Recent events highlight confusion of polygamy

Hudson said she believes that "in the eternities we will have the privilege of living under the law, not the exception to the law." In this world, however, the reinstitution of plural marriage in the LDS Church will only happen if the Lord commands it.

"Even if polygamy were to be legalized in the United States, the church would still excommunicate those who practice polygamy without being commanded by the Lord," she said. "Those who desire to practice polygamy in times when God has not commanded it are in spiritual chaos. That desire would be analogous to Abraham, after hearing the message of the angel and seeing the ram in the thicket, proceeding to sacrifice Isaac anyway as a testimony of his faithfulness to God. We can only surmise that from God's point of view, such an act would constitute anything but a testimony of faithfulness."

Hudson is the director of graduate studies for BYU's David M. Kennedy Center for International and Area Studies. She will leave BYU in January to become professor and George H.W. Bush Chair in Texas A&M's Bush School of Government and Public Service.

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