In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

56 2 Further Light and Knowledge Ideology and Culture For it is necessary in the ushering in of the dispensation of the fulness1 of times . . . that a whole and complete and perfect union, and welding together of dispensations, and keys, and powers, and glories should take place. —doctrine and covenants 128:18, 21 My first glimpse of polygamy twenty years ago presented a stark contrast to what I had read in the newspapers and what I had heard in my own orthodox Mormon congregation in Vernon, Utah. The women of the AUB branch of the Montana Bitterroots were not brainwashed victims of a cult led by “thugs, rapists , and lawbreakers” (Perkins 2003, 1). Here was a group of men and women who were struggling to feed and clothe their families and worship their God in their own way without interference. They entered plural marriage, seeking to revive an ancient and complex family form that is practiced by at least one-­ third of the world’s cultures (Driggs 2011; Altman 1996) and as much as 85 percent of human groups (Murdock 1967).2 I had expected to find rampant child sexual molestations and beaten and cloistered women reminiscent of some of the depictions of women’s lives in Afghanistan during the Taliban rule. Instead I found feminism, female autonomy, and widespread sharing. I found a subculture of people living in unique poly relationships with their own set of challenges and quirky, often contradictory, features such as food storage, herbalism, midwifery, Goddesshood, Jell-­ o salads, and Mother Earth News coinciding with beliefs in blood atonement, NRA advocacy, libertarianism , home schooling, gospel “mysteries,” the Savior on Mt. Zion, the Holy Priesthood, and the sisterhood. The essential survival ingredient for these polygamists was the ability to drop personal idiosyncrasies and stubborn pride and open themselves up completely to absolute sharing and reciprocity. The women developed a fierce interdependence with each other in the face of cold 57 ideology and culture weather and frequent absences of their husbands doing construction work and priesthood business in Utah, Oregon, and Mexico. Surprisingly, many of them experienced autonomy by forming efficient female economic and spiritual networks that included a Montessori school program, a wheat-­ grinding mill, a fruit cannery, and a dairy—all operated by the Relief Society, an auxiliary project led by women that was designed to help fulfill the needs of the community. This matrifocal network provided these women with shared childcare that enabled them to pursue an education or a career outside the community. It offered them relief in companionship and solidarity when they were abandoned by their husbands. Their husbands, on the other hand, seemed less content than their wives— always scurrying around from wife to wife, community to community, job to job, like vagabonds in search of themselves. How could they remember all those birthdays and anniversaries? I would often see Marvin, an Allred man, sitting alone in his Ford pickup right in front of one of his houses, asleep or reading. He was not anxious to enter a house where scores of kids and wives would make demands of him. I observed, that first winter, how hard the life can be on young men as well (something you never read about in the newspapers ) who compete for their father’s affections and stewardships with dozens of other brothers. They are also at risk for being expelled from the community when the population of men increases beyond capacity, as in the case of the FLDS group under the leadership of Warren Jeffs.3 The beliefs that give rise to such lifestyles are identical to mainstream Mormon ideology in many respects: the concept of the evolution of God; the belief in the atonement and resurrection; the use of core scriptures such as the Bible, the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price; the belief in a patrilineally established kingdom of heaven; the belief in the three degrees of glory; the Word of Wisdom (which encourages wholesome eating and the avoidance of alcohol and tobacco); and links to common pioneer ancestors who crossed the plains with Brigham Young. They also believe in various Mormon “Talmud”4 rules such as avoiding Coca-­ Cola, bargain-­ hunting, and mastering gardening. As in the LDS Church, fundamentalism is based on patriarchy; only men can hold the priesthood. Women and children learn to respect and obey their spiritual male “head.” And the male (often elderly) prophet is the conduit for direct revelation from God...

Share