In Reply to: Some thoughts on polygamy posted by Woodie on August 15, 2003 at 21:17:37:
Wow, Woodie! Now that was a mouthful. And very well said. Hagar has long been one of my favorite heroines, a deeply spiritual woman. I really feel she got a raw deal at the hands of Sarah, but then again, Sarah had her pain (as you once said), being traded off to Pharaoh, then Abimelech king of Gerar, as Abraham's sister.
I believe as you pretty much said, that polygamy was a cultural thing tolerated by the Law, but whose inherent abuses are strewn across the pages of the Old Testament. Polygamy pretty much died a natural death. Well, until the Mormons tried to revive it. Did you know that in the original Mormon writings, that Joseph Smith made having multiple wives one of the requirements of salvation?