Cynthia and Susan are joined by their friend Holly Gaetano to discuss the biggest elephant in the room. In what ways might polygamy—past, present, and/or future—affect the lives of Latter-day Saint women today?
Episode 028: The Other “P” Word
Cynthia and Susan are joined by their friend Holly Gaetano to discuss the biggest elephant in the room. In what ways might polygamy—past, present, and/or future—affect the lives of Latter-day Saint women today?
Liesl Johnson
Thank you for discussing this subject, it’s so refreshing and important! You ladies talked about one of the “good fruits” of polygamy being all the good people that came from it, but let’s acknowledge that good people also come from abusive relationships and even rape. I submit that we could have had just as many good people come from monogamous relationships if those women had all been married to their own husbands (and it seems to me that probably even more children would have been born and raised, and in less poverty)! I would also like to point out that polygamy was never commanded by God in the Bible (only in scripture that Joseph Smith wrote), it was permitted in the same way that any sin is permitted, but God always warned the people against polygamy and the trouble it would bring.
Susan Hinckley
All of this is true, and I am aware that many people take issue with me describing the descendants of polygamists as a “good fruit.” As one of those descendants, I can only say that I don’t know another way to describe myself than as fruit of my family tree. And that tree is deeply rooted in polygamy. So I do think of myself as a good fruit, despite the policy that led my ancestors’ to practice polygamy being deeply flawed. Would I be the same person if I weren’t descended from my specific people who lived their specific lives? They are people I deeply respect, even though I don’t understand or agree with their choices. Still, they made me who I am. It’s a deeply complicated subject of which we have only barely scratched the surface. I hope polygamy can someday be discussed widely, and collectively we will unpack the heavy burden of unspoken feelings that keep polygamy high on the shelf, toxic in its silence, for so many of the Latter-day Saint women I’ve known across a lifetime in the Church.
~ Susan