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Stephenie G.'s avatar

This was 🔥 . The thing that struck me in Anderson’s talk is the sainthood of the woman who raised her husband’s affair’s child. They shared her husband, she raises the child as her own, she achieves sainthood. It’s a subtle way of conditioning us to become sister wives, imho. It is so hard not to see how polygamy infiltrates everything we do in the church.

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Linda Hamilton's avatar

This is a good point too I hadn’t thought of! Ugh the story just keeps getting worse

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Ashleigh's avatar

Mmmhmm. All of this is just so true! You make it clear why the church is still upholding 132 as revelation from God. It’s baked right in :/Thanks for this essay!

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Linda Hamilton's avatar

Once I realized why, I couldn’t unsee it. You would think they’d take it out of the scriptures after the manifesto but then that’d be admitting it wasn’t right to start with…

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Rose's avatar

This is spot on!

I grew up with 9 moms.

And I come from a long line of polygamous Mormons.

And the thing that is most confusing to me about these mormon men in church, is that they have absolutely NO CLUE what they are asking for...fighting for...hoping for! They've never lived polygamy nor seen it lived. (And I'm sorry, but marrying a second wife after one dies and then joking about whether or not she'll have her own kitchen in heaven is pathetic at best and insanely offensive regardless, and it just doesn't even begin to come close to the reality of it all.) They are playing with fire whilst joking about it.

And I'm not here to tell people how to live, but to be so opinionated about something they've never actually experienced...or even have a clue what it really entails and what it does to people's lives, is just absolutely insane to me!

If they could truly SEE and FEEL the reality of what they are coaching their wives and daughters to be excited about and believe in - it would shatter them.

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Cynthia Winward's avatar

Dang girlllllll! Way to spell out the facts. 🔥🔥🔥

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Sarah Schow's avatar

Card house of patriarchy!! 👏👏👏

F*** the patriarchy!

Thank you for this. 🫶

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Linda Hamilton's avatar

Time to knock it down and rebuild!

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Terresa's avatar

I’m not sure what to say…………………yes, this hurts. And again thank you.

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Linda Hamilton's avatar

It really does hurt to think about. I hope that more will start to see it and understand why we need to rebuild something better!

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Terresa's avatar

I agree, though I have mostly given up hope of that ever happening. At least on my life time.

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Shaless Parker's avatar

“If women get full and complete equality in the church, then the church will have to admit that polygamy was fundamentally flawed. If polygamy was flawed, then Joseph was wrong. If Joseph was wrong, then God didn’t tell him to be a polygamist. And if God didn’t tell him to be a polygamist, what else didn’t God tell him to do? The entire thing unravels. “ THIS!!! You said it! But also….ugh! It’s so much.

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Annette Evans Fazzino's avatar

Thank you for writing this. It is really so gross.

As an aside, women may be sealed to all men to whom they were married. BUT, it has to be posthumously.

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Stephenie G.'s avatar

Yes, so the women aren't the ones making the choice, it's all about power!

As well, when the children of a second marriage that are sealed to the first husband, aren't we conditioning men to be less attached to their children? This sort of implies to the me "No worries, there will be more (women and children) to come." Then the ones that really do want to be attached to their own kids struggle with whether to marry a woman with a previous sealing, it's lose/lose for everyone.

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Linda Hamilton's avatar

Absolutely. Because women and children are status symbols and things that are interchangeable.

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Annette Evans Fazzino's avatar

It’s all disgusting.

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Lindsay's avatar

Ugh. This hits where it hurts. Thank you for telling it exactly like it is.

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Linda Hamilton's avatar

Sitting with you in that hurt ❤️❤️❤️

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Karen Johnson's avatar

It definitely does all unravel once you pull the threads. Which is why there is so much effort and control used to keep the patriarchal threads from being pulled. Great piece!!!!

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Lorie MacGregor-Briggs's avatar

Every. Word. Of. This. This is exactly what I see.

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Lorie MacGregor-Briggs's avatar

And also: why is it a bad thing to unravel a bit and then rebuild a better, stronger, healthier church? What are people in top positions afraid of?

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James's avatar

Probably what most people who are in a top position fear, not being on top anymore.

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Brynley Lazar (she/her)'s avatar

Nailed it.

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Tawna Allred's avatar

100 %

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Kandis Lake's avatar

WOW this is so concise and well done. Thanks for writing it. This system is a card house, indeed. #decanonize132

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Linda Hamilton's avatar

I would love to see it taken out entirely!

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