"I never wanted to just be married to a man," "I always wanted sister wives," says Christine, star in the hit television show “Sister Wives” who is pregnant with Kody's-her polygamous husband- 13th child (Hall, 2010). She's glad to be his third wife because she never wanted to be alone with a husband and the third wife balances out the tension between the first two. she says.The first sighting of Polygamy began during the biblical era where Lamech cleaved to two wives, Adah and Zillah. Today, Polygamy is considered a poor representation of Christianity as the lord said “It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.” Sparking the argument that the lord aimed for one man to one woman as he clearly stated “helper” rather than helper. Opposers of the legalization of polygamy like former senator Rick Santorum, stands behind the moral representation of the nation for “consensual sex within your home” leads to the legalization of polygamy and “undermines the fabric of our society.” Though many believe that allowing polygamous wedding would be a negative identity of the nation’s moral, what they fail to realize is that the 1st Amendment guarantees that persons will be free from any law prohibiting the free exercise of religion and its of personal rights and freedom to choose their marriage.
Some people say that Polygamy is a bad representation of American morality, but isn’t gay rights, capital punishment, stop and frisk and state’s legalization of marijuana all against the American morality? While Rick Santorum insists that polygamy is “a poor representation of morality,”(Miller, 2013), there is no historical record arguing statistical significance to such claim, thus the claim falls short to th...
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...after all?. The daily beast. Retrieved from http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/12/16/was-rick-santorum-right-about-polygamy-after-all.html
SCHWARTZ, J. (2013, 12 14). A utah law prohibiting polygamy is weakened. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/15/us/a-utah-law-prohibiting-polygamy-is-weakened.html?hpw&rref=us&_r=0
Lewis, M. (2013). The case for polygamy (why shouldn’t marriage equality apply to them, too?). Free Republic, Retrieved from http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/3036316/posts
Grossbard . ( 2013, 12 17). Polygamy is bad for women.The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2013/12/17/should-plural-marriage-be-legal/polygamy-is-bad-for-women
The marriage of many. (2005, 12 11). The Washington Times. Retrieved from http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2005/dec/11/20051211-121113-7195r/
This is ironic because the anti-polygamists believed in the Bible, but not polygamy, one of its teachings. Many of God’s righteous followers in the Old Testament practiced polygamy. Abraham married Hagar, Sarai’s handmaiden (Genesis 16:1-3). Jacob was married to Leah, Rachel, Billah, and Zilpha, all at the same time.
Polygamy is not something many Americans are accustomed to. Western culture teaches that monogamy, as opposed to polygamy, is the proper, accepted form of marriage. Western culture places that morality into it's people, often from youth.
Introduction: Neither the resolve of patriots nor the labor of men freed Americans from the hands of tyranny. The fathers of this nation, as well as those who fought for her ability to prosper were united by their unwavering faith and trust in God. The future of this world lay heavily upon their shoulders, yet they carried the burden willingly for the duration of their lives and passed it down from generation to generation. As a result, a new nation was born and grew into one of the most powerful countries of the world. Although America began as a Christian nation, it has pulled away from the fundamental beliefs that held this nation together. Despite their ancient predecessor’s emphasis on faith and Christianity, the current government has taken a more secular path. The legality of abortion and the exclusion of religious references in public institutions are a couple of examples how morality has been corrupted within the government. Society itself also forsakes the religious path, twisting the concept of morality to fit the lifestyles they wish to lead. David Barton uses line graphs to demonstrate the decrease of morality since 1950. Violent behavior, the circulation of sexually transmitted diseases, and the birth rate for unwed girls, has drastically inclined while educational achievement and family stability have dropped at an accelerated rate (242). It is apparent through the government’s choices, the media, and the attitudes present in average society that Americans have drifted far away from the principles on which this country was founded. Without a genuine faith and trust in God, American society will continue to deteriorate until memories of a once great nation are all that remains.
Fletcher-Stack, Peggy. “Polygamy: Not as Rare as You May Think.” Beliefnet. Beliefnet, Inc., 2011. Web. 19 Dec. 2011. .
Most American women would shudder at the thought of their husband spending time with another woman. Not Elizabeth Joseph. Joseph chronicles her life in polygamy in an essay that appeared in the New York Times in 1991 entitled “My Husband’s Nine Wives”. Joseph discusses how it is problematic to manipulate her life around her husband Alex, her occupation and her youngster on a daily basis. She argues monogamous relationships are chockfull of “compromises” and “trade-offs”. She mentions how excited the children are when their Father comes to eat once a week. Joseph speaks of making an “appointment” to spend time with him. If it is another wife’s turn, Joseph may interject if she is “longing for intimacy and comfort only he can provide.” (148) Joseph asserts pleural marriage is the only resolution to her problems. Unlike Joseph, most American women are managing a demanding full time job, hyperactive children and their needy husband on a daily basis.
Stephanie Coontz, author of The Evolution of Matrimony: The Changing Social Context of Marriage, writes that there has been more changes in marriage in the past 30 years then there was in the 3,000 years earlier. With these changes there are no religious or cultural exclusions. Coontz claims, “Right here is America’s Bible belt exist some of the highest rates of divorce and unwed motherhood in the country, and born again Christians d...
Polygamy is defined as the condition or practice of having more than one spouse at a time. Though it has existed in many cultures throughout the world, polygamy is still very prevalent in most Islamic societies today. There are however several guidelines laid out in Islamic law governing the practice. Here we will examine the practice of polygamy in Islam and those laws which govern its legality.
Polygamy is considered illegal in the United States, which would make it a deviant practice. That fact is on the bottom burner for me when considering this situation. Forcing someone to theoretically spend the rest of their life with someone not of their choosing is definitely out of the norm in my opinion. On to...
Fairfax, “Marriage is one of the core values of society. Almost 20 years ago, the well renowned black scholar and psychologist Dr. Na’im Akbar (1991) penned the following: ‘‘marriage is such an important lesson in manhood (womanhood) development. It is no wonder that every society requires some form of it’’ (p. 13).” This coincides with the values that I stated above that were considered important in my culture. Marriage is important to more that my culture obviously but in my culture there is always this well-known quote from the bible: “He who finds a wife, finds a good thing (NKJV Proverbs 18:22). That is basically religion and love in the same
The Western Religious leaders and moralists believe only one spouse for life is the highest form of marriage. Some of the most "primitive" peoples are strictly monogamous in their ideals, while some "highly advanced" cultures have moved away from the stri...
Mention the concept of polygamy in any “civilized” gathering, and you just may be able to see the shiver of repulsion that ripples through the crowd. By substituting the word “polyamory” in, you will be able to circumvent this reaction – but only because everyone is staring at you in baffled silence instead. So we begin, as always, with definitions.
“Polygamy is defined as a marriage in which a spouse of either gender has more than one mate at the same time. Polygamy is considered a valid form of marriage in many countries and communities around the globe” (Al-Krenawi). However, polygamy is illegal in the United States. Those who practice polygamy in America can only be “legally” married to one spouse; therefore, the subsequent spouses in a polygamist relationship hold a “singl...
Polygamy causes children to grow up faster than needed, experiencing adult like experiences. Becoming married as young as fourteen, and marrying a man that ages much older. Escaping a polygamous community clearly depicts a difficult task, as much as this idea appears to be emphasized and craved for, women are too afraid. Attempting to escape means risking the chance of them getting caught and taken away from their own children. They are deprived of their money and therefore, if they escape successfully, then they are already homeless. Competing for the attention and respect from the husband depicts a conflict many wives’ face. The social status of wives’ go down once the husband no longer longs for affection. Children are victims of both, physical and sexual abuse from father or other family members. Family members could also include step-family members. The abuse that these children face often cause them to have anxiety in the
The first argument is that polygamy is a religious right. While it is a religion there are many secret scary side to it. Everybody has the right to religion because of the first amendment. Since this is a religion they technically have a right to be allowed polygamy, but they have issues within the religion that makes it a good reason not to make it legal (Jared). Even if polygamy is illegal and people still do it there are studies that were taken to show the people are not equal and violations for people in polygamy (Martinuk). Jill Keenan stated, " Polygamy is a constitutional, feminist, sex-positive choice that give women chances for good family arrangements." (Allen). This quote is very incorrect because of the fact that women are not given any choices in polygamy. She has her choice of men, but that is to the extent. Woman from the moment they marry their men have no choices. The relationships in polygamy are one man to multiple women not the other way around. the other relationship where there is one woman to multiple man is called polyandry (Rauch). The polyandry relationships are the one with the woman “on top” and that is the one more likely for the feminists to be associated with rather than polygamy. Men in polygamy marry girls as young as 14 or 15. That is considered being a pedophile. Marrying girls young in this religion give them the chance to say that is just
(Bâ, 2008, p. 38). This speech reveals that both wife and husband have the obligation of supporting the polygamy. Modou’s obligation is to God as he intentionally wanted Modou to marry again while according to Tamsir, Ramatoulaye’s obligation is to allow the marriage to occur and accept the situation as it is her duty to support her husband’s decisions. Furthermore, Mawdo also married again. His and Nabou’s marriage is to some extent similar to Modou’s.