Polygamy in America

This seems to be getting a lot of media attention, and the future is looking bleak for Arizona and Utah.

Places in the States that have adopted polygamy as the way to go...

Hildale, Utah

Colorado City, Arizona

What views do people have here on polygamy?

There seems to be a cult established in these places which the media portrays as no different than the illuminati as just a bunch of crack heads.

Type in "colorado city polygamy" into google for supporting references.

So what is with these people??


[edit on 5-25-2005 by websurfer]

Polygamy was outlawed by the early Church and State powers to prevent families from becomming tribes. If you only have one wife, you have a few kids, if you have thrity wives, you have a hundred kids, then next thing you know your family beings to have a lot of wealth and influence in the local community. There's nothing immoral about it, except the dogma of sin which was attached by those wanting to remain in power. Families are loyal to each other, loyalty which superceedes the State or Church, and that's fine with them, as long as you have a small family.

I think polygamy is a natural state for some organisms to find themselves in, when influenced by certain environmental factors.

Mankind has always worked best, in my opinion, when he operates in small, tightly knit family groups. Our behavior supports this lifestyle.

What we have now in civilized society, is a defacto system of serial monogamy. A few men monopolize many women, while many women and men remain unsatisfied. This leads to violence, envy, and a host of other social problems.

I think what it comes down to is choice. Some women are willing to share their husbands, others aren't. Some men are capable of dealing with more than one woman in their life, others are not. If you have enough love and attention and compassion for seven women, and they are happy and fulfilled with you, I have no problem with that sort of relationship.

I think sensible people know they have no business in the bedrooms of their fellow citizens. It's just not my place to tell people who they can have relationships with, and it's not the duty of the state, in my opinion.

I really have no problem with it, I mean if someone wants to have more than one partner, why should'nt they, because some religion tells them its wrong?
Well, religion is bunk In my opinion.

I think that it depends on how polygamy is practiced. If a man can manage to treat several wives equally and fairly, and everyone is consenting, I don't really see a problem. However, that is not always the case.

I'm a Mormon (the mainstream LDS, not one of these fundamentalists!) and I've got a few ancestors that practiced polygamy before it was illegal. I can think of at least two ancestors that each had two wives at the same time. One of those two managed to have a great family life, and the other totally screwed up. It's definitely not for everybody. I don't think it would be for me, even if it was legal. It's hard enough for most people to make a marriage to ONE spouse work, let alone multiple spouses.

One mistake that is often made, though, (and was made by me until I started reading lots of Mormon history) concerns a few definitions, which isn't a big deal, just kind of interesting.

Polygyny = when a man has more than one wife at the same time
Polyandry = when a woman has more than one husband at the same time
Polygamy = includes polygyny & polyandry

So strictly speaking, these 'polygamist groups' are actually 'polygynist groups', at least the fundamentalist Mormon ones are.

AS this nation is (was founded as, I should say) a Christian nation, and we are to have one wife, that might have something to do with it.

Now, on a personal note. If someone is stupid enough to want more than one wife, I say let them have it. He'd better have three jobs!

You know, if I had enough cash and can afford to have 10 beautiful women all to myself, the only people that would get mad are the ones who are jealous.

Originally posted by pfunkarocka
You know, if I had enough cash and can afford to have 10 beautiful women all to myself, the only people that would get mad are the ones who are jealous.

rofl, I knew someone would say that eventually. I think all men have fantasies about having a whole bunch of beautiful women all to themselves. (at least I do!) But when it actually comes to real life, one relationship is enough work, imagine 10 of them! (*imagines very hard*) It would be really awesome at first, I just can't imagine how I would keep my sanity over a long term period in such a situation. Maybe some people could manage; I'm not one of them, although I think it would be really fun to try.

Seems to me, that the various "definations" of marriage would all serve a purpose when it comes to population management. I mean, if you want to start a nation out of one man's offspring and worry about geneology, restrict the women to one man and but give the men many wives. the men will breed like rabbits! Have too many mouths to feed in your kingdom? Well, restrict it to just one man to one women and allow gay marriage. Hey, are desparate measures called for, well, restrict the husband to one wife, but let the women have many husbands...

Considering the current situation today, where one man can't support the family he makes with one wife, and overpopulated world with limited resources....along with the fact that well, most of us life in equal opportunity countries where you wouldn't be able to have many wives, unless those wives also had the right to have many husbands, well.....

Well, I'll take the seven husbands working to take care of the one wife and her few children thank you!!!

People, I beleive, underestimate the role of the family in the structure of society. The nuclear and extended family are the 'norm' in the western world. Not saying that they are 'better' or denigrating other types. But the structure of the family has a profound influence on the structure of society. To change the structure of the family is to radically alter the structure of society.

American society and american law simply cannot work with an alien concept like polygamy and child brides and wife sharing and the like. ( Even Same-sex Parent Families 'don't mesh' with societies understanding precisely, tho I'd argue that the sexes invovled are far subordinate to the structure itself, ie and group with two parents and some children have more in common with similar groups, even if they are all mall, all female, or homosexual parents, etc, than with several parents and huge numbers of strangely related children groups).

I think that thats enough to make polygamy something that the state surpresses. Any change in teh structure of the family from beyond the 'two parents, kids, aunts and uncles and grandparents, cousins and neices and nephews' setup is to be worked against, whether its hareems, polygamyous towns, or even single parent mutliple children setups. But keep in mind that I am talking about it as on a social scale, and obviously not suggesting that single parents have their kids removed or divorce be made illegal. I simply caution, strongly, that people be prepared for major, perhaps unprecedented, social change if polygamy becomes widespread.

That's a very interesting point Nygdan, I never thought about that before. Society (at least western society) is geared very strongly towards the traditional family we have here, one mother, father & a couple of kids.

I simply caution, strongly, that people be prepared for major, perhaps unprecedented, social change if polygamy becomes widespread.

Thinking about this, I have to agree 100%. Many things would change were polygamy to be permitted on a large scale. I'm not sure if they would be good or bad (probably some of each) but there would definitely be a massive change in society, and it would probably be impossible to predict exactly where all of those changes would occur.

What about the needs of people. With polygamy the man, woman connection isn't there, the rules of marriage would no longer apply. Marriage would just be a joke, instead of a very personal event.

Doesn't this correspond to the gay revolution that just hit home a few years ago. Definition of marriage isn't being upheld in a society that practices polygamy.

Society should make its own mind up it not the government nor reglions job to decide what is right and wrong. If someone wants to have more then one wife thats there choice. Personaly I think having one wife would be diffcult enough to want two is insane.