Jacob 2 has been cited as being both anti- and pro- polygamy: anti, because the text states that it is wrong, and pro because polygamy is not wrong when approved by God if he needs more seed.
I have two difficulties with this.
First, if God needs more “seed” (which I assume means more people, but only in the form of infants since that’s what polygamy produces -god needs babies, not converts), why is polygamy the means by which he does this? Why can’t god increase fertility? Cure infertility? Cause more twins be born, decrease mother and infant mortality? Increase good physical hygiene practices? Eradicate diseases? Why is the one solution to increasing the birth population to let a limited number of males impregnate the entire female population? And I’m being somewhat clinical in this definition of polygamy because Jacob 2:30 reads that the only purpose the lord has to approve of polygamy is “to raise up seed” – not to create sealings, care for widows, create social cohesion or whatever else. It’s to make babies. Why can’t god come up with another method of doing this?
Secondly, Jacob 2 explicitly states that there is sorrow and mourning of women on account of their husband’s abominations. Apparently, polygamy and concubinage makes women and children unhappy, so it is the solution to god’s population problem. If by following commandments we are happy and have joy, if we know what kind of tree it is from the fruits it bears, then what kind of fruits are polygamy even when it is sanctioned by god?
In all of my reading of church history, in my many readings of the Old Testament, I cannot think of one polygamous union that was happy and produced good results. I read a lot of divisions, anger, family disputes, jealousy, hurt feelings, the division of the Abrahamic religion into jew/arab, etc. I suppose this is where the victim blaming comes in – if you’re not happy with the arrangement it’s your fault for not trying and not being good enough. Okay, but why has it created such terrible results? Abraham, David, Jacob (OT) – all frightful results from having multiple wives.
Plural marriage seems an absurd way to increase population and it doesn’t seem to bring much happiness and joy – in fact, it seems to have done a lot of damage, not just to the people involved, but to the religious movements themselves. Why is this a good explanation of why god would approve of such a practice?
As a note, I’m aware that polygamy doesn’t really increase the population, however in the church’s essay on polygamy in Utah, there is the following footnote 6:
https://www.lds.org/topics/plural-marri ... g&old=trueStudies have shown that monogamous women bore more children per wife than did polygamous wives except the first. Fertility at the societal level, however, was enhanced because of the near universality of marriage among women and the abundant opportunities for remarriage among previously married women of childbearing age.
I’m trying to look at this using church sources. But here's another question from the footnote, what does this mean?
Except the first what? Am I missing something?Studies have shown that monogamous women bore more children per wife than did polygamous wives except the first.
