Current State of Polygamy in The LDS Church
See also: Origin of Latter Day Saint polygamy and Latter Day Saint polygamy in the late 19th centuryThe LDS church considers polygamy to have been a divinely inspired commandment that is supported by scripture, and it is discussed in a lesson on eternal marriage; it should be noted that plural marriage appears as part of the additional information section in the manual and it is explicitly not a focus of the lesson in the Sunday School curriculum in the modern church. However, the commandment of plural marriage is considered to have been taken back by God. President Joseph F. Smith has explained, "The doctrine is not repealed, the truth is not annulled, the law is right and just now as ever, but the observance of it is stopped".
The LDS Church has not tolerated plural marriages since the 1890 Manifesto was declared. However, all of the First Presidency and almost all of the apostles at that time continued to maintain multiple families into the twentieth century: they did not feel that they could dissolve existing unions and families. Scholarship beginning in the 1980s has led to estimates that the average incidence of polygamy during the 40 years in which it was a practice of the church was between 15-30%, depending on the years and location, including virtually all church leadership at the time. Polygamy was gradually discontinued after the 1904 Second Manifesto as no new plural marriages were allowed and as the older polygamists died off. Since the Second Manifesto, the policy of the LDS Church has been to excommunicate members who enter into or solemnize new plural marriages. The LDS Church does not teach the practice of plural marriage, nor does it have any formal ties with Mormon fundamentalist groups that do.
Read more about this topic: Current State Of Polygamy In The Latter Day Saint Movement
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