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Voices in Harmony: Contemporary Women Celebrate Plural Marriage

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Voices in Harmony is a book which looks at Mormon plural marriage from the point of view of the women involved. It is very beautifully written and insightful. At times it is very moving, for example when terrifying episodes of persecution (of polygamists) are described. Yet they remain a very spiritual, very religious people, and that undoubtedly is a strength for them in this unusual domestic arrangement.

A curious fact garnered from it: the women of Utah were amoung the first in the world to be granted the vote. Washington DC granted them the vote in 1870, in the hope that they would vote for the anti-polygamy candidate. Unfortunately, the polygamous Utah wives were happy with their lot, for they voted for the Mormon candidate. Just 17 years later, in 1887, Washington evidently came to the conclusion that the women of Utah could not be trusted to vote for the "correct" candidate, and so they were disenfranchised. This happened as part of the infamous Edmunds-Tucker Act.

It also occurs to me that there is a fratricidal element in this: in 1890 the LDS Church publicly retracted its support for plural marriage, in return for more respectful treatment from Washington; and nowadays, these "monogamy-only" Mormons appear to dominate state institutions in Utah--the recent Tom Green case (covered briefly in this book) being an example.

I wonder, had this polygamous community been, say, moslem, or jewish, or hindu--or even patriarchal pagan--and not Mormon, wether people would want to bother them. Perhaps it would not make any difference, even so: I recall reading on the Niqabi Paralegal site, that the Native American tribes were pressured by Washington into making polygamy illegal in their tribal law, in exchange for more respectful treatment. Some tribes conceded. Others did not.

But back to Voices in Harmony. Another curious historical fact: President Buchanan at one point sent an army to Utah, to finish off polygamy once and for all. But the army did not fire a shot, and had to be recalled, when the Civil War broke out."Buchanan's Folly" it was called.

This is curioser than it seems: I recall reading, in Schott's Miscellany, that Buchanan was a bachelor president. A bachelor president declaring war on polygamous Mormons! Interesting.

Voices in Harmony is absorbing reading, and thought-provoking. The middle section, in which 100 plural wives speak in their own words, is especially interesting. It occurred to me that even monogamous people, who want to learn the secret(s) of happy marriage and family life, could learn from this.

This is a book that simply tries to glorify an illegal lifestyle. I read it a while back and it made me want to scream that women can be so stupid as to think that they only way they can get to heaven is by a man. The only way you can get to heaven is through Jesus Christ, not some man who has 40 wives.

Dumb, Dumb, Dumb.

Finally, there is a book that tells of the faith, hope, courage and determination of women that live to fulfill what they want to have in their lives. You won't find any of the ridiculous sensational garbage that you read in the news. This book is about down to earth women like you and me. Women that have endured great hardship to live their religion. An excellent book for anyone wanting to know what the truth is behind the headlines and scare tatics of the news. This is truly a heartwarming journey through the lives of women from different groups and ages. Women who have dedicated their lives to living the principles they espouse.

I am interested in the history and practice of polgamy. This book allows the reader to enter into the mind set of those living this life style and hearing their testimony and passion as to, the why, they chose this particular style of life. Well worth the read.

I could barely get through this yawn of a book. I've read almost every book on polygamy, from both sides of the issue and this is the worst by far. These women are either lying to themselves or their husbands dictated their stories for them. Ladies, if you ever read this review, please get help & get out!

First off, since the book is not yet available on Amazon.com to be looked inside and searched I will post the table of contents (there are more subsections that I did not mention but this is the general layout from beginning pages to the end):

1. Introduction

2. Overviews of Mormon Plural Marriage
a. Historical Overview
b. Doctrinal Overview
c. Legal Overview

3. Why do women choose plural marriage

4. Voices of Plural wives (Age 19 and up)

5. Other Supportive voices

6. Analysis and Questionnaires

7. Conclusion

Appendices/ Suggested reading
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You may not agree with polygamy but this book was good and informative look into the lifestyle, especially from the perspective of the wives who are a part of the lifestyle. The authors/compilers of this book are on the board of an organization that's called Principle Voices, and they have a website that's also called Principle Voices ([...]). The book is centered on Mormon polygamy and those who practice it. I'm a non-Mormon Christian but I still liked this book and see how even non-Mormon polygamists could benefit from it.

The first major section of this book is an overview of Mormon polygamy from historical, doctrinal, and legal standpoints. I found this section alone to be very good. The next big section is the bulk of the book which contain the writings/essays from some 90+ contemporary wives living in Mormon polygamy. Most of them talk about and incorporate the role of the Mormon faith in their lifestyle, but there are plenty of mentions and essays that also talk about regular day-to-day aspects that are not about religion, aspects that would apply to anyone both religious and non-religious. For instance, some of the wives talk about how they were raised, esp. having 3 moms and 1 dad, some of the struggles of living polygamy especially in the early years of just starting the relationship, what the companionship of having an additional wife means and some of the benefits to these women, etc. The last section of this book is basically extra material, like a questionnaire that was given to the women respondents in the book and the results from those questions - mostly presented as stats. There is also a list of books for suggested reading.

I'll explain one essay that I found a bit inspiring. It's on page 179, essay #69:
One wife talks about how she was able to go back to school to get a Bachelor of Science degree. In some cases, this would be hard for a woman to do who is married and has kids because the couple would have to find time for each other which is hard enough nowadays, and take care of the kids. Well, that's where the sister-wife (the other wife of the husband) came in and while one wife was away at college until she finished and got her degree, her husband was okay since he had another wife to spend time with and he and that other wife were able to take care of the kids, while the other wife was getting her degree. I find this to be a very inspiring essay because it goes against contrary views and stereotypes that women in polygamy are suppressed (SOME wives are, NOT all and when the wives in polygamy are not suppressed it can be beneficial in some ways), well this wife with kids was able to make it for herself with an education and degree and she could support herself and would be like any other woman who has an education and career. Since she remained married, then the whole family will benefit just as any other family could who have good careers and a supportive family behind them.

This is a must read for anyone interested in this subject.
God bless

This book was not what expected, however one of the things that impressed me and that I really like about the book is the history it provides of plural marriage - it's roots, the reasons the church denounced it, and more.

Consider this passage found on page 78:

"I chose to live in plural marriage. I believe it to be a celestial principle calculated to turn me into the person I want to be - full of love, kindness and faithfulness.

"This principle puts my soul to the test as it divides my carnal, selfish nature from my spiritual nature and makes me choose between them every day. Whichever nature I choose is strengthened, so I know that through the years this process will form me into the woman of pure, Christ-like love I want to be, if that is the path I follow."

This is just one example of the dedication to higher spiritual principles which permeates the testimonies found in this marvelous book.

Here is another quote from page 80:

"I have been very blessed in living the principle. I now have a little boy who couldn't be loved more. I have a wonderful sisterwife who loves our little boy as though he were her very own. I have a great husband who conducts himself in a Godly manner, and who loves and provides for his family."

I find that so beautiful!

How I wish that all those who profess to being Christian and to following the Word of God would take the time to do as the Bereans did and search the Scriptures - openly and honestly - to see for themselves.

Where in the Scriptures is polygamy condemned? You might be surprised to know that God portrays Himself as a polygamist (Ezekiel 23).

For my part, I bow before these women and their husbands for their dedication to marriage and family and higher spiritual values. Were only this dedication not from something which has been added to the Bible - i.e. the law of celestial plural marriage. Surely, the Dominion Mandate is principle enough, were it to be taken seriously.