Mormon Fundamentalists

MORMON FUNDAMENTALISTS Mormon fundamentalists are religious groups throughout the Intermountain West that broke from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints when mainstream Mormon society began abandoning plural marriage in the 1890s. Today, many Mormon fundamentalists live in intentional communities with distinctive religious folk practices, dress, and even architectural styles. Their religious practices, particularly polygamy, or “the Principle,” lead them into a folklife distinct from that of mainstream American society, which regards the fundamentalists’ most sacred institution as immoral and illegal.