2/6/2019 - Official Declaration 1 & The Articles of Faith
February 6, 2019 Official Declaration 1 Plural Marriage Stopped, Prophets Guided By The Lord, The student manual’s Historical Background found on pages 361-363 gives an excellent history of why and when polygamy was abandoned: In short, plural marriage was officially publically announced in August 29, 1852. Ten years later, Stephen Harding, the non-Mormon governor of the Territory of Utah, persuaded Justin R Morrill of Vermont to introduce an Anti-Polygamy bill into Congress. That bill was signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln on July 8 1862. In 1874, George Q Cannon and George C Bates believed that the Supreme Court would rule the law unconstitutional since it infringed on the freedom of religion provision of the Constitution. On May 5 1879 the Supreme Court concluded that although religious liberty was protected by the First Amendment, the amendment did not give one the right to commit “immoral” or “criminal” acts sanctioned by religious doctrine. In...