Note: This is a conversation starter rather than a strict opinion. Actually, poligamists have a logically valid argument, namely if gay marriage is between 2 consenting adults and should be allowed because nobody gets hurt, then so should poligamy get legalized too. After all the only difference is in the numbers, and one could argue, that poligamy is more natural than gay marriage. (Please note, I am not talking here marrying brainwashed 14 years old girls. We are discussing adults.) So if gay marriage is OK, what's wrong with poligamy? And let's take it a step further, we should mention 1 wife and more husbands' holy matrimony, also called polyandry. But if we allow polyandry and polygyny (the subdivissions of polygamy, depending on which spouse the marriage has more of), then we should also allow more men and women marrying each other at the same time using the same old consenting adults argument. But can we call let's say 3 guys' and 2 women's unity a marriage? I don't even know the word for that. Maybe legalized communal living? So as I see it, gays do have a problem here. Once the floodgate is open based on the consenting adults argument, I don't see why the polygamist community should not be included. P.S.: Anybody watches Big Love (about a Mormon fundamentalist with 3 wifes) on HBO? It is excellent... Dictionary part, if you got confused: Polygamy: the spouse of either sex may have more than one Polyandry: 1 wife, more husbands Polygyny: 1 husband, more wifes
The fcking polygamists out here in the west are mostly a bunch of child-molesting, welfare bums. I could care less about polygamy as a lifestyle, but for practical purposes it has led to a lot of other problems. Read Krakaurer's "Under the Banner of Heaven". They expect the girls, starting at puberty to crank out a baby a year, then must get rid of the unneeded boys, and then act like righteous asshlse while collecting government welfare because, as they say, they are "bleeding the beast". That "beast" is the rest of us chump taxpayers. Don't be gulled by notions of fairness or individual liberty. Most of these polygamists are bad news for society. "Women are made to be worn out in child birth", so they believe. bt
Man, you sure have to practice reading, because there was a sentence just for you in my original post. Well, let's repeat it: "(Please note, I am not talking here marrying brainwashed 14 years old girls. We are discussing adults.)" But thanks for playing...
Wealthy Sheiks in the middle east have been practicing polygamy for generations, successfully. This is essentially a religious issue, as people are fixated on a Christian view of what marriage is. If Bill Gates wanted 100 wives, why shouldn't he be allowed to do so? He can afford them, the wives get the money and financial security they want, the children get the childcare and education they need, etc.
For most of (un)civilized human history, polygamy was a fact of life. However it was asymmetric since most societies did not grant women any rights. One man, one woman marriage definition was a critical step in achieving equality between men and women. Once that is achieved, people might decide that a truly free society should not limit the form of marriage. IMHO, polygamy makes more sense than gay marriage.
I agree with the premise. Gays wish to redefine tradition. Why should they get a new definition and not everyone else.
yeah and so did hitler and lennin (sp) so what and come to think of it so did the mormons and their version of marriage was rejected once by the intelligent voters of the red states.