第二步：精读重点段落

（Tips: 双击文中单词可以查释义并加入你的生词本哦）

[13] The United States Congress passed the Edmunds-Tucker Act (1887) authorizing the seizure of LDS Church assets and making polygamy a federal offense. Entire families went “underground” to avoid imprisonment. Mormon men were stereotyped as fanatics who exploited innocent converts to satisfy their “sexual degeneracy.” Mobs in the American South in the 1880s attacked Mormon missionaries.

• seizure   /'siːʒə/  n. 没收；夺取
• asset  /'æset/  n. 资产；财产
• sexual degeneracy  性欲堕落
• missionary  /'mɪʃən ə ri/  n. 传教士

[14] Under pressure, LDS Church President Wilford W. Woodruff announced in 1890 that the Mormon Church would no longer sanction plural marriages in adherence with the law of the United States. Still, such marriages continued to be performed among Mormons in Mexico – some of whom emigrated from Utah to northern Mexico specifically to continue polygamy – or by rogue LDS leaders through the 1920s.

• sanction  /'sæŋkʃ ə n/  v. 许可；准许
• adherence  /ədˈhɪərəns/  n. 遵守；遵循

[15] In the 1930s, seven leading Mormon polygamists banded together to form a loose confederation of Mormon fundamentalists to keep polygamy going. Several were excommunicated from the mainstream LDS Church and formed close-knit fundamentalist communities across the West – from Canada to Mexico – that survive to this day.

• band  /bænd/  v. 联合；团结
• confederation  /kən‚fedə'reɪʃ ə n/  n. 联盟；联合体
• excommunicate  /‚ekskə'mjuːnɪkeɪt/  vt. 逐出教会；把…逐出教会
• close-knit  /'kləus'nit/  adj. 紧密结合在一起的；紧密的

[20] Still, it is my experience as a lifelong Mormon that LDS people with strong cultural and familial ties to the faith commonly believe that polygamy will be a fact of life in heaven. The LDS Church publicly renounced the practice of polygamy in 1890, but it has never renounced polygamy as doctrine, as evidenced in LDS scriptures. It has always permitted and continues to permit men to be married in Mormon temples “for the eternities” to more than one wife.

• renounce  /rɪ'naʊns/  vt. 宣布放弃；与…断绝关系
• scripture  /'skrɪptʃə/  n. 经文；圣典
• eternity  /ɪ'tɜːnɪti/  n. 永恒；永生

（Tips: 双击文中单词可以查释义并加入你的生词本哦）

Explaining polygamy and its history in the Mormon Church

[1] The arrest of polygamist leader Lyle Jeffs, evictions of polygamist families and new studies on crippling genetic disorders among small ultra-orthodox or “fundamentalist” Mormon communities in rural Utah have made headlines this summer.

• polygamist  /pə'lɪɡəmɪst/  n. 多配偶论者；多配偶的人
• eviction  /ɪ'vɪkʃən/  n. 赶出；逐出
• crippling  /'krɪplɪŋ/  adj. 造成严重后果的
•  ultra-orthodox  极端正统派
• fundamentalist  /‚fʌndə'mentəlɪst/  n. 原教旨主义者 
• Mormon  /'mɔ:mən/  adj. 摩门教; n. 摩门教徒

[2] This spotlight on polygamy is likely to make the majority of Mormons who are nonfundamentalist uncomfortable. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) – the mainstream Mormon Church with 15 million members worldwide – publicly rejected polygamy in 1890. But to this day, mainstream Mormons encounter stereotypes of polygamy.

• polygamy  /pə'lɪɡəmi/  n. 一夫多妻（制）
• Latter-day Saints  后期圣徒（指美国基督教新教摩门教徒）
• encounter  /ɪn'kaʊntə/  v. 遭遇；遇到
• stereotype  /'steriətaɪp/  n. 旧有的思想；成见

[3] As a scholar of Mormonism and gender and a Mormon myself, I know that the truth about Mormonism and polygamy is complicated and confusing. For more than 175 years, polygamy and tensions surrounding it have defined what it means to be a Mormon – especially a Mormon man.

• confusing  /kən'fjuːzɪŋ/  adj. 难以理解的；令人困惑的

Beginning of polygamy

[4] Founded by Joseph Smith in 1830, the Mormon movement from its beginnings offered a unique perspective on the religious role of men.

[5] One of the most influential events in the life of Joseph Smith was the death of his 25-year-old brother Alvin in 1823. In 1836, Joseph Smith had a vision of Alvin Smith in heaven. Based on this vision, he developed the Mormon teaching that families could be together in heaven if they underwent religious rites – called “sealings” – in Mormon temples. Any faithful Mormon approved by church leaders could perform these sealings.

• vision  /'vɪʒ(ə)n/  n. 想象；设想; 〔作为宗教经历的〕幻象，异象
• underwent (undergo)  /‚ʌndə'ɡəʊ/  v. 经受(检阅,考验等)

[6] Due in part to this powerful role it gave to men in helping to save the people they loved and brought to heaven, Mormonism attracted proportionally more male converts than any other American religious movement of the time.

• convert  /'kɒnvɜːt/  n. 皈依者

[7] In the early 1830s, Smith extended this view of the role of men to include polygamy as it was practiced by Old Testament prophets like Abraham. Smith taught that a righteous man could help numerous women and children go to heaven by being “sealed” in plural marriage. Large families multiplied a man’s glory in the afterlife. This teaching was established as doctrine in 1843.

• Old Testament  旧约
• prophet  /'prɒfɪt/  n. 先知；预言者
• righteous  /'raɪtʃəs/  adj. 正义的；正直的
• plural marriage  na. 一夫多妻
• doctrine  /'dɒktrɪn/  n. 学说；教义；信条

[8] Rumors that polygamy was practiced by a small cadre of LDS Church leaders spurred mob violence against early Mormon settlements in Illinois and Missouri. In the face of this opposition, Smith counseled Mormon men to be “crafty” – contemporary scholars have interpreted this to mean alert, wise and “resourceful” – in their practice of polygamy and use of “sealings.”

• cadre  /'kɑːdə/  n. 骨干；骨干队伍
• spur  /spɜː/  v. 刺激；煽动；教唆
• counsel  /'kaʊns ə l/  v. 劝告；建议
• crafty  /'krɑːfti/  adj. 狡猾的；诡计多端的

[9] After the murder of Joseph Smith in 1845, Mormons migrated to Utah territory in 1847, and there, under the leadership of Brigham Young – who succeeded Joseph Smith – brought the practice of polygamy out of the shadows. LDS leaders announced plural marriage as an official Mormon Church practice in 1852.

[10] Following Young, Mormon theologians heralded polygamy as a core doctrine and as evidence of patriarchal manliness. By the 1880s, an estimated 20-30 percent of Mormon families practiced polygamy.

• herald  /'herəld/  v. 通告；预告；欢呼
• patriarchal   /͵petrɪˋɑrkḷ/  adj. 由男性统治的；(男性)族长的；家长的
• manliness  /'mænlɪnɪs/  n. 刚毅；男子汉；男子汉气概

Polygamy laws, fundamentalist groups

[11] However, after the U.S. Civil War, a growing controversy over polygamy united Americans – in both the North and South. Politicians, preachers and novelists decried it as an evil equal to slavery.

• controversy  /'kɒntrəvɜːsi/  n. 争议；争论

[12] The United States Supreme Court ruled in Reynolds v. the United States (1878) that polygamy was an “odious” practice. The court said,“Polygamy has always been odious among the northern and western nations of Europe, and, until the establishment of the Mormon Church, was almost exclusively a feature of the life of Asiatic and of African people. At common law, the second marriage was always void, and from the earliest history of England, polygamy has been treated as an offence against society….”

• odious  /'əʊdiəs/  adj. 令人作呕的；可憎的
• exclusively  /ɪk'skluːsɪvli/  adv. 专有地；唯一地

[13] The United States Congress passed the Edmunds-Tucker Act (1887) authorizing the seizure of LDS Church assets and making polygamy a federal offense. Entire families went “underground” to avoid imprisonment. Mormon men were stereotyped as fanatics who exploited innocent converts to satisfy their “sexual degeneracy.” Mobs in the American South in the 1880s attacked Mormon missionaries.

• seizure   /'siːʒə/  n. 没收；夺取
• asset  /'æset/  n. 资产；财产
• sexual degeneracy  性欲堕落
• missionary  /'mɪʃən ə ri/  n. 传教士

[14] Under pressure, LDS Church President Wilford W. Woodruff announced in 1890 that the Mormon Church would no longer sanction plural marriages in adherence with the law of the United States. Still, such marriages continued to be performed among Mormons in Mexico – some of whom emigrated from Utah to northern Mexico specifically to continue polygamy – or by rogue LDS leaders through the 1920s.

• sanction  /'sæŋkʃ ə n/  v. 许可；准许
• adherence  /ədˈhɪərəns/  n. 遵守；遵循

[15] In the 1930s, seven leading Mormon polygamists banded together to form a loose confederation of Mormon fundamentalists to keep polygamy going. Several were excommunicated from the mainstream LDS Church and formed close-knit fundamentalist communities across the West – from Canada to Mexico – that survive to this day.

• band  /bænd/  v. 联合；团结
• confederation  /kən‚fedə'reɪʃ ə n/  n. 联盟；联合体
• excommunicate  /‚ekskə'mjuːnɪkeɪt/  vt. 逐出教会；把…逐出教会
• close-knit  /'kləus'nit/  adj. 紧密结合在一起的，紧密的

New depictions of masculinity

[16] While fundamentalist Mormons broke off from the LDS Church in the early 20th century to continue their open practice of polygamy, those who remained members of the LDS Church made a hard turn toward the American mainstream and assimilation.

• mainstream  /'meɪnstriːm/  n. （思想或行为的）主流
• assimilation  /əˌsɪmɪˈleɪʃ ə n/  n. （对思想的）接受；同化

[17] These mainstream Mormons developed new norms of Mormon manhood that seemed safer to the American public.

[18] Moving away from the stereotype that Mormonism was led by fanatical prophets with multiple wives and long beards, as Mormons assimilated, LDS Church leaders developed a more modern clean-shaven appearance and a bureaucratic, corporate style of managing church affairs.

• fanatical  /fə'nætɪkəl/   adj. 狂热的
• bureaucratic  /ˌbjʊərəˈkrætɪk◂/  adj. 官僚的；官僚主义的

[19] Between 1890 and 1920, LDS participation in the Boy Scouts (which began in 1911), bans on smoking and alcohol, and conservative sexuality helped to defined this new Mormon manhood. Donny Osmond, Steve Young and Mitt Romney exemplify the modern Mormon norm.

[20] Still, it is my experience as a lifelong Mormon that LDS people with strong cultural and familial ties to the faith commonly believe that polygamy will be a fact of life in heaven. The LDS Church publicly renounced the practice of polygamy in 1890, but it has never renounced polygamy as doctrine, as evidenced in LDS scriptures. It has always permitted and continues to permit men to be married in Mormon temples “for the eternities” to more than one wife.

• renounce  /rɪ'naʊns/  vt. 宣布放弃；与…断绝关系
• scripture  /'skrɪptʃə/   n. 经文；圣典
• eternity  /ɪ'tɜːnɪti/   n. 永恒；永生

[21] This tension between private belief and public image makes polygamy a sensitive subject for Mormons even today.