Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:1. Because polygamy is often - though not always - connected to coercion/abuse of the women and marriage of underage women.

2. To protect the children that would be raised in polygamous households.

3. Common property right and the benefits related to marriage would be murky with multiple spouses all having equal claims. Wife #1 has the same rights as Wives #2 and #3 in the eyes of the law.

+1! It's repressive against women and kids who are generally treated as little more than property in such situations.

Who here has had to sit through setting a "bridal price" (a monetary "price" the husband pays the father for the daughter/wife)?

Anonymous wrote:Polygamy can't be respected by society. If widespread, it would sow chaos as large numbers of young men could not find anyone to be with because the woman are doubled and tripled up with other men.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As the Chief Justice suggested, the constitutional and other legal arguments for gay marriage apply as much to polygamy. The notion that anti-polygamy laws are needed to protect women under the age of consent is no more valid than suggesting that legalizing sodomy and gay relationships would encourage homosexual pedophilia. There might be public policy benefits to legalizing polygamy, particularly in areas or social groups where there are fewer suitable male partners.

Who are the ones, historically and currently, in this country, who practice polygamy? It's not liberal polyamorous families, it's FLDS. And there's coercion and problems with underage girls, as well as fraud. Sister Wives and Big Love are the least controversial examples of these families, where the women seem to be intelligent consenting adults, as long as you ignore their finances.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Marijuana is illegal in DC, Colorado, and Washington - under federal law.

Banned. Illegal. Prosecutable.

That doesn't stop pot shops from operating in the open in Colorado or people smoking dope in their homes without fear of prosecution.

If you want to be a polygamist, just move to rural Utah or rural Idaho. You won't have many problems if you lay low.

So why wasn't this argument successful with gay marriage? If you want to marry another homosexual, move to a liberal permissive place like CA or DC, not a more conservative state where the majority is offended by the concept. In other words, leave the matter to the states, where local values and preferences can be taken into account.

Anonymous wrote:
It doesn't have to be. Monogamous marriages are treated this way in some countries, but we all know that monogamous marriage doesn't have to be that way. I think it should be legal. Also, marriages of 3 men. Marriages of 3 women. I think

* that there should be universal health care, so no company has to deal with the insurance implications
* hospital visitation, etc for all in the "marriage" contract
* all names go onto birth certificates, and all are responsible for child care in case of divorce
* in case of death without a will, money is divided equally amoung all in the contract and all children
* of course no entering into the contract for a cash fee to parents (which is also illegal for monogamous marriages?)

I think with these rules there is no reason it shouldn't be a civilized interaction.

Anonymous wrote:As the Chief Justice suggested, the constitutional and other legal arguments for gay marriage apply as much to polygamy. The notion that anti-polygamy laws are needed to protect women under the age of consent is no more valid than suggesting that legalizing sodomy and gay relationships would encourage homosexual pedophilia. There might be public policy benefits to legalizing polygamy, particularly in areas or social groups where there are fewer suitable male partners.

Anonymous wrote:Marijuana is illegal in DC, Colorado, and Washington - under federal law.

Banned. Illegal. Prosecutable.

That doesn't stop pot shops from operating in the open in Colorado or people smoking dope in their homes without fear of prosecution.

If you want to be a polygamist, just move to rural Utah or rural Idaho. You won't have many problems if you lay low.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:1. Because polygamy is often - though not always - connected to coercion/abuse of the women and marriage of underage women.

2. To protect the children that would be raised in polygamous households.

3. Common property right and the benefits related to marriage would be murky with multiple spouses all having equal claims. Wife #1 has the same rights as Wives #2 and #3 in the eyes of the law.

+1! It's repressive against women and kids who are generally treated as little more than property in such situations.

Who here has had to sit through setting a "bridal price" (a monetary "price" the husband pays the father for the daughter/wife)?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here, but how is it prosecuted? Only one woman is legally married.

OP, I have said this before: In the USA it is ILLEGAL to SAY that you have more than one wife. If you ever say that, you can be prosecuted.

You can have affairs and so on, even a concubine, but you can't call that other woman your wife. So, in a way, they prosecute the ones who are in love and want to legitimize their relationship in some way. So especially for the religious ones, it is illegal.

I'm not sure what will happen if someone wants a husband and a wife though.

Anonymous wrote:^^
Ironically, 7:54 pointed out a big fallacy in the polygamy argument: it's not polyandry. It's polygyny.

Anonymous wrote:1. Because polygamy is often - though not always - connected to coercion/abuse of the women and marriage of underage women.

2. To protect the children that would be raised in polygamous households.

3. Common property right and the benefits related to marriage would be murky with multiple spouses all having equal claims. Wife #1 has the same rights as Wives #2 and #3 in the eyes of the law.

Anonymous wrote:Polygamy can't be respected by society. If widespread, it would sow chaos as large numbers of young men could not find anyone to be with because the woman are doubled and tripled up with other men.