Standing Firm
Susan Harmon
Commentary Editor
This commentary is meant to clear up any misconceptions I may have caused in my previous commentary titled "Polygamist Ranch Shows Downside of Organized Religion." To view the article, please click here.
According to LDS.org, “The practice (of polygamy) began during the lifetime of Joseph Smith, but became publicly and widely known during the time of Brigham Young.”
Young, former president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, had many wives and children until The Manifesto of 1890 was introduced by President Woodruff to end the practice of polygamy.
So Mormons once practiced polygamy, but stopped because of the Manifesto of 1890 which prompted the separation of the original Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints into other groups who didn’t want to follow the rules of The Manifesto of 1890.
I bet you are wondering how I knew this. On the Mormon.org Web site, there is a chat live button where you can speak to a member of the LDS. So, I did, which brings me to the topic of The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. They actually were one of the groups that branched off in the 1930s. I didn’t mention this fact in order to criticize the current members of the LDS, only to state the reason why the LDS’ name was incorporated into the polygamist group’s name. There are, now, two distinct groups.
Something else I feel the need to distinguish is that I never said organized religion was a cult, but merely stated that according to the American Heritage Dictionary’s definition of cult, some people in society may view the two groups as having similarities. These similarities could possibly cause suspicions of other religious groups.
The word "cult" has been associated by society as a group that practices different views than the ones who are using the word “cult” to describe them. If I were politically correct, in which I stated in the previous commentary that I wasn’t, I would’ve used the word religious movement or non-Christian believers. But I’m not politically correct and since my previous opinions were, just that, opinions, there would be no need to become offended.
I also wanted to clear up that, in my previous commentary, I did state the horrible incidents which involved the women and children within the FLDS ranch. I believe the authorities handled the situation properly, though I feel sympathy for the women whose children were taken from them and the brainwashed women who had the opportunity to leave and went back to the ranch instead. Hopefully, the offenders will eventually be discovered and punished.
I wrote the previous commentary in order to express my views, not to shock anyone. If anyone has turned on their television or listened to the radio, they would know about this event, and if any shock came from my commentary it would be for those whom were clueless about the incident. I usually include a quote in my commentaries and found this one acceptable.
“Opinions cannot survive if one has no chance to fight for them.”- Alain Rene Le Sage
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