Monthly Archives: August 2021

Religions have differing views on marriage and polygamy. For example, because Buddhism does not regard marriage as a sacrament and only a secular affair, forms of marriage vary by country. For example, Thailand legally recognized polygamy in 1955, and Myanmar outlawed polygyny in 2015.

In Christianity, the Roman Catholic Church condemns polygamy. The Lutheran Church accepts some polygamists. The Anglican Communion ruled that polygamy was permissible in certain circumstances in 1988.

In Islam, a Muslim man may have more than one wife at the same time, up to four wives, according to Islamic marital jurisprudence.

Hinduism allows polygamy with circumstances. For example, traditional Hindu law allowed polygamy if the first wife could not bear a son. Additionally, Balinese Hinduism allows for sanctioned and unrestricted polygamy, but the marriage is regulated by adat or traditional customs.

In the United States, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Mormons practiced polygamy from 1847 to 1857. The U.S. government made polygamy illegal in response to the LDS Church, and the church outlawed the practice in 1890. Some small groups that split from the LDS Church still practice polygamy.

Around the world, the legal status of polygamy varies. Societies either outlaw, accept or encourage polygamy.

In those countries that accept or encourage polygamy, polygyny is most common. In countries where marriage is legally monogamous, de facto polygamy is allowed if adultery is not illegal. In this case, there would be no legal recognition for non-official spouses.

In every country in North America and South America, polygamy is illegal, and practice is criminalized. In the United States, polygamy is illegal in all 50 states; however, in February 2020, the Utah House and Senate reduced punishment for polygamy to the status of a traffic ticket.

All of Europe and Oceania, except for the Solomon Islands, do not recognize polygamist marriages. In Australia, polygamous marriage is outlawed, but polygamous relationships are common within some indigenous Australian communities.

In Indonesia, polygamy is legal in some areas, such as in Bali, Papua, and West Papua. Balinese Hinduism allows for polygamy, which has been practiced for centuries by the Balinese and Papuans. Protests to outlaw polygamy and polygamous marriages occurred in 2008 in Indonesia, but no action has happened.

In India, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Singapore, the governments only recognize polygamous marriages for Muslims. They have specific legislation for polygamous marriage that only includes Muslims.

Some countries that have outlawed polygamy may recognize polygamous marriages from other countries. For example, Sweden recognizes polygamous marriage performed abroad. Switzerland outlawed polygamy, but polygamous marriage conducted in another country is handled on a case-by-case basis. Polygamous marriages entered into abroad in Australia are recognized for limited purposes only.

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Countries Where Polygamy Is Legal 2021

The polygamy has existed in all over the African continent thanks to the fact that it represents an aspect of their culture and religion. These types of marriages have been more present in the whole history of Africa like no other continent in the world. One of the reasons why this has happened is because the African societies have managed to see that children were a form of wealth and this way a family with more children was considered to be more powerful. Under these circumstances the polygamy in Africa was considered to be part of the way you could build an empire.

Only after the colonial era in Africa has appeared the polygamy has started to be perceived as a taboo, as this was one of the things imported along with the colonists that took over some regions of Africa. Some people are saying that there was also an economic reason why this has happened: there were many issues of property ownership that conflicted a lot with the European colonial interest.

At first the polygamy was very popular in the west part of Africa, but as the Islam has started to diffuse in this region, the prevalence of polygamy has started to continuously reduce due to the restrictions that appeared to the number of wives.

For example polygamy is very widespread across Kenya and right now one of the most prominent single individual that is popularizing this practice is Akuku Danger who as managed to become famous thanks to the fact that he is married with over 100 wives.

Even if people are thinking about the fact that South Africa is by far one of the most developed countries in the region, there are still many traditionalists out there that are constantly practicing polygamy. Even the president of South Africa: Jacob Zuma is declaring openly that he agrees with plural marriages and he is currently married to 3 wives. And at the same time he has 20 children with these and the two previous wives that he had in the past.

Another country where the polygamy is accepted is Sudan. Under these circumstances the Sudanese president: Omar Hassan al-Bashir has always sustained polygamy and he says that these multiple marriages are one of the options available for Sudan in order to increase its population.

Overall the polygamy in Africa is a very common practice that you are going to find all over Africa, but it tends to be more popular especially in the West African countries. This practice is very common among the animist and the Muslim communities. For example in Senegal there are almost 47% of the marriages where they feature more than one woman. In the Arab nations the percentages are even higher and there is also the Bedouin population that you can find in Israel, where around 30% of them are part of multiple marriages. And along with all that there are also the Mormon fundamentalists who also live in polygamous families.

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Polygamy in Africa - Polygamy.com

Lifetime Documentary TV Series

Escaping Polygamy is an American documentary television series that premiered on December 30, 2014 on LMN. The show now airs on Lifetime, but can also be viewed on Tubi, and follows the work of three sisters who left the Kingston clan, a polygamous group based in Salt Lake City, Utah known as The Order,[1] as they help family and/or friends break free of polygamy.[2][3] They have also helped people escape from the FLDS Church and the AUB Church. The show was originally on A&E, but later moved to Lifetime. The series was renewed for a fourth season on March 4, 2019 and premiered on Lifetime on April 1, 2019.[4] Since the fourth season aired, Jessica Christensen, one of the three women on the show, said on Instagram that she would not be filming a fifth season of the show and that if the show were to be renewed it would have to feature different people.[5] However, there has since been no official announcement from Lifetime regarding the future of the show.

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Escaping Polygamy - Wikipedia

Jessie L. EmbryUtah History Encyclopedia, 1994

Brigham Young In Memoriam

When establishing the LDS church, Joseph Smith recorded numerous revelations he claimed to receive, often in answer to questions about the Bible, which are now included in the Doctrine and Covenants, part of the LDS canon. In answer to his question as to why many of the Old Testament leaders had more than one wife, Smith received what is now known as Section 132. Although the revelation was not recorded until 1843, Smith may have received it in the 1830s and married his first plural wife, Fanny Alger, in 1835. Polygamy was not openly practiced in the Mormon Church until 1852 when Orson Pratt, an apostle, made a public speech defending it as a tenet of the church. From 1852 until 1890, Mormon church leaders preached and encouraged members, especially those in leadership positions, to marry additional wives.

A majority of the Latter-day Saints never lived the principle. The number of families involved varied by community; for example, 30 percent in St. George in 1870 and 40 percent in 1880 practiced polygamy, while only 5 percent in South Weber practiced the principle in 1880. Rather than the harems often suggested in non-Mormon sources, most Mormon husbands married only two wives. The wives usually lived in separate homes and had direct responsibility for their children. Where the wives lived near each other, the husbands usually visited each wife on a daily or weekly basis. While there were the expected troubles between wives and families, polygamy was usually not the only cause, although it certainly could cause greater tension. Since polygamy was openly practiced for only a short time by Mormons, there were no established rules about how family members should relate to each other. Instead, each family adapted to their particular circumstances.

Reactions from outside the church to statements about polygamy were immediate and negative. In 1854 the Republican party termed polygamy and slavery the twin relics of barbarism. In 1862 the United States Congress passed the Morrill Act, which prohibited plural marriage in the territories, disincorporated the Mormon church, and restricted the churchs ownership of property. The nation was in the midst of the Civil War, however, and the law was not enforced. In 1867 the Utah Territorial Legislature asked Congress to repeal the Morrill Act. Instead of doing that, the House Judiciary Committee asked why the law was not being enforced, and the Cullom Bill, an attempt to strengthen the Morrill Act, was introduced. Although it did not pass, most of its provisions later became law. Out of a number of other bills introduced during the 1870s against polygamy, only the Poland Act passed, in 1874. It gave district courts all civil and criminal jurisdiction and limited the probate courts to matters of estate settlement, guardianship, and divorce.

The Mormons continued to practice polygamy despite these laws, since they believed that the practice was protected by the freedom of religion clause in the Bill of Rights. To test the constitutionality of the laws, George Reynolds, Brigham Youngs private secretary, agreed to be tried. In 1879 the case reached the Supreme Court, which upheld the Morrill Act: Laws are made for the government of actions, and while they cannot interfere with mere religious belief and opinion, they may with practices.

In 1882 Congress passed the Edmunds Act, which was actually a series of amendments to the Morrill Act. It restated that polygamy was a felony punishable by five years of imprisonment and a $500 fine. Unlawful cohabitation, which was easier to establish because the prosecution had to prove only that the couple had lived together rather than that a marriage ceremony had taken place, remained a misdemeanor punishable by six months imprisonment and a $300 fine. Convicted polygamists were disenfranchised and were ineligible to hold political office. Those who practiced polygamy were disqualified from jury service, and those who professed a belief in it could not serve in a polygamy case. All registration and election officers in Utah Territory were dismissed, and a board of five commissioners was appointed to direct elections.

Because the Edmunds Act was unsuccessful in controlling polygamy in Utah, in 1884 Congress debated legislation to plug the loopholes. Finally, in 1887, the hodge-podge Edmunds-Tucker Bill passed. It required plural wives to testify against their husbands, dissolved the Perpetual Emigrating Fund Company (a loan institution that helped members of the church come to Utah from Europe), abolished the Nauvoo Legion militia, and provided a mechanism for acquiring the property of the church, which already was disincorporated by the Morrill Act. The Cullom-Struble Bill with even stricter measures was debated in 1889, but the Mormon church helped to prevent its passage by promising to do away with polygamy.

All of these pressures had an impact on the church, even though they did not compel the Latter-day Saints to abolish polygamy. Church leaders as well as many of its members went into hidingon the underground as it was calledeither to avoid arrest or to avoid having to testify. Mormon church President John Taylor died while in hiding. His successor, Wilford Woodruff, initially supported the continued practice of polygamy; however, as pressure increased, he began to change the churchs policy. On 26 September 1890 he issued a press release, the Manifesto, which read, I publicly declare that my advice to the Latter-day Saints is to refrain from contracting any marriages forbidden by the law of the land. The Manifesto was approved at the churchs general conference on 6 October 1890.

Mormon polygamists in federal penitentiary

Rather than resolving the polygamy question, however, according to one historian: For both the hierarchy and the general membership of the LDS Church, the Manifesto inaugurated an ambiguous era in the practice of plural marriage rivaled only by the status of polygamy during the lifetime of Joseph Smith. Woodruffs public and private statements contradicted whether the Manifesto applied to existing marriages. As a result of the Manifesto, some men left plural wives; others interpreted it as applying only to new marriages. All polygamous general authorities (church leaders including the First Presidency, Council of the Twelve Apostles, church patriarch, First Council of Seventy, and Presiding Bishopric) continued to cohabit with their wives. Based on impressionistic evidence in family histories and genealogical records, it appears that most polygamists followed the general authorities example.

Neither did all new plural marriages end in 1890. Although technically against the law in Mexico and Canada, polygamous marriages were performed in both countries. Mormon plural families openly practiced polygamy in Mexico; the Canadian government allowed Mormon men to have only one wife in the country, so some men had a legal wife in the United States and one in Canada. In addition, a few plural marriages were performed in the United States.

During the Senate investigation in 1904 concerning the seating of Senator-elect Reed Smoot, a monogamist but a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, Mormon Church President Joseph F. Smith presented what historians have called the Second Manifesto on 7 April 1904. It included provisions for the church to take action against those who continued to perform plural marriages and marry plural wives. Matthias Cowley and John W. Taylor, both apostles, continued to be involved in performing or advocating new plural marriages after 1904, and, as a result, Cowley was disfellowshipped and Taylor excommunicated from the church. In 1909 a committee of apostles met to investigate post-Manifesto polygamy, and by 1910 the church had a new policy. Those involved in plural marriages after 1904 were excommunicated; and those married between 1890 and 1904 were not to have church callings where other members would have to sustain them. Although the Mormon church officially prohibited new plural marriages after 1904, many plural husbands and wives continued to cohabit until their deaths in the 1940s and 1950s.

Fundamentalist groups who believe that the church discontinued polygamy only because of government pressure continued the practice. As they were discovered by the LDS church, they were excommunicated. Some of these polygamists have appointed leaders and continue to live in groups, including those in Colorado City (formerly Short Creek), Arizona, and Hilldale, Utah. Others, such as Royston Potter, practice polygamy but have no affiliation with an organized group.

More reading onThe History of Polygamy is available.

The Wives of Brigham Young

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The History of Polygamy | History to Go

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie was born in 1977 in Nigeria. The esteemed writer and activist grew up during the Nigerian Civil War and, at 19-years-old moved to the United States to study. Among her books and essays is her critically acclaimed novel Americanah, which examines race and what it means to be Black in America, Nigeria, and Britain.

The book, which won the US National Book Critics Circle Award tells the story of Ifemelu, a brilliant and strong Nigerian woman whose experiences sometimes echo that of the author herself. Ifemelu migrates to the United States and struggles but never lets go of her high school boyfriend, Obinze, who also left Nigeria, but for London instead.

Though it is a love story, it also leans into politics and feminism. It is unscrupulously authentic in addressing the realities of where we still are today and how the color of ones skin is often used as a judgement vehicle. I came from a country where race was not an issue; I did not think of myself as Black and I only became Black when I came to America, says Ifemelu.

RELATED: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: A Literary Star Is Born

The harshness of that reality is digestible because of the graceful way in which the generic is replaced by beautiful and elegant descriptors used to tell the story of the characters complexions: caramel, sable, and gingerbread.

Adichie, who divides her time between Nigeria and the US, has had her work translated into more than 30 languages.

Alex Wheatle is an award-winning writer of Jamaican descent who grew up in South London. Wheatle began reading the works of authors Richard Wright and John Steinbeck while imprisoned for his participation in the Brixton riots of 1981. His young adult novel, Liccle Bit, delves into themes of love, family, loyalty, and having to make tough life choices through the experiences of 14-year old Lemar.

The teen, shares a home with his mother, his big sister, and her baby. As he struggles to find himself, and side-step gang activity, he navigates his way around those who wish to take advantage of him for their own gains. It is a poignant story served up with rich humor.

Aminatta Forna is an award-winning writer born in Scotland and raised in Sierra Leone and Great Britain. She also spent some of her formative years in Iran, Thailand, and Zambia. Although she has several novels, her memoir The Devil that Danced on the Water stands out as her captivating storytelling makes you feel like you are in the midst of what is happening.

It is a powerful and personal retelling of corruption, history, and how as a child, Forna lived through unstable post-colonial Africa, exile in Britain, and the fallout from her fathers Mohamed Fornastance against the tyranny in their homeland.

You will get to experience her relentless pursuit to uncover the truth about what happened to her father, as well as her pain and her sorrow.

If you have seen the movie The Sun Is Also a Star, then you are familiar with the work of New York Times bestselling author Nicola Yoon. The film, which is based on the young adult fiction book, stars actress and activist Yara Shahidi and actor Charles Melton. The story follows two teens Natasha and Danielwho meet and fall in love over the course of a single day in New York City.

RELATED: Yara Shahidi Honors Her Black Roots And Iranian Heritage With New Adidas Collaboration

Natasha and Daniels paths are drawn together as she tries to keep her family from being deported, and he is on his way to a college interview. The story addresses what it means to fall in love and also the beauty of possibilities. Yoon, who grew up in Jamaica, is also the author of Instructions for Dancing and Everything, Everything.

Being married can be beautiful, but it can also test your beliefs, and those themes are at the heart of the story of the two main characters from Nigerian writer Ayobami Adebayo's book Stay With Me. Yejide and Akin meet in college and fall in love knowing that polygamy wasnt something either wanted. But that gets tested as the couple struggled to have a child.

After years of drinking teas meant to help her get pregnant and consulting with fertility doctors, Yejide's in-laws visit and with them Akins second wife. Blinded by jealousy and hurt, Yejide believes that her only chance of saving her marriage is to get pregnant and she does but the cost of that decision is a tough price to pay.

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Five Black Authors With Global Roots To Read This Month - BET