Okay. I tried to talk myself out of posting this but my EVIL twin made me do it.
So, turns out there are a lot of benefits to polygamy, according to the rat bastard -- opps.I mean, gentleman columnist -- who wrote this.
I myself see some benefits, like a good night's sleep w/o someone who snores like a mach truck next to me. EVERY NIGHT.
But that's just the ranting of menopasual Mom of three.
What do you think??????
Here is the link to the Son of Satan's, I mean esteemed reporter's, column:
http://select.nytimes.com/2006/03/11...11tierney.html
Menopausal, huh? Well I think (hope) we're all smart enough to realize there are definite upsides to that.
As far as the article goes, its for PAID Times subscribers only.
As far as the main topic of this thread goes, I'm just gonna sit here quietly for now.
I'm sorry. Since it's PAID Times subscribers only, does that mean you can't access it? I could reprint it in full if that is the case.Originally Posted by therising
Truth be told, the article really did crack me up. My only hope is the rat bastard -- I mean columnist -- who wrote it ISN't married!
Religious ramifications aside, one is everything and more than one is nothing.
Here is the whole article:
By JOHN TIERNEY
Published: March 11, 2006
If gay marriage becomes legal, its opponents have been warning, the next step in America's moral deterioration will be legalized polygamy. These conservatives won't be happy with "Big Love," the HBO series starting tomorrow night.
This story of a husband with three wives in Utah will not terrify Americans. Polygamy doesn't come off as a barbaric threat to the country's moral fabric. It looks more like what it really is: an arrangement that can make sense for some people in some circumstances, but not one that could ever be a dangerous trend in America.
After watching the husband on the show struggle to pay for three households and watching his three wives struggle for his attention, the question that comes to mind is not how to keep polygamy illegal. The question is why we bother to ban something that takes so much work these days.
When polygamy was outlawed in the 19th century, the Supreme Court upheld the ban by citing the "evil consequences" of a practice that "has always been odious among the northern and western nations of Europe." It dismissed polygamy as "a feature of the life of Asiatic and of African people," as if that were reason enough to damn it.
Yet an institution that has been around for so long must have had something going for it. Humans aren't as inclined to polygamy as some apes are — we probably evolved as hunter-gatherers who mostly had one mate at a time — but some form of polygamy has existed in the vast majority of cultures.
Some opponents of polygamy call it the exploitation of women by rich men, and that's true if the wives are coerced into the marriages. But many wives have willingly chosen it, like the three women on "Big Love," who have married a successful businessman.
These three wives, who live in adjacent houses, sound much like the women in polygamous marriages I've talked to in rural Africa. The African wives told me they had mixed feelings about the arrangement — and their fellow wives — but over all, they figured it was better to share one prosperous husband than to marry someone else without land, cows or a job.
That's the way social scientists figure it, too. Polygamy isn't the cause of women's low status in traditional societies, but rather a consequence of their trying to move up. The biggest losers from polygamy are the poorer men who end up with no wives. Women benefit because polygamy increases their number of marriage prospects — and in traditional societies, marriage is often the only way for a woman to improve her status.
Even in those societies, polygamy is practiced by just a small minority because few men have enough resources to entice more than one wife. As a society modernizes and women become educated, they gain other economic options and become less and less willing to share a husband. Eventually polygamy is out of question for practically everyone, men and women. At that point, the monogamous majority can safely proclaim its moral superiority and outlaw the practice for everyone else.
Critics say children would be better off growing up in a home with a full-time father, but a part-time one is better than what's in many homes today. The father in "Big Love" is more like Ward Cleaver than today's alpha males who've dumped a series of wives and families.
Polygamy isn't necessarily worse than the current American alternative: serial monogamy.
Elizabeth Joseph, a lawyer and journalist who was married to a polygamist in Utah, says her experience handling divorce cases made her appreciate the stability of her marriage. She also appreciated other perks, like the round-the-clock day care that enabled her to keep an unpredictable schedule at work and to relax when she came home.
"If I'm dog-tired and stressed out, I can be alone and guilt-free," she explained in a speech to the National Organization for Women. "It's a rare day when all eight of my husband's wives are tired and stressed at the same time." She told the NOW audience that polygamy "offers an independent women a real chance to have it all" and represented "the ultimate feminist lifestyle."
She won't persuade many American women, feminists or otherwise. But if a few consenting adults like her still want to practice polygamy, there's no reason to stop them. And if the specter of legalized polygamy is the best argument against gay marriage, let the wedding bells ring.
Music to my ears. But really, I thought the article was ..... nervy. And funny. And it made me wonder if men and women really ever thought about it.....
Basically, why get married in the first place, just date like 8 or 10 people simultaneously, but what really confuses me is this part:How IS this the best argument against gay marriage?And if the specter of legalized polygamy is the best argument against gay marriage, let the wedding bells ring.
I think what he was trying to say is opponents of gay marriage always say if we allow gay marriage, what next? Marriage to farm animals? Polygamy?
The article made some assumptions that I thought were telling. For instance, that this is a guy thing. But how about a woman who might want several husbands and agree to support them?
And, as you pointed out: Why get married in the first place? If polygamy is okay, it would be a very expensive practice. Might put men into bankruptcy....how sad for the rat bastards, I mean, for the husbands of many/
I dont no......
If Jane and mary dont mind sharing Joe, then why should anyone else care?
People who wonder if the glass is half empty or full miss the point. The glass is refillable.
What do you mean?
First off why would anyone want more than one wife? I can't do enough to please the one I got now.
I would also think in this day and age of political correctness we can't discrminate. How many women would want more than one husband?
One spouse is enough.
"Take my wife", "PLEASE!" -Henny Youngman
"If you want to know what God thinks of money just look at the people he gave it to."
By the way, what happened to biker? I miss the old coot.
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