Polygamy Essay

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.

Polygamy is the practice or custom of having more than one wife or husband at the same time. Polyandry is a form of polygamy where a woman can marry more than one man at the same time, and polygyny is another form of polygamy where a man is allowed to have more than one wife. Polygamy is more known than polyandry. Polygamy is permitted in countries like Australia, Afghanistan, Iran, and Africa, and in other countries like the United States, England, Spain, and Mexico it is not permitted. Many view Polygamy as a sexual desire and satisfaction to be with more than just one man or woman, but for many cultural reasons, man and woman may have more than one wife or husband. As discussed in the video, the meaning of love & polygamy, the positive outcomes of having more than one wife or husband is so they can be provided each other with help.

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

During the 1870s and 1880s, the plural marriage created a crisis for Mormonism. Bigamy was recognized as an offense by the early English ecclesiastical courts, which considered it an affront to the marriage Sacrament. Parliament enacted a statute in 1604 that made bigamy a felony cognizable in the English common law courts.

Their church had its political party and owned businesses in the community. Plural marriage was the primary target by the government and was declared a Federal crime. Polygamists were barred from voting, serving on juries and holding offices and punished by prison. Mormons felt polygamy was a calling from God, and they were fulfilling a church principle by participating in it, which was more important than the American’s law. David King Eutaw married his second wife two months after polygamy became a felony. Newspapers were created with the purpose to persecute Polygamist and Ida was regularly blasted in it being called a mistress and prostitute. Ida disappeared into the underground while pregnant after learning Marshalls were in the area serving subpoenas to plural wives and arresting men to save her husband from being arrested. She delivered her daughter the same day she learned of her Mother’s death. All Mormons were eventually prohibited from voting, and their church property was threatened to be confiscated. The church president came out of retirement and advised all Mormons to refrain from plural marriage. The church leaders disbanded the church’s political party, divested themselves of the church’s businesses and drew up a constitution that separated church from the state that outlawed polygamy. This allowed Utah to be admitted into the Union as the 45th state Ida spent 2.5 years

Any prohibition against polygamous marriage today must likewise meet these stringent requirements of the FRFA, in addition to the earlier Sherbert and Yoder decisions. The compelling state interests that have been identified are (1) underage marriage, child abuse, and incest; (2) subjection of women; and (3) welfare fraud. Yet there are

Polygamy is the case in which a man or a woman has multiple spouses. One branch of polygamy is termed “polygyny”, which is when “one man is married to several wives” (Zeitzen 3).

In speculation on Mormon belief, should a man have one wife or multiple we each have our own opinion. Stenhouse a disappointed woman makes good points on how she feels about the practice of how after joining the faith she now criticizes it. Stenhouse tells us that it doesn't matter how much faith the woman has in her religion or in plural marriages, that when her husband does take another wife after her estrangement will begin. Most people now would

Polygamy is a practice of having more than one wife. George Reynolds already had a wife but he married again in order to have a second spouse. With polygamy being banned in all fifty states, Reynolds was convicted of bigamy. However, Reynold stated that the law was unconstitutional on First Amendment basis. He told the court that he was a member of the Mormon Church. The Mormon church had a doctrine that practiced polygamy. He argued that because he was a member of the church, he was expected to marry twice. He told the court he was fulfilling a religious duty. Because he convicted

“The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS) was formally organized in a small log cabin in upstate New York in 1830. It took 117 years — until 1947 — for the Church to grow from the initial six members to one million” (Mormon Newsroom). Many people associate polygamy with Mormonism, however polygamy has been banned in The LDS Church since 1890. Mormons believe they have a Christian faith, but many Protestant Christians do not accept Mormons as genuine Christians because of the differences in beliefs. While Mormonism is a fast growing religion with more than 15 million members, many non-Mormons have misconceptions about what Mormons actually believe (Mormon Newsroom). Although, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints share

Reynolds v. United States was a controversial court case surrounding George Reynolds and his right to practice a specific tradition in his religion: polygamy. Reynolds was a caucasian man living in Utah whose right to freedom of religion was put in question after he was convicted of polygamy. Reynolds was a member of the mormon community, also known as The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. At the time that this incident took place, the mormon society still backed polygamy. Polygamy, also known as bigamy, is the practice of having more than one spouse. Reynolds was a very family-oriented man. He married his first wife Mary Ann Tuddenham in 1865. He served his community in many ways including serving on city council. However, his

Normal marriage would me monogamy, which consist only two partners. Polygamy marriage can include a man married to more than on wife at a time, or a woman married to more than on husband at a time. People who wants to have polygamy marriage lifestyle are commonly married to one spouse and cohabitating with the other spouses since polygamy is illegal in the U.S. Polygamist families tend to make up a very small portion of American household. Polygamy is officially and broadly practiced in more than eight hundred societies worldwide. It has been the focus of a substantial augmentation in public, political, and academic awareness throughout the last two decades. A number of research papers came out all through this time, primarily focusing on the influence of polygamy on behavioral, emotional, and educational alteration of children.

They are looking into changing the law so it doesn’t affect children from age 12-17 who marry into polygamy. (Canada Polygamy laws upheld, 2011) Recent news has come out that 12 and 13 year old girls were moved from Canada to the US to marry widely known polygamous, Warren Jeffs who now is in jail named. Currently, Jeffs is facing allegation he married the 3 girls through 2004 and 2005 while he was at the age of 48. (Keller, 2011) Consequently, women are highly affected by polygamy due to its tradition of marrying young, abusive relationships and deep jealousy.

Polygamy is the “practice whereby a person is married to more than one spouse at the same time” (Zeitzen 2008, 3)