Free Republic

The normalization of polygamy would undermine our commitment to human dignity—our sense that each human being is to be valued as an end in him- or herself, and not merely as a means to others’ ends. Conservatives have long warned that the redefinition of marriage sought by the proponents of same-sex unions will prepare the way for a further redefinition of marriage to include polygamy. Some liberals have already done their part to fulfill this prophecy by assuming that the argument over same-sex marriage is over and by beginning to argue for a normalization of plural marriages. As I have...

As the battle for marriage equality rages on, a different, more obscure kind of sexual immorality is slowly rearing its ugly head: polygamy. Polygamy is defined as the "the custom of having more than one wife or husband at the same time," a practice which directly violates the Biblical commandment instructing marriage to be between a single man and wife (1 Timothy 3:2, 12 and Titus 1:6). However, the secular media is increasingly attempting to normalize, and even glamorize this kind of perverted lifestyle. Showtime is airing an original series called Polyamory: Married & Dating, which follows two polyamorous families...

Residents in Auckland, New Zealand are questioning their council’s decision to subsidize a one-day conference exploring “queer polyamory” relationships. The Auckland Council, which serves New Zealand’s largest population, recently gave grants to various homosexual organizations, but it is the conference on polyamory that is causing a stir. Entitled “Poly Panel, Discussions around Queer Polyamory” is described on GayNZ as “a one day event exploring a framework of ethical, healthy polyamory relationships.” An advertisement for the event states: “Along with questioning heteronormativity, many LGBTI people question monogamous marriages and relationships.” According to the advertisement, the event aims to “break down some...

Brady Williams and his five wives are the stars of a new reality series on TLC. The six Williams family members decided to go public with their story in order to dispel myths about polygamy, including about sexual relations between Brady and his wives. "All of America is having sex," Brady told HuffPost Live. "It's no big deal to answer [questions]. We're not perverted, we're not twisted. We're normal – we're just normal times five." However, Dean Gregory Alan Thornbury of the school of theology at Union University in Tennessee has been quick to point out that polygamy, even within...

The A&E reality series Duck Dynasty nearly got derailed when one of its cast members echoed thoughts of many church goers regarding the gay lifestyle. Come March, TLC will bring polygamy back into its lineup, and it likely won't generate a fraction of the controversy that Phil Robertson's musings met. The one-hour special My Five Wives debuted last year on TLC, and now the network is offering nine new episodes of the polygamist clan. As TLC says in its press release concerning the show, "families come in all different shapes and sizes ..." The first new show will bow on...

With the ruling of a federal judge last week that declared part of Utah's anti-polygamy law unconstitutional, the left finds itself torn. Of course, with their ever-wavering consciences that are willing to go along with whatever seems the latest fad that tests our moral boundaries (especially in the sexual realm), some liberals say that it is time that we take a closer look at plural marriage. After all, if consenting adults want to enter into such relationships, what is the problem? In other words, as I asked over five years ago, what's wrong with polygamy? However, some liberals took comfort...

3:25:11 AM Polygamy comes out of the closet Michael Cook | 17 Dec 2013 | 7 tags : polyamory, polygamy, same-sex marriageKody Brown ABOVE, center, poses with his wives, from left, Janelle, Christine, Meri, and Robyn.. Is Utah’s ban on polygamy unconstitutional? Last week a Federal Court judge ruled that it is, after Kody Brown and his four wives, the stars of the reality TV series Sister Wives, challenged it.. Judge Clark Waddoups, of United States District Court in Utah, struck down provisions of Utah’s bigamy law, which make “religious co-habitation” illegal. Kody Brown, who belongs to the Apostolic United...

In Lawrence v. Texas, the U.S. Supreme Court, reversing its own then-recent holding in Bowers v. v. Hardwick, ruled that laws against homosexual sodomy are unconstitutional–even though the Constitution says nothing about sex, let alone sodomy–on the ground that the right of privacy (also never mentioned in the Constitution) protects all consensual, private sexual contact between adults. Lawrence immediately was seen as a milestone in the campaign for gay marriage. Some conservatives noted that the Court’s rationale would protect polygamy, too, but they were denounced as killjoys. Lawyers noticed, however. Soon after Lawrence, several lawsuits were commenced in federal...

(VIDEO-AT-LINK) Polygamy is back in the headlines. Last week, a federal judge in Utah struck down part of the state's anti-polygamy law as unconstitutional, although he kept the ban on possessing more than one marriage license at a time. Fans of the "Sister Wives" reality TV stars, who filed the suit, are rejoicing in the news. At the other end of the spectrum, TLC debuted its newest docuseries, "Breaking the Faith," which tells the dark story of women and children trying to escape from the practice. Another lawsuit filed by the Department of Justice alleges that polygamous clans are secretly...

The Republican was once savaged for suggesting polygamy could become legal if the Supreme Court killed anti-sodomy laws. Now a judge has ruled against Utah’s anti-polygamy statute. A decade ago, Rick Santorum said polygamy, among other things, would be allowed if bans on sodomy were struck down by the Supreme Court. “Sometimes I hate it when what I predict comes true,” the once and likely future Republican presidential candidate tweeted Sunday after a federal judge decriminalized polygamy in Utah. Judge Clark Waddoups ruled late Friday that parts of the state’s law are unconstitutional, based on a Supreme Court ruling that...

As most Americans were thinking thoughts of Christmas cheer, a federal judge in Utah dropped a bomb on the institution of marriage, striking down the most crucial sections of the Utah statute outlawing polygamy. Last Friday, Judge Clark Waddoups of the United States District Court in Utah ruled that Utah’s anti-polygamy law is unconstitutional, violating the free exercise clause of the First Amendment as well as the guarantee of due process.In one sense, the decision was almost inevitable, given the trajectory of both the culture and the federal courts. On the other hand, the sheer shock of the decision serves...

A federal judge on Friday struck down a key portion of Utah's bigamy laws as unconstitutional, siding with a reality television star and his four wives. Polygamy is illegal in all 50 states. But Utah's law is unique in that a person can be guilty not just for having two legal marriage licenses, but also for cohabiting with another adult in a marriage-like relationship. U.S. District Judge Clark Waddoups said in a 91-page ruling issued late on Friday that the second aspect is unconstitutionally broad because it bars consenting adults from living together and criminalizes their intimate sexual relationships. [Snip]...

In fact, Australian law now recognises polygamous unions contracted in other jurisdictions for many purposes. “The social institution of marriage differs from country to country. It is not now possible (if it ever was) to confine attention to jurisdictions whose law of marriage provides only for unions between a man and a woman to the exclusion of all others, voluntarily entered into for life. Marriage law is and must be recognised now to be more complex. Some jurisdictions outside Australia permit polygamy. Some jurisdictions outside Australia, in a variety of constitutional settings, now permit marriage between same sex couples. “These...

Note that it does not require a mandatory three, but rather a permissible three. Just as a polygamist at heart might voluntarily opt to limit himself to one spouse (for various reasons of his own), there is absolutely no reason in the logic of our relativistic and floundering marriage laws to require him to limit himself to one. Keep in mind also that this logic is obvious enough to those who have been pushing for homo marriage. They are foolish, not stupid. They have only denied it for practical political reasons — so as to not give us a legit...

(CNN) -- Revelers in the rainbow-washed crowd smiled and cheered this month as the little blond girl in the parade float pageant-waved to the B-52's "Love Shack." Next to the float, the girl's father, Billy Holder, handed out fliers to the Atlanta Pride Parade crowd. His wife, Melissa, carried a banner along with Jeremy Mullins, the couple's partner. "Polyamory: Having simultaneous close emotional relationships with two or more other individuals," read their purple-lettered banner, embellished with an infinity heart. ***** They've learned the need for discretion. They said a family member reported them to Georgia's Division of Family and Children...

SACRAMENTO — Gov. Jerry Brown signed legislation Friday that will allow children in California to have more than two legal parents, a measure opposed by some conservative groups as an attack on the traditional family.

In defiance of Deuteronomy 17:17, Matthew 19:4-6, and other Biblical passages, the founder of Mormonism, Joseph Smith, endorsed the practice of polygamy. However, the largest Mormon church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS), later outlawed the practice. This presents a problem for LDS theology. In verses 61-63 of Section 132 of the Doctrine and Covenants, Joseph Smith reveals a "revelation" about polygamy supposedly given to him by God. The verses teach that a man "cannot commit adultery" -- even if "he have ten virgins given unto him by this law" of polygamy -- as long as his...

A British organization is suggesting that monogamy is out of date and “multiple partners’ is the coming norm, says a report from The Christian Institute. Now that many nations have abandoned the biblical concept of marriage being between one man and one woman, given formalized government support for same-sex duos in New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States in recent days, BBC show host Jo Fidgen openly is questioning whether there still is room for sexual fidelity in a “society where choice is everything.” Several prominent individuals in those nations have warned lately that society’s fast adoption of...

Opponents of same-sex marriage have long argued that allowing such unions will lead to marriages among more than two people and between adults who are related. They're right.

The Supreme Court’s rulings in favor of same-sex marriage Wednesday were greeted with excitement by polygamists across the country, who viewed the gay rights victory as a crucial step toward the country’s inevitable acceptance of plural marriage. Anne Wilde, a vocal advocate for polygamist rights who practiced the lifestyle herself until her husband died in 2003, praised the court’s decision as a sign that society’s stringent attachment to traditional “family values” is evolving. “I was very glad… The nuclear family, with a dad and a mom and two or three kids, is not the majority anymore,” said Wilde. “Now...