Why is polygamy so important to Mormon fundamentalism?
Polygamy was a teaching originally developed by Joseph Smith and further propagated by Brigham Young upon the Mormons’ migration to the Utah Territory in the mid to late 19th Century. Polygamy is as much a doctrinal issue as it is a matter of practice. According to Mormon doctrine (Doctrine & Covenants Section 132, and others), the practice of polygamy was required for exaltation to godhood. That is to say, a man was required to have more than one wife, presumably in this life, if he were to obtain the status of godhood. The mainstream LDS Church, following the abandonment of the practice, maintains that the requirement of polygamy need only be met in the afterlife. Fundamentalists maintain that it is necessary to be practiced in this life, and therefore shun the mainstream LDS Church’s anti-polygamy stance.
