Polygamist family has twin sisters - and cousin married to the same man

By Catholic Online (NEWS CONSORTIUM)
5/3/2012
Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)

Family says they want attitudes towards polygamist lifestyles to change

Twin sisters Vicki and Valerie Darger have a number of things in common - both are married to the same man. In a polygamous marriage with 43-year-old Joe, he's also wed to a third woman; their cousin Alina. The Dargers are fundamentalist Mormons from Salt Lake City, Utah and live together in a large family home and have 24 children between them.

Mormon followers took the practice of polygamy to Utah, where it was practiced publicly until 1890 when it was renounced by the LDS church to win statehood for the territory.

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LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - The four adults have 24 children between them, from one-year-old Victoria to 18-year-old Tavish. Vicki is currently a stay-at-home mother and has been married to Joe, who runs a construction company, for 22 years.

Valerie joined the family as his third wife in 2000.

In the eyes of their Fundamentalist Mormon religion, all three women are equally married to Joe. The three wives each have their own bedroom, and Joe alternates between the three rooms each evening.

Valerie, who works in the family cleaning business with 43-year-old Alina says "The fact that Joe was married to Vicki didn't bother me at all. I took it as a sign he would be a good husband for me as well.

"As teenagers, Vicki and I liked some of the same guys. I thought it might even be good if we married the same man."

Vicki says that "I know that some people are uncomfortable at the thought of two sisters sharing a husband.

"But there's a good chance if a husband is compatible with one sister, he'll be well matched with another."

Joe was only 18 when he began dating Vicki and her cousin Alina at the same time and married them in a joint Mormon ceremony in 1990. The following day, Alina became his legal wife when they married again at a ceremony under state law, while Vicki acted as witness.

"Even in our community joint courtships are rare," Vicki says. "We knew we were taking on a huge challenge and responsibility.

"The accepted pattern in our culture is for a couple to prove themselves first in a monogamous marriage, before taking on the challenges of a second wife."

Polygamy among Mormons began with the founder of the Latter Day Saint movement Joseph Smith when he declared in upstate New York in 1831 that he had seen visions telling him that "plural marriage" should be practiced.

Mormons took the practice of polygamy to Utah, where it was practiced publicly until 1890 when it was renounced by the LDS church to win statehood for the territory.The leaders also say there was a change in doctrine and revelation.

The LDS Church argued back then that such laws infringed their right to religiously-based practice under the U.S. Constitution.

But a ruling by the Supreme Court in 1878 stated that they were not protected based on the long-standing legal principle that while government cannot interfere with religious beliefs, it can with practices.

There are said to be more than 30,000 people practicing polygamy in Utah, Idaho, Montana and Arizona. Mormons have disowned the practice and condemn it. They also disassociete with any who practice it and maintain they are not members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and should not call themselves Mormons.

� 2012, Distributed by NEWS CONSORTIUM.

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Pope Benedict XVI's Prayer Intentions for January 2013
General Intention: The Faith of Christians. That in this Year of Faith Christians may deepen their knowledge of the mystery of Christ and witness joyfully to the gift of faith in him.
Missionary Intention: Middle Eastern Christians. That the Christian communities of the Middle East, often discriminated against, may receive from the Holy Spirit the strength of fidelity and perseverance.

Keywords: Polygamy, Mormonism, Utah, children

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1 - 8 of 8 Comments

"G.G." a pro-life Catholic
1 year ago

Dear Deacon Fournier,
I agree with Kelly, and I thank you for your explanation...Shocked when I read her comments stating that there is a link to meet polygamy singles to date and add to your family....
Bill Sr.
1 year ago
Kelly,
if Mitt Romney were not campaigning for the presidency this article would never have appeared here. Also you could bet that if he had had two wives and a dozen children but had converted to Catholicism a few years back he would have had the same tepid but reassured backing of the clergy and laity as Gingrich received. But since some of his Mormon brethren like those in this piece live a more fundamental version of their faith which is frowned upon by most Christians it has cast a shadow on his own very honorable life, family and public service which some Catholics chose to highlight during the campaign. These are some of the same Catholics who helped put Obama the most anti-Catholic national leader ever in office and though the may be regretting that choice it now seems to them appropriate to mention flaws in the spiritual values of church of LDS. We Catholics would be better served if we focused on removing some of our brethren in congress and this administration who every day for years have willfully supported legislation which proliferated the culture of death.
Gennady
1 year ago
The next news should be: Happy smiles of a cow husband or of a buffalo wife, everything and everybody in the picture should be clean and light-color, absolute hygiene. "We live happily from 199..." Go!
marsh connolly
1 year ago
The offensive site, "polygymay dating" has been blocked and will never again appear on Catholic Online. I assure you, it was a shock to us to see it.

Thank you for notifying us of this problem.

-Marsh Connolly
Catholic Online
Deacon Keith Fournier
1 year ago
To Kelly: We, like many for profit sites, use advertising to promote our work. We are NOT a non-profit for many reasons. One, so that we can cover many of the issues in the political and policy arena without repercussion. We have "google ads" in a part of our site and try to filter them. The nature of this news story, polygamy, picked up one we had not seen before. Thank you for pointing it out. I have asked the team on the West Coast to go in and remove this ad. Thanks for bringing it to our attention. As for our posting. We read every post and it takes time. That is the reason for the delay. Thanks for your help in making our work more effective and faithful
Kelly
1 year ago
Seriously? What was wrong with my last comment? It followed all of your criteria, better than that article did ie:
"Though we invite robust discussion, we reserve the right to not publish any comment which denigrates the human person, undermines marriage and the family, or advocates for positions which openly oppose the teaching of the Catholic Church."
My comments are more in line with catholic teaching than your article and the website that can be linked up on this site!
Kelly
1 year ago
I am really confused!! Doesn't the Catholic church teach monogamy? There was nothing in that article that told us the view of the church and what is fundamentally wrong with polygamy. Then, there is a link to meet polygamy singles to date and add to your family. Isn't this a Catholic site??!!! Aren't we supposed to be protecting the family? You know, one man, one woman in a life long relationship! This is only the second time that I have been to this site and if this is what I am going to encounter, there is no way on God's green earth that I am going to recommend it to any of my friends or church members. I don't want them to get confused. Someone please tell me this was a mistake or give me a really good reason why that junk is on a Catholic web site!!
Jason
1 year ago
The polygamists state, "The accepted pattern in our culture is for a couple to prove themselves first in a monogamous marriage, before taking on the challenges of a second wife."

The couple disproves that they can have a monogamous marriage as soon as they take on a second wife (PERIOD). Monogamy means a couple does not share their spouse with another. Only pagans will believe and find ways to justify otherwise.

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