Mormon fundamentalism

Mormon fundamentalists believe that these and other principles were wrongly abandoned or changed by the LDS Church in its efforts to become reconciled with mainstream American society.

At times, sources have claimed there are as many as 60,000 Mormon fundamentalists in the United States,[2][3] with fewer than half of them living in polygamous households.

[8] Founders of mutually rival Mormon fundamentalist denominations include Lorin C. Woolley, John Y. Barlow, Joseph W. Musser, Leroy S. Johnson, Rulon C. Allred, Elden Kingston, and Joel LeBaron.

According to some sources, many polygamous men in the United States continued to live with their plural wives with the approval of church presidents Woodruff, Lorenzo Snow, and Joseph F.

[6][10] Some fundamentalists have argued that the 1890 Manifesto was not a real revelation of the kind given by God to Joseph Smith, Brigham Young, John Taylor, and others, but that it was rather a politically expedient document intended by Woodruff to be a temporary measure until Utah Territory gained statehood.

They make their argument based on textual evidence and the fact that the "Manifesto" is not worded in accordance with similar revelations in the LDS scriptures.

"[11] Fundamentalists (and many scholars of Mormon history) also believe that a primary impetus for the 1890 Manifesto was the Edmunds–Tucker Act of 1887, a stringent federal law that legally dissolved the LDS Church, disenfranchised women (who had been given the vote in Utah in 1870), and required voters to take an anti-polygamy oath before being permitted to vote in an election.

[12] The seriousness with which this new measure was taken is evinced in the fact that apostle John W. Taylor, son of the church's third president, was excommunicated in 1911 for his continued opposition to the Manifesto.

[17] For the most part, the Utah state government has left the Mormon fundamentalists to themselves, unless their practices violate laws other than those prohibiting bigamy.

In one highly publicized 2004 case, a man and one of his polygamist wives lost custody of all but one of their children until the wife separated herself from her husband.

[18] The largest government effort to crack down on the practices of fundamentalist Mormons was carried out in 1953 in what is today Colorado City, Arizona, which became known as the Short Creek Raid.

Other fundamental doctrines of the Latter Day Saint movement besides polygamy, notably the United Order (communalism), while equally important in the practices of some fundamentalist sects, have not come under the same scrutiny or approbation as has plural marriage, and the mainline LDS Church has mostly ignored this aspect of fundamentalism; in any case, no revelation or statement condemning it has ever been issued.

[19] Unlike more prevalent Biblical (non-Mormon) fundamentalist groups, who generally base their authority on an unchanging and closed canon of scripture, Mormon fundamentalists generally hold to a concept of "continuing revelation" or "progressive revelation," in which the canon of scripture may be continually augmented through the sermons and teachings of prophets whose preaching guides the community.

Another of the most basic beliefs of Mormon fundamentalist groups is that of plural marriage, which many of them view as essential for obtaining the highest degree of exaltation in the celestial kingdom.

[21] Other sects, however, do not practice and may in fact vehemently denounce underage or forced marriages and incest (for example, the Apostolic United Brethren.)

The Apostolic United Brethren (AUB) is estimated to have about 5000 to 10000 members throughout Utah, Montana, Nevada, Arizona, Wyoming, Missouri, and Mexico and is perhaps the largest Mormon fundamentalist group.

Several of its towns are organized into United Orders; the church has established a temple in Mexico, an Endowment House in Utah, and operates several schools.

The AUB emerged when their leader, Joseph W. Musser, ordained Rulon C. Allred as an apostle and counselor, which led to a split between Mormon fundamentalists in Salt Lake City and those in Short Creek, Arizona.

Beginning April 4, 2008, over a four-day period, troopers and child welfare officials searched the church's YFZ Ranch and removed 416 children into the temporary custody of the State of Texas.

[31] On the following day, Judge Barbara Walther of the 51st District Court issued an order authorizing officials to remove all children, including boys, 17 years old and under out of the compound.

[38] The treatment of the wives of Warren Jeffs has been discussed by testimony from escapees, who established a women's refuge in Church property.

The Righteous Branch of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is a group of approximately 100 to 200 people; most live near Modena, Utah, or Tonopah, Nevada.

The Righteous Branch was organized in 1978 by Gerald Peterson Sr., who claimed that he was ordained a High Priest Apostle by AUB leader Rulon C. Allred.

When the FLDS Church abandoned leadership by council and instituted a "one-man rule" doctrine, those who wanted to maintain leadership by a priesthood council founded Centennial Park in 1986, approximately 3 miles (5 km) south of the twin communities of Colorado City, Arizona, and Hildale, Utah.

The name "Centennial Park" is a reference to the 1886 movement led by Lorin C. Woolley, which serves as the basis for fundamentalist claims of priesthood authority.

The group was profiled on the ABC television program Primetime in a story entitled, The Outsiders, and also on The Oprah Winfrey Show.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the Kingdom of God[44] is based in the Salt Lake Valley, and has around 200 members.

The sect was founded by Frank Naylor and Ivan Nielson, who split from the Centennial Park group, another fundamentalist church.

Brothers Ron and Dan Lafferty were affiliated with the Crossfield group, serving as for a month as counselors in the Provo, Utah School of the Prophets in March 1984.