a few random thoughts on polygamy in the Mormon Church

 

nobody ever really asked why i left.  i suspect like most high demand religions they are encouraged not to question their faith by asking such things.  so i will start to answer some of those questions just in case anyone wants to know.  the truth is the more questions you ask the more you find it all more unbelievable so if that is the life you want...i guess it is best to not ask any questions. i believed the one and only true church would hold up to scrutiny.  

i think our brains work differently. i think science tends to play that out. i think some of us are just more inquisitive about these things and others are more capable of accepting without asking those questions. 

i found it odd that a one and only true church would not have more universal appeal.  another thing that i questioned. 

a series is coming out on the book, "under the banner of heaven". haven't read it for years. maybe i should re-read...or i could just watch the program. i don't have Hulu though. hmm.  questions to be asked at a later time. 

many in Mormonism, especially women, seem to question this polygamy thing. there were standard answers that glossed over things and tried to "explain" it all away. one i recall was in the pioneer days many men perished and so polygamy was there to help take care of all those women and children.  polygamy started long before the pioneer treks began in Mormonism.  the founder practiced it.  of course, the history we heard in church seemed to gloss over that part and Brigham Young seemed to be where polygamy began.  it's been decades since i left so i can't say for sure on that taught history but that is what i recall and what i had investigated at the time i left.

i do recall reading the proclamation on the ending of polygamy.  this was as a revelation from God. these revelations as i grew up did seem to be more of a practical issue than an actual call from God.  i will digress slightly to this as it was yet another of the things that baffled me.  

when i was a kid blacks weren't allowed to hold the priesthood. you could be Mormon but you couldn't hold the priesthood.  as a child i was literally taught that blacks were black because of the sins of their ancestors, this despite some scripture that says that the sins of the fathers won't come down on their kids or whatever. not looking it up.  conveniently, God changed that as the US Government was passing the civil rights acts and public opinions were being altered in this.  as a kid i recall wondering if all blacks would now be made white because of this revelation. they did not. i thought continued revelation was a brilliant thing to add in when i left but now i wonder if it's not more of a burden.  why would God screw up initial revelations and then have to adapt those revelations. i think the block program was like that. it was a 3 hour block and more recently got amended to a 2 hour block of church on Sundays. oddly, this was also trialed in some areas before being put in place...again as a kid i found it odd that the church would have to trial something that God had revealed. not sure if the lengths of missions and ages of males/females that go out on them has been revelations or just changed protocols. 

at the time of the polygamy in the church the United States were not cool with polygamy and so when Utah wanted to become a state they had to purge themselves of polygamy or give up that goal. the convenient revelation showed up.  the proclamation never disavowed the practice in the next life and as they believe all men may become Gods..those God/men would have plural wives. there were many who created their own branches of the Mormon religion and continued to practice polygamy...however illegal it was.  many moved out of the US in order to do this and there are still polygamous groups in Mexico i understand

as babies over all are born with it mostly being near 50/50 males/females with obvious exceptions.  China and other nations prefer males so aborted or abandoned females or just killed them. so...question would be why would there be a need for plural wives in the next life? did God just expect that women were more likely to get to the highest level of heaven? why would plural marriage be predetermined in a post earth life unless there was the expectation that males would fail to enter at a much higher rate than females?

this falls apart in many ways in my views. i mean why would spirits really need to be male or female? they are not physical. seems more of a way to make people have a better concept of spirit.  also Mormons believe in a prelife and you will hear them talk about how we had chosen our families in the prelife.  so some may believe there is another soul waiting to come to their family.  they would have a personal revelation.  so why don't all these plural post life wives show up in the prelife? 

even in this life a male can be sealed to more than one female as long as the females aren't sealed to another male. i recall a tragedy in extended family and a comment i heard second hand.  the couple had only recently married and then were in a terrible accident. the female passed away.  a comment was made that it was probably for the best that the female was the one who passed because nobody would have wanted to marry a young woman who was already sealed to another man.  he, on the other hand, would be free to re-marry. a male can get a civil divorce without getting a temple sealing removed..he then could marry another female who was not sealed to another.  of course all these extended family situations screw up the prelife and post life family units.  

that is stuff that it's best to not ask questions of.  complicated family situations do not easily fit in to the forever family sealing box. of course, it sounds lovely to think that you would be forever sealed to your kids...but do you want to be forever sealed to your abusive ex? 

i wondered if once the US government allowed Gay marriage would that open the door for the Mormon church to return to polygamy? 

it hasn't yet, but it also hasn't embraced gay marriage.  with continued revelation that is always a convenient possibility as well. 

cracked up as some parents have brought bibles so these school board meetings and demanded the bible be banned in school libraries.  it is filled with incest, polygamy, murder, infanticide... all sorts of pretty horrible stuff.  Jesus never seemed to have any direct opinion of many things that the current Christians seem to say he had an opinion of. things are often taken out of context for the needs of a few and their agenda. 

i always had an issue with the plan. supposedly there was a war in heaven and Satan wanted everyone to be forced to be good and return to God while Jesus wanted everyone to have free agency and be tested to return...oddly, most Christian religions that i see want you to follow Satans plan.  hold so tight to the rules of the church that you have no option of straying. that was Satans plan? i have always been more on the free agency plan because quite frankly, it seemed silly to come to this planet to live your life and never spread your wings and learn and grow. staying in a high demand religions bubble is very restrictive.  restrictive in what you see, experience and who you interact with. the times of the most growth seems to be in conjunction with times of change and stress. you have to be vulnerable to really experience and grow in this life. that can be scary and exciting but it seems necessary. 

while i'm there..as Mormons who were born under the covenant, we were told that we were born in a strong Mormon church family because of our faith and bravery during this great spirit war. that seems odd to me as well.  that is the ultimate privilege really. ahead of so many on earth before you take your first breath as a human

i found many of these sorts of things so unfair.  

well i guess that is enough on that topic for one night.  

i bought some Mikes Hard Black Cherry when i was in Homer...for some odd reason it's stocked there but not here. i don't drink much alcohol but this stuff is tasty and i've had a headache so hoping this will relax me and therefore my muscles.  half a bottle and i'm already buzzed.  such a wimp.  i worked ER the last 3 shifts.  i had a super serious alcoholic one night.  blood alcohol was  596!!  still breathing. i'd be on a vent...i'd never be able to get that high.  anyone in the 500 club, especially still walking is an alcholic in a whole other category.  

it is strange that some bodies can live fairly long lives drinking to that level where others are already showing some major damage in their early 30's.  i've said that to some young patients. i'll tell them, some can drink like they do and live long lives...they are probably not in that category and should seriously consider stopping. it is sad to see folks whose lives are so destroyed and wasted by alcohol and drugs. 

we've also had a lot of psych pateints this week.  i'm understanding that fall and spring are high psych issue times. increased suicide risk. 

my middle night i ended up with only psych patients and eventually i got to go home at around 5 am.  

this morning i cleared out my locker as they are moving the resource pool offices to a new location in order to make more patient rooms. 

it was pretty much all covid gear in there. still some covid but not as sick. it's not as scary  out there. i haven't gotten another booster yet.  figure i'd wait until we had another outbreak or perhaps it will be in the fall and they will have it combined with the flu shot. 

have done a few treks around the dog park and ruths.  i'm hoping for some rain.  i'm weird like that.  i love a rainy day.  i think i feel obligated, especially with our long daylight hours, to be going at all times. rain gives me an excuse to be more lazy. summer is manic, winter is calm. 

was able to get one of the tire caps off this evening.  not the tire that is fairly flat. i have plans for the tire change over on both cars. looked on line and found some possible options for getting those metal ones off.  i'm not the only fool who made that mistake. 

the yard continues to melt back and i collect the dog poop.  will look at hiring some yard crews to do some spring clean up of leaves and the berries. 

my tile guy just emailed back.  starting to think of just doing the upstairs bathroom floor tile. i saw some cool wood hexagon tile.  wondering if it would work with the green shower stall.  trying to get his opinion on it. if i do the upstairs tile then i can look at new doors for upstairs and the downstairs area. the main room could then be the next project. 

of course, the other morning when i came home the dogs were super excited and Ivy slipped on the flooring.  went down screaming, not weight bearing on the leg that hadn't had surgery. i gave her extra meds, massaged the leg and skipped the walk that day.  she was doing better later and wanting to walk. 

don't want to delay those floors too long. 

loved this of the jelly on the beach at sunset. 

my headache is gone and i'm relaxed. 

Ukraine... still battling. so difficult to watch the struggle, especially knowing that russia and putin are willing to be so cruel and heartless. really not doing much for himself. he makes more and more folks root for the ones who are seen as the victims.  the GOP is doing the same.  they are helping gays and trans and all. by bullying them, it makes more rational people want to protect them.  so i at least feel these crazy republicans are ultimately going to fail. 

they are going too far on the abortion objectives. in truth the gop needs those fetuses to die. they keep their voters engaged by promising to save those fetuses.  once the fetuses are "saved" what is the next boogieman? clearly gays/trans/liberals/books.  there is always another boogieman. 

they are putin and putin is the gop.  they lie and they use conspiracies, fear and boogiemen to get their supporters riled up.

russia is killing pow, the rapes and killings of civilians continues along with bombing hospitals and schools and such. it's a tight battle. the group is getting hammered at Mariupol steel plant but many were still alive. there just doesn't seem any good outcome there.  i would love a rescue operation to swoop in and be able to save them. wishful thinking. 

love the colors of the anemone.

i did hit the docks to look for sea stars. not much found.

hoping russia pulls back troops as they want to take the eastern area and there is just that one group fighting in mariupol. seems wiser to pull back, and just let them leave.  then they can have Mariupol...at least for the moment. i don't want them to have any gain.  i'd rather see them lose big.  get pulled out of Crimea and even better get divided into multiple smaller nations. get rid of their nukes would be nice.

my computer is running super slow. hopefully, this publishes. 

a tiny jelly

winding down.  not sure of my big plans for my days off.  should do cleaning out and cleaning up. 

this is taking much longer tonight.  always worry as this computer is pretty dang old at this point. 

should do some major cleaning up and saving 

won't be heading to Homer this week.  could make some day treks though.  we shall see how lazy i feel. 

love all the patterns in the sand at low tide. 

will be awhile before the mushrooms go nuts again. 

bills paid, dog poop picked up. so exciting, right?

will crash here in a minute.

thankful for A. coworkers who are much better at psych patients than i am. B. sunny days and rainy days. C. spring and signs of spring.  love the drama of this place!