just me wrote:j-bug, I believe you are in error in your belief that the "tares" represent people.
Darn it! Why do you believe that Polygamy is commanded by God? Why is God so bent on destroying Emma and other women in D&C 132? Have you read the so-called Law of Sarah? It is offensive on a deep level! The man has to ask for his wifes "permission" to "marry" another woman and if she says NO then she is damned. Uh, that is not a real choice! Why are concubines okay by God? A concubine was basically a slave wife, at worst. At best she had no legal rights to the husband for herself or her children. Why is that okay? Does God just hate his daughters?
There are also several doctrinal contradictions within D&C 132. God is not supposed to be the author of confusion.
Welcome to the forum. :)
The tares are actually not from all people in general. They are specifically those who are gathered into the church who make covenants with God and then turn aside and begin to choke out those who are trying to honor their covenants. The tares think they have a better plan than what the Father gave them and they arrogantly set about to implement it.
People who do not join the church or who honorably withdraw their names from the records of the church because they were hustled into it without a proper understanding are NOT tares.
I look at polygamy from a couple of different aspects.
First of all, I am 100% opposed to how the FLDS implement plural marriage. It is demeaning and destructive to women and they are in far worse trouble than the Nephites were in back in their day. What they are doing is multiplying wives, which is an abomination in the eyes of God.
The biggest reason plural marriage is an important tenet is because in God's political kingdom there won't be income taxes and property taxes and all sorts of other taxes to fund state and federal agencies that supply the bare subsistance welfare needs of widows and orphans. Under God's Laws the family structure is the welfare structure. If a woman's husband is killed or commits adultery she should be able to be given to a good and solid man who can provide for her and her children's needs. All of them. In the case of her husband dying, the children she bears from the new husband are actually accorded to her and her deceased husband in the eternities, which is a great blessing to her. Now days if such a woman marries a single man he is raising up seed to her deceased husband and unable to have another wife with which he can raise up seed for himself.
If plural marriage does not exist then women and children shall suffer tremendously unless we are put right back into a statist society with a heavy tax burder, etc. that will quickly progress to more and more socialistic devices until everyone is in bondage again. Plural marriage is essential to maintaining our liberties.
I also look at Celestial Plural Marriage in a way that very few seem to share. Celestial Plural Marriage is a process that works as follows:
(Please take it as a given that all in society understand it from childhood to know their individual rights and duties. Transitioning into this type of marriage process will obviously not be entirely easy as many people have the traditions of men firmly rooted in their habits. I speak of the Millennial ideal here that shall exist in the Celestial Kingdom. This is what Joseph Smith Jun. was trying to implement back in his day.)
1) It is the woman who receives the signs and witnesses for herself, independently with no outside intervention (unless she requests it), in regard to whom she gives herself to in marriage.
(Note: She is the one giving herself to the husband and he receives her. Because she gives herself in submission to him, it is her prerogative to be responsible to identify the man to which she gives herself. She must do so with the approbation of Christ so that she knows He will back her up as she submits to her husband. If he gets out of line and the wife maintains her submissive posture, he is then going to be dealt with by Christ directly. She can rely upon her husband being corrected by his Lord and not have to take the matter into her own hands. If she does take matters into her own hands then she is putting herself on very dangerous ground because she is not being pure in her heart toward him. She will lose Christ's sponsorship and be left to her own devices, which shall likely cause both her and her husband's destruction.)
2) Any man who thinks a woman belongs to him should simply put his trust in God that she will receive sufficient promptings to come to that understanding on her own. If he tries to directly intervene he will muddy the waters. For a man to "look upon a woman to lust after her" is to commit adultery in his heart and shall be treated accordingly. He could find himself booted out of the Kingdom if he doesn't cross himself.
3) When the woman has received what she believes are signs and witnesses that she belongs to a particular man she needs to submit these to the Lord's Anointed who will receive a revelation from the Lord confirming or denying the validity of her signs and witnesses. Thus, she and the potential husband have a safety check against a woman receiving or reporting false signs and witnesses.
4) If a man is in the millennium and a woman never receives a sign and a witness for him then he remains single his entire life. This means that there was no woman to which he had an eternal sealing with that was worthy to come forth into that society.
5) If a woman comes to full age and she has not yet received a sign and a witness for a man then she will be allowed to be given to a man who already has a wife or wives. Women shall not be single if they make it to the Celestial Kingdom. She will not go to a single man (as an eternal wife) because if he was not worthy of one wife and buried his talent then it would be unwise of a woman to be given to such a man. It is in her best interest to be given to a man proven to properly care for his wife or wives. See the parable of the talents. She may also only be given as a concubine and not as a wife in such a case. It depends upon what the Lord's Anointed receives on her behalf.
6) The woman's father is highly respected in this process and he is rendered a dowry appropriate for the level of rearing, teaching and training he has invested into his daughter in preparation for her duties as a wife and mother. He is also the daughter's direct support and counsel to help her to know how to receive her own revelation and to relay the signs and witnesses to the Lord's Anointed for confirmation. If any authorities try to dictate to him about who his daughter should go to, he is not bound to obey them without he and his daughter both receiving a confirmation of their own. Tyranny shall not exist in the Celestial Kingdom.
Anyway, I don't blame many women for feeling like God hates them when they see how many corrupt men try to take and abuse something that was actually ordained for the benefit of women and their children's welfare.
I would agree a God imposing what is being foisted upon women by the FLDS and others like them could legitimately be viewed as a hateful God. However, as I have sincerely contemplated things and put it all together, I see something wonderful and beautiful when put into the context of a society of people truly dedicating themselves to God's Law and seeking for the best good of all.
It also stands to reason that some men have much greater capacities than others to provide for their women and children and there is no reason, other than people who are envious, to shame whatever level of glory a man and his wives have accumulated to themselves. When it comes down to things being made real in the Celestial Kingdom, the only people there are those who accomplished in accordance to the free will and choice of all involved. All the FLDS men who used coercive devices to acquire their harems will not be there. Most likely their wives shall be if they desire to be and shall be given to a good man who shall love and cherish them.