Questions For The Group Discussion

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.

However, historians have looked at how the Church’s decisions on marriage were turned into legislation with sermons allowing the study of Church teachings and giving an insight into what ordinary people would have been told about marriage. This demonstrates how Church rules were gradually incorporated into the lives of the people, allowing the Church to establish obedience with its ’ideals’ and leading to the conformity of public opinion. This control meant the Church alone could establish whether a marriage was ‘acceptable’, or declare it invalid and dissolve it. A breach of Church law regarding marriage could result in excommunication: the suspension of Church rites. While it is hard to know how strictly people followed Church law, the laity actively recognised its power and thus, would have followed its rules of marriage to a substantial extent. This demonstrates that while it is hard to determine the extent of strict adherence to Church marriage rules, it was highly concerned with imposing these rules on all peoples, with punishment being the alternative to the conformity of the laity.

Even Solomon, a great prophet of the figure of the Bible who was said to be favored by God had seven hundred princesses and three hundred concubines. The Bible shows that polygamy, rape, incest, and orgies are not only accepted, but was often rewarded, by God and was common practice of "great men of the Bible," none of whom wherever spoken out against in the Bible.

The lifestyle of a polygamist is something not every person will agree on. It goes against social customs in many beliefs. A polygamist is looked down upon in American civilization because it goes against most religions. Although, polygamy has been useful for Elizabeth Joseph as she explains her story. Elizabeth Joseph, the author of “My Husband’s Nine Wives,” can relate to such a life because she is part of a polygamy marriage. However, Joseph enjoys her way of marriage, saying it is helpful to her career, mothering duties, and being a wife. On the other hand, one could imagine the jealousy that go through each wife for attention.

Pollit expounds on the true meaning of marriage; by looking at the history of marriage. For a period of time, “polygyny was the rule;”

Further, the Old World Testament advocates the ownership right over marriage and the emerged laws allowed a capital punishment in the instance of the discovery of ‘infidelity’. Even today, the same anti-civilization legal heritage package and outrageously severe unwritten rules represent daily routine in the most conservative and primitive corners of the Globe. Marital fidelity defended by force and violence is definitively unsustainable practice and turns “…marriage into an enforced consolidation of an imaginary right of ownership”,

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

Polygamy is the practice of being married to more than one person simultaneously; also known as plural marriage. “Traditionally, polygamy has been practised in Hindu, Islamic, and Christian (Mormon) societies, among others” (Chittom) Polygamy is illegal in the united states, however it is still practiced. In fact, polygamy is becoming more widespread. According to the Daily Beast, “In 2001, only 7 percent of Americans deemed polygamy morally acceptable. Now 16 percent find it morally acceptable. (Allen) Plural marriage is becoming more popular. “Rough estimates place the polygamous population in the U.S. is somewhere between 50,000 to 100,000 people” (Allen) Even though plural marriage is illegal in most 1st world countries, “Polygamy remains a common practice

“In the Middle Ages, as in other ages, powerful men married monogamously, but mated polygynously. Both laymen and church men tended to have sexual access to as many women as they could afford” (Betzig). This type of behavior was more common in the higher class society. Women and men were both guilty of this crime, but it was easier for men to commit

Varied Views on Love and Marriage Hanwen Wang The Christian notion of gender relations has a profound influence on Christian Europe. It can be best demonstrated by people’s views on love and marriage during different periods of time. Both Gregory and Marie have their own views on love and marriage that represents the cultural background in their societies. Although the views on love and marriage in The History of the Franks and Lais are both derived from The Bible, they are different among each other mainly in the acceptance of polygamy.

It is hard to believe we are in the fifth week of this course and it is nearly over. I have enjoyed studying the Old Testament from an academic perspective and my knowledge of the Old Testament has absolutely grown. To begin with, I learned the origin of the Jewish religious edict abolishing inter-marriage began as Ezra and later Nehemiah established new Jewish traditions during reconstruction, in an effort to eliminate the long standing temptation of Israelites to worship other gods (Tullock & McEntire, 2006, p. 201-202). Interestingly, despite instituting this rule centuries ago, the Jewish community is still grappling with the issue of inter-marriage and its impact on the permanence and purity of practice of Judaism and their new covenant with God (Golin, 2010).

Through this conflict, the world has and will continue to evolve into the modern community that we already have begun to live in today. This information is prevalent within the short story “Marriage is a Private Affair.” Although marriage has evolved a great amount in the past into what we know it as today, there are still civilizations that have stuck to their traditional beliefs and are looking to begin their own crusade as to what marriage beliefs should consist

With the number of wives that historical figures have had in the Bible, it raises the question of whether or not polygamy or the act of bigamy is actually biblical. Many prominent and godly men of the Bible had multiple wives including Abraham, David, Jacob, and Solomon. Many state also that God never explicitly states that marrying multiple wives is a sin, but clearly they have not read their Bible. The scriptures states time and time again the holy construct for a healthy marriage. Genesis 2:24 states, "For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife [not wives], and they will become one flesh [not fleshes]." 1 Corinthians 7:2 equally states, "But because of the temptation to sexual immorality, each man should

In order to provide a foundation for her readers to be skeptical of group rights related to multiculturalism, Okin describes several stories, examples, and historical cases of women being controlled within their culture. Her examples include France’s historical permission of polygamy due to the immigrants’ culture; Greek mythology; Adam and Eve from the Bible; Orthodox Jews living in the mountains; and Sarah and Abraham from the Bible. She uses these examples to illustrate her point that, “Most cultures have as one of their principal aims the control of women by men.” (590). Okin describes practices such as clitoridectomy, child marriages, and forcing rape victims to marry their assaulter. She uses these examples to reinforce her point that, “many culturally based customs aim to control women and render them,

In the story of The Wife of Bath, the Wife is going by the role of women and what they are supposed to be and do for men, but while reading it she uses the bible as excuse to merry more than one man and use them for her own needs. She uses the bible to marry more than one man and how a wife is to please a man, doesn’t mean she can’t fun while doing it. In lines 55-57, “A holy man was Abraham, I know, And Jacob, too, as far as they may go, Yet each with more than two wives came to dwell.” The Wife said that in the bible, Abraham and Jacob where holy men and they had many wives, so why would that keep her from marrying more than once. Threw out the story the Wife talks about her being the ideal wife by giving herself to her husband, thinking that is what she is used for and using that to get what she wants, like a prostitute. In lines 257-284, “You say that some desires us for our fortunes, Some for