78 International Journal of Cultic Studies ■ Vol. 8, 2017
Why They Believe: A Case Study in Contemporary Polygamy
By Amy Osmond Cook
Reviewed by Arthur A. Dole
San Clemente, CA: Sourced Media Books.
2011/2014. ISBN-10: 1937458156 ISBN-13:
978-1937458157 (paperback), $29.99. 332
pages.
Why They Believe… is a sometimes tedious and
redundant text, but frequently informative and a
potential boon to scholars.
Amy Osmond Cook published her dissertation at
the University of Utah as a case study in
contemporary polygamy. Her intent: to answer
why the estimated 2,000 members of The Order,
a.k.a. the Kingstons, a polygamous group,
believe what they do and how they function
today. She does not mention her own religious
background.
Cook (PhD, University of Utah) is a faculty
associate at Arizona State University. She
teaches interdisciplinary and communication-
related courses such as negotiation,
organizational studies, organizational identity/
identification, and methods of interdisciplinary
studies. She earned her BA and MA in English
at Brigham Young University.
Her paper-cover book includes 264 pages of text
and 14 pages of notes. In addition, Appendix A
is a three-page report to the Safety Net
Committee (a state-sponsored committee
established to improve safety in polygamous
groups). Appendix B presents six pages of
tables, and Appendix C quotes two pages of
definitions of organizational identity. Nine pages
of references are followed finally by seven pages
of Index. No wonder Dr. Cook spent 6 years on
this work!
In the face of such abundance, I will be brief,
summarizing each chapter, followed by a
comment.
Chapter 1. Organizational Identity
Cook begins with the concept of organizational
identity borrowed from communications theory
in business: Members of a commercial group
devote themselves to making a profit. Since The
Order has a large business empire in Utah,
organizational identity is a promising key to
understanding it.
Cook prefers to call the Kingstons a new
religious movement (NRM) rather than a cult
(too pejorative). She acknowledges but rejects
psychology’s emphasis on abuse, and also the
sociological focus of cultic studies.
She concludes that “studying organizational
identification in the Kingston polygamous
organization will yield interesting results about
the organization itself ...polygamous
organizations and new [religions] ...and how
rhetoric operates to induce identification within
them” (p. 8).
Comment. I speculate that the concept of
organizational identity might well be applicable
to other new religious groups such as
Scientology and the Unification Church.
Alternatively, it might reflect a temporary fad in
support of privatization.
Chapter 2. the Kingstons
In 1850, Joseph Smith and a handful of
followers came upon some golden tablets these
were translated into English as the Book of
Mormon and, they claimed, were a supplement
to the Christian Bible. Thus Smith founded the
Church of Jesus Christ Latter Day Saints (LDS).
As a fundamentalist Christian group, early
Mormons were persecuted in the Midwest partly
because they advocated polygamy. Many fled
West and settled in Utah, where they played a
major role in developing the territory. In 1890,
to attain statehood for Utah, the LDS issued a
Manifesto, renouncing the practice of polygamy.
However, a few small groups have persisted in
practicing polygamy despite their
excommunication by LDS and the threat of legal
punishment. Excommunicant Mormon Charles
Elden Kingston in 1935 created one such
organization, now called The Order, or the
Why They Believe: A Case Study in Contemporary Polygamy
By Amy Osmond Cook
Reviewed by Arthur A. Dole
San Clemente, CA: Sourced Media Books.
2011/2014. ISBN-10: 1937458156 ISBN-13:
978-1937458157 (paperback), $29.99. 332
pages.
Why They Believe… is a sometimes tedious and
redundant text, but frequently informative and a
potential boon to scholars.
Amy Osmond Cook published her dissertation at
the University of Utah as a case study in
contemporary polygamy. Her intent: to answer
why the estimated 2,000 members of The Order,
a.k.a. the Kingstons, a polygamous group,
believe what they do and how they function
today. She does not mention her own religious
background.
Cook (PhD, University of Utah) is a faculty
associate at Arizona State University. She
teaches interdisciplinary and communication-
related courses such as negotiation,
organizational studies, organizational identity/
identification, and methods of interdisciplinary
studies. She earned her BA and MA in English
at Brigham Young University.
Her paper-cover book includes 264 pages of text
and 14 pages of notes. In addition, Appendix A
is a three-page report to the Safety Net
Committee (a state-sponsored committee
established to improve safety in polygamous
groups). Appendix B presents six pages of
tables, and Appendix C quotes two pages of
definitions of organizational identity. Nine pages
of references are followed finally by seven pages
of Index. No wonder Dr. Cook spent 6 years on
this work!
In the face of such abundance, I will be brief,
summarizing each chapter, followed by a
comment.
Chapter 1. Organizational Identity
Cook begins with the concept of organizational
identity borrowed from communications theory
in business: Members of a commercial group
devote themselves to making a profit. Since The
Order has a large business empire in Utah,
organizational identity is a promising key to
understanding it.
Cook prefers to call the Kingstons a new
religious movement (NRM) rather than a cult
(too pejorative). She acknowledges but rejects
psychology’s emphasis on abuse, and also the
sociological focus of cultic studies.
She concludes that “studying organizational
identification in the Kingston polygamous
organization will yield interesting results about
the organization itself ...polygamous
organizations and new [religions] ...and how
rhetoric operates to induce identification within
them” (p. 8).
Comment. I speculate that the concept of
organizational identity might well be applicable
to other new religious groups such as
Scientology and the Unification Church.
Alternatively, it might reflect a temporary fad in
support of privatization.
Chapter 2. the Kingstons
In 1850, Joseph Smith and a handful of
followers came upon some golden tablets these
were translated into English as the Book of
Mormon and, they claimed, were a supplement
to the Christian Bible. Thus Smith founded the
Church of Jesus Christ Latter Day Saints (LDS).
As a fundamentalist Christian group, early
Mormons were persecuted in the Midwest partly
because they advocated polygamy. Many fled
West and settled in Utah, where they played a
major role in developing the territory. In 1890,
to attain statehood for Utah, the LDS issued a
Manifesto, renouncing the practice of polygamy.
However, a few small groups have persisted in
practicing polygamy despite their
excommunication by LDS and the threat of legal
punishment. Excommunicant Mormon Charles
Elden Kingston in 1935 created one such
organization, now called The Order, or the
