Idaho Evangelical Christian polygamists use Internet to meet potential spouses

"The advent of the Internet really put Christian polygamy on the map," said Henkel, adding that his Website and its sister site, 2Wives.com, received the most number of hits and new members in August 2006, when Warren Jeffs, the fugitive "prophet" of the FLDS, was caught by the FBI. Jeffs was later convicted of being an accomplice to the rape of a 14-year-old church member.

"The bad publicity was good for business, so to speak," said Henkel. "People wanted to find out what separated us from them." While both groups are polygamous, Christian polygamists are scattered across the country, whereas the FLDS is concentrated in Colorado City, Ariz.; Hilldale, Utah; and most recently, El Dorado, Texas.

Both groups, however, share the quality of being extremely conservative in their views about morality, but unconventional in their views about what defines a marriage. Both groups also have a notorious reputation for underage marriage and domestic violence. John Llewellyn, a former deputy sheriff in Utah who has investigated and written about polygamy, says he has not seen cases of exploitation of minors associated with pro-polygamy sites.

Pastor Don Milton, an ordained minister in Arizona who preaches polygamy from his Web site ChristianMarriage.com, says that followers of his brand of Christianity and users of his Web site are decent and upstanding adults. "Christian polygamy attracts extremely religious adults with a desire to live God's word," he said.

Milton hopes to open a church that will be accepting of people who choose polygamous lifestyles. "We can't openly preach polygamy because it's against the law, but we will welcome families who engage in the lifestyle," he said.

Until then, the Internet is his pulpit. His Web site has helped create a virtual community for people who don't have one in the real world. He runs a small personals section on his site, but generally tries not to get involved with matching people up, fearing imprisonment. Still, he makes an enthusiastic pitch for the skeptic.

"Of course a woman would want to marry a married man," Milton said. "A single guy is an unknown quantity, whereas a married guy has a track record."

But, not all single women feel that way. Milton said that couples are desperate to find single women, but single women generally want single men.

So goes the challenge that Margie and Lee Sharp have been facing. Margie, 32, and Lee, 36, live in Loranger, La., and have been looking for a religious, white woman to help raise their four boys.

The Sharps say they are born-again Christians who made the decision to practice polygamy after closely studying the Bible. "We prayed and prayed and prayed about it and God put it in our hearts to practice the Biblical lifestyle," Margie Sharp said.