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| Thomas Taylor |
I
can't stop thinking about the shamefully disgraced former bishop of the SLC
14th Ward, Thomas Taylor (his story here). Ultimately I wasn't very kind to
him. But I have to admit his compassionate plea to President John Taylor for a
restoration of his church membership and Priesthood blessings kind of got to
me:
I am ashamed to think that I have been so weak and I feel to cry God be merciful to me, and I want my brethren to be merciful to me[.] I want to be humble and live so that I can purify my thoughts and words and actions...Oh, help me to come back to [God's] favor. I expect to have offended you greatly[.] I humbly ask your forgiveness. I am suffering terribly. My nerves are unstrung[.] I have such throbbings of the heart, and headache[s]. I cannot sit still, nor sleep, when I doze off to sleep . . . I want to return to my allegance to God and his work and I pray you to grant me this favor as soon as you can in righteousness, and I will try to live so as to be worthy of so great a favor.
In
Thomas' story he stated that he had not participated in any other homosexual
acts, other than those for which he was accused and which resulted in his
excommunication, since he was a teenager before he joined the church. In other
words, he pretty much admitted to homosexual acts as a pre-Mormon young man. If
this is the true and appropriate way to interpret his declaration, it's safe to
assume that Thomas was gay. Most of us know the historical views on
homosexuality and, especially since it has been a hot button issue during the
past few years, we understand how the scientifically-based evolution of
knowledge concerning the inherent nature of homosexuality has occurred. We know
now that Thomas' sexuality was not something he chose, it was simply who he
was.
Yet in Thomas' day (and still believed by many even today) he was nothing other than a perverted sinner. He had absolutely no legitimate, legal, or moral way to act on his natural inclinations. Instead, he was filled with shame and self-loathing, no doubt believing himself to be the actual personification of sin itself anytime his natural feelings came to the surface.
Thomas Taylor did what any reasonable, intelligent man of means, influence, and church prominence would do at the time: he suppressed his natural desires as best as he could and succumbed to social pressures of conformity. His Mormon beliefs and teachings complicated the issues at hand even further as Thomas believed that should he not conform his entire eternal salvation would also be in jeopardy. I can feel the pain and anguish he experienced through his words to President Taylor. He believed he was not only shunned and cast out for his "sins against nature" by his beloved faith community but also by God himself, destined to eternal judgment, torment, and hell. He believed that ultimately, in partnership with God, only Priesthood-holding Mormon men had the power to reverse his everlasting fate.
Appropriate to social convention, Thomas had married a woman. Actually, he married three women. He was married to three women all at the same time. Simultaneously. And he fathered fourteen children. Because, according to latter-day prophets, this was the one and only way to gain the highest form of exaltation. And become a God. And also according to latter-day prophets, Thomas was, in a very real sense, a Savior, in and of himself, as were all the faithful, high-ranking, Priesthood-holding men in the church. Because women could not be saved - at all - through the merits of Jesus Christ alone. They MUST be sealed to a "worthy" Priesthood holder. A prominent Priesthood holder. And that prominent Priesthood holder must practice plural marriage. Or. Be. Damned. So taught Joseph Smith. And Brigham Young. And John Taylor. It was true. It was kind. It was benevolent. It was the law of God. It was eternal. It was for the benefit and eternal salvation of women. And of men.
Plural marriage, in my view, was absolutely the foundation of Mormon patriarchy. Patriarchy has always existed in the history of the world, but Mormon polygamy added an entirely new dimension to patriarchy because it was declared to come from an inspired prophet of God, who, without exception, knew the mind and will of God. It was unequivocally and unapologetically the irrevocable and eternal law of God. And who, in good conscience, would ever dare to question God?
I don't believe a man can be given that much power over
women (to virtually "save" them as partners with Jesus Christ
himself) and not claim certain male entitlements, "male privilege",
if you will, which would be attached to that inflated level of power. But their
quest to magnify their Priesthood callings and provide salvation for their
wives and children through their unselfish acts of service, which truly they
believed them to be, came with a very high price. The women to whom they were
attached suffered greatly. In his letter
to President John Taylor, Thomas freely admitted, "[My first wife] never
has appreciated the addition of [other] wives to my family." And Mormon
women continue to suffer today. The after-effects of Mormon plural marriage are
still very much alive today.
One can argue that this pattern was and is not universal. I would have to agree with that. But, even with the acknowledgement that Priesthood-holding Mormon men legitimately serve, sacrifice, and preside in behalf of their religious convictions and some women feel no ill-effects, we shouldn't use that argument to discount and dismiss the pain experienced by many, many Mormon women at the hand of privileged, entitled (though well-intentioned) Mormon men. This statement isn't intended to assign blame or guilt to men who were (and are) acting by virtue of their assimilation into their religious culture and beliefs, nor is it intended to marginalize or belittle them. But, rather, it is an invitation to engage in purposeful thought and retrospection. And to also appeal to a much needed paradigm shift and change of behavior.
But back to Thomas. We have no way of knowing what kind of satisfaction, sexual or otherwise, Thomas gained from his association with his three wives. We do know, however, in addition to his physical relationship with three women he also engaged teenage boys in self-gratifying sexual acts. For clarification purposes, he turned to UNWILLING teenage boys. Just how much his Priesthood-endowed sense of power played into the justification of his actions is something we'll never know. Certainly "gentile" men (and women, for that matter) have been equally guilty. As a faithful, God-fearing Priesthood holder, did his entitlement to God-given power and privilege enabled him to at least begin to exercise his power over the powerless? Given the Priesthood-endowed power he had in association with controlling and presiding over his wives, did his entitlements associated with that power extend to younger men whom he also deemed to be within his control - teenage boys he felt justified in abusing because of his heightened sense of self? Or was he simply overcome by sexual urges and desires? I would say, if the latter was the case, he would have been more inclined to satisfy himself with the aid of willing participants. Given his actions, power and privilege, no doubt, played an important part in the story.
Ultimately, patriarchy hurts men AND women. Although I wouldn't necessarily classify Thomas' experience as being founded solely on patriarchy, I would say Mormon patriarchy added to his sense of entitlement. As a result, he suffered. His wives suffered. His children suffered. Four innocent young men suffered. Their families suffered. The Salt Lake 14th Ward suffered. The church suffered. And the heavens grieved.
Mormon patriarchy. The discussion has just begun.
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