Fundamentalism (also called Mormonism fundamentalism ) is a belief in the validity of certain fundamental aspects of Mormonism as taught and practiced in the nineteenth century, especially during the administration of Joseph Smith and Brigham Young, the first two presidents of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). Mormon fundamentals seek to uphold principles and practices no longer held by mainstream Mormons (members of the LDS Church). The principle most often associated with Mormon fundamentalism is plural marriage, a form of polygyny first taught in the End Times People movement by Joseph Smith, the founder of the movement. The second and closely related principle is the principle of the United Order, a form of egalitarian communalism. Mormon fundamentalists believe that these and other principles are wrongly abandoned or changed by the LDS Church in its attempt to come to terms with mainstream American society. Today, the LDS Church ostracizes its members who practice plural marriages or who closely associate themselves with Mormon fundamentalist practices.
There is no single authority accepted by all Mormon fundamentalists; the perspectives and practices of each group are different. Fundamentalists have formed many small sects, often in cohesive and isolated communities in the Western United States, Western Canada, and northern Mexico. Sometimes, sources claim there are as many as 60,000 Mormon fundamentalists in the United States, with less than half of them living in polygamous households. However, others say that there may be at least 20,000 Mormon fundamentalists with only 8,000 to 15,000 polygamists practicing. The founders of a hostile Mormon fundamentalist denomination include Lorin C. Woolley, John Y. Barlow, Joseph W. Musser, Leroy S. Johnson, Rulon C. Allred, Elden Kingston, and Joel LeBaron. The largest Mormon fundamentalist group is the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (FLDS Church) and the United Apostolic Brotherhood (AUB).
Video Mormon fundamentalism
Histori
The LDS church began banning marriage contracts in the United States in 1890 after a decision by church president, Wilford Woodruff. However, this practice continues underground in the US and openly in the Mormon colonies in northern Mexico and southern Alberta. According to some sources, many polygamous men in the United States continue to live with their plural wives with the approval of church presidents Woodruff, Lorenzo Snow and Joseph F. Smith.
Some fundamentalists argue that the 1890 Manifesto is not a real revelation of the kind given by God to Joseph Smith, Brigham Young, John Taylor, and others, but it is more of a wise political document intended by Woodruff to be a temporary measure until the Utah Territory becomes state. They make their arguments based on textual evidence and the fact that "Manifesto" is not interpreted according to the same revelation in the LDS scriptures. This argument further states that after joining the Union, Utah will have the authority to enforce its own laws with respect to marriage, rather than being bound by US territorial law prohibiting polygamy. Before the state could be granted in 1896, however, the federal government required Utah to include provisions in the state constitution stating that "polygamous marriages or plural forever are prohibited." Fundamentalists (and many Mormon historians) also believe that the prime impetus for the 1890 Manifesto was the Edmunds-Tucker Act of 1887, a strict federal law that legally dispersed the LDS Church, whose women were denied the right in Utah in 1870), and required voters to take an anti-polygamy vow before being allowed to vote in elections.
With the election of Latter-day Saint Reed Smoot to become one of Utah's representatives to the US Senate in 1903, national attention is once again focused on the continuation of plural marriages in Utah, culminating in Reed Smoot's hearing. In 1904, LDS Church president Joseph F. Smith issued the "Second Manifesto", after which it became the policy of the LDS Church to isolate church members who entered into or celebrate the marriage of new polygamy. The seriousness of this new act is demonstrated by the fact that the apostle John W. Taylor, the son of the third president of the church, was excommunicated in 1911 because of his continuing opposition to the Manifesto.
Today, the LDS Church continues to exclude members advocating early Mormon doctrine such as plural marriage, entering or glorifying plural marriages (either in the United States or elsewhere), or actively supporting fundamentalist or Mormon dissidents. Although some members of the Church's LDS continue to believe in the plural marriage doctrine without practicing, Joseph Smith's teaching on plural marriage remains part of the canon of scripture from the LDS Church. The LDS church prevented any of its members sympathetic to the fundamentalist teachings of Mormons entering its temples.
During the 1920s, a church pastor named Lorin C. Woolley claimed a line of priesthood authority apart from the hierarchy of the LDS Church, effectively mobilizing the development of Mormon fundamentalism. Most Mormon polygamist groups can trace their origins to Woolley's legacy.
For the most part, the Utah state government has abandoned Mormon fundamentalists for themselves unless their practice is unlawful in addition to prohibiting bigami. For example, there has been a recent prosecution of people who belong to fundamentalist groups for marrying minors. In one published case, a man and one of his polygamous wives lost custody of all but one of their children until his wife broke away from her husband. The biggest government effort to crack down on Mormon fundamentalist practices was done in 1953 in what is today called the City of Colorado, Arizona, known as the Short Creek Raid.
Other basic doctrines of the Latter-day Saint movement besides polygamy, especially the Unified Order (communalism), while equally important in the practice of some fundamentalist sects, have not come under the same supervision or agreement as plural marriage, and the mainstream LDS Church largely ignores the aspect of fundamentalism this; in any case, no revelation or statement condemning it has ever been issued.
Maps Mormon fundamentalism
Different doctrines and practices
Most Mormon fundamentalists embrace the term Fundamentalist (usually capitalized). Mormon fundamentalists share certain similarities with other fundamentalist movements, but also have some clear distinctions from themselves.
Fundamentalists in the Mormon tradition do see religious authorities as unmistakable and unchanging, but tend to place this authority in their view of "the Priesthood," which is understood as more of a charismatic authority and often a physical lineage than an external organization. In this view, the ordination genealogy becomes very important and external organizations such as the church can "lose" their theological authority while the "priesthood" (understood in this abstract and individualistic sense) can continue through alternative bloodlines. Mormon fundamentalists often affirm that the priesthood is before the Church.
Unlike the more general biblical (non-Mormon) fundamentalist groups that generally base their authority on the unchanged and closed canon of scripture, Mormon fundamentalists generally adhere to the concept of "continuing revelation" or "progressive revelation," in which the canon the scriptures may continue to be added.
One of the other fundamental beliefs of Mormon fundamentalist groups is that plural marriages, many of whom consider essential to obtain the highest degree of celestial royal elevation. Mormon fundamentalists do not like the term "polygamy" and see "polygamy" as a term used only by outsiders. They also refer to plural marriages in general as "Principles", "celestial marriages", "New and Eternal Covenants", or "Priestly Work."
The practice of plural marriage is usually slightly different from the practice in the nineteenth century. However, in some fundamentalist sects it is considered acceptable for older men to marry minors as soon as they reach puberty. This practice, which is illegal in most countries, apart from polygamy itself, has generated public controversy. Examples include the Tom Green case, and the case in which a man from the Kingston clan married his 15-year-old cousin, who is also his aunt. Other sects, however, do not practice and may actually violently criticize underage or forced and incest (for example, the United Apostolic Brotherhood.)
In addition to plural marriages, Mormon fundamentalist beliefs often incorporate the following principles:
- consecration law is also known as United Order
- the teachings of Adam-God taught by Brigham Young and other early leaders of the LDS Church
- the principle of redemption
- the exception of a black man from the priesthood
- the belief that missionaries should teach "without purse or scrip"
Mormon Fundamentalists believe that both of these principles are accepted by the LDS Church at one time, and that the LDS Church either abandoned or changed them, largely because of the desire of its leaders and members to assimilate into mainstream American society and avoid persecution. and conflicts that marked the church during its early years.
Terminology and relationship with LDS Church
The term "Mormon Fundamentalist" appears to have been created in 1940 by the apostle of LZ Mark E. Petersen to refer to groups who have abandoned the LDS Church. However, Mormon fundamentalists do not universally embrace this use and many people consider themselves to be "Mormons". Today, the LDS Church considers the appointment of "Mormon" to apply only to its own members and not to any member of another sect of the Latter-day Saint movement. An LDS leader went so far as to claim that there is no such thing as a "Mormon fundamentalist", and that using the two terms together is "contradiction." The LDS Church suggests that the appropriate term for describing Mormon fundamentalist groups is the "polygamy community".
In a rebuttal to the argument of this nomenclature, some Mormon fundamentalists have claimed that they themselves are actually more appropriately referred to as Mormons insofar as they follow what they regard as genuine and genuine Mormon teachings as inherited from Joseph Smith and Brigham Young. In this context, the LDS Church is often regarded by fundamentalists as having abandoned some of the fundamental aspects of Mormonism as mentioned above.
fundamentalist Mormon sect
The majority of Mormon fundamentalists belong to sects who have separated themselves from the LDS Church. Thus, it is largely regarded as a "Brighamite" sect in the Latter-day Saint movement.
Apostolic United Brethren
The Apostolic United Brethren (AUB) is estimated to have around 5000 to 9000 members across Utah, Montana, Arizona, Wyoming, Missouri, and Mexico. Some of its cities are organized into United Orders; the church has set up a temple in Mexico, Endowment House in Utah, and operates several schools.
AUB emerged when their leader, Joseph W. Musser, ordained Rulon C. Allred as an apostle and counselor, causing a split between Mormon fundamentalists in Salt Lake City and those in Short Creek, Arizona. AUB is currently led by Lynn A. Thompson and the priesthood council.
AUB is one of the more liberal Mormon groups practicing plural marriage. AUB leaders do not arrange marriages or whether they legitimate plural marriages for persons under the age of 18 or those with close ties.
The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (FLDS Church) is estimated to consist of 6,000 to 8,000 members. A succession crisis has occurred in churches since 2002, when Warren Jeffs, who was recently convicted of his involvement with rape and sentenced to life in prison, becomes president of the church. There is extensive litigation of the church for some time, because the property of disgruntled members is weighed against the decisions of church leaders holding confidence in the land on which their homes are built. Large concentrations of members live in twin cities of Colorado City, Arizona, and Hildale, Utah, as well as in Bountiful, British Columbia. The church has built a temple near Eldorado, Texas. The members of the FLDS Church tend to be very conservative in dress and lifestyle.
Starting on April 4, 2008, for four days, troops and welfare officers searched for YFZ Ranch in church and deported 416 children into temporary detention in the State of Texas. Initially officials from the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services took 18 girls in detention while the state, after responding to a phone call from a YFZ farm claiming a physical and sexual abuse against a 16-year-old girl, who also admitted having married at the age of 15 to 49-year-old man. The following day Judge Barbara Walther of the 51st District Court issued an order authorizing officials to remove all children, including boys, 17 and under the complex. The children were detained by the Child Protection Services 45 miles away, north of the farm. 133 women also voluntarily leave the farm with the children. On May 29, 2008, the Texas Supreme Court ruled that the CPS should return all children. The court stated, "On record before us, the transfer of children is not justified." The call that provoked the attack was a hoax. Nevertheless, the investigations resulting from these attacks resulted in the indictment of twelve people associated with the FLDS Church, six of which have resulted in punishments ranging from 5 to 75 years in prison.
Bountiful Community, British Columbia
The first member of the group that bought the property near Lister was Harold (aka) Michael Blackmore, who moved there with his family in 1946. Other members of the church who believed in the principles of plural marriage soon followed. After Winston Blackmore became a bishop in the 1980s, the group took the name Bountiful.
In 1998, the population estimate was 600 and has since grown to about 1,000. Most of the population comes only from half a dozen men. The current bishop of FLDS is James Oler.
In 2002 Mormon fundamentalists in Bountiful were divided into two groups: about half of whom were members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (FLDS Church), and the other half were members of the Church of Jesus Christ (Original Doctrine) Inc.
The Church of Jesus Christ (Original Doctrine) Inc.
The Church of Jesus Christ (Original Doctrine) Inc. , is the FLDS-based branch of the teachings of Winston Blackmore, who split from the FLDS Church after concluding the church president, Warren Jeffs, has exceeded his authority and becomes too dictatorial. The group was formed in September 2002, when FLDS Church president Warren Jeffs excommunicated Winston Blackmore, who for two decades was Bishop of FLDS Bountiful Church Group, British Columbia. About 700 people continue to follow Blackmore, while about 500 follow Jeffs.
Christ Church Latter Day (Kingston clan)
The Kingston Clan, officially known as the Church of Christ of the End, includes about 1,200 members. This cooperative runs several businesses including pawn shops and restaurant supplies stores.
The True Branch of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
The True Branch of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is a group of about 100 to 200 people; most live near Modena, Utah, or Tonopah, Nevada. The Righteous Branch was organized in 1978 by Gerald Peterson, Sr., who claimed that he was ordained an Apostle Priest by AUB leader Rulon C. Allred. Later, after he was killed, Rulon C. Allred appeared to him as an angel to teach him to preside over the keys of the priesthood. This church has built a pyramid-shaped temple and Gerald Peterson, Jr. is their current leader. Like AUB, they are modern in their outfits and do not allow girls under the age of 18 to marry.
The True Church and the Life of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
The Church of Truth and Life of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (TLC) is headquartered in Manti, Utah. Membership is estimated to be 300 to 500. Organized in 1994, TLC was a new "recovery" for "the last days" before the Second Coming of Jesus. While the church initially grew rapidly, it has since stagnated and declined in number and repented since then halting missionary efforts in 2000.
Centennial Park Group
About 1,500 people are members of the group located in Centennial Park, Arizona, called The Work of Jesus Christ. In the early 1980s there was a leadership conflict in the FLDS Church. Some members are very unhappy with the changes made by various influential men in society. When the FLDS Church abandoned leadership by the council and instituted the doctrine of "one-man government", those who wanted to retain leadership by the priesthood council established Centennial Park in 1986, about 3 miles (5 km) south of the twin communities of Colorado City, Arizona and Hildale, Utah. (Locations of Centennial Park).
The name "Centennial Park" is a reference to the 1886 events around Lorin C. Woolley, which serves as the basis for the fundamentalist claims of priesthood authority. Members of this group (referred to by members as "The Work") denounce all violence and abuse, disallow marriage of young girls, and deny the extreme practice of the FLDS Church. However, like the FLDS Church, they practice matchmaking forms. They were dressed in modern, simple clothes.
The Centennial Park group has built a meetinghouse for weekly and private high school services. The charter school was built in 2003 for the growing population of urban school age. About 300 members of this group live in the Salt Lake Valley, where they hold meetings every month. Members who live in Salt Lake City often travel to Centennial Park every month to help build communities. This group is led by the Levitical Council.
The group is profiled on the ABC Primetime television program in a story titled, The Outsiders , and also on The Oprah Winfrey Show .
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the Kingdom of God
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the Kingdom of God is headquartered in the Salt Lake Valley, and has about 200 members. The sect was founded by Frank Naylor and Ivan Nielson, who were separated from the Centennial Park group, another fundamentalist church. The group tracks their authority through Alma Adelbert Timpson and Frank Naylor. The church is estimated to have 200-300 members, most of whom live in the Salt Lake Valley. Most - if not all - of the members of this group were previously associated with Centennial Park or FLDS Church. This group is also known as Third Ward or group Naylor , after Frank Naylor.
School of the Prophets
The School of the Prophets has its headquarters in the Salem, Utah area. In 1968, Robert C. Crossfield published the revelations he received in the Book of Onias, which (among other things) punished certain LDS church leaders; he was excommunicated in 1972. In 1982 Crossfield founded the School of Prophets, overseen by a president and six counselors. Ron and Dan Lafferty (convicted for the murder of his wife and baby daughter in July 1984), served for a month as advisors in Provo, the Utah School of Prophets in March 1984. Four months after being expelled from school, they committed crimes. Continued revelation is then named The Second Book of Command ; It has 262 parts, dating from 1961 to the present. (2BC website)
- Robert C. Crossfield (1982 -)
Independent Mormon Fundamentalists
There is a great movement of independent Mormon fundamentalists. Independent people do not belong to organized fundamentalist groups and generally do not recognize anyone as their prophet or leader. Since the Independent is not a cohesive group, they vary greatly in their beliefs and interpretations of Mormonism; therefore, their practice varies. Many Independent come from a background in the LDS Church, while others come from other Christian or Mormon fundamentalist backgrounds.
Independent rely on personal inspiration and revelation to guide them; there is no ecclesiastical structure among the Independents, although the Independent often socialize with each other and may meet together for religious service.
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