Mormon Opinion Essay

In “Mormon Masculinity Changing Gender Expectations in the Era of Transition from Polygamy to Monogamy, 1890–1920,” Amy Hoyt and Sara M. Patterson argue that during the era of transition from polygamy to monogamy, there was a perceived crisis in the lives of Mormon boys. These events together resulted in a change in the notion of masculinity in the LDS church. Their thesis was “..during the period from 1890 to 1920, members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) perceived a crisis in the lives of their boys. That sense of crisis lay at the surface of an even deeper cultural upheaval taking place within Mormondom....With the transition from polygamy to monogamy, church members had to construct a new model for understanding marriage, family and sexuality...they were also forced to reconstruct their notions of masculinity (Hoyt and Patterson 72-73).”

Walker, Turley, and Leonard explain the reasons for high tension in Utah a different way. Instead of focusing about problems with the church like Denton, they explain about things happening around the church. They focus on how news of a coming U.S. army puts fear in the people. They quote Heber C. Kimball as saying “that the army wanted to take Mormon women back to the States” (Walker, Turley, Leonard 44). Also, the authors describe how Brigham Young also makes it seem like the second coming, where Christ comes to destroy the wicked, is near and that the people need to prepare for it. They also mention Brigham Young’s strict war policy. Within this war policy, they were to be frugal with all their supplies, and not sell or trade any of it to those of

This research will address the self-proclaimed prophet of the Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints, a sect of Mormonism based in Utah, Warren Jeffs and his cult of fear. Warren Jeffs had control over ten thousands of followers for nearly a decade. Warren Jeffs coerced young girls into polygamous marriages with older men. Jeffs is estimated to have over 70 wives. The media was shunned, and he created a hidden community where polygamy was prized above anything else. In 2007, after there was a two year FBI manhunt, Jeffs was convicted as an accomplice to rape. Warren Jeff's rise to power effort led to his fallout. Even after his conviction his followers believed that he was innocent and held onto his beliefs and practices.

One of the largest struggles for members in the church is animosity of non-members. On one hand, many express their dislike of the LDS church without even knowing what Sacrament Meeting is or the full the title of the “Mormon church” (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints). On the other hand, there are a number supposed experts about Mormon doctrine. Some have belonged to the Church themselves at one point, leaving after finding unresolved dissonance between their beliefs and the Gospel. Others are often learned scholars, criticizing the Mormon doctrine to prove their own views. The following paper involves the latter of the two in an analysis of Ezekiel 37:15-17, a Biblical scripture that the LDS Church believes to refer to The Book of Mormon.

In 1844, Joseph Smith, ecclesiastical leader of the Latter-day Saints and presidential candidate, was murdered by an angry mob. This mob was fostered by the release of a newspaper questioning Smith’s practices (including polygamy), qualifications, and intentions for his potential presidency. More than 150 years later, Mitt Romney, a member of the LDS Church, launched a presidential campaign and garnered forty-two percent of the popular vote. Although these two candidates share a faith, their political roles and views are substantially different. This is representative of the significant changes in the relationship between the Mormon church and the U.S. government.

People and religion are a part of everyday life. The world is sure to be empty without the existence of God’s creation. When people and religion are viewed as different, the history, beliefs, and practice are formed unrealistically by outsider, more so than an insider. In an interview with a LDS, the author attempts to write and summarize a Mormon‘s journey through life with God and others.

Mormonism was founded in the 1820s’ by Joseph Smith. Smith, wanting to expand his religious following migrated to Illinois where he established a settlement that included a temple of worship and a village (Green 57). In Illinois the Mormon peoples’ were met with threats, violence, and occasionally they were even killed. This was the case for their leader Joseph Smith; Smith was met with disgust from non-mormons when he attempted to run for presidency and his church riddled with scandal when the word of polygamy got out. With his tarnished reputation, Smith was ultimately murdered by an outraged mob, who then threatened other Mormons that if they did not leave they would be met with the same fate (Mormons into the West). With that warning, the Mormons picked a new leader, Brigham Young, who wanted to flee the American Border. Young set for travel with his new followers to the Great Salt Lake, which at the time was located in Mexico.

The African Methodist Episcopal and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Mormons) were just two of the many important denominations that increased religious participation. The African Methodist Episcopal was appealing to the African Americans because of its simplicity and active recruitment for African Americans specifically. The image “Negro Methodists Holding a Meeting in Philadelphia” displays a gathering of Methodist Africans as they experience a physical religious service. Furthermore, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, as argued by Shi and Tindall, was significant because of the introduction of the new practice polygamy. Both denominations helped change religious ideology and methods of worship through active religious services and polygamy, two concepts that display the notion of

The Mormon service I visited, had a few similarities but also a few distinct differences from the Catholic service that I am used to. Before this particular Sunday, I had never attended a Mormon service, nor had I spoken to anyone who believed in Mormonism or the “Latter Day Saints.” With that being said, I was welcomed much more openly than I had originally thought. Before entering, I was approached by two members of the church; two young women (sisters) between the ages of roughly 19 to 22. I arrived about an hour before service, that way I could ask a few people some questions, but the two girls beat me to the punch. They initially asked me if I had visited before and I responded saying that it was my first time, and I was attending as a student observer, with no intention of converting, but would love to learn about the faith. They nodded and proceeded to explain to me the reasons as to why they believed so strongly, and also a bit of background information on the faith. One of the girls, explained to me that there has been a lot of skepticism about Mormonism due in part to the fact that Joseph Smith Jr, was so young and how his explanation of “Moroni” (An angel no one had ever heard of), and his entire religion and the scripture used, “Book of Mormon,” could have just been a part of his imagination. The other girl told me how she was beginning to lose faith a couple years back, but she then regained it, after she experienced her own tests, and was able to get passed her

Despite the stereotype of Mormon women not having any rights living in a patriarchal lifestyle because of their polygamist beliefs, they ironically had more rights than most American women at the time. In the 1800’s, Mormon women and men were both given rights and they both dealt with child rearing (Kane 580). However, in typical American households, it was common for only women to handle child care in family life. Mormon women were involved in many different aspects of life including actions in politics, the economy and social gatherings (580). In an interview with Brigham Young, he said he loved, cherished and supported his wives. He even looked at some of them as mother figures (Greely). Women mattered in their husbands’ lives and were able to make a difference in the community.

their depression by changing their view of their role of homemaker and mother in the church. Unhappy LDS women sense that something is fundamentally

Smith attempted to utilize first amendment religious rights to maintain the legal concept of polygamy, which was not established as legal illegal within by Illinois laws, but, unfortunately, it was established determined that free exercise rights did not extend to religion. 5 Some members of the Mormon community in Nauvoo were against the idea of polygamy and its abuse by religious leaders and thus seceded themselves to fight against the Mormon movement in Nauvoo. 6 The dissenting members that seceded filed adultery charges against Joseph Smith on the basis of plural marriage. 7 Joseph Smith was ultimately murdered by a mob when he was being held in a jail near Nauvoo, at Carthage 8 Incidentally, Thomas C. Sharp, author of the Warsaw Signal, was named as a defendant in the murder trial for of Joseph Smith, on account of his strong connection to the anti-Mormon movement. 9

In speculation on Mormon belief, should a man have one wife or multiple we each have our own opinion. Stenhouse a disappointed woman makes good points on how she feels about the practice of how after joining the faith she now criticizes it. Stenhouse tells us that it doesn't matter how much faith the woman has in her religion or in plural marriages, that when her husband does take another wife after her estrangement will begin. Most people now would

Mormons have unfortunately faced many stereotypes and challenges over the religion’s relatively short history. As a matter of fact, stereotypes of Mormons got so bad that between the years of 1830 to 1930, the general media considered images of Mormons to be derogatory. As mentioned earlier, the rapid growth of the religion was great for Mormonism itself, but it also opened up an opportunity for the media to question the credibility and validity of the Book of Mormon. Negative stereotypes worsened in 1852, when the religion announced that plural marriage, or polygamy, was legal for its followers. Outsiders began to paint a picture in their heads that this was a religion full of disgusting, lustful males and foolish, gullible females.

In most religions have similar views to each other when it comes to sex but, also different, in other ways. But, the majority believes sex before marriage is a sin. I grew up as a Mormon in California. Sometimes I am a little embarrassed to tell people that. My family and I went to church every Sunday and we followed all the typical Mormon rules. I could not date until sixteen, I dressed modestly so I did not tempt men to want sex with me, and I was expected to wait to have sex until I was married. Although, I do not consider myself a Mormon anymore it has really affected the way I view sex.