Strang's defense of polygamy was rather novel. He claimed that, far from enslaving or demeaning women, it liberated and "elevated" them by allowing them to choose the best possible mate based upon any factors deemed important to them—even if that mate were already married to someone else. Rather than being forced to wed "corrupt and degraded sires" due to the scarcity of more suitable men, a woman could wed the one she saw as the most compatible to herself, the best candidate to father her children and the man who could give her the best possible life, even if he already had wives. Strangites did not approve of having more wives than a man could provide for, both monetarily and in time and affection, thus they disapproved of the practices of the LDS Church.