THE PERSISTENCE OF POLYGAMY IN THE CONTEMPORARY MORMON CHURCH When widower Russell M. Nelson, the LDS church’s point person for the Defense of Marriage Amendment, remarried in the temple in 2006, four days after defining marriage as “the union between one man and one woman,” activists balked, creating a website, EMOVENELSON.NET, and dubbing him a “celestial polygamist.” While the LDS church publicly announced its abandonment of the practice of polygamy in the late 19th century and has since distanced itself from it, celestial polygamy persists in mainstream Mormon doctrine and temple sealing practices. This panel explores the contemporary LDS concept and practice of celestial polygamy, how it affects couples, families, and women, particularly in cases of divorce, and its persistence despite recent statements by Church leaders and their preoccupation with institutional image.

LORIE WINDER STROMBER, HUGO OLAIZ, TODD D. COMPTON, and LAURA COMPTON