After the U.S. outlawed polygamy, thousands of Mormons fled to Mexico. Nine just died there.

[yortsed snacilbuper]

They refused to bend to the will of Congress. So the Mormons set off for Mexico by horse and wagon, their bags packed with dried fruit and baked goods, their belief in polygamy unshakable.

It was 1885. That year, Mark Twain published the “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.” A French ship delivered the Statue of Liberty to New York City. A skyscraper went up in Chicago. And the U.S. government had just outlawed polygamy, plural marriage that critics equated with slavery.

To avoid arrest, hundreds, then thousands, of Mormons fled to land purchased by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Chihuahua desert, the site of a brutal ambush Monday of a fundamentalist Mormon family. At least nine people — three women and six children — were killed.

One of the families that made the trek to Mexico was the Romney family, including Utah Sen. Mitt Romney’s grandfather Gaskell Romney. His only wife gave birth there to Mitt’s father, George Romney, who, like his son, ran for president of the United States. (Mitt’s great-grandfather Miles Park Romney had multiple wives.)

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/after-the-us-outlawed-polygamy-thousands-of-mormons-fled-to-mexico-nine-just-died-there/ar-AAJTZUP?ocid=spartanntp

[dewsgirl]

1. I knew all of this felt familiar, the family they were part of

is featured in this documentary.

[keithbvadu2]

5. Interesting... Mormons openly drink alcohol and smuggle guns.

Interesting... Mormons openly drink alcohol and smuggle guns.

[dewsgirl]

13. It's all kind of mind blowing. I had watched this years ago,

and then kind of forgot about it until today. Crazy.

[braddy]

2. Smith had lots and lots of wives, several dozens, and as young as 14.

[NightWatcher]

3. Just like Koresh and Jeffs and .... Start a religion and use it to justify sex with children.

You're damned right I'm an antitheist.

[braddy]

4. Those men should have believed in God, instead they didn't, and exploited other people or led

other people who shared their lack of belief in the Bible. Smith created a new non-Christian religion which non-Christians signed up for, Jeffs belonged to that religion.

[greyl]

6. They did believe in God, just not yours. nt

[braddy]

7. No, those con men don't deserve the credibility you are putting on them.

[greyl]

9. Accusing someone of having belief in "God",

is definitely not the same as giving them credibility.

[braddy]

10. Con men and fake religious leaders are so because they don't believe in God, not because they are

sincere followers of him.

[tblue37]

15. No true Scotsman argument. nt

[BlueSpot]

8. We create God in our own image

Because that is super handy for whatever we want to do.

[greyl]

11. Pretty much. nt

[Dr. Strange]

12. Yep. Muhammad had 11 wives himself.

[leftyladyfrommo]

14. The church on SLC does not condone polygamy.

They will excommunicate anyone that they find practicing it.

These outlier groups are not the LDS. They are not recognized by the church.

I am not saying the church is perfect but they should not be lumped in with these polygamous groups.

[keithbvadu2]

16. There are various sects, cults, versions of Christianity that do not recognize each other as Christi

There are various sects, cults, versions of Christianity that do not recognize each other as Christians.

Many Protestants/Catholics claim that the other is not a true Christian.

[LanternWaste]

19. In much the same way that various groups

In much the same way that various groups of the Democratic party will claim that other members are not true enough, or not progressive enough, or too progressive, and denounce them by claiming they too are not real Democrats.

Seems we've stumbled upon a problem inherent to humanity and all its imaginary divisions rather than simply one of a thousand imaginary belief systems, some religious, others not.

[FreeState]

17. So the Church is going to excommunicate the prophet?

He is sealed to two women. They believe he will have both as wives in the next life. The LDS Church still very much believes in polygamy.

[leftyladyfrommo]

18. The next life doesn't count. Only this one.

That whole sealed for eternity stuff is just weird. And so is the get your own planet once you die and become it's Jesus . But first you have to marry and have a lot of kids and be a good Temple Mormon. They believe in lots if really strange things. And somehow they are able to compartmentalize all that and live in the real world.

And when I was there I found that people actually believe that stuff.

[FreeState]

20. I was raised Mormon

In fact one of my relatives funded the first printing of the Book of Mormon (he was dumb dumb dumb). South-park reference.

I've been out for nearly 20 years and your right it's hard to fathom people believe this stuff. However, when your born into it, told if you leave you will not be with your loved ones for eternity, shunned if you leave, eluded when you leave etc. its not hard to see why people stay. Cults do an amazing job at controlling people.

If you want to see how easy it is to disprove the LDS church with their own history check out [link: http://cesletter.org|http://cesletter.org].

[leftyladyfrommo]

21. What I found so interesting was just how the

Religion and the society were completely interwoven. That happens when 95% of the population are one religion.

I went to high school and college on SLC. I do want to say that I never saw the Mormon kids bully anyone. Even the popular kids were outgoing and nice to everyone.

The bad thing for me was that so much of the social life for all the kids was in the church.