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Don't legalize polygamy

Same sex "marriage" is legal in many states. Why not polygamy? After all, aren't we descriminating against them? Aren't we denying their rights?

gay marriage is on the horizon and soon homosexuals will finally have all the rights afforded heterosexuals. that is a good thing whether some of you like it or not.

polygamy will be next. although there are some rough edges re: indoctrination/youth, if multiple individuals want to marry each other collectively, so long as they are all able-minded, consenting adults, go for it.

both will happen in our lifetime. for those opposed, sorry you lose.

"Why not polygamy? After all, aren't we descriminating against them?"

With respect, who is "them"?

I realized I was gay by the time I was 10 or 11. I knew I was "different" It's a trait. I hid it, tried to change it, was desperate for years to "change".

Some people are gay. We don't know why, but it's a trait that appears fixed at an early age.

Are you suggesting that there are 10 year olds who realize they are polygamous and must hide that fact from their friends and family?

If not, then the two instances are not equivalent, and must be considered separately. The rationale for permitting gay people to legalize their relationships isn't the same as that for allowing heterosexuals to have multiple partners.

Are the arguments equally sound? I don't think so, but that's a separate question. The point is that the arguments are not THE SAME.

I actually used to be in favor of legalizing polygamy. Now I am opposed because of the widespread abuse in these communities.

In davis county a few years ago a dad beat his daughter quite severely because she either wanted out or didn't want to enter such a marriage. The daughter called police, I imagine such beatings are somewhat common, but the girl involved doesn't call police and treats it as a family matter.

These communities kick young boys out of the house and community, to balance the sex ratio, and they are left to take care o

Even older men are sometimes kicked out of their house, (the church holds the title to all of their houses), and at this point the man is shunned by all including his wives, this is how brain washed they are.

If polygamy were truely just between concenting adults, with no associated abuse that goes on, I would be writing now in support of letting them alone, but as it is, I think society would do well to dismantel if possible, this whole lifestyle and community, because they just can't live in a way that doesn't abuse the rights of innocent people.

Some posters are carelessly mixing religion with polygamy and then using non-religious practices (child beating, forcing young men out of the community, taking away property, etc.) as an argument against polygamy. The main fact is that the U.S. Constitution prohibits Congress from passing laws concerning an establishment of religion. That includes the practice of polygamy within a religion.

To even consider changing the status of marriage from the union between one man and one woman would require that ALL sexual deviations be accepted, or ANY group could claim discrimination. Wouldn't that be wonderful, to have the same-sex activists open the door to any and every perversion known to man and to have those perversions legalized?

So since congress is not to oppose religious freedom, and the 14th ammendment means states can't either, do we

Put up with honor killings of women by Moslems? or allow Jehovas Witness or Christian Scientists to deny life saving health care to children? or force pharmacies to hire Catholic pharmicists who won't dispense birth control? etc, etc?

'A fraction of a father'? I think the plygs are huge weirdos but how can you say they only have a fraction of a father? Those guys micro-manage their kids, they're not absent by any means.

My plans are coming along for a new religion. It will, as all good ones do, feature a compound. However, the prophet has indicated that short term polygamous 'marriages' of an hour or so are acceptable, and that a 'tithe' to the church (major credit cards will be accepted) will be necessary on the part of the young man before the marriage can be completed. The best part? It can all happen here in utah, with a lot of support from the locals as this, my friends, is religious freedom.

I'm sorry you got your feelings hurt by someone in the church at some point in your past.

Please accept my appology and come back to the faith that will build testimony of Christ and stregthen your family.

It is not discrimination if there is a victim.

Legalized same-sex marriage has no victims. Legalizing polygamy would do a lot to eliminate victims of those relationships by making it easier for them to step forward when a harm does occur.

Robert, when you say "I think the government should encourage marriages in which a child has a father � not just a fraction of a father" does this mean that you think divorces should be forbidden too?

I mean after all, in divorce the father rarely gets custody. This means the government is encouraging a system where kids get only a "fraction of a father" when the court gives them visitation.

Shall we stop divorces too?

You are right. Polygamy and gay marriage are not the same. One can produce offspring and the other can't.
I don't think I need to continue the comparison, do I?

If you take the religious groups that have abused polygamy, what is so wrong about it?

Linguist- You are implying that all practices with a "genetic" basis, like homosexuality, should be legitimized. Well there is as much evidence that pedophilia is genetic as there is for homosexuality. Should we condone and legalize those relationships? I know you will argue that its different because it is children, and try to make homosexuality the only one that should be legitimized somehow, but it shows your hypocrisy. And guess what, some kids do know at a young age they are a polygamist because that is how they grew up, and what their religion teaches.

Fraction- If they are so involved as polygamous fathers, why couldn't the father a few years back in Davis county remember the names of all of his children when asked in court? My mom grew up with 16 siblings, and her parents never forgot their names.

@7:07- Religious freedom is permissable as long as it does not infringe upon the rights of others. Ones freedoms cannot come at the expense of another's. That is the difference. In polygamy between consenting parties of legal age, whose rights are being infringed?

The courts have ruled consistently that polygamous marriages are not protected by freedom of religion in the constitution. It may very well be your opinion that they should be, but the courts have ruled otherwise.

The argument you put forth is termed the "Slippery Slope" or "Continuum Fallacy."

In America, marriage has always been well defined within the concept of two people. Allowing same-sex marriage would not change that concept. Conversly, polygamy does not fit within this traditional concept. Courts around the U.S. have made it clear that with more than two people you would change the meaning of marriage.

Same-sex couples, by contrast, should have the right to marry because they meet all other requirements to wed. Additionally, procreation is not a requirement for marriage. One does not submit "fertility status" when applying for a marrige license.

@ 7:07,

Children need parents to set limits to protect a child from hurting himself or others. An adult is expected to do no harm to himself or to others. Adults who act like children "need" a powerful (interfering) government to protect them from themselves. So, the question is, are you a child who needs someone to protect you from yourself, or are you an adult?

@ 7:38,

No victims in same-sex unions? I beg to differ. Giving "consent" does not mean that there is no victim. Before you can verify that there was no victim, you would have to examine the entire sexual history of an individual to see who offered sex, at what age and under what conditions. IF youth are enticed to make improper choices by predatory adults who are looking for sexual gratification, homosexual or not, then there is a victim. How many people were convinced that they were "gay" simply because some adult convinced them to participate in homosexual activity and then continued to tell them that they were homosexual? Some lawyer is going to examine that possibility and become the richest lawyer in the nation.

To "Linguist | 4:54 a.m." I was born attracted to multiple women. I realized this fact when I was 12, and that it is actually normal. What you are basing on genetics can be applied equally to polygamy.

The government is discriminating against my genetic programming, will you help me and others like me?

of this article, but comparing gay marriage to polygamous marraige doesn't compare well. Sure, they are both a form of a "marriage", but polygamy carries it's own unique problems such as underage marriages, sometimes abuse and sometimes neglect of many children. The gay issue compares more to heterosexual marriages in that they only want to commit to one person. Each issue needs to be taken up separately (including scouting issues) which has nothing to do with the others.

True polygamy has been associated with underage marriage, abuse, and neglect. But they are not all unique to poligamy. Homosexuality has been associated with STDS, abuse, and neglect. They both have black marks of child abuse in their histories.

They only dont compare well if you compare the best of the gay community with the worst of the polygamy community.