History Of Polygamy
Marriage has essentially been viewed as a social phenomenon. As
such, it is not necessary for the more basic act of procreation
to take place. Because of this fact, discussions regarding
marriage have always centered on the legal, cultural and
religious significance of the ceremony itself and all that it
entails. The types of marriages, like monogamous and polygamous
marriages, exist only to fulfill certain social or religious
obligations imposed upon a person by forces other than natural.
Christianity is the biggest opponent of polygamy in today's
society. It may be noted, however, that the bible itself, which
forms the basis for Christian faith, described some patriarchs
as having polygamous marriages, like Moses (Numbers 12:1) and
Abraham (Genesis 16:1, Genesis 16:3 and Genesis 25:1). These
early cases of polygamy were explained by Saint Augustine in The
Good of Marriage as having been rooted in the ancient times'
necessity to procreate. Therefore, at present, since that
necessity no longer exists, the Catholic Church has declared
polygamy as unlawful. While some Protestant faiths, during the
period of "Protestant Reformation," temporarily sanctioned the
practice of polygamy on the basis of some of the biblical
provisions, others publicly denounced it. Consequently,
protestant Christians later on decided to abandon polygamy
altogether.
The above stated fact, however, cannot be applied to the Church
of the Latter Day Saints, or more popularly, the Mormon Church.
The Mormons, rather than merely allowing the occurrence of
polygamous marriages, have openly educated their members about
this ideal and announced their subscription to it publicly. The
Church's founder, Joseph Smith, Jr., founded their doctrine of
polygamy on the biblical reference stated in the previous
paragraph. They openly practiced polygamy from 1852 until 1890.
Before the latter date, however, when the church began to be
subjected to a heavier political and legal pressure, the Mormons
declared the practice unlawful, with the members who continued
its practice suffering excommunication. The church members who
refused to adhere to the new trend fled to friendlier
territories such as Canada and set up more fundamentalist
churches there.
Today, polygamy, or plural marriages, is a practice upon which,
a substantial part of the world has expressed its formal scorn.
It is now widely accepted by most political and legal systems
that polygamy fails to meet the common moral and legal standards
necessary to maintain world and societal order. This new ideal
is probably the result of two major factors, namely, the spread
of Christianity and the more pragmatic considerations of
multiple divorces and property settlement of spouses. The latter
factor merely concerns the inconveniences and conflicts
attendant to having several wives or husbands, each vying for a
piece of property upon the common spouse's death or divorce.
Likewise repulsive is the instability that may result in the
matters of the wives' and children's status in society. It is,
after all, a generally accepted principle that a person's status
should not be subjected to needless uncertainty. The spread of
Christianity or religious evolution in general, is a much more
complex factor that may have affected the world view on
polygamy.