Posted on 07/07/2014 10:01:11 AM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
In the US, polygamy seems to be most commonly associated with Mormons. TV shows like Big Love, Sister Wives, and My Five Wives offer looks at polygamy, but only from a specific viewpoint. For some Americans, TLC’s reality series Sister Wives, which centers on a fundamentalist Mormon family, may even teach them all they know about polygamy. But the practice of polygamy hasn’t been sanctioned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (which is the official name of the Mormon church) since 1890 when Church President Wilford Woodruff ended the practice. The Mormon church has actually denounced the practice.
This Church has nothing whatever to do with those practicing polygamy. They are not members of this Church…. If any of our members are found to be practicing plural marriage, they are excommunicated, the most serious penalty the Church can impose. Not only are those so involved in direct violation of the civil law, they are in violation of the law of this Church.
That’s a pretty strong stance against polygamy — so it’s intriguing that after over 120 years of it not being sanctioned, the Mormon church still needs to make its views clear.
One of the reasons Mormons are so notoriously associated with polygamy is because of people like Warren Jeffs. Jeffs was the leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints — which is a polygamist sect not recognized by the mainstream Mormon church. He was placed on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted list in 2006 for arranging marriages to underaged girls. Jeffs himself allegedly had 79 wives, with 24 of them under the age of 17. Now he is serving life in prison for sexually assaulting two girls. Lifetime just released a movie about Jeffs, entitled Outlaw Prophet, starring Tony Goldwyn
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With people like Jeffs in the world, it’s clear why the mainstream Mormon church does not want to be affiliated with polygamists. However, that’s not to say all polygamists are associated with Jeffs either. The Brown family from Sister Wives, for example, are both fundamentalist Mormons and polygamists, but they have nothing to do with Jeffs.
Polygamy is clearly a controversial topic, but it applies to other groups besides Mormons . And it’s important to note that Merriam-Webster defines polygamy as “marriage in which a spouse of either sex may have more than one mate at the same time.” Along with polygamy usually being associated with Mormons — it’s also usually associated with one man having multiple women as his wives. And people like Kody Brown only help to perpetuate the one-sided view of polygamy.
Polygyny is the practice of having more than one wife at a time, while polyandry is the practice of having more than one husband at one time, so polygamy is an umbrella term that captures both of those. Some communities in Nepal practice polyandry (although the custom is fading) and the woman takes on multiple husbands — who are usually brothers. Polyandry works for them because the brothers could take on different responsibilities for the upkeep of their land, while keeping it all in one family. Another case of practical polygamy is in Vietnam, where it’s not legal, but some people practice it due to the low population of men.
In the Islam religion, the Koran says that a man can have up to four wives — but he must treat them all equally. In the US, since polygamy is illegal, Muslim men practicing polygamy get around the law just like Brown did — they marry one wife in a legal ceremony and the rest of their marriages are through religious ceremonies that are not recognized by the state. Also like the Mormon religion, polygyny is not a common practice for Muslims. Polygamy is not outlawed in Judaism either, but it’s a rare practice for Jewish people.
You still with me?
Religion and polygamy are so closely linked because early biblical figures, like Abraham, Jacob, David, and Solomon, had more than one wife. Beyond just religiously-based polygamy, there is also polyamory, the practice of having more than one romantic relationship at a time. Another sometimes difficult concept to understand, polyamory does not have a strict definition, but it’s consensual between all partners involved.
Moral of the story: polygamy is more complicated than just one bride for every brother.
(VIDEO-AT-LINK)
In our modern world, it can be hard to understand why anyone — regardless of gender — would want to enter into a polygamous relationship. Which is what draws people to shows like Sister Wives. It’s fascinating to see real people openly discuss their unconventional situation and answer the questions you’ve always wanted to know the answers to. And maybe a few you didn’t even realize you had.
LOL!!!
That post brought a tear of joy to my eye.
Keep dreaming Romeo
:p
No. I’m good. Thanks for the ping.
In modern times he would have had a surrogate. Abraham's wife initiated it.
Hope you are rich and like in-laws.
True. Not claiming Abraham behaved badly, by the standards of his time.
You can read all through the OT, and not find a trace of the notion that a married man is obligated to be sexually faithful to his wife. Adultery in the OT is defined as sex with a married woman other than your wife. NOT as a married man having sex with an unmarried woman.
The NT is, of course, quite different in this regard.
Scripture (Gen 16) follows:
Hagar and Ishmael 16 Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. But she had an Egyptian slave named Hagar; 2 so she said to Abram, “The Lord has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my slave; perhaps I can build a family through her.” Abram agreed to what Sarai said. 3 So after Abram had been living in Canaan ten years, Sarai his wife took her Egyptian slave Hagar and gave her to her husband to be his wife. 4 He slept with Hagar, and she conceived.
Wikopedia defines surrogacy as follows:
A surrogacy arrangement or surrogacy agreement is the carrying of a pregnancy for intended parents.
That’s too many. I’ll settle for about half that number: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzMVkZaufZU
lol.
Even after the scandal? http://www.hellokpop.com/2014/07/07/park-bom-join-2ne1-for-japanese-concert-after-drug-scandal/
I still like Bom though
I’ll take the 5th and 6th from the left. The rest of you can have the others. I claim them by by Constitutional right to pursue happiness.
Being monogamous and a Gentile, I wouldn't have a clue one way or another.
My guess is that he's probably talking about contemporary Jews, to the exclusion of Old Testament kings.
TY, saved for later reading.
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