Tag: Polygamy

Canada’s polygamy dilemma: prosecution or tolerance?

The Bountiful case has wide ramifications for Canadian law: If British Columbia charges either or both of Bountiful's leaders, Winston Blackmore and Jim Oler, with the criminal offence of practising polygamy and loses, it opens the door for the free practise of plural marriage in the guise of religion. If B.C. loses, it could even open the door to other repugnant practices, such as female genital mutilation. Certainly, Muslim groups are anxiously watching to see what happens.

Video: Lifting the Veil of Polygamy

Joseph Smith, founder of the Mormon church, described plural marriage as part of "the most holy and important doctrine ever revealed to man on earth" and taught that a man needed at least three wives to attain the "fullness of exaltation" in the afterlife. While the Mormon church eventually rejected this doctrines, Mormon fundamentalists hold on to it. This documentary examines the legacy of Smith's teachings on polygamy.