Founded by Smith in 1830 C.E. in New York, Mormonism developed as a sectional movement in a raging period of American religious history. Smith claimed to have been called by God to restore the church that Christ had established on the earth, but which had been lost after the deaths of the original apostles. Smith initiated the practice of plural marriage as part of his desire to reintroduce all biblical practices into the modern world. The Mormons moved several times during the 1830s and 1840s, often due to violent persecution and disputes with their non-Mormon neighbors. After Smith's murder in 1844, leadership of the church went to Brigham Young, an organizer and frontiersman who led the church to their safe haven. Mormons also have distinct theologies including a distinct doctrine of God, Jesus, and Holy Spirit in which the three are separate entities, and continuing revelation through modern …show more content…
At the time, there were no national laws prohibiting polygamy. When the Supreme Court ruled that later anti-polygamy laws were constitutional, the Lord directed Pres. Woodruff to issue the Manifesto, and the practice ended in the Church. According to the Supreme Court, a religious belief does not excuse a citizen from compliance with an otherwise valid law prohibiting conduct that the State is free to regulate. The laws against polygamy are neutral in that they ban the privilege for religious and secular polygamists alike. As such, these laws are valid if they do not interfere with another constitutional right. As practiced, religious polygamists have only one legal wife. Custom dictates that polygamists marry only once in a civil ceremony; all additional marriages exist only in the eyes of God. According to the United States government, the marriages do not exist. While the ultimate aims of religious and secular life do not always align, Mormons “follow the admonition of Paul” by seeking after anything that is “virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy,” whatever the source may