Plural Marriage (Maple Valley, Raymond: new home, school district, living)

[Caver Girl]

We live in Maple Valley! We'd personally welcome you here. We're definitely NOT quite in the same boat as you, but three adults live with us. My husband, my mom, and I live together with two kids. Some people think even that is weird! Maple Valley is conservative by Seattle standards, but not for the rest of the country! We've only had good encounters with folks. I think a lot of people are pretty religious, but more and more non-religious people are popping up (us included)! So far I LOVE it here. We moved last year from the Chicagoland area.

PS. My kids are 7 and 3, if you do find yourselves here one day maybe we can set up a playdate!

[socofam]

Originally Posted by Caver Girl

PS. My kids are 7 and 3, if you do find yourselves here one day maybe we can set up a playdate!

Thank you for the positive comments. I'm happy to hear you actually live in Maple Valley. That gives us a great perspective. We actually just returned home today from WA. We spent a lot of the day Sat and then again yesterday in Maple Valley checking out schools, neighborhoods, etc. Stopped by the farmers market at the Elementary school on Sat.

My kids are 10, 8 and 6. Which school does your 7 year old attend? They all seem to be highly ranked.

And it's interesting you lived in Chicago before moving there. I grew up in the Midwest as well, I'm a little concerned about the gloomy WA weather.

[socofam]

Originally Posted by TrueTimbers

"Wow. Holier-than-thou much?"

Back at ya..

---
OK... I guess I am a liberal redneck... I do find plural marriage odd. Maybe I just read too many National Geographic magazines or something... I don't know...

Heck Geese don't even have Plural mates... But many animals do... Chickens got one rooster to many hens.

So I suppose it is a "natural thing" here on good ole planet earth... So I accept it.

--
OP it would take me a while to get used to it, but after a short time, we would get used to it, and you would be like any other neighbor we judge by quality of character not what they do in the bedroom. (That ain't none of my business anyhow..)

And thank you to you also. :-). I can only say we aren't like something you'd read in a National Geographic. Lol

[RotseCherut]

Originally Posted by PS90

What?

I guess it's just the conservative redneck in me, but is that legal and/or acceptable? What am I missing here?

What are liberals going to okay with next - marrying your cat? Or your blow-up doll?

I wouldn't exactly call polygamous Mormon/LDS people all that liberal.. Marrying multiple wives is not exactly a common thing in the liberal parts of the country. Utah, one of the most conservative states in the country has quite a number of polygamous marriages. These families are probably as conservative as they come on many issues.

And, not to get religious or political here, but the LDS religion is not against polygamy and it is not considered wrong for a man to marry multiple wives. I, myself, am Jewish, and even in our religion it is not forbidden for a man to marry multiple wives. However, the practice of polygamy is rarely ever practiced by Jews today and not really encouraged, but it is not forbidden.


My point is, do not knock on a person just because they are in a polygamous relationship. There was actually a time in our history, where men use to go off to war and polygamy was the only way to maintain a healthy society, when a society's menfolk were lacking in number.

[Katzpur]

Originally Posted by RotseCherut

And, not to get religious or political here, but the LDS religion is not against polygamy and it is not considered wrong for a man to marry multiple wives.

That is absolutely false. As a matter of fact, there is no faster way to get excommunicated from the LDS Church (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) than to be found to be in a polygamous relationship.

[PS90]

Originally Posted by Seacove

I think gays would disagree with this strongly. I don't think gays choose to be gay. This is obviously a life style choice and whatever floats your boat but I don't think gays would want to be likened to a multi-partner relationship. I wouldn't have the heart to ask for fear of offending but my understanding is that is a perception they do not want.

I could not agree more. A "plural" relationship is not some kind of instinctual, ingrained, unavoidable way of life, so the comparison is apples to oranges.

Originally Posted by TrueTimbers

"Wow. Holier-than-thou much?"

Back at ya..

Okay, you got me there.

Originally Posted by Katzpur

That is absolutely false. As a matter of fact, there is no faster way to get excommunicated from the LDS Church (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) than to be found to be in a polygamous relationship.

Agreed. The conservative outlook of the current LDS church cannot be compared to any kind of liberal vs. conservative point of view of the late 19th century (when polygamy was accepted), so again this comparison is apples to oranges.

[Caver Girl]

Originally Posted by socofam

Thank you for the positive comments. I'm happy to hear you actually live in Maple Valley. That gives us a great perspective. We actually just returned home today from WA. We spent a lot of the day Sat and then again yesterday in Maple Valley checking out schools, neighborhoods, etc. Stopped by the farmers market at the Elementary school on Sat.

My kids are 10, 8 and 6. Which school does your 7 year old attend? They all seem to be highly ranked.

And it's interesting you lived in Chicago before moving there. I grew up in the Midwest as well, I'm a little concerned about the gloomy WA weather.

Awesome! Which state do you live in now?

She goes to Lake Wilderness Elementary.

Granted it's been dryer this summer and the last than what is "normal", even on rainy days it hasn't seemed gloomy to me. It's far too beautiful around here. Even the clouds can be so pretty sometimes! When people have asked me about dealing with the rain (and it really doesn't rain here more than other parts of the country, such as in the Chicago area) I say honestly it doesn't bother me. If it didn't rain as much as it did, it wouldn't be as green and lush as it is!!

[socofam]

Originally Posted by Caver Girl

Which state do you live in now?

We are in Colorado right now, so we are used to quite a bit of sun and snow.

Are you happy with the school there? Have you found people to be friendly and open to new people (setting aside any unusual circumstances like ours, lol)? One of the problems we have with where we are now is that we live in a pretty small town and people here just do not seem to be interested in "letting anyone new in", if you know what I mean. And they don't even know about our personal living situation. There's almost the mentality that if you didn't grow up in the area, they won't give you the time of day.

[Seacove]

Originally Posted by PS90

I could not agree more. A "plural" relationship is not some kind of instinctual, ingrained, unavoidable way of life, so the comparison is apples to oranges.

I really hesitated to respond to this because I have no experience here but I have two gay friends who are the classiest most honorable people you would ever want to meet. One's been in a relationship forever it seems, the other is mostly alone but both live pretty conservatively and something not important but often missed - both are very affluent.

[PS90]

Originally Posted by Seacove

I really hesitated to respond to this because I have no experience here but I have two gay friends who are the classiest most honorable people you would ever want to meet. One's been in a relationship forever it seems, the other is mostly alone but both live pretty conservatively and something not important but often missed - both are very affluent.

I apologize if my wording was poor. I was trying to say that being gay is a way of life (i.e. not a "choice"), but being in a "plural marriage" is simply an odd life-choice. As such, to equate the struggle of living a "plural marriage" lifestyle to the struggle of acceptance of being gay is insulting to gay people. So the comparison by the OP is apples to oranges.