I believe marriage between any consenting adults should be legal, in whatever form, style, type, and manner desired. And yes, that includes polygamy, bigamy, and marriage to same sex partners. And the governmental resources that have been used in the past to harass, disrupt, and mess with the various families who have entered such contracts should be used to fight real crime like molestation, rape, incest, and the sexual abuse of children.

I also believe that individual religious organizations should have the freedom to discriminate against whatever form of marriage is revolting to their morality and refuse entrance into various sacred buildings and spaces to perform said marriages.

I believe those who enter into these binding marriage contracts should recognize that the more complex the situation, the more possibility for mischief. Iowahawk wrote a hilarious post exploring and satirizing an extreme marriage situation a few years ago:

“Multicultural Paratroopers eventually persuaded Markowicz to leave his/her dog outside the mosque during the ceremony. Cordoba House officials reluctantly agreed to allow the couple inside for continued negotiations, but a brief melee ensued after Markowicz lit a marijuana cigarette in the lobby. Mohammed-Haq angrily demanded that police arrest him/her for violating New York’s anti-smoking ordinance, but Markowicz quickly produced a prescription for medical marijuana for his/her glaucoma condition. In turn, he/she demanded police arrest Mohammed-Haq for violating the National Health Care Access Act, and for failure to post braille No Smoking signs. The angry Imam was restrained by police before he could unsheathe his scimitar, and lodged a complaint against Davis and Markowicz for violating New York’s official Immigration Sanctuary Act.”

Go HERE to read the whole thing. The first time I read it I was crying I was laughing so hard.

In a recent Wall Street Journal column on the Utah Marriage debate Seth Lipsky wrote:

Seth Lipsky: Utah’s Marriage Battles and the Ghost of Brigham Young

The latest case involves the Dec. 20 decision of a U.S. district judge overturning Utah’s ban on same-sex marriage. More than 2,000 Utahans promptly plighted their troth to persons of the same sex. On Jan. 6, the Supreme Court, at the state’s request, issued a stay. Gov. Gary Herbert then announced that Utah would refrain from recognizing the same-sex marriages that were licensed, only to have Attorney General Eric Holder announce that the federal government would recognize them.

Paul and I were happy for one of my friends who jumped right in and married his gay partner of many years. We chose to be emotionally supportive to my friend Daniel simply because we understood how important it was to him and wanted to share his joy on a happy day.

At the end of the WSJ column Mr. Lipsky summed things up thusly:

“So might the Supreme Court insist that Utah bow to a federal authority and end its ban on same-sex marriage? Or might the justices insist that Utah no longer bow to a federal Congress that once required them to outlaw polygamy? No wonder they call Utah the Beehive State. One way or another, someone is going to get stung, and the whole country may feel it.”

When I was in my early 20’s I read the book Mormon Enigma and it was a really interesting take on the early church and how Emma Smith felt about Polygamy and her husbands restoration of that divine doctrine.

To purchase the book, click here: Mormon Enigma Emma Hale Smith

It helped me to understand the political climate at the time of the restoration and also how the Saints managed to survive with the hate spewing so badly that the Prophet was murdered.

I do think it is ironic that in a state where Polygamous husbands were being hounded by the feds a hundred years ago, we now have a bunch of Utah Mormons wanting to deny marriage equality to everyone who does not engage in a strict one husband/one wife definition of marriage.  One of my husbands own ancestors, Benjamin Franklin Johnson (who is my son Ben’s namesake) wrote a particularly articulate defense of Polygamy back in the day.

Lord knows, the types of fake marriages depicted throughout history and spoofed in this clip from the movie The Princess Bride are nothing to brag about in terms of love, intimacy, and a happy, healthy place to welcome children. The fact that the prince planned to have his bride kidnapped and killed so he could start a war is about as pathetically revolting to the idea of a happy family life as anything going in the wonderful world of marriage.

I believe as the proclamation on the family states that children are “entitled” to both a Mother and a Father. And when a person decides to raise a child, they will one day account to Father in Heaven for the way they have treated that child. The exact quote is:

“THE FAMILY is ordained of God. Marriage between man and woman is essential to His eternal plan. Children are entitled to birth within the bonds of matrimony, and to be reared by a father and a mother who honor marital vows with complete fidelity.”

I am friends with a few children of homosexual parents.  They are wonderful, moral people who have much to contribute. I do not know that they could have been raised any better in a Hetero family, nobody does. And I do not believe it is my place to judge any individual family situation.  As I said, we are all going to stand before God some day and account for how we treated the people in our lives, especially our family.

I believe polygamy is the order of Heaven and that one of the reasons we never hear about Heavenly Mother is because Heavenly Father is probably married to billions of women scattered all over the universe and it would be unfair  and discriminatory to talk about just one Mother.

I love this scene from The King and I where the wives and children of the King of Siam are being introduced to the British teacher Anna.  It is a charming depiction of a large polygamous family.

I hope to be worthy some day to enter into an eternal polygamous relationship with many sister wives, who will be invited to dance through eternity with Paul and I.
Jenny Hatch

To learn more about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints views on Plural Marraige Click HERE.

And to read the details of WHY the church sent out the Manifesto to the members click HERE.