International Covenant On Civil And The United States Of The Supreme Court Of British Columbia

If you have never heard of polygamy you will and if you had in the past it was most likely due to the hit reality series “Sister Wives” about a polygamist family in the state of Utah. Polygamy is defined as the practice or condition of having more than one spouse at a time. Polygamy is nothing new and has been practice for hundreds of years but it is now seen as an immoral act, and a criminal act in a large majority of the of the world. Now even though polygamy is wide known in certain areas like Africa (South Africa, Kenya), Asia (middle east), etc. Still there are rules that they must abide by and it frowned on in an obese manner in areas like the United States, Australia, and China, because as a society we see it as an unjust act that can not be upheld by any justification but it is permitted in the bible. I support polygamy because I see no fault in the act of a family with multiple spouses.

Marriage is a social institution that is practiced globally. Traditionally marriages are known to occur between one man and one woman. However, cultural values and time have reshaped and birthed new types of marriages. Polygamy is a type of marriage that is often practiced around the world specifically in Asia, Middle East, and Africa. Polyamorous marriages have been in existence for centuries. Polygamy is classified into two categories, polygyny, and polyandry. Polygyny is the most popular type of polygamy, in this type of polygamous marriage, a man is married to multiple women. On the other hand, polyandry which is the least familiar type of polygamy is where a woman is married to multiple husbands. The intolerance of Mormons in the United States has led to the outlawing of polyamorous marriages. The Morrill Anti Bigamy law of 1862 outlawed the practice of polygamy in the United States. Like many other laws, this law can be overturned. In fact, it should be reversed because illegalizing polygamy is unethical. Polygamy should be legalized because it is unconstitutional for it to be illegal, same-sex marriages and interracial marriages are legal, therefore so should polyamorous marriages. In addition, legalizing polygamy would prevent immigrant families who practice polygamy from being separated and it would also strengthen the feminist movement.

Most would equate their struggle and first for equality to gay marriage. This is mostly due to so much acceptance of those individuals that do not fit the mold of the typical monogamous man and women marriage. We are far from a city that is accepting of this union or are we? Recently families who practice polygamy have been in the public increasingly. Modern day television series such as the Sister Wives follows a family in a polygamous union who documents their day to day life and the struggle that we mentioned in the previous paragraph. This family lives their life in peace which reverts back to my stance on the issue in which the laws that currently exist around polygamy unions are good as they are. Reporter Amy Robek of the 20/20 news show reported on the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Ladder Day Saints Polygamy Compound in a documentary titled “Secrets of the Mormon Cult: Breaking Polygamy”. This documentary was filmed after the prosecution of the cult leader of the FLDS compound Warren Jeff’s. They got a rare inside look on what life is like within compounds, shedding light to outsiders the daily operations and schedules the sheltered people. What they discovered was these families are hold a lower standard of education, health care, and nutritional values. From

In 2013 the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) struck down the Country’s existing prostitution laws because they violated Section 7 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms (hereafter referred to as The Charter) as they infringed in a sex workers right to life, liberty and security, specifically because while the act of being a sex worker was not illegal, many of the aspects around it were which was deemed unjust (Perrin, 2014: 6-7). This case is important not only because of the way it effects sex workers, but because when the law was sent back to parliament to be revised the resulting law ended up being far different than the original claimants desires. This case demonstrates one of the ways Parliament and the SCC interact with each other as a

In Dena Hassouneh-Phillips’ article, “Polygamy and Wife Abuse: A Qualitative Study of Muslim Women in America,” she notes a report from a second wife who felt insignificant in her polygamous marriage due to the lack of attention

Anyone in these sorts of communities that is not one of the leading dominant males is highly likely to be victimized. From fundamental freedoms stipulated and set out in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, to international Conventions on the Rights of the Child and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, those rights are likely to be violated whether you are a young boy or girl or a woman. Early marriages and an alarming lack of education, as well as child trafficking and all sorts of assaults are carried out with alarming consistency behind and within the walls of these closed communities. In their efforts to exert control over their subjects, they foster and encourage a distrust in society and a woeful lack of skills to allow anyone who is excommunicated to be cripplingly unable to function outside the tight fist of the control of the elders. But further than that, offences run as deep as to violate the right of the state to pursue prosecution and punishment for acts that it finds offensive, stripping the justice system of the fundamental duty to be the voice of the morality of its population. As such, polygamy is a far-reaching problem that does not discriminate in the form, age, and sex of its victims, causing deep and lasting emotional and physical harm to people who are forced to participate and very rarely with the option to leave it behind

I also learned about the the different perceptions on marriage having to do with monogamy versus polygamy. Coontz tells of a tradition in parts of Asia where: “A woman may be married to two or more brothers, all of whom share sexual access to her” (257). This shows a clearly polygamous relationship, whereas Bennett’s essay shows he is against polygamy and believes it marriage should only be two people. He says, “How could they explain why we ought to deny a marriage licence to a bisexual who wants to marry two people,” (272). This is very different from today’s perception of marriage as currently it is between only two people, and polygamous

When one thinks about marriages or weddings in the United States, Americans may often reminiscence on two individuals tying the knot. However, in the western United States, and in parts of Canada, more and more people are practicing polygamy, which is the act of an individual marrying another person(s), after one already has a spouse. Although the practice is illegal, individuals within the Fundamental Latter-Day Saints Church partake in the activity, as it is a divine part and calling of their religion. The FLDS is a break-off sect off the mainstream Mormon, or Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Church. The Mormon Church originally practiced polygamy, up until The Manifesto, which was issued in 1890, by Wilford Woodruff,

2) While I see the societal deviance that a group like this creates, I am less concerned about the social deviance and distance from the norm that having multiple willing adult spouses have on society than I am about what I would consider the Criminally Deviant actions of a group that allows child abuse under the guise of religious freedom to occur. While I acknowledge the right to practice religion freely, one must also acknowledge the systematic isolation and secrecy of such an organization and the limit that places on an individual’s access to or willingness to seek help from those to which they are scared or intimidated and lack any understanding of the world outside which they

Mark Henkal is the self-described National Polygamy Advocate. In his speech “The Emperor is Wearing No Clothes,” he argues the case of why Christian polygamy should be accepted. He uses four main points to get his opinion across: grace-law hypocrisy, polygamists in the Bible, the meaning of adultery and one flesh, and prohibitions of leaders in the Bible. An individual with little to no Biblical knowledge might find that his argument makes sense. Just listening to the speech, without any critical thinking involved, might even persuade those with slightly more Biblical knowledge. Although outwardly he may seem to make solid arguments, there is much more to the polygamy argument than he brought forth.

Gibson (2010) also frames polygamy in the context of women struggles and not being able to control their own lives. Gibson gives his opinion on polygamy and how it violates the Christian family. Gibson (2010) argues that polygamy came about because of “systematic patriarchy.” Gibson gives information on Anderson Cooper’s television special "Polygamy in America, Cult or Calling?" which discusses the capture of polygamist leader Warren Jeffs. Gibson (2010) explains how America’s recent fascination with polygamy only covers one aspect of it referring to the main coverage of modern day Mormon polygamy. The researcher also gives information on the change of polygamous relationships over time. Gibson (2010) reflects that in modern day polygamous marriages people are able to pick their spouses. Women are actually enjoying being in a polygamous marriage instead of being forced into it.

"We are a peculiar people," Elder Bruce R. McConkie once said (McConkie 25). The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is one of a few "odd" Christian religions. Many of its practices have created much persecution and political reaction, polygamy being one of these. It created much social and political persecution of the Mormons.

There are many problems within our society, polygamy has been a problem since the 19th century and still is today. Polygamy is the practice of having more than one spouse at a time. Polygyny is the most common form of polygamy, consists of one man has multiple wives (Buck, 2012). Polygamy is illegal in the United States, Canada and many other countries around the world. In the 1800s, under the direction of its founder Joseph Smith, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS) began to practice polygamy. Members of the LDS Church, also known as Mormons, believed that Smith was the prophet of God and they must follow his teachings if they wanted to go to heaven. After Smith’s death, the new prophet, Brigham Young, began publically teaching the practice of polygamy (Guiora, 2010). In order to escape persecution for their religious practice of polygamy, the LDS Church moved the Utah, which is where a large amount of the polygamous community lives today.

The Quran also justifies polygamy in the Muslim lifestyle. The Muslim social order was vehemently opposed to self-determination for women and declared only men could repudiate their spouses. The fear of self- determination was linked to fitna, so women had to be constrained. The family hierarchy of male domination was determined by the Prophet’s life with women and leads readers to recognize the complexity of masculine vulnerability to the attraction of women. The sexual power of women over men has dictated much of the Islamic sharia regarding marriage. Men had the right to sexual satisfaction, but women also had to be sexually satisfied so as not to commit or tempt other men to fornication.

Polygamy is the practice of having more than one spouse and is culturally accepted in many parts of the world, but is illegal in the United States. There are two well known forms of polygamy, both of which are still presently practiced in numerous cultures globally, polygyny and polyandry. These practices take place in societies where it is important to have either more men or more women in a families’ household based on the kind of environment they reside in. This paper is going to take a look at who practices polygamy, the history of polygamy in the United States, and how this kind of polygamous lifestyle affects the children that are the products of these family structures.