Mormon Fundamentalism

Mormon Fundamentalism encompasses various religious movements that separated from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) following the official abandonment of plural marriage in 1890. These groups maintain that polygamy and other early Mormon practices remain divinely mandated and that the mainstream church has apostatized by accommodating secular government pressure.

The fundamentalist movement began in the 1890s when some Latter-day Saints refused to accept President Wilford Woodruff's Manifesto ending polygamy as a condition for Utah statehood. Early leaders like Lorin Woolley claimed to have received secret authority from church leaders to continue performing plural marriages, establishing the theological foundation for ongoing fundamentalist claims to legitimate priesthood authority.

Major fundamentalist groups include the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS), the Apostolic United Brethren (AUB), the Kingston Group, and various independent families. These organizations operate closed communities primarily in Utah, Arizona, and Mexico, maintaining distinctive practices including arranged marriages, communal property ownership, and rejection of modern technology and education.

Law enforcement investigations have documented systematic patterns of child marriage, sexual abuse, welfare fraud, and educational neglect within fundamentalist communities. High-profile prosecutions of leaders like Warren Jeffs and members of the Kingston Group have brought increased scrutiny to these groups' practices, though they continue to operate with varying degrees of legal pressure and public oversight.