Posted on 06/01/2015 2:56:54 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
For years, religious conservatives argued against same-sex marriage by saying that it would put society on the slippery slope to (horrors!) polygamy. Now comes the New York Times‘ Ross Douthat, a day late and a dollar short.
In yesterday’s column, Douthat seizes upon a new Gallup study that shows a broad shift to the left in Americans’ social values during the present century. The exception, he says, is on abortion, but actually it’s not an exception; the pro-choice position has gained some ground. The exception is adultery — where the old-time disapproval is holding firm at over 90 percent.
You’d think Douthat would take some comfort in that, but instead he leaps at the polygamy approval number, which has jumped from seven percent in 2003 to a not-so-whopping 16 percent. He sees it as “bobbing forward in social liberalism’s wake,” even as he concedes that the only out-and-out polygamists are fundamentalist Mormons and traditionalist Muslims.
A couple of months ago, he had this to say about how a liberalizing American culture should go forward “on issues related to sex and marriage and abortion and homosexuality and more.”
One possibility, the one I favor and have argued for (for self-interested but hopefully principled reasons as well), is basically to allow a fairly wide latitude for these religious subcultures, with legal protections and a general tolerance that makes it relatively easy for the observant and traditionalist not only to worship and find fellowship but also to run businesses, schools, colleges, hospitals, etc. in accordance with their beliefs.
I’d have thought the principled position for Douthat would be to support a right to polygamy, along the religious freedom lines that he thinks are necessary to enable traditionalist believers to maintain their codes of conduct. Indeed, it would be interesting to know how many of those new supporters of polygamy are frequent churchgoers and how many not, or how many are Republicans and how many Democrats. Crosstabs, Gallup?
What’s certain is that the federal judge who threw out a hunk of Utah’s anti-polygamy law is a born-and-bred Mormon whose decision turned on the constitutional right of free exercise. If polygamy is to achieve legal recognition in 21st-century America, it won’t be because of what Douthat calls “the now-ascendant model of marriage as a gender-neutral and easily-dissolved romantic contract.” It will be because of the increasingly robust view of religious liberty now being embraced by him and his kind.
Yep. Communist social breakdown of our society. They’ve worked hard and it’s paying off for them, while the rest of America slept thru it or has been apathetic to it.
I pretty much have said the same thing you did to a person I am arguing with on another forum. They are telling me that who are we to judge? That is for God to do. I am attempting to ask questions to make them think. I’m awaiting their response...
What happens? The nation is destroyed, that's what happens
bttt
This seems to be a popular topic. One can only wonder why.
I’ve waded into these muddy waters before and have to once again since there are so few people with actual experience with polygamy. I will treat the subject from the POV of a man with two wives.
There are a lot of misconceptions about the motives for taking a second wife. Reading this thread it appears many – if not most – attribute the whole thing to sinful sexualism. I’m sure that plays a part in many situations... but not all. There are no rules – written on paper or scribed in stone – that dictate how people fall in love or to whom. It just happens, sometimes catching you off guard and different people handle it in different ways. Some opt for divorce from wife #1 and subsequent marriage to #2. Strange as it may sound to some, the man may still love #1 but is going through motions that satisfy only those who are watching from the outside. Another alternative is to cut off all contact with #2, which may be just as painful but more “deserving” of the respect of those aforementioned outsiders.
But a third alternatives is still there: Polygamy. Few people in our society accept such an arrangement, either for themselves or for their friends, neighbors or relatives. Mentioning that you have two wives is much like casually dropping a remark about your previous experiences as a child molester. Getting and holding a job brings other trials too. Renting a house or apartment can get dicey; “You only need one bedroom? For the three of you?”
Let’s see... that’s three paragraphs. That should be enough for the uber-religionists to trot out their arguments about God ordaining marriage as between one man and one woman.
To get past that dead-horse, let me point out that NOWHERE IN THE BIBLE does it say that. God was pretty definite when he laid down his rules for us humans, beginning each commandment with “Thou shalt...” There’s not much equivocation there folks. I think he meant what he was saying and tried hard to keep us poor, flawed humans from having to “interpret” his meaning. Many will point out that Adam had only Eve. That was God’s choice in THAT case. I’m a fairly bright man but I won’t try to extrapolate from such scant data that God meant all humans had to pair off in similar unions. YMMV! There is one passage in the New Testament (I’m not going to look it up now) where Paul said that certain high-ranking clergy should be husband to only one wife, so polygamy must have been more or less common then.
So... one more time: I’ve been there and done that and I can’t recommend it. Not in our society and not in this time because it will probably not work. Perhaps differences between the people involved will cause a break-up but the greatest hazard is from those “outsiders” I mentioned earlier. That is what broke up my family. A veritable host of do-gooders trying to “help” us drove #1 away. Fortunately, #2 stood by me. Death claimed #1 about a year ago. I still cannot think of her without choking up. I am joined in my sorrow by #2. We all loved each other and continued as friends for over 25 years. I have one photo of my family; me, my two wives and our three children. Those were the happiest days of my life.
There are a few basic truths about Love: Real love is constant and doesn’t ebb and flow with the tide – lunar or hormonal. Real love is forgiving, even the most painful injuries must be forgiven. Real love understands the trials suffered by the object of their love or of their inadvertent injury. Real love is unconditional, it does not depend on what someone else says or does. Love is not like a pie where you cut a certain number of slices, pass them out and let everybody else go hungry. Love is like pi, never ending and irrational.
This was as predictable as night follows day. How are they going to stop this? Is any one going to question two or three or five people from marrying each other. IF ALL OF THEM SAY THEY ARE DOING IT FOR “LOVE”. All they have to do is find a judge that thinks the way they do.
Serial polygamy/polygyny/polyandry has been legal for years, with or without “documentation”. We’ve called it “sowing wild oats” and “no-fault-divorce” and now, “in a relationship”.
Anything other than Celibacy before marriage and Fidelity after marriage is, in fact, serial polygyny or polyandry.
One man, one woman. For life.
To quote THE Expert, “What is it about ‘Thou shall NOT commit Adultery/fornication’ that you don’t understand?”
You’d have to give a citation....please!!!
Sounds like what wife #4 would say about me. What was her name again?!?
How about in 3D?
And Cody is their leader!
Mere statistics...
The death of one man is a tragedy, the death of millions is a statistic.
--Joseph Stalin
We manage to IGNORE a million future Americans CHOICED to death each year; so why should this even make a blip on our moral radar?
Storm Prepper fully believes this.
58 Now, as touching the law of the apriesthood, there are many things pertaining thereunto.
59 Verily, if a man be called of my Father, as was aAaron, by mine own voice, and by the voice of him that bsent me, and I have endowed him with the ckeys of the power of this priesthood, if he do anything in my name, and according to my law and by my word, he will not commit dsin, and I will justify him.
60 Let no one, therefore, set on my servant Joseph; for I will justify him; for he shall do the sacrifice which I require at his hands for his transgressions, saith the Lord your God.
61 And again, as pertaining to the law of the priesthood—if any man espouse a virgin, and desire to espouse aanother, and the first give her consent, and if he espouse the second, and they are virgins, and have vowed to no other man, then is he justified; he cannot commit adultery for they are given unto him; for he cannot commit adultery with that that belongeth unto him and to no one else.
62 And if he have aten virgins given unto him by this law, he cannot commit adultery, for they belong to him, and they are given unto him; therefore is he justified.
63 But if one or either of the ten virgins, after she is espoused, shall be with another man, she has committed adultery, and shall be destroyed; for they are given unto him to amultiply and replenish the earth, according to my commandment, and to fulfil the promise which was given by my Father before the foundation of the world, and for their exaltation in the eternal worlds, that they may bear the souls of men; for herein is the work of my Father continued, that he may be bglorified.
64 And again, verily, verily, I say unto you, if any man have a wife, who holds the keys of this power, and he teaches unto her the law of my priesthood, as pertaining to these things, then shall she believe and administer unto him, or she shall be destroyed, saith the Lord your God; for I will destroy her; for I will magnify my name upon all those who receive and abide in my law.
65 Therefore, it shall be lawful in me, if she receive not this law, for him to receive all things whatsoever I, the Lord his God, will give unto him, because she did not believe and administer unto him according to my word; and she then becomes the transgressor; and he is exempt from the law of Sarah, who administered unto Abraham according to the law when I commanded Abraham to take aHagar to wife.
66 And now, as pertaining to this law, verily, verily, I say unto you, I will reveal more unto you, hereafter; therefore, let this suffice for the present. Behold, I am Alpha and Omega. Amen.
You mean THIS?
1 Corinthians 6:16
When you join yourself to a prostitute, you become one with her in body.
I wonder what % will LIE about something?
I wonder what % will STEAL something?
I wonder what % will ...
Seems like we are going to need a Savior!
Ask CPS folks.
I think TOLERATED it comes closer...
You have to marry your wife’s slightly hotter sister. That way you still only have one mother in law, but you double your chances for not getting any on a particular night.....
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