Board index › Topical Discussion › Politics, Philosophy, and Religion

Is polygamy evil/sinful? Should it be legal

Page 1 of 3 [ 35 posts ]  Go to page 1, 2, 3  Next

Previous topic | Next topic

Should polygamy be legal?
Yes, both forms (polygyny and polyandry) 74%  74%  [ 17 ]
No, neither form 26%  26%  [ 6 ]
Yes, but only polygyny 0%  0%  [ 0 ]
Yes, but only polyandry 0%  0%  [ 0 ]
Total votes : 23

iamnotaparakeet
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 31 Jul 2007
Age: 38
Gender: Male
Posts: 25,091
Location: 0.5 Galactic radius

08 Jun 2014, 7:33 pm

http://www.bibleresearch.org/articles/alw2.htm

Quote:
POLYGAMY

The vast majority of professing Christians today believe that the Bible teaches that monogamy is the only acceptable form of marriage and that polygamy violates God's law concerning marriage. But is this what the Bible teaches, or is this just a popular cultural opinion?

Within both secular and biblical history, and up to this present day and age, we find people entering into both monogamous and polygamous marriages for reasons of economics, cultural and social requirements, political alliances, procreation, sexual lust, and true love.

It is not the intent of this study to compare the merits of a monogamous or a polygamous martial relationship. This study is meant to clarify the legality of polygamy from the biblical perspective and answer some conceptual questions about the polygamous marital relationship.


I think it would make life a fair bit easier to deal with the annoyance of infatuations not directed towards one's spouse if polygamy (both forms, polygyny and polyandry, to be fair to women also as per the Golden rule) were legal (not that I'd really want to be a polygamist, certainly not like King Solomon - that guy should have just kept to coin collecting... ), since then at least honesty without so much fear of retaliation and hatred would be a possibility rather than just being considered a "cheater" or a "dog" for being able to love more than one person as a spouse. As it is, the "friend zone" is the only place to be regardless of the annoyance of emotions which shouldn't exist in the current legalistic system. If polygamy were legal, then more honesty regarding emotions would be possible regardless of whether or not they lead to another marriage or just a friend to be openly honest with rather than scared out of one's mind to say anything to and thus leading to alienation and lack of friendship where there once was.



naturalplastic
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 26 Aug 2010
Age: 69
Gender: Male
Posts: 34,154
Location: temperate zone

08 Jun 2014, 8:04 pm

Niether the OT, nor the NT, spells out that "only monogamy is allowed".

So its hard to argue against it on Biblical grounds. But its hard to argue for it on NT grounds either (though OT kings did have harems).

In contrast the Koran actually spells out the rules: Yes polygamy is allowed, but you're limited to three (I believe thats the number) wives, and only if you can support them.


Since the number of members of each gender in the population is roughly the same one gender being allowed more spouses disenfranchises members of that gender. So you would have allow both polyandry, and polygamy. Or allow niether ( in my humble opinion).



iamnotaparakeet
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 31 Jul 2007
Age: 38
Gender: Male
Posts: 25,091
Location: 0.5 Galactic radius

08 Jun 2014, 8:14 pm

naturalplastic wrote:
Niether the OT, nor the NT, spells out that "only monogamy is allowed".

So its hard to argue against it on Biblical grounds. But its hard to argue for it on NT grounds either (though OT kings did have harems).

In contrast the Koran actually spells out the rules: Yes polygamy is allowed, but you're limited to three (I believe thats the number) wives, and only if you can support them.


Since the number of members of each gender in the population is roughly the same one gender being allowed more spouses disenfranchises members of that gender. So you would have allow both polyandry, and polygamy. Or allow niether ( in my humble opinion).


There are some rules in the OT regarding equal treatment of wives and not having favoritism when considering inheritance also. The NT has Paul saying that decons should be monogamous, and some churchians say "this was a colectivist culture, so for a leader to do one thing means everyone should do the same", but they should really be celibate throughout their lives as Jesus was then.

Yes, as I said earlier, to be fair to women as per the Golden rule both forms should be legal. It's annoying to me that the mormons had made such a stink with their religious enforcement of polygamy that they got it banned throughout the USA. And that's something else that's annoying, the notion of pretexts and punishing everyone in the future for the actions of others in the past - it's kind of sad.



AspieOtaku
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 17 Feb 2012
Age: 42
Gender: Male
Posts: 13,051
Location: San Jose

09 Jun 2014, 12:15 am

I picked yess on both I believe it is possible to be in love with more than one person at the same time!


_________________
Your Aspie score is 193 of 200
Your neurotypical score is 40 of 200
You are very likely an aspie
No matter where I go I will always be a Gaijin even at home. Like Anime? https://kissanime.to/AnimeList


ooOoOoOAnaOoOoOoo
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 18 Jun 2008
Gender: Female
Posts: 12,265

09 Jun 2014, 1:05 am

I believe it should be legal because I honestly doubt very many people could actually live this way so it's not like there will be a wife shortage.
I wouldn't encourage it for religious reasons. Those people seem miserable more often than not.
I would suggest it as an option for bisexual women or any woman who has affection for the same sex. Any woman with jealousy issues shouldn't even attempt it. If the women are bisexual, they might not be so offended sharing a husband with other women.
As for women having more than one husband...if men are allowed so should women. I doubt many men would like this so it most likely wouldn't become mainstream, even if legal. Most men do not like the idea of their wife having sex with other men, but some do, if they are bisexual.



mr_bigmouth_502
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 12 Dec 2013
Age: 30
Gender: Non-binary
Posts: 7,028
Location: Alberta, Canada

09 Jun 2014, 1:28 am

It should be legal in both forms, but only if all partners involved agree with it. I personally don't see the point of it, or really the point of marriage for that matter, but whatever, if a guy wants to have multiple wives, or a woman multiple husbands, or a man multiple husbands, or a woman multiple wives, or any combination really, I say go hard.

The thing is, we live in an age where birth control and STD awareness are widely prevalent, why are people so hung up about getting married?



sly279
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 11 Dec 2013
Age: 36
Gender: Male
Posts: 16,181
Location: US

09 Jun 2014, 1:47 am

for personal and selfish reasons i think no. if multiply women could marry the super attractive, athletic handsome guy then that would make it far harder for me to find someone. I imagine actors could get tons and tons of women to be with them. the playboy guy would probably marry all the playboy bunnies, though i don't really care about them.



The_Walrus
Forum Moderator
Forum Moderator

User avatar

Joined: 27 Jan 2010
Age: 29
Gender: Male
Posts: 8,811
Location: London

09 Jun 2014, 2:38 am

I don't think it's immoral, I just don't know how you could make it work legally.

The main point of the government recognising marriage is to side-step inheritance tax. If they allowed chain marriages, inheritance tax would largely become redundant.

Live with multiple partners if you wish - or indeed don't live with them - but I don't see the point of changing the marriage law.



zer0netgain
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 2 Mar 2009
Age: 56
Gender: Male
Posts: 6,613

09 Jun 2014, 6:00 am

naturalplastic wrote:
Niether the OT, nor the NT, spells out that "only monogamy is allowed".


Not so.

The Bible is explicit about one man and one woman coming together to form a union. While polygamy was practiced in OT times, it was denounced as wrong (ever since the Mosaic code was handed down). It was basically the King doing what he wanted and getting away with it. The average folk couldn't do it.

Honestly, I can't see how anyone can claim to be in a polygamous relationship and claim to love each spouse equally. It's a big enough job bring good to ONE spouse...dealing with multiple spouses.... 8O



FeralRobot
Pileated woodpecker
Pileated woodpecker

User avatar

Joined: 10 Feb 2014
Gender: Male
Posts: 182
Location: a daydream

09 Jun 2014, 8:02 am

I think polygamy should be legal, since (as AspieOtaku said) you can be in love with two people at once. And who does it harm? Provided fair treatment of wives/husbands, nobody.


_________________
"?I love not man the less, but Nature more.? - Byron
"Just because you're paranoid, don't mean they're not after you" - Nirvana
I am an animal. Not normal is not bad. Question all. Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for all!


iamnotaparakeet
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 31 Jul 2007
Age: 38
Gender: Male
Posts: 25,091
Location: 0.5 Galactic radius

09 Jun 2014, 9:29 am

zer0netgain wrote:
naturalplastic wrote:
Niether the OT, nor the NT, spells out that "only monogamy is allowed".


Not so.


References?

zer0netgain wrote:
The Bible is explicit about one man and one woman coming together to form a union.


From the same link as above: http://www.bibleresearch.org/articles/alw2.htm (and no, I do not claim to subscribe to anything they say, so please do not bother with guilt by association if you can find stuff about them that's craptastic.)

Quote:
The One Man One Wife Rule

Many cite the example of Adam and Eve as the basis for their belief that it was God's original intent that marriage be a monogamous relationship between one man and one woman:

"And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of man. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they shall be one flesh" (Gen.2:23‑24 KJV).

Although it is clear that the Creator only made Adam one wife, this fact does not establish a one man one wife rule. Genesis 2:23-24 is only a statement of fact; it does not establish monogamy as the only valid marital state.

One Flesh

Because Genesis 2:24 says: "Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they shall be one flesh" (KJV), some people assume that this is proof that polygamous marital relationships are sinful. However, the assumption that being one flesh is confined to the marital relationship between one man and one woman is inconsistent with the teachings of the apostle Paul:

"Don't you know your bodies are the members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of a whore? God forbid. What? Don't you know that he which is joined to an whore is one body? For he says that two shall become one flesh. But he that is joined to the Lord is one" (1.Cor.6:15‑17 Para.).

Clearly two becoming one flesh is not limited to one man and one woman, nor does it place limits on the number of women that can be wives of one man. The one flesh concept and its reality in the physical world applies to any sexual relationship between a man and a woman. If this were not so then Paul's analogy would not make sense because even a married man can have sexual relations with a whore. Although Paul is using this analogy to explain a spiritual concept, his use of this example seems to indicate that a man can become one flesh with more than one woman.



zer0netgain wrote:
While polygamy was practiced in OT times, it was denounced as wrong (ever since the Mosaic code was handed down).


References? There are rules about not treating any wife better or worse than the other and not giving preferential treatment in inheritance should favoritism exist. It is not denounced as wrong. Solomon did wrong by giving in to the idolatry of pagan wives, but if they weren't pagan and hadn't wanted temples built for their gods, then even that wouldn't have been an issue. He shouldn't have married so darn many women that he probably couldn't even keep track of them though.

zer0netgain wrote:
It was basically the King doing what he wanted and getting away with it. The average folk couldn't do it.


Jacob, Rachel, Leah; Gideon; etc. There are more people listed in the Bible than just royalty doing that, and not just the wicked but the righteous also.

zer0netgain wrote:
Honestly, I can't see how anyone can claim to be in a polygamous relationship and claim to love each spouse equally. It's a big enough job bring good to ONE spouse...dealing with multiple spouses.... 8O
Maybe it's not possible for you to love more than one person, I don't know because I'm not you.



iamnotaparakeet
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 31 Jul 2007
Age: 38
Gender: Male
Posts: 25,091
Location: 0.5 Galactic radius

09 Jun 2014, 9:37 am

The_Walrus wrote:
I don't think it's immoral, I just don't know how you could make it work legally.

The main point of the government recognising marriage is to side-step inheritance tax. If they allowed chain marriages, inheritance tax would largely become redundant.


I don't know about that being the reason, but I'm sure a bunch of bureaucrats would love to sit around and discuss other ways of legalistically taking people's money. Whatever though for finances, that matters to governmental big-wigs more than to me (aside from money being a means to an end [life, liberty, pursuit of happiness, etc.] and not the end itself as it is to people who seek power.)



iamnotaparakeet
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 31 Jul 2007
Age: 38
Gender: Male
Posts: 25,091
Location: 0.5 Galactic radius

09 Jun 2014, 9:44 am

FeralRobot wrote:
I think polygamy should be legal, since (as AspieOtaku said) you can be in love with two people at once. And who does it harm? Provided fair treatment of wives/husbands, nobody.


I think, even without polygamy being prominent, just it being made lawful again (in a manner fair to both men and women) would help to reduce jealousy. When one spouse has an infatuation with somebody aside from their spouse, they might actually be able to say something without causing fear of abandonment and feelings of betrayal. Friendships with members of the opposite sex could lead to lifelong friendships rather than alienation for the sake of monogamy when such annoying infatuation occurs, even if they don't lead to marriage at least open honesty would be more possible rather than terror at the prospect of losing everyone you love.



iamnotaparakeet
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 31 Jul 2007
Age: 38
Gender: Male
Posts: 25,091
Location: 0.5 Galactic radius

09 Jun 2014, 10:21 am

The_Walrus wrote:
The main point of the government recognising marriage is to side-step inheritance tax. If they allowed chain marriages, inheritance tax would largely become redundant.


Perhaps if the state were to have a tax on number of spouses within a household, working the opposite of dependents or whatever mathematical manner in the favor of the state it would both allow for polygamy and discourage the wrongful usage of it for tax evasion - not only that, but it would still encourage monogamy by making it financially less favorable to have multiple spouses and thus make the relationships more about love than love of money.



AspieOtaku
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 17 Feb 2012
Age: 42
Gender: Male
Posts: 13,051
Location: San Jose

09 Jun 2014, 11:36 am

I could totally marry more than one woman sometimes it might take more than one woman to drain my overabundance of energy when I get hyperactive! :bounce: We can all go see movies together and go to the beach together it would be awesome!


_________________
Your Aspie score is 193 of 200
Your neurotypical score is 40 of 200
You are very likely an aspie
No matter where I go I will always be a Gaijin even at home. Like Anime? https://kissanime.to/AnimeList


Kurgan
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 6 Apr 2012
Age: 35
Gender: Male
Posts: 4,132
Location: Scandinavia

09 Jun 2014, 2:47 pm

Polygamy should be legal (it's neither sinful, nor immoral in any way). Monogamy became the designated standard because of the Romans, and polygamy worked just fine for 200,000 years before that.


_________________
“He who controls the spice controls the universe.”