I recently watched the Netflix series “Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey,” a chillingly informative documentary covering the rise and fall of Fundamentalist Latter-day Saint (FLDS) prophet Warren Jeffs. The docuseries presented everything from the conservative, yet benign day-to-day lifestyles of FLDS families to gruesome acts of sexual abuse that Jeffs enacted on his dozens of wives, including teenagers as young as 12 years old.

The central feature that distinguishes the FLDS Church from the mainstream Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is their differing views on polygamy. A core aspect of the LDS Church’s foundation in the 19th century was a theological and pragmatic justification for polygamy, a practice that Joseph Smith ushered in via official revelation. Smith argued that polygamy was necessary to increase reproduction on earth and was a divine requirement of the Celestial Kingdom, the highest degree of heaven in LDS theology. He too possessed dozens of wives, including teenage girls as young as 14 years old. Marred by scandal, dishonesty and deception, plural marriage continued as an official church doctrine and practice until 1890, when then-President Wilford Woodruff issued a manifesto prohibiting its future practice.

Clinging to polygamy as an eternally divine principle, FLDS groups broke off from the mainstream church following the manifesto and, to this day, continue to cite instances in which 19th century LDS prophets declared plural marriage to be “unchanging doctrine.” Ultimately, FLDS groups have prioritized plural marriage above their social reputation, political legitimacy and membership growth, remaining small and relatively estranged communities in rural pockets of the U.S.

To the contrary, the mainstream LDS Church abandoned polygamy in the face of increasing political and legal pressure from the U.S. federal government. And since then, LDS leaders have felt that incorporating the church into broader social, political and economic norms was ultimately best for its development and growth. Now with over 17 million members worldwide and a net worth of approximately $250 billion, LDS leaders continue to condemn polygamist fundamentalist groups like FLDS, distance themselves from checkered 19th-century polygamist teachings and excommunicate members found practicing plural marriage.

Despite unequivocal top-down condemnations of polygamy, the church’s continued theological affiliation with plural marriage is not lost on its members. In perhaps the most thorough and effective treatment on this issue to date, LDS author Carol Lynn Pearson lays out the ways in which plural marriage continues to shape the teachings and practices of the modern church. She discusses the fact that LDS men are allowed to get eternally sealed (i.e., married) in the temple to multiple women if their previous wife/wives have died. LDS women, however, are not afforded this privilege and must annul their previous sealing in order to get resealed if a previous husband has passed.

Perhaps the most conspicuous examples of this are the two most powerful men in the church — President Russell Nelson and his first counselor, Dallin Oaks. Nelson’s first wife, Dantzel White, passed away in 2005, and one year later, he married his current wife, Wendy Watson. Oaks’ first wife, June Dixon, passed away in 1998. He married his current wife, Kristen McMain, in 2000. Theologically speaking, both Nelson and Oaks are in eternal polygamous marriages with each of their two wives. While LDS leaders downplay this reality by claiming uncertainty about what happens in the afterlife, the reality that only men are given polygamous privileges is a continuous reminder of deep-seated gender inequality that permeates the church.

In addition, LGBTQ+ members must face the oppressive reality that they are prohibited from having just one marriage with a person they love, while prominent leaders of the church who disparage their relationships are allowed multiple marriages in the afterlife. It is especially ironic that LDS leaders have for decades defended the doctrinal sanctity and political necessity of “traditional marriage” while continuing to uphold eternal polygamous marriages in their theology and practice. This contradiction is part of a broader historical pattern in which church leaders rhetorically distance themselves from socially unacceptable practices while maintaining underemphasized theological ties to such practices.

Another example of this phenomenon is the church’s ongoing relationship with racism. Although they officially removed their 150-year temple and priesthood ban on people of African descent in 1978, the racist residue of LDS teachings continues to this day. In recent years, top leaders like President Nelson have condemned racism generally and have even received awards for doing so. However, LDS scripture still contains sections associating divine curses with “black skin” (see Book of Mormon, 2 Nephi 5:21).

These paradoxical relationships with racism and polygamy reveal complex conundrums for the LDS Church when it comes to its doctrines and practices that do not align with modern sensibilities. It seems that church leaders want to have it both ways by maintaining political and cultural relevancy and power while simultaneously clinging to less palatable, yet crucial doctrines. In this era of increased accountability and transparency, that approach is simply unsustainable. In order to address the hypocrisy and contradiction embedded in male eternal polygamy, church leaders must either own up to the fact that polygamy is still a core feature of LDS doctrine or entirely remove it from their afterlife theology. I sincerely hope for the latter, as doing so would not only lead to increased doctrinal consistency but would also constitute a powerful step toward greater gender equality within the church.

Keith Burns is a graduate of Sarah Lawrence College who specializes in Mormonism and sexuality.

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