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I was reading the thread on refugees with more than one wife.
As I was reading it I starting thinking, should the US legalize polygamy?
If yes, why?
If no, why?
We support equality in many areas in our society. Allowing it would mean to equal treatment under the law. Why ban something between consenting adults as to what type of family they want to raise?
Isn't polygamy legal? You just can't be married to two people. If we made marriage open to more than one person wouldn't it be awful messy? Even these days there are guys that have two different households. That's not between consenting adults. Also how would divorce be? Maybe the marriage license could just list all participants?
Isn't polygamy legal? You just can't be married to two people. If we made marriage open to more than one person wouldn't it be awful messy? Even these days their are guys that have two different households. That's not between consenting adults. Also how would divorce be? Maybe the marriage license could just list all participants?
Any arrangement can have its problems. You stated some of them. However, not legally allowing it does not agree with the equality under the law.
If you do not agree it should be legal, then you are been selective as who to try equally. What do you think.
What do you mean by messy?
If a man and two women agree with the arrangement, all work, and all have an arrangement to support two households, heck, one house with separate bedrooms, why would you say no to them?
If all are adults, why is that not consenting adults?
Divorce, if one of the wives decides to divorce the guy or him one of the wives, what is the problem? Just go to the courthouse and say which wife he wants to divorce or one of the wives say she wants a divorce.
Let me give you a more specific situation:
The guy goes to the courthouse to marry woman A. Woman A agrees for him to marry woman B. He goes to the courthouse and marries woman B. He is married to the women. The women are not married to each other.
Let us say woman A does not want to be married to the guy anymore. She simply goes to the courthouse and divorce him and fight for what she thinks she is entitled to. He is the only one responsible for any type of support, not woman B.
Again, the bottom line is that equality under the law is not applied as it is today, is it?
Any arrangement can have its problems. You stated some of them. However, not legally allowing it does not agree with the equality under the law.
If you do not agree it should be legal, then you are been selective as who to try equally. What do you think.
What do you mean by messy?
If a man and two women agree with the arrangement, all work, and all have an arrangement to support two households, heck, one house with separate bedrooms, why would you say no to them?
If all are adults, why is that not consenting adults?
Divorce, if one of the wives decides to divorce the guy or him one of the wives, what is the problem? Just go to the courthouse and say which wife he wants to divorce or one of the wives say she wants a divorce.
Let me give you a more specific situation:
The guy goes to the courthouse to marry woman A. Woman A agrees for him to marry woman B. He goes to the courthouse and marries woman B. He is married to the women. The women are not married to each other.
Let us say woman A does not want to be married to the guy anymore. She simply goes to the courthouse and divorce him and fight for what she thinks she is entitled to. He is the only one responsible for any type of support, not woman B.
Again, the bottom line is that equality under the law is not applied as it is today, is it?
I'm on the "marry anyone you want in whatever quantity you want" team. However, when a man marries a woman then another but they don't know about each other, I think that is wrong. If nothing else, it should be listed on one license but having two licenses should be illegal. It really constitutes fraud. My husband and I discussed a third person. I said either sex was acceptable but I preferred a male, he said only a female... we then agreed to none so as not to complicate the situation. As long as all parties are aware of the situation and consent, then it should be legal.
I mentioned divorce because with 3 people, what if only one woman wanted out of a 2 women and one man marriage. In my state it's 50/50... Does the woman who is leaving get 50% of the marital assets or 30%. It would be a mess and require new laws.
The other problem is if Woman B dies then what? Can Woman A say that she wanted to be cremated. IMO all parties should have the same rights. Woman A should be married to both Guy and Woman B and so forth.
I was reading the thread on refugees with more than one wife.
As I was reading it I starting thinking, should the US legalize polygamy?
If yes, why? If no, why?
We support equality in many areas in our society. Allowing it would mean to equal treatment under the law. Why ban something between consenting adults as to what type of family they want to raise?
1. We're not all mormons.
2. If you've been married, then you most likely already know that there are times when one wife is too many.
I was reading the thread on refugees with more than one wife.
As I was reading it I starting thinking, should the US legalize polygamy?
If yes, why?
If no, why?
We support equality in many areas in our society. Allowing it would mean to equal treatment under the law. Why ban something between consenting adults as to what type of family they want to raise?
If you are limiting the concept to marriage, then I would argue it is impossible to make it legal currently since both the creation of marriage laws, the aquisition and ownership of property during marriage, the implied parenting laws and the dissolution of marriage laws, are all based on two individuals. We could change these laws, but it will involve a massive amount of work to do so. I doubt there is very much support for it.
If you are not limiting the discussion to marriage, polyamory is already legal. Anyone can live with any other adult or adults. The history in Utah is broad with the state attempting to limit cohabitation by multiple adults, but unless the adults claim to be entitled to marital protections and hold themselves ot be married, its not illegal.
The law does not ban consenting adults from equal treatment. Any two adults who have the ability to consent can be married. The law precludes any person from being married to more than one other person. What is not equal about it. All are being treated the same? 10 women can all have kids with one man, they just can't all claim that man as an exemption on their taxes as only a spouse can claim an expemotion for another fit adult, and a person can only be claimed once. Likewise, only a spouse can inherit property, make lifecare decisions and such for a spouse, and it can only be a single person doing these things.
Shack up with as many people as you like. Have 10 adults and 30 kids all calling all the adults mom and dad. Its all fine, but only one pair can be called legal parents of a child, with the rights that go with it.
My wife has been talking about bring a 3rd into our live she is bisexual of course. When I first learned about polygamy to me it was just another way to say that one likes sex with different people. I read an ad a while back on one site where a couple was looking for someone to become their third. The husband's wife has no sex drive what so ever but wants her husband to be happy. They once had a third but something bad happened & so they were looking for another. I know this is a bit off topic but it's not about sex & while it's illegal to marry two people (not sure why) I think it should be the right of whoever wants this kind of life. Religion has nothing to do with either someone said we are not all Mormons must believe that you have to be one to live the lifestyle. I will say this BE SURE you want that life I have read a lot on it & there SO many things that can go wrong.
My has been talking about bring a 3rd into our live she is bisexual of course. When I first learned about polygamy to me it was just another way to say that one likes sex with different people. I read an ad a while back on one site where a couple was looking for someone to become their third. The husband's wife has no sex drive what so ever but wants her husband to be happy. They once had a third but something bad happened & so they were looking for another. I know this is a bit off topic but it's not about sex & while it's illegal to marry two people (not sure why) I think it should be the right of whoever wants this kind of life. Religion has nothing to do with either someone said we are not all Mormons must believe that you have to be one to live the lifestyle. I will say this BE SURE you want that life I have read a lot on it & there SO many things that can go wrong.
the reason it is illegal to marry more than one person is that the law allows a spouse certain powers over healthcare, property, and parenting. If there were more than one person claiming the ability to make these decisions, the law could not protect anyone. We can change the laws, but its clear why the law is what it is.
I think government should get out of the marriage business altogether.
It should change tax code to exclude marital status as one of the factors, only number and age of filing people, and/or dependents. Essentially, filing tax return for a family of N people should produce equal results as filing tax return for 1 as head of household, and the rest of earners - filing their individual taxes.
I think, same level of protections can be achieved by signing a prenuptial agreement. In fact, smart lawyers can work out most details and provide a template prenuptial for "catholic marriage (till death parts us without no divorce clause)", "modern christian marriage", "Mormon marriage", "Muslim marriage", "Sweden family marriage" etc... Those templates could be as detailed as current laws about those marriages, rights of different partners regarding different aspects during marriage, powers of attorney, medical visitations and representations, property rights, etc and how the contract could be breached and rights/duties of each partner after the marriage is over... The beauty of it is that each family have their contracts suited to their wishes and expectations of each other, and modify them over time if they mutually agree to it.
The family court judges would still be able to process divorces, but would have to take into account how parties adhere to their own contract (in the same fashion as any other civil case is heard), rather than one law fits all in this state, but it might be another law in another state.
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Should the US legalize polygamy?
