Editing Polygamy (section)

===Christianity===
{{Main|Polygamy in Christianity}}
Although the [[Old Testament]] describes numerous examples of polygamy among devotees to God, most Christian groups have rejected the practice of polygamy and have upheld [[monogamy]] alone as normative. Nevertheless, some Christians groups in different periods have practiced, or currently do practice, polygamy.<ref name="Nyami2018">{{cite web |last1=Nyami |first1=Faith |title=Cleric: Christian men can marry more than one wife |url=https://www.nation.co.ke/news/-Christian-men-can-marry-more-than-one-wife/1056-4299848-dtv96mz/index.html |publisher=[[Daily Nation]] |access-date=9 October 2019 |language=en |date=11 February 2018 |archive-date=4 April 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180404163551/https://www.nation.co.ke/news/-Christian-men-can-marry-more-than-one-wife/1056-4299848-dtv96mz/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Mamdani2008">{{cite web |last1=Mamdani |first1=Zehra |title=Idaho Evangelical Christian polygamists use Internet to meet potential spouses |url=https://www.deseret.com/2008/2/28/20073463/idaho-evangelical-christian-polygamists-use-internet-to-meet-potential-spouses |publisher=[[Deseret News]] |access-date=9 October 2019 |language=en |date=28 February 2008 |archive-date=25 December 2020 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20201225040448/https://www.deseret.com/2008/2/28/20073463/idaho-evangelical-christian-polygamists-use-internet-to-meet-potential-spouses |url-status=live }}</ref> Some Christians actively debate whether the [[New Testament]] or [[Christian ethics]] allows or forbids polygamy.

In the [[New Testament]], Jesus recalled the earlier [[scriptures]], noting that a man and a wife "shall become one flesh".<ref>{{bibleverse||Genesis|2:24|ESV}}, {{bibleverse||Matthew|19:3–6|ESV}}</ref> 
Paul stated in one of his letters that "For the wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. Likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does".<ref name="ReferenceA">{{bibleverse||1 Corinthians|7:4|ESV}}</ref>

However, some look to [[Paul of Tarsus|Paul]]'s writings to the [[First Epistle to the Corinthians|Corinthians]]: "Do you not know that he who is joined to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For, as it is written, 'The two will become one flesh.{{'"}} Supporters of polygamy claim that this verse indicates that the term refers to a physical, rather than a spiritual,{{clarify|date=February 2016}} union.<ref>{{bibleverse||1 Corinthians|6:16|ESV}}</ref> Such a claim also contradicts Paul's statement regarding authority other each other's bodies.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>

Some Christian theologians<ref>{{cite web|last=Wilber|first=David|date=26 August 2021|title=Monogamy: God's Creational Marriage Ideal|url=https://davidwilber.com/articles/monogamy-gods-creational-marriage-ideal|access-date=29 November 2021|archive-date=29 November 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211129215031/https://davidwilber.com/articles/monogamy-gods-creational-marriage-ideal|url-status=live}}</ref> argue that in Matthew 19:3–9 and referring to Genesis 2:24,<ref>{{bibleverse|Genesis|2:24}}</ref> [[Jesus]] explicitly states a man should have only one wife:
{{blockquote|Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female, And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh?<ref>{{bibleverse|Matthew|19:3–9}}</ref>}}

1 Timothy 3:2 states:
{{blockquote|Now a bishop must be above reproach, married only once, temperate, sensible, respectable, hospitable, an apt teacher,<ref>{{bibleverse|1 Timothy|3:2|NRSV}}</ref>}} See verse 12 regarding deacons having only one wife. Similar counsel is repeated in the first chapter of the [[Epistle to Titus]].<ref>The Digital [[Nestle-Aland]] lists only one manuscript (P46) as source of the verse, while nine other manuscripts have no such verse, cf. http://nttranscripts.uni-muenster.de/AnaServer?NTtranscripts+0+start.anv {{Webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20120530215112/http://nttranscripts.uni-muenster.de/AnaServer?NTtranscripts+0+start.anv |date=30 May 2012 }}</ref>

Periodically, Christian reform movements that have sought to rebuild Christian doctrine based on the Bible alone (''[[sola scriptura]]'') have temporarily accepted polygyny as a Biblical practice. For example, during the [[Protestant Reformation]], in a document which was simply referred to as ''"Der Beichtrat"'' (or ''"The Confessional Advice"'' ),<ref>[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_kqyauQISxFEC <!-- quote=Dr. Martin Luthers Briefe, Sendschreiben. --> Letter to Philip of Hesse], 10 December 1539, [[De Wette]]-Seidemann, 6:238–244</ref> [[Martin Luther]] granted the [[Landgrave]] [[Philip of Hesse]], who, for many years, had been living "constantly in a state of [[adultery]] and [[fornication]]",<ref name="Michelet1904">{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/lifelutherwritt00luthgoog |title=The Life of Luther Written by Himself |date=1904 |page=[https://archive.org/details/lifelutherwritt00luthgoog/page/n271 251] |chapter=Chapter&nbsp;III: 1536–1545 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/stream/lifelutherwritt00luthgoog#page/n271 |editor-last=Michelet |editor-link=Jules Michelet |translator-first=William |translator-last=Hazlitt |translator-link=William Hazlitt |publisher=[[George Bell and Sons]] |location=London |series=Bohn's Standard Library}}</ref> a dispensation to take a second wife. The double marriage was to be done in secret, however, to avoid public scandal.<ref>[[James Bowling Mozley]] ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=ofwE7kEdx6QC&pg=PA403 Essays, Historical and Theological]'' 1:403–404 Excerpts from ''Der Beichtrat''</ref> Some fifteen years earlier, in a letter to the Saxon Chancellor Gregor Brück, Luther stated that he could not "forbid a person to marry several wives, for it does not contradict Scripture." ("''Ego sane fateor, me non posse prohibere, si quis plures velit uxores ducere, nec repugnat sacris literis.''")<ref>Letter to the Chancellor [[:de:Gregor Brück|Gregor Brück]], 13 January 1524, [[De Wette]] 2:459.</ref>

In [[Sub-Saharan Africa]], tensions have frequently erupted between advocates of the Christian insistence on monogamy and advocates of the traditional practice of polygamy. For instance, [[Mswati III]], the Christian [[List of monarchs of Eswatini|king of Eswatini]], has 15 wives. In some instances in recent times, there have been moves for accommodation; in other instances, churches have strongly resisted such moves. African Independent Churches have sometimes referred to those parts of the [[Old Testament]] that describe polygamy in defense of the practice.

The illegality of polygamy in certain areas creates, according to certain Bible passages, additional arguments against it. [[Paul the Apostle]] writes "submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also because of conscience" (Romans 13:5), for "the authorities that exist have been established by God." (Romans 13:1) [[St Peter]] concurs when he says to "submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every authority instituted among men: whether to the king, as the supreme authority, or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right." (1 Peter 2:13,14) Pro-polygamists argue that, as long as polygamists currently do not obtain legal marriage licenses nor seek "common law marriage status" for additional spouses, no enforced laws are being broken any more than when monogamous couples similarly co-habitate without a marriage license.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.biblicalpolygamy.com/exegesis/law-of-the-land/|title=Law of the Land – Exegesis – Biblical Polygamy . com|website=biblicalpolygamy.com|access-date=8 July 2005|archive-date=31 August 2005|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050831072406/http://www.biblicalpolygamy.com/exegesis/law-of-the-land/|url-status=live}}</ref>

====Roman Catholic Church====
The Roman [[Catholic Church]] condemns polygamy; the ''[[Catechism of the Catholic Church]]'' lists it in paragraph 2387 under the head "Other offenses against the dignity of marriage" and states that it "is not in accord with the moral law." Also in paragraph 1645 under the head "The Goods and Requirements of Conjugal Love" states "The unity of marriage, distinctly recognized by our Lord, is made clear in the equal personal dignity which must be accorded to husband and wife in mutual and unreserved affection. Polygamy is contrary to conjugal love which is undivided and exclusive."<ref>{{cite web
 |first        = Kelvin
 |last         = Ugwu
 |title        = Understanding The Scriptural Teaching on Polygamy
 |url          = https://penshuttle.com/understanding-the-scriptural-teaching-on-polygamy/
 |date         = 28 April 2022
 |publisher    = Pen Shuttle
 |access-date   = 28 April 2022
 |archive-date = 28 April 2022
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20220428183734/https://penshuttle.com/understanding-the-scriptural-teaching-on-polygamy/
 |url-status   = dead
}}</ref>

Saint [[Augustine of Hippo|Augustine]] saw a conflict with Old Testament polygamy. He refrained from judging the patriarchs, but did not deduce from their practice the ongoing acceptability of polygyny. On the contrary, he argued that the polygamy of the Fathers, which was tolerated by the Creator because of fertility, was a diversion from His original plan for human marriage. Augustine wrote: "That the good purpose of marriage, however, is better promoted by one husband with one wife, than by a husband with several wives, is shown plainly enough by the very first union of a married pair, which was made by the Divine Being Himself."<ref>[[s:Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers: Series I/Volume V/On Marriage and Concupiscence/Book I/Chapter 10|''On Marriage and Concupiscence'', I,10]]</ref>

Augustine taught that the reason patriarchs had many wives was not because of fornication, but because they wanted more children. He supported his premise by showing that their marriages, in which husband was the head, were arranged according to the rules of good management: those who are ''in command'' (''quae principantur'') in their society were always singular, while ''subordinates'' (''subiecta'') were multiple. He gave two examples of such relationships: ''dominus-servus'' – master-servant (in older translation: ''slave'') and ''God-soul''. The Bible often equates worshiping multiple gods, i.e. idolatry to fornication.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Marcus |first=Joel |title=Idolatry in the New Testament |journal=Interpretation |date=April 2006 |volume=60 |issue=2 |pages=152–164 |doi=10.1177/002096430606000203|s2cid=170288252 }}</ref> Augustine relates to that: "On this account there is no True God of souls, save One: but one soul by means of many false gods may commit fornication, but not be made fruitful."<ref>[[s:Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers: Series I/Volume III/Moral Treatises of St. Augustin/On the Good of Marriage/Section 20|Augustine, ''On the Good of Marriage'', ch. 20]]; cf. [[s:Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers: Series I/Volume V/On Marriage and Concupiscence/Book I/Chapter 10|''On Marriage and Concupiscence'', I,10]]</ref>

As tribal populations grew, fertility was no longer a valid justification of polygamy: it "was lawful among the ancient fathers: whether it be lawful now also, I would not hastily pronounce (utrum et nunc fas sit, non temere dixerim). For there is not now necessity of begetting children, as there then was, when, even when wives bear children, it was allowed, in order to a more numerous posterity, to marry other wives in addition, which now is certainly not lawful."<ref>St. Augustin [[s:Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers: Series I/Volume III/Moral Treatises of St. Augustin/On the Good of Marriage/Section 17|''On the Good of Marriage'', ch.17]]; cf. [[s:Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers: Series I/Volume V/On Marriage and Concupiscence/Book I/Chapter 9|''On Marriage and Concupiscence'', I,9.8]]</ref>

Augustine saw marriage as a covenant between one man and one woman, which may not be broken. It was the Creator who established monogamy: "Therefore, the first natural bond of human society is man and wife."<ref>[[s:Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers: Series I/Volume III/Moral Treatises of St. Augustin/On the Good of Marriage/Section 1|''On the Good of Marriage'', ch.1]]</ref> Such marriage was confirmed by the Saviour in the Gospel of Matthew (Mat 19:9) and by His presence at the wedding in Cana (John 2:2).<ref>[[s:Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers: Series I/Volume III/Moral Treatises of St. Augustin/On the Good of Marriage/Section 3|''On the Good of Marriage'', ch.3]]</ref> In the Church—the City of God—marriage is a sacrament and may not and cannot be dissolved as long as the spouses live: "But a marriage once for all entered upon in the City of our God, where, even from the first union of the two, the man and the woman, marriage bears a certain sacramental character, can in no way be dissolved but by the death of one of them."<ref>[[s:Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers: Series I/Volume III/Moral Treatises of St. Augustin/On the Good of Marriage/Section 17|''On the Good of Marriage'', 17]]</ref> In chapter 7, Augustine pointed out that the Roman Empire forbad polygamy, even if the reason of fertility would support it: "For it is in a man's power to put away a wife that is barren, and marry one of whom to have children. And yet it is not allowed; and now indeed in our times, and after the usage of Rome (nostris quidem iam temporibus ac more Romano), neither to marry in addition, so as to have more than one wife living." Further on he notices that the Church's attitude goes much further than the secular law regarding monogamy: It forbids remarrying, considering such to be a form of fornication: "And yet, save in the City of our God, in His Holy Mount, the case is not such with the wife. But, that the laws of the Gentiles are otherwise, who is there that knows not."<ref>Augustine, [[s:Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers: Series I/Volume III/Moral Treatises of St. Augustin/On the Good of Marriage/Section 7|''On the Good of Marriage'', ch. 7]]</ref>

The Council of Trent condemns polygamy: "If anyone saith, that it is lawful for Christians to have several wives at the same time, and that this is not prohibited by any divine law; let him be [[anathema]]."<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.papalencyclicals.net/councils/trent/twenty-fourth-session.htm| title = PapalEncyclicals: Council of Trenty, 24th Sessions| date = 11 November 1563| access-date = 14 April 2019| archive-date = 14 April 2019| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190414024049/http://www.papalencyclicals.net/councils/trent/twenty-fourth-session.htm| url-status = live}}</ref>

In modern times a minority of Roman Catholic theologians have argued that polygamy, though not ideal, can be a legitimate form of Christian marriage in certain regions, in particular Africa.<ref>"''The Ratzinger report: an exclusive interview on the state of the Church Pope Benedict XVI, Vittorio Messori"'', p.&nbsp;195, Ignatius Press, 1985, {{ISBN|0-89870-080-9}}</ref><ref>"''Morality: The Case for Polygamy",'' Time Magazine, 10 May 1968, [https://web.archive.org/web/20090205142602/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,902227,00.html time.com] and "''Christianity and the African imagination: essays in honour of [[Adrian Hastings]]''", edited by David Maxwell with Ingrid Lawrie, p.&nbsp;345–346, Brill, 2002, {{ISBN|90-04-11668-0}}</ref> The Roman Catholic Church teaches in its Catechism that: <blockquote>
polygamy is not in accord with the moral law. [Conjugal] communion is radically contradicted by polygamy; this, in fact, directly negates the plan of God that was revealed from the beginning, because it is contrary to the equal personal dignity of men and women who in matrimony give themselves with a love that is total and therefore unique and exclusive.<ref>[https://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p3s2c2a6.htm Catholic Cathechism, para. 2387] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020910104753/https://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p3s2c2a6.htm |date=10 September 2002 }} 5 April 2009, Vatican website</ref></blockquote>

====Lutheran Church====
The [[Lutheran World Federation]] hosted a regional conference in Africa, in which the acceptance of polygamists into full membership by the Lutheran Church in Liberia was defended as being permissible.<ref>{{cite book|last=Deressa|first=Yonas |title=The Ministry of the Whole Person|year=1973|publisher=Gudina Tumsa Foundation|language=en|page=350}}</ref> The Lutheran Church in Liberia, however, does not permit polygamists who have become Christians to marry more wives after they have received the sacrament of [[Baptism|Holy Baptism]].<ref name="KilbridePage2012">{{cite book|last1=Kilbride|first1=Philip Leroy|last2=Page|first2=Douglas R.|title=Plural Marriage for Our Times: A Reinvented Option?|year=2012|publisher=ABC-CLIO|language=en|isbn=9780313384783|page=188}}</ref> Evangelical Lutheran missionaries in Maasai also tolerate the practice of polygamy and in Southern Sudan, some polygamists are becoming Lutheran Christians.<ref name="Moses2016">{{cite book|last=Mlenga|first=Moses|title=Polygamy in Northern Malawi: A Christian Reassessment|date=13 January 2016|publisher=Mzuni Press|language=en|isbn=9789996045097|pages=41–42}}</ref>

====Anglican Communion====
The 1988 [[Lambeth Conference]] of the [[Anglican Communion]] ruled that polygamy was permissible in certain circumstances:<ref name="Draper2003">{{cite book|last=Draper|first=Jonathan A.|title=The Eye of the Storm: Bishop John William Colenso and the Crisis of Biblical Inspiration|date=1 April 2003|publisher=A&C Black|language=en|isbn=9780826470904|page=304}}</ref>
{{blockquote|The Conference upholds monogamy as God's plan, as the idea of relationship of love between husband and wife; nevertheless recommends that a polygamist who responds to the Gospel and wishes to join the Anglican Church may be baptized and confirmed with his believing wives and children on the following conditions: 
*that the polygamist shall promise not to marry again as long as any of his wives at the time of his conversion are alive; 
*that the receiving of such a polygamist has the consent of the local Anglican community; 
*that such a polygamist shall not be compelled to put away any of his wives on account of the social deprivation they would suffer.<ref name="Draper2003"/>}}

====Latter Day Saint movement====
{{LDSpolygamy}}
{{main|Mormonism and polygamy}}
{{see also|List of Latter Day Saint practitioners of plural marriage}}
In accordance with what Joseph Smith indicated was a revelation, the practice of plural marriage, the marriage of one man to two or more women, was instituted among members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the early 1840s.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/topics/plural-marriage-and-families-in-early-utah?lang=eng&old=true|title=Polygamy (Plural Marriage) {{!}} LDS Church Perspective on Polygamy|website=ChurchofJesusChrist.org|access-date=2017-04-18|archive-date=28 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200728085801/https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/topics/plural-marriage-and-families-in-early-utah?lang=eng&old=true|url-status=live}}</ref> Despite Smith's revelation, the 1835 edition of the 101st Section of the ''Doctrine and Covenants'', written after the doctrine of plural marriage began to be practiced, publicly condemned polygamy. This scripture was used by [[John Taylor (1808–1887)|John Taylor]] in 1850 to quash Mormon polygamy rumors in [[Liverpool, England]].<ref>Three nights public discussion between the Revds. C. W. Cleeve, James Robertson, and Philip Cater, and Elder John Taylor, Of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, At Boulogne-Sur-Mer, France. Chairman, Rev. K. Groves, M.A., Assisted By Charles Townley, LL.D., and Mr. Luddy. pp.&nbsp;8–9</ref> Polygamy was made illegal in the state of [[Illinois]]<ref>Greiner & Sherman, Revised Laws of Illinois, 1833, pp.&nbsp;198–199</ref> during the 1839–44 [[Nauvoo, Illinois|Nauvoo]] era when several top Mormon leaders, including Smith,<ref name="Compton1996">{{cite journal |first=Todd |last=Compton |author-link=Todd Compton |title=A Trajectory of Plurality: An Overview of Joseph Smith's Thirty‑three Plural Wives |journal=Dialogue |volume=29 |issue=2 |pages=1–38 |date=1996 |doi=10.2307/45226184 |jstor=45226184 |s2cid=254388739 |issn=0012-2157 |oclc=929467668 |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref name="Smith1994">{{cite journal |last=Smith |first=George D |author-link=George D. Smith |title=Nauvoo Roots of Mormon Polygamy, 1841–46: A Preliminary Demographic Report |journal=Dialogue |volume=27 |issue=1 |pages=1–72 |date=1994 |doi=10.2307/45228320 |jstor=45228320 |s2cid=254329894 |issn=0012-2157 |oclc=367616792 |url=https://www.dialoguejournal.com/wp-content/uploads/sbi/articles/Dialogue_V34N0102_135.pdf |access-date=22 June 2018 |archive-date=13 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181013041433/http://www.dialoguejournal.com/wp-content/uploads/sbi/articles/Dialogue_V34N0102_135.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Brigham Young]] and [[Heber C. Kimball]] took multiple wives. Mormon elders who publicly taught that all men were commanded to enter plural marriage were subject to harsh discipline.<ref>[http://www.centerplace.org/history/ts/v5n03.htm Times and Seasons, vol.&nbsp;5, p.&nbsp;423] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070807095056/http://www.centerplace.org/history/ts/v5n03.htm |date=7 August 2007 }}, 1 February 1844</ref> On 7 June 1844 the ''[[Nauvoo Expositor]]'' criticized Smith for plural marriage.

=====The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church)=====
After [[Death of Joseph Smith|Joseph Smith]] was killed by a mob on 27 June 1844, the main body of Latter Day Saints left Nauvoo and followed Brigham Young to [[Utah]] where the practice of plural marriage continued.<ref>{{cite AV media |url=http://www.mscbc.org/video/vid_lvp.htm |title=Lifting the Veil of Polygamy |year=2007 |publisher=Main Street Church |postscript=, |access-date=11 October 2009 |archive-date=23 December 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091223034316/http://www.mscbc.org/video/vid_lvp.htm |url-status=live }} a video presentation concerning the history of Mormon polygamy and its modern manifestations.</ref> In 1852, [[Brigham Young]], the second [[President of the Church (LDS Church)|president]] of the LDS Church, publicly acknowledged the practice of plural marriage through a sermon he gave. Additional sermons by top Mormon leaders on the virtues of polygamy followed.<ref>{{cite journal |journal=[[Journal of Discourses]] |volume=11 |pages=119–128 |first=Brigham |last=Young |author-link=Brigham Young |date=18 June 1865 |title=Personality of God – His Attributes – Eternal Life, etc. |url=http://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/cdm/ref/collection/JournalOfDiscourses3/id/4640 |quote=Since the founding of the Roman empire monogamy has prevailed more extensively than in times previous to that. The founders of that ancient empire were robbers and women stealers, and made laws favoring monogamy in consequence of the scarcity of women among them, and hence this monogamic system which now prevails throughout Christendom, and which had been so fruitful a source of prostitution and whoredom throughout all the Christian monogamic cities of the Old and New World, until rottenness and decay are at the root of their institutions both national and religious. |access-date=24 October 2013 |archive-date=29 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029200242/http://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/cdm/ref/collection/JournalOfDiscourses3/id/4640 |url-status=live }}</ref>{{rp|128}} Controversy followed when polygamy became a social cause, writers began to publish works condemning polygamy. The key plank of the [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party]]'s 1856 [[Party platform|platform]] was "to prohibit in the territories those twin relics of barbarism, polygamy and slavery".<ref>[http://www.ushistory.org/gop/convention_1856.htm GOP Convention of 1856 in Philadelphia] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071010053517/http://www.ushistory.org/gop/convention_1856.htm |date=10 October 2007 }} from the Independence Hall Association website</ref> In 1862, [[37th United States Congress|Congress]] issued the [[Morrill Anti-Bigamy Act]] which clarified that the practice of polygamy was illegal in all [[Organized incorporated territories of the United States|US territories]]. The LDS Church believed that their religiously based practice of plural marriage was protected by the [[United States Constitution]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/data/constitution/amendment01/05.html |title=Free Exercise Clause – First Amendment |publisher=Caselaw.lp.findlaw.com |access-date=13 September 2011 |archive-date=28 June 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110628192616/http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/data/constitution/amendment01/05.html |url-status=live }}</ref> however, the unanimous 1878 [[U.S. Supreme Court|Supreme Court]] decision ''[[Reynolds v. United States]]'' declared that polygamy was not protected by the Constitution, based on the longstanding legal principle that "laws are made for the government of actions, and while they cannot interfere with mere religious belief and opinions, they may with practices."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?navby=search&court=US&case=/us/98/145.html|title=FindLaw's United States Supreme Court case and opinions.|website=Findlaw|access-date=4 May 2006|archive-date=29 April 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060429103035/http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?navby=search&court=US&case=/us/98/145.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

Increasingly harsh anti-polygamy legislation in the US led some Mormons to emigrate to [[Canada]] and [[Mexico]]. In 1890, LDS Church president [[Wilford Woodruff]] issued a public declaration (the [[1890 Manifesto|Manifesto]]) announcing that the LDS Church had discontinued new plural marriages. [[Anti-Mormonism|Anti-Mormon sentiment]] waned, as did opposition to statehood for [[Utah]]. The [[Smoot Hearings]] in 1904, which documented that the LDS Church was still practicing polygamy spurred the LDS Church to issue a [[Second Manifesto]] again claiming that it had ceased performing new plural marriages. By 1910 the LDS Church [[excommunicate]]d those who entered into, or performed, new plural marriages. Even so, many plural husbands and wives continued to cohabit until their deaths in the 1940s and 1950s.<ref name=UHE-Polygamy>{{cite encyclopedia |first=Jessie L. |last=Embry |contribution=Polygamy |contribution-url=http://www.uen.org/utah_history_encyclopedia/p/POLYGAMY.html |editor-last=Powell |editor-first=Allan Kent |year=1994 |title=Utah History Encyclopedia |location=Salt Lake City, Utah |publisher=[[University of Utah Press]] |isbn=978-0874804256 |oclc=30473917 |access-date=30 October 2013 |archive-date=17 April 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170417163937/http://www.uen.org/utah_history_encyclopedia/p/POLYGAMY.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Enforcement of the 1890 Manifesto caused various [[Schism (religion)|splinter groups]] to leave the LDS Church in order to continue the practice of plural marriage.<ref>[http://attorneygeneral.utah.gov/polygamy/The_Primer.pdf "The Primer"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070719143759/http://attorneygeneral.utah.gov/polygamy/The_Primer.pdf |date=19 July 2007 }} – Helping Victims of Domestic Violence and Child Abuse in Polygamous Communities. A joint report from the offices of the Attorneys General of Arizona and Utah. (2006)</ref> Polygamy among these groups persists today in [[Utah]] and neighboring states as well as in the spin-off colonies. Polygamist churches of Mormon origin are often referred to as "[[Mormon fundamentalism|Mormon fundamentalist]]" churches even though they are not parts of the LDS Church. Such fundamentalists often use a purported [[1886 revelation]] to [[John Taylor (1808–1887)|John Taylor]] as the basis for their authority to continue the practice of plural marriage.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mormonfundamentalism.com/NEWFILES/1886RevelationNew.htm |title=An 1886 Revelation to John Taylor |publisher=Mormonfundamentalism.com |access-date=13 September 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110921072222/http://www.mormonfundamentalism.com/NEWFILES/1886RevelationNew.htm |archive-date=21 September 2011 }}</ref> ''[[The Salt Lake Tribune]]'' stated in 2005 that there were as many as 37,000 fundamentalists with less than half of them living in polygamous households.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sltrib.com/utah/ci_2925222 |title=LDS splinter groups growing |first=Brooke |last=Adams |date=9 August 2005 |work=[[The Salt Lake Tribune]] |issn=0746-3502 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140113202411/http://www.sltrib.com/utah/ci_2925222 |archive-date=13 January 2014 }}</ref>

On 13 December 2013, US Federal Judge Clark Waddoups ruled in ''[[Brown v. Buhman]]'' that the portions of Utah's anti-polygamy laws which prohibit multiple [[cohabitation]] were unconstitutional, but also allowed Utah to maintain its ban on multiple marriage licenses.<ref name=yyyuhs>{{cite web | url=https://www.scribd.com/doc/191409187/Utah-Polygamy-Decision | title=Utah Polygamy Decision &#124; Mormonism and Polygamy &#124; Polygamy | access-date=8 September 2017 | archive-date=6 March 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306052340/https://www.scribd.com/doc/191409187/Utah-Polygamy-Decision | url-status=live }}</ref>{{unreliable source?|date=December 2013}}<ref>{{cite news |last=Schwartz |first=John |date=14 September 2013 |title=A Law Prohibiting Polygamy is Weakened |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/15/us/a-utah-law-prohibiting-polygamy-is-weakened.html |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=13 January 2014 |url-access=limited |archive-date=12 January 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140112161433/http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/15/us/a-utah-law-prohibiting-polygamy-is-weakened.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Mears |first=Bill |date=14 December 2013 |url=http://www.cnn.com/2013/12/14/justice/utah-polygamy-law/ |title='Sister Wives' case: Judge strikes down part of Utah polygamy law |publisher=CNN |access-date=13 January 2014 |archive-date=12 January 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140112161550/http://www.cnn.com/2013/12/14/justice/utah-polygamy-law/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Stack |first=Peggy Fletcher |author-link=Peggy Fletcher Stack |date=14 December 2013 |url=https://archive.sltrib.com/article.php?id=57264020&itype=CMSID |title=Laws on Mormon polygamists lead to win for plural marriage |work=[[The Salt Lake Tribune]] |issn=0746-3502 |access-date=13 January 2014 |archive-date=6 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170806062415/http://archive.sltrib.com/article.php?id=57264020&itype=CMSID |url-status=live }}</ref> Unlawful cohabitation, where prosecutors did not need to prove that a marriage ceremony had taken place (only that a couple had lived together), had been the primary tool used to prosecute polygamy in Utah since the 1882 [[Edmunds Act]].<ref name=UHE-Polygamy/>

=====Mormon fundamentalism=====
The [[Council of Friends (Woolley)|Council of Friends]] (also known as the Woolley Group and the Priesthood Council)<ref>''Religious Sects, and Cults That Sprang from Mormonism'' (Salt Lake City: Daughters of Utah Pioneers Central Company, 1942).</ref><ref>{{cite journal |first=Joseph W. |last=Musser |author-link=Joseph White Musser |title=Factions |journal=Truth |volume=9 |issue=24 |date=September 1943 |pages=94–96}}</ref> was one of the original expressions of [[Mormon fundamentalism]], having its origins in the teachings of [[Lorin C. Woolley]], a dairy farmer excommunicated from the LDS Church in 1924. Several Mormon fundamentalist groups claim lineage through the Council of Friends, including but not limited to, the [[Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints]] (FLDS Church), the [[Apostolic United Brethren]], the [[Centennial Park group]], the [[Latter Day Church of Christ]], and the [[Righteous Branch of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]].

=====Community of Christ=====
The [[Community of Christ]], known as the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (RLDS Church) prior to 2001, has never sanctioned polygamy since its foundation in 1860. [[Joseph Smith&nbsp;III]], the first Prophet-President of the RLDS Church following the reorganization of the Church, was an ardent opponent of the practice of [[plural marriage]] throughout his life. For most of his career, Smith denied that his father had been involved in the practice and insisted that it had originated with Brigham Young. Smith served many missions to the western United States, where he met with and interviewed associates and women claiming to be widows of his father, who attempted to present him with evidence to the contrary. Smith typically responded to such accusations by saying that he was "not positive nor sure that {{bracket|his father}} was innocent",<ref name="Launius1987">{{cite journal |first=Roger D. |last=Launius |author-link=Roger D. Launius |title=Methods and Motives: Joseph Smith&nbsp;III's Opposition to Polygamy, 1860–90 |journal=Dialogue |volume=20 |issue=4 |page=112 |date=1987 |doi=10.2307/45228113 |jstor=45228113 |s2cid=254387866 |issn=0012-2157 |oclc=365871238 |quote=When challenged this way he typically responded .&nbsp;.&nbsp;. 'I am not positive nor sure that he was innocent'. |doi-access=free }}</ref> and that if, indeed, the elder Smith had been involved, it was still a false practice. However, many members of the [[Community of Christ]] and some of the groups that were previously associated with it are not convinced that Joseph Smith practiced plural marriage and they believe that the evidence which indicates that he practiced it is flawed.<ref name="Promeet2013">{{cite encyclopedia |url=http://academic.eb.com/EBchecked/topic/498278/Community-of-Christ |title=Community of Christ |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |date=6 October 2013 |access-date=1 February 2016 |first1=Dutta |last1=Promeet |first2=Yamini |last2=Chauhan |location=London |orig-year=1st&nbsp;pub.&nbsp;14 June 2007 |url-access=subscription |quote=The Community of Christ .&nbsp;.&nbsp;. claims that polygamy was introduced by Brigham&nbsp;Young and his associates and that the revelation on polygamy, which was made public in 1852 by Young in Utah .&nbsp;.&nbsp;. was not in harmony with the original tenets of the church or with the teachings and practices of Smith. |archive-date=28 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200728085828/https://academic.eb.com/?target=%2Flevels%2Fcollegiate%2Farticle%2FCommunity-of-Christ%2F63220 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.restorationbookstore.org/jsfp-index.htm|title=Joseph Smith Fought Polygamy|website=restorationbookstore.org|access-date=2 June 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150218120109/https://www.islamonline.in/2020/06/polygamy-in-islam.html|archive-date=18 February 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref>