SCRIPTURE: “Therefore, prepare thy heart to receive and obey the instructions which I am about to give unto you; for all those who have this law revealed unto them must obey the same. For behold, I reveal unto you a new and an everlasting covenant; and if ye abide not that covenant, then are ye damned; for no one can reject this covenant and be permitted to enter into my glory.” –D&C 132:3-4. [source]
MODERN PROPHET: “I condemn it, yes, as a practice, because I think it is not doctrinal. It is not legal. And this church takes the position that we will abide by the law. We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, magistrates in honoring, obeying and sustaining the law.” –Gordon B. Hinckley, on Larry King Live, 8 September 1998. [source]
COMMENTARY: I’ve never understood the duality of the Mormon position on polygamy. The fact is that Joseph Smith practiced it. The fact is that the scriptures teach that it is an essential doctrine. The fact is that the church currently condemns its practice because it is illegal, while still trying to hold up Joseph Smith as the model of a prophet, even though it was illegal in his day, too. The way I see it, you can’t have it both ways. But what do I know? I’m just another apostate.
