POLITICS OF POLYGAMOUS PEOPLE: HOW A MINORITY RELIGION CAN HELP US UNDERSTAND RELIGION AND POLITICS IN AMERIKA

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.54561/prj0702373e

Keywords:

Fundamentalist Mormons, Latter-Day Saints, religion and politics, polygamy, religious policy

Abstract

When Texas State Troopers invaded the Yearning for Zion Ranch occupied by polygamist Mormon’s in 2008, it was the third major raid in American history. Yet, fundamentalist Mormons represent a small and little understood element of the American religious landscape. Nonetheless their struggles in America represent the evolving conflicts between politics and private religious life. This study introduces the doctrine of plural marriage as understood by Fundamentalist Mormons and uses it as a case study to consider five aspects of the relationship between religions and politics in America. This includes a discussion of when government chooses to intervene in the practice of religious groups and the responses of those groups to government involvement, the impact of the federal system on religious actors, the dynamic justifications given for involvement and the constant tension between public concerns and private devotion.

References

Anderson v. Town of Durham, 895 A. 2d 944 (2006).

Bates S., Battleground: One mothers crusade, the religious right and the struggle for control of our classrooms. New York, Poseidon Press, 1993.

Berg T., Minority Religions and the Religion Clauses. Washington University Law Quarterly, Vol. 82, No. 3, St. Louis, MO, 2004.

Blumenthal, R., 52 girls are taken from Mormon sect's ranch in Texas, The New York Times, April 5, 2008, New York.

Blumenthal, R. & Kovach, G. C., Focus of raid in Texas was living out of state, The New York Times, April 8, 2008, New York.

Brachear M., State severs foster care ties with Catholic Charities, Chicago Tribune, July 11, 2011, Chicago, IL, http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2011-07-11/news/chi-state-severs-fostercare-ties-with-catholic-charities-20110711_1_children-with-unmarried-cohabiting-catholic-charities-civil-unions (accessed January 1, 2011).

Bradley M., Cultural Configurations of Mormon Fundamentalist Polygamous Communities. Nova Religio: The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions, Vol. 8, No. 1, Berkley, CA, 2004.

Bradley, M. S., Kidnapped from the land: The government raids on the Short Creek polygamists. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City, 1993.

Brodie, F. M., No man knows my history: The life of Joseph Smith, the Mormon prophet, Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 1946.

Bushman, R. L., What's New in Mormon History: A Response to Jan Shipps. The Journal of American History, Vol. 94, No. 2, Bloomington, IN, 2007.

Bushman, R. L., Joseph Smith: Rough stone rolling, Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 2005.

Cantwell v. Connecticut, 310 U.S. 296 (1940).

Carter, S. L., The culture of disbelief: How American law and politics trivializes religious devotion, Basic Books, New York, 1993.

Church of the Lukumi Babalu Aye, Inc. v. Hialeah, 508 U.S. 520 (1993).

City of Boerne v. Flores, 521 U.S. 507 (1997).

Daynes, K. M., More wives than one: Transformation of the Mormon marriage system, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL, 2001.

DiIulio Jr., J. J., Godly republic: A centrist blueprint for America's faith-based future, University of California Press, Berkley, CA, 2007.

Employment Division, Department of Human Resources of Oregon v. Smith, 494 U.S. 872 (1990).

Etienne, R., Tazzi, P. & Verkest, H., Thematic report: Religious minorities. Department of Science of Education, University of Paul Valery, Monptieller, France, 2009.

Flake, K., The politics of American religious identity: The seating of Senator Reed Smoot, Mormon apostle, University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, NC, 2004.

Frazee v. Illinois Department of Employment Security, 489 U.S. 829 (1989).

Gordon, S. B., The Mormon question: Polygamy and constitutional conflict in nineteenth-century America, The University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, NC, 2002.

Greenhouse, L. & Seigel, R. B., Before Roe v. Wade: Voices that shaped the abortion debate before the Supreme Court’s ruling, Kaplan Publishing, New York, 2010.

Hamburger, P., Separation of church and state, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, 2002.

Hirschman, A. O., Exit, voice and loyalty: Responses to decline in firms, organizations and states, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, 1970.

Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 565 U.S. ___ (2012).

Johnson, K., Polygamy raid in west Texas may pose a risk for authorities elsewhere, The New York Times, April 12, 2006, New York.

Johnson, K. & Dougherty, J., Busy day at court handling sect's children, The New York Times,April 18, 2008, New York.

Johnson, K. & Frosch, D., Sect children face new world in Texas' care, but still no TV, The New York Times, April 26, 2008, New York.

Kovach, G. C., Court files detail claims of set's 'pattern' of abuses, The New York Times, April 9, 2008, New York.

Life Magazine, The lonely men of Short Creek, Life, New York, September 15, 1953.

Lorson, T., Catholics protest Connecticut church finance bill. Reuters, March 11, 2009, New York.

Lopez, K. J., The HHS mandate: Not an academic debate, The National Review, July 20, 2012, New York, http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/310086/hhs-mandate-not-academic-debate-kathryn-jean-lopez# (accessed January 1, 2013).

Marriage laws of the 50 States, Cornell University Law School, Ithaca, NY, http://topics.law.cornell.edu/wex/table_marriage (accessed August 1, 2008).

Marty, M. E., Righteous empire: The Protestant experience in America (2nd ed.), Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 1986.

Meyer v. State of Nebraska, 262 U.S. 390 (1923).

Newell, L. K. & Avery, V. T., Mormon enigma: Emma Hale Smith (2nd ed.), University of Illinois Press, Urbana, IL, 1994.

Nussbaum, M. C., Liberty of conscience, Basic Books, New York, 2008.

Pierce v. Society of Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary, 268 U.S. 510 (1925).

Prince v. Massachusetts, 321 U.S. 158 (1944).

Shipps, J, Mormonism: The story of a new religious tradition, University of Illinois Press, Urbana, IL 1985.

Shipps, J., Sojourner in the promised land: Forty years among the Mormons, University of Illinois Press, Urbana, IL, 2000.

Stark, C. & Roberts, A, By the numbers: Same-sex marriage, June 26, 2013, Atlanta, GA, http://www.cnn.com/2012/05/11/politics/btn-same-sex-marriage (accessed July 9, 2013).

Strayhorn v. Ethical Society of Austin, No. 03-02-00066-CV, 2003 WL 740277, at *1 (Tex. App. Mar. 6, 2003).

United States v. Windsor, 570 U.S. ___ (2013).

Waldman, S. Founding faith, Random House, New York, 2008.

White Jr, O. K. & White, D., Polygamy and Mormon Identity. The Journal of American Culture, Vol. 28, No. 2, Nofolk, VA.

Wisconsin v. Yoder, 406 US 205 (1972).

Downloads

Published

2022-12-13

How to Cite

Engbers, T. A. (2022). POLITICS OF POLYGAMOUS PEOPLE: HOW A MINORITY RELIGION CAN HELP US UNDERSTAND RELIGION AND POLITICS IN AMERIKA. Politics and Religion Journal, 7(2), 373–395. https://doi.org/10.54561/prj0702373e