"Sister Wives" Why choose Plural Marriage?

Photo: Dr. Rulon Clark Allred With His Wives and Children. Rulon Clark Allred is the Grandfather of both Christine Brown, Robyn's ex-husband David Preston Jessop, and he is also Kody Brown's 2nd Cousin once removed. Yes, the tree we're working on is gonna be good! I would assume Christine's grandmother and father are in the picture.

What Makes Women Want to Share the Same Husband?

The Brown family belongs to the Apostolic United Brethren Church, a Mormon fundamentalist church that believes in plural marriage. 

Being raised in a two parent home as well as having been married to one man, compels me to ask this question. Why would women want to share the same husband? Unless you have been raised in this belief, there probably won't be any rhyme or reason to this mentality. I have never entertained the idea of my husband "making the rounds" whenever he feels the need for a different woman. I find it pretty one-sided when a man feels that he can have any amount of wives, but a woman cannot have more than one husband. I really do not want more than one and can’t imagine living this way, or what the logical or moral reason is for doing so. It is disturbing to think that one man started this belief based on "messages" he received from stone reflections and an angel who visited him.

I do understand the fact that three of these wives were raised in polygamy and yet, all of them find it totally acceptable and normal. According to an essay from an anonymous plural wife excerpt from "Voices in Harmony: Contemporary Women Celebrate Plural Marriage", these are the religious reasons for a women to participate in polygamy.

She believes it is the non-option, high law of God that brings blessing upon her and her husband.
She believes that it is essential to live in a plural marriage in this life, not just in the future life, to obtain the promised rewards for doing so.
She believes that her plural marriage is the only kind of marriage that will continue on in eternity and that God and her sister wives require the same commitment.
She believes that a monogamous marriage falls short of the promised rewards and that God has granted her legitimate priesthood authority to practice plural marriage now.
She believes plural marriage is pure and holy, and that only persons with high moral standards can live it before God.
She believes plural marriage is one of the laws of God designed to help her achieve her full potential, including her rightful status as a goddess in conjunction with her husband as a god.
She believes that plural marriage is an eternal and necessary component of the religion established by the Prophet Joseph Smith and that it exists within a framework of personal covenants with God which bind individuals and families into a covenant people. Therefore, complying with the law of plural marriage will help prepare and qualify her to assist in the perpetuation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the establishment of God's Kingdom on the earth.
She believes that the rewards for living plural marriage within the above context are immense and worth the effort.
She believes that she is entitled to divine, personal direction throughout her life, and that such guidance is necessary to learn whether she is approved of God to live plural marriage and to help her select a husband. Each of these beliefs can be said to constitute the general operating foundation for most Fundamentalist Mormon women who embrace plural marriage.

The Fundamentalist Mormons consider plural procreation as sacred, not sinful, within marriage. Mutual affection and the desire for children are the focal points of intimacy. Each marriage is regarded as a separate, private relationship. Couple's intimacy is not to be shared in any way with other wives or with anyone else is considered inappropriate.

It is believed that if they practice enough loving devotion and obedience to all other laws of God, a plural family can become consistent, adaptable and nurturing environment that promotes fulfillment, security and growth. Because of this family environment, a plural marriage provides the best platform for development, enabling a woman to become the ultimate female: a wife, a mother, a queen, a priestess, a goddess, in every sense.

As the family learns to participate with God in the salvation of all His children, the wives are no longer mere recipients of blessings, but gradually become givers of blessings. To the Fundamentalist Mormon, the attainment of this type of faith is ultimate empowerment. It is interdependent patriarchy and matriarchy; one cannot exist without the other. It is a perfect union, a perfect balance of the eternal feminine and masculine.

Fundamentalist Mormons believe that the Prophet Joseph Smith's full religious intent was to establish a covenant society with plural marriages, but the modern Mormon church does not embrace this teaching and claim that the law was divinely repealed in 1890. The Mormon Church states there is no such thing as a "Mormon Fundamentalist."

Would you want to be in a plural marriage? Would you teach your daughters that is the only way to get into heaven? What do you think?

Photo and excerpts courtesy: http://www.squidoo.com/a-closer-look-at-sister-wives