Polygamists unite!

Not something you’d expect me to be opening up with, is it? Well it certainly wasn’t something I expected to see atop a Newsweek article as I sat in the waiting room at my doctor’s office.

Believe me – it’s not something I would normally say, nor truly believe, but it’s something that sparked my interest.

The movement that has, yet again, risen out of the small towns of Utah is the polygamist’s movement. Whether they call themselves the Centennial Park Action Committee or Principle Voices, they have one goal in mind: to legalize polygamy.

This movement hasn’t only sparked the interests of Newsweek and myself, but of other accredited news sources. A show offering a sympathetic look at a polygamous family airing on HBO, titled “Big Love,” as well as upcoming anti-polygamy legislation has brought added attention to the issue.

Jumping on the gay marriage bandwagon, these activists have taken the stance that if a child can have two mommies, they also can have two mommies and a daddy. They also point to Canada where, in January, work began to decriminalize polygamy. Another point they make is in Lawrence v. Texas. The 2003 sodomy case ruled individuals have “the full right to engage in private conduct without government intervention.” They believe all these issues apply to polygamy and should be taken into account when ruling on the law.

Although some consider this a valid argument, I think I should point out the flaws.

According to Newsweek, when legalizing polygamy comes up, it’s used to make a case against gay marriage. Many gay rights advocates believe this connection is a specious one.

In 2003 Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania stated that legalizing gay sex would pave the way for legalized bigamy, polygamy, and incest. This slippery slope argument against gay marriage seems like one polygamists wouldn’t want to be part of, but apparently that’s not the case.

Marlyne Hammon and Mark Henkel, heads of two notable polygamist organizations, are opposed to gay marriage and believe all homosexual behavior is a sin, yet they still support the argument that the two are related.

Why would an organization opposed to an issue, use it in support of their own agenda? I think this large flaw shows the ambiguity of this movement.

The Newsweek article cited 30,000 to 50,000 polygamists who practice the Mormon religion and even more who are evangelical Christians and Muslims.

Although this may seem like a large number, it’s not and they don’t receive any outside support. Polygamy is outlawed in all 50 states and according to a recent Gallup poll, 92 percent of Americans like it that way.

So why am I writing about this?

The idea that a group which supposedly supports the sanctity of marriage is in favor of the marriage of many women to one man is unbelievable. What I would like to know is, where are the women’s rights in all this?

It’s women who are heading up many of these organizations, yet they’re the ones being oppressed. Their belief according to truthbearer.org, a prominent polygamist Web site, is that polygamy is the “selfless, Christ-like love for women.” The man isn’t expected to partake in polygamy until he has loved his wife so fully she believes him to be Jesus Christ himself. Not only are women never granted the right to partake in polygamy themselves, but it has been pre-determined Jesus Christ is a man and thus women must worship a man as though they’re Jesus. The woman and eventual women, are expected to serve the man’s every need, becoming perpetual slaves.

If this isn’t oppressive, I don’t know what is.

Apparently these women have missed out on the past 100 years and the men are just greedy.

They’ve also displaced the goals of the movement to gain rights for homosexuals and paired it with their own. The phenomenon of many women married to one man is completely different than gay marriage. A marriage between two men or two women is the sharing of love of one person and the promise of faith and devotion to one person. These vows cannot be made to multiple people and still carry the same weight. This practice could in no way produce a happy and healthy home and thus has no bearing on the fight for marriage rights.

Besides, three moms? Gross.

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