When I was growing up, my dad drilled the following into my head: “Every woman has the right to honorable marriage and motherhood by the husband of her choice.” I know he was quoting it from somewhere, but I can’t remember the source right now. This saying constantly pops into my head. I believe it with all my heart. That is why I am so saddened by those who would try to deny me – or any other woman – that right by trying to force us to live in monogamy. Why does the government think they have a right to tell me who I can and cannot love?
I agree. Honoring a woman’s right to choose means respecting her righ to choose plural marriage. Feminists generally don’t like the sound of polygamy, but one can hardly claim to be a feminist and then insist that women aren’t smart enough to make their own choices
Yes, absolutely! Every woman does indeed have this right … but, oh, the roots of the monogamy-only madness go back so far in Western culture!
May God give us victory over that evil spirit …
It sounds like it came right out of the TRUTH MAGAZINE to me. You have to remember that our parents lived for that little magazine to come. They were so hungry for the truth. Reading biographies and hearing this very thing from the lips of those who have told me this very thing, I have great appreciation for the work it did, and love to read the articles, myself.
Heres what my dad said to me.
‘If your aiming at a Cellestial degree at the close of this life it matters who you marry. If not, it doesnt.’
This qualifies the ‘freedom’ we have.
It means that we are really only as free as our conscience and spiritual standing allow us to be.
What is OK for one is not necessarily going to be OK for another, and the mistakes one brother or sister can make is not going to be OK for another.
To be quite blunt I have yet to meet too many young sisters or brethren who really know what to look for or how to look for the best qualities in a partner, so while its all very well to say that our youth are free to marry whom they chose, In reality we want a counselled union, wherein they bring to their parents or other trusted elder the brother or sister they are beginning to be interested in, and we counsel, even to agreeing or vetoing as we see fit, in the early stages of courtship.
Lets not make the mistake of getting on the freedom train that the whole world want us to embrace, and lets not claim the same freedoms to do as WE please that the world practices.
Lets be open and upfront about our significant differences, that we arent completely free if we are seeking all Godliness, that God gets a say through our goodly parents, that we recognize that our wants and will can and often are flawed, and so we seek counsel on all things of importance, especially with whom we may seek to form a union of marriage.
This is the Gospel we can express boldly to the world, that we are different, that we believe we must be surrendered to God if we are to overcome all things in this life, and that we teach our youth that when they come of age they may choose to surrender their agency to counsel or not, but that we, or at least I do not believe in the carte blanche freedoms that the world chases after.
The key is, that our youth be free to choose to heed counsel or not. And we are always free to deal with our youth as we see fit, and our love is not shown to anyone unconditionaly, which is another lie spun by the devil.
brthrb,
Thank you for sharing. I appreciate your paradigm on this subject. That being said, your conclusion surprises me. You state, “…and our love is not shown to anyone unconditionaly, which is another lie spun by the devil.”
I would counter that blessings are contingent upon obedience and not love. I may not condone all choices my children make, but my love for them is not contingent upon them marrying someone that I approve of.