What exactly Is Wrong with Polygamy anyway?

[KevinSim]

And as a result of these opinion-based assumptions, in my opinion you are asking an irrelevant question when evaluating polygamy in general.

This thread has often strayed into discussions of LDS polygamy, and I haven't always tried to get it back on course, but in a very real sense I never intended the thread to be an evaluation of polygamy in general. In my first post I asked what was wrong with a proposed law that let three adults of any gender combination enter into a marriage if all three wanted to. That's what I meant for this thread to be about.

[Doctor CamNC4Me]

You honestly think that if people are faced with a decision to be single or to be in a polygamous marriage, they will think polygamy is the better choice?

Marcus, I'm sure many will say it's not a better choice, but I've heard one woman, a single mother my wife and I hometaught back in the early 1990s in Seattle, say it would be a better choice.

> thousands of examples where polygamy destroyed and destroys lives

> muh one anecdotal example from home teaching



> muh ceiling of three adults

[dantana]

In my first post I asked what was wrong with a proposed law that let three adults of any gender combination enter into a marriage if all three wanted to. That's what I meant for this thread to be about.

Well, if one doesn't believe in a Deity based existence theory then sure, notta problem. If one does believe that the way of the worlds is God ordained misogyny then, bitofaproblem.

[KevinSim]

Ah, another vote against arranged marriages like Reb Tevye and Golde had in "Fiddler on the Roof."

??? Reb Tevye had a plural wife, the way Mormons practiced it?

I didn't say Reb Tevye did. A sort of consensus has been building up that says there's nothing really wrong with three adults marrying; the only really bad thing is having the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints exert undue pressure to compel its members to marry multiple people. So, since these people seem to be saying there's no moral difference between monogamy and polygamy per se, the only problem is having arranged marriages, like Tevye and Golda had.

That being the case, I'm thinking she wanted something more than just to raise children, in spite of what you say.

Did I ever say that she didn't want anything more than to have children? I didn't mean to.

It sounds to me like she wanted to get married and have a relationship. If she didn't, perhaps she was either too picky or maybe had an abrasive personality that turned potential suitors off.

Absolutely I'm sure that she wanted to get married and have a relationship. Knowing her personality, I really doubt she was too picky. It's possible she had an abrasive personality; it's also possible she had very reasonable standards that no men met.

[dantana]

According to the Great Gods Pyramid Program, the way of the worlds is polygamy. So, it's all perfectly reasonable that Mr. Smith didn't have sexual relations with his wives as it was simply about Smith lining up brood-stock for the later life.

The only head scratcher though is Smith is the only one God had go this route - exclusive heavenly elopement. Everyone else has to line up their girls in the later life.

Kevin, is there any evidence that anyone in the old test. or in the J. Smith or B.Young era, besides J.Smith, married women for eternity only?

[Marcus]

??? Reb Tevye had a plural wife, the way Mormons practiced it?

I didn't say Reb Tevye did. A sort of consensus has been building up that says there's nothing really wrong with three adults marrying; the only really bad thing is having the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints exert undue pressure to compel its members to marry multiple people. So, since these people seem to be saying there's no moral difference between monogamy and polygamy per se, the only problem is having arranged marriages, like Tevye and Golda had.

I disagree completely. There have been multiple comments about the moral issues, particularly exploitation issues and relationship inequalities.

You’re the only person suggesting “there’s no moral difference between monogamy and polygamy per se,” but there’s little point in rehashing those arguments given your style of ignoring points of discussion, other than to note how off the mark your summing up is.

[Marcus]

And as a result of these opinion-based assumptions, in my opinion you are asking an irrelevant question when evaluating polygamy in general.

This thread has often strayed into discussions of LDS polygamy, and I haven't always tried to get it back on course, but in a very real sense I never intended the thread to be an evaluation of polygamy in general. In my first post I asked what was wrong with a proposed law that let three adults of any gender combination enter into a marriage if all three wanted to. That's what I meant for this thread to be about.

Really? After you asked your three person question, you finished your OP with these two sentences:

…I heard one source say polygamy is bad because it exploits women. Why is it that a man marrying two women means he's exploiting women, but another man marrying just one woman means he is not exploiting women?

In a thread YOU titled:
What exactly Is Wrong with Polygamy anyway?

Being facetious about your intent now isn’t helping your argument.

[KevinSim]

So it answers your initial question about what exactly is wrong with Polygamy - there is no evidence that it is beneficial to all involved.

My lack of awareness of a successful polygamous marriage does not establish even that a successful polygamous marriage doesn't exist, let alone cannot exist. By your measure the American founding fathers should have gone with anarchy, not a republic, because of a lack of evidence that any form of government was beneficial to all involved. Sometimes you've got to try something new, even if it's a form of something that hasn't worked in the past, if there's no inherent reason why it can't work (in an altered form) in the future.

Assuming she is an unmarried single LDS, the Church has promised women in that position and those for whom childbirth isn't feasible, that they will be mothers in heaven providing they keep their covenants.

I'm not convinced there's any way to keep that promise without involving polygamy.

[KevinSim]

So you're talking Reb Tevye and Golde versus Tzeitel and Motel. It was wrong for Tevye's and Golde's parents to arrange their marriage? It seemed like it turned out okay in the end. And by the way, I had a bishop tell me who he thought I should marry. I had no trouble telling him no way. All the pressure that bishop and Brigham Young could bring to bear on the matter couldn't force me or anyone else to say yes in the temple sealing ceremony.

I'm talking about Joseph Smith, the doctrine and covenants, and the people since then and until now who use both as sources to legitimize abusive forms of polygamy.

Meadowchik, you can talk about that as much as you want, but that's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about legitimizing non-abusive forms of polygamy.

[Vēritās]

If they were truly just marrying women for "only eternity", then why would there be any single women at all in the church back then? But there were widows who were never sealed to priesthood holders. They should just marry them all for only eternity, right? But Joseph Smith and Brigham Young were always getting "commanded" to marry the young and the sexually attractive. Weird how that works. Especially one named Zina, who was so hot God commanded that she be taken from her existing husband while he was serving a mission in Europe and then after Joseph Smith died she married Brigham Young.