage, owning their wives and acknowledging their children, rather than to know or suspect that they were living in sin. A Mormon woman ,said not long ago, to a Gentile visitor: "What is the difference between our husbands having plural wives, and your husbands keeping mistresses " The lady was equal to the occasion and quickly replied: " There is no difference at all, for the practices are identical; polygamy and prostitution are one and the same thing. But there is this distinction, while you extol the one as a saintly practice, we condemn the other as a sinful one." The Mormons claim that the origin of the "Relief Society " was in pursuance of a direct revelation from God to Joseph Smith, and what is called the "Young Ladies' Association" was a revelation to Brigham Young. A member of the latter's household thus discourses in regard to this revelation:- "After the Gentiles began to come to Utah, the young girls, getting their eyes opened a little, began to have doubts regarding the religious principles of polygamy, because they had seen so much its unhappiness and its evil results. Some of [47] them thought that to possess the love and devotion of a sinner, and to be well supported by him, might be preferable to neglect and poverty with the fraction of a Saint. Occasionally a maiden would be found bold enough to express her opinions, and declare that .she would have a husband to herself, or have none. The president was quick to see that these ideas must be crushed immediately, or the young people would soon be on the road to apostasy. So he said to the elder women: 'Sisters, something must be done to counteract these infernal Gentile influences, and stop this feeling of rebellion against our holy practices. Organize societies, bring the young girls more in contact with you, mothers in Israel, and instruct them in the faith.' And so, the first of these societies was organized in our own household, (for I was a member of the family at the time), not to assist the poor and suffering, but to teach the young girls subjection to the dominant power. No woman has ever been permitted to hold office in one of these societies, except those who will carry out the plans of the Mormon theocracy." And what shall be said of women who allow themselves to be the tools of a designing priesthood! They are either fanatics or hypocrites, and as such, unfit to be leaders and teachers of woman. God knows there are enough influences in this sorrowful world to render women's lives a dreary waste, without their own sense being the instruments to lure them to destruction. Of this class of women, more will be said hereafter. Next: CHAPTER IV. CLASSES OF MORMON WOMEN Back: CHAPTER II. THE ORIGIN OF POLYGAMY Index: INTRODUCTION AND TABLE OF CONTENTS |
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