A court case is expected to begin in the next week or so in the Canadian province of British Columbia, which could result in that province allowing polygamy to exist.
Polygamy -- the practice of a man having more than one wife at the same time -- was permitted in the Mormon Church from 1852 until 1890.
Polygamy had been allowed because Joseph Smith -- the founder of the Mormon Church -- said he received a revelation from God, commanding him to take virgins "a hundredfold in this world" for the purpose to "multiply and replenish the Earth" so "they may bear the souls of men."
Joseph Smith himself had at least 33 wives, with one of them being as young as 14.
In British Columbia, members of a breakaway Mormon sect are still practicing polygamy. They claim that they have a right to do so, because the Canadian constitution guarantees freedom of religion.
The fact is that these polygamists are misinterpreting the phrase "freedom of religion," which refers to a person's right to worship a specific religion.
On the other hand, polygamy is a separate entity -- which has nothing to do with religion (even the Mormon Church has outlawed polygamy) -- in which a man has several wives at the same time.
Therefore, the British Columbia court must rule that polygamy is illegal.
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