Why is polygamy wrong?

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Trident_H said:
Because then marriage is no longer a partnership between equals. It’s instead a collector’s paradise.
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Let’s face it, polygamy usually means polygyny, men with multiple wives. Polygyny is based on the idea that women are nothing more than livestock to be collected, much as you usually collected cows or sheep. This is a fundamentally unChristian idea in spite of one previous poster saying that it does not go against natural law.
 
AgnosticBoy said:
It depends on how it’s practiced. If all adults are consenting then the harm is minimized. But if only the husband makes the decision and women have no say then you get into the neglect and other abuses.

To be honest, I really don’t see where Jesus said it was wrong. Jesus spoke out against polyandry but not polygyny.
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Societies that do practice polygyny do not have a stellar record on women’s rights. I very much doubt if all the parties involved in a polygynous marriage are fully consenting. The women are probably more likely very, very young and were probably sold. Again the word livestock comes to mind.
 
Bradski said:
I didn’t realise that polygamy meant one man marrying many women. Is this a sexist thread?
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That’s an easy objection, dare I say fundamentalist, nit-picking of the literal meaning of the word “poly-gamy”.

In the real world, can you tell us how many examples of matriarchal polygamy there are?
 
Sarcelle said:
Societies that do practice polygyny do not have a stellar record on women’s rights. I very much doubt if all the parties involved in a polygynous marriage are fully consenting. The women are probably more likely very, very young and were probably sold. Again the word livestock comes to mind.
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That is because those societies are under patriarchal systems. If you look further, you’ll find that the treatment of women overall is horrible so that would impact not just polygamy but also monogamy. Just look at the treatment of women today in modern-day Middle East. When polygamy is practiced in a egalitarian and democratic society, such as the US, then it will take on such system just as monogamy has evolved to egalitarianism, etc.

Also, if polygamy is not against the Divine Law, as expressed in the Bible, then it is not against natural law. The two laws should not conflict. Although, I don’t put much stock into natural law because it relies on human nature and reason, two things that are very fallible.
 
AgnosticBoy said:
That is because those societies are under patriarchal systems. If you look further, you’ll find that the treatment of women overall is horrible so that would impact not just polygamy but also monogamy. Just look at the treatment of women today in modern-day Middle East.

Also, if polygamy is not against the Divine Law, as expressed in the Bible, then it is not against natural law. The two laws should not conflict. Although, I don’t put much stock into natural law because it relies on human nature and reason, something which is very fallible.
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You say natural law is fallible…:hmmm:
Human reason is definitely fallible.
However some things are written on the heart, or, let’s say they are commonly observable for any perceiving and thinking human being.

Have you ever observed that it takes precisely one man and one woman to create a unique child?
So then, for you as a unique human being, 'agnostic boy", one mother and one father came together, and now you exist as a human being.
Before, you were not.
Now, you are.

One man, one woman, procreate one unique human being. To exist, to live, to think, to discuss.

If my reason denied this reality, would you say that I am insane?
Irregardless of the fallibility of my reason, nature is in place and can be seen by anyone.
 
clem456 said:
That’s an easy objection, dare I say fundamentalist, nit-picking of the literal meaning of the word “poly-gamy”.

In the real world, can you tell us how many examples of matriarchal polygamy there are?
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One woman and multiple men creates an interesting problem for the offspring - inability to know their father’s identity (absent a DNA test)!
 
AgnosticBoy said:
That is because those societies are under patriarchal systems. If you look further, you’ll find that the treatment of women overall is horrible so that would impact not just polygamy but also monogamy. Just look at the treatment of women today in modern-day Middle East. When polygamy is practiced in a egalitarian and democratic society, such as the US, then it will take on such system just as monogamy has evolved to egalitarianism, etc.

Also, if polygamy is not against the Divine Law, as expressed in the Bible, then it is not against natural law. The two laws should not conflict. Although, I don’t put much stock into natural law because it relies on human nature and reason, two things that are very fallible.
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Polygamy as practiced in the US also is also not a shining example of egalitarianism. The FLDS comes to mind.
 
pete_29 said:
What man in his right mind would have more than one woman telling him he is wrong?
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Chances are the man is much older and more powerful than the women he is married to. He probably bought his “wives” very young. You can still buy people in other countries. They wouldn’t dare tell him he is wrong. Men who often desire polygamy desire power over others.
 
pete_29 said:
As I feared, no sense of humor among this crowd.
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Well, I get it, but good humor must have an element of truth in it, and the element of truth you propose is not exactly flattering to women.
It’s not true in my house. We have a partnership, we are both wrong a lot.
 
Sarcelle said:
Polygamy as practiced in the US also is also not a shining example of egalitarianism. The FLDS comes to mind.
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Thats brcause the FLDs are patriarchal, treat their women as property, and marry off underage girls so this is not the American system that I’m referring to. I’m talking about a polygamy where there is consent not just with the husband but with all the wives and examples of that would include family is like Kody Brown and other relationship forms like polyamory.

Also keep in mind that polygamy is illegal so it has not been given a fair chance to evolve under current laws and norms. When you suppress polygamy in that way of course is going to fall into being practice Underground, and in secret which are two negatives by themselves
 
AgnosticBoy said:
Thats brcause the FLDs are patriarchal, treat their women as property, and marry off underage girls so this is not the American system that I’m referring to. I’m talking about a polygamy where there is consent not just with the husband but with all the wives and examples of that would include family is like Kody Brown and other relationship forms like polyamory.

Also keep in mind that polygamy is illegal so it has not been given a fair chance to evolve under current laws and norms. When you suppress polygamy in that way of course is going to fall into being practice Underground, and in secret which are two negatives by themselves
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AgnosticBoy said:
That is because those societies are under patriarchal systems. If you look further, you’ll find that the treatment of women overall is horrible so that would impact not just polygamy but also monogamy. Just look at the treatment of women today in modern-day Middle East. When polygamy is practiced in a egalitarian and democratic society, such as the US, then it will take on such system just as monogamy has evolved to egalitarianism, etc.

Also, if polygamy is not against the Divine Law, as expressed in the Bible, then it is not against natural law. The two laws should not conflict. Although, I don’t put much stock into natural law because it relies on human nature and reason, two things that are very fallible.
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How do you discard natural law so easily? Polygamy is definitely against the Divine Law, in Christianity anyway.
If not Divine Law, and not natural law, whose law, which law, do you use to make sound judgments here?

You say natural law is fallible…
Human reason is definitely fallible.
However some things are written on the heart, or, let’s say they are commonly observable for any perceiving and thinking human being.

Have you ever observed that it takes precisely one man and one woman to create a unique child?
So then, for you as a unique human being, 'agnostic boy", one mother and one father came together, and now you exist as a human being.
Before, you were not.
Now, you are.

One man, one woman, procreate one unique human being. To exist, to live, to think, to discuss.

If my reason denied this reality, would you say that I am insane?
Irregardless of the fallibility of my reason, nature is in place and can be seen by anyone.
 
clem456 said:
Well, I get it, but good humor must have an element of truth in it, and the element of truth you propose is not exactly flattering to women.
It’s not true in my house. We have a partnership, we are both wrong a lot.
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Lighten up Francis!
 
In addition to the theological and moral reasons:

Such would produce too many “to do lists” for the husband.
 
I am going to comment, but I have not read the whole thread. I apologize for that.

Most importantly, polygamy undermines the equal dignity of man and woman before God. Man and woman were created as a pair and united in monogamous marriage. They truly become one flesh. Polygamy is nothing more than a concession to an imperfect humanity, but it is not God’s design for us nor is it reflective of the Christian standard for marriage to which God calls us.
 
Wesrock said:
I am going to comment, but I have not read the whole thread. I apologize for that.

Most importantly, polygamy undermines the equal dignity of man and woman before God. Man and woman were created as a pair and united in monogamous marriage. They truly become one flesh. Polygamy is nothing more than a concession to an imperfect humanity, but it is not God’s design for us nor is it reflective of the Christian standard for marriage to which God calls us.
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Clearly revealed in natural law.
(cue all the odd and fleeting exceptions and the attempt to make them somehow normative)…
 
All human beings who get married have the right and privilege to have an exclusive relationship with a single person of the opposite sex, for the purpose of unitive conjugal love and procreation.

Making people “share” what should be exclusive destroys unitive love. It also says, “You aren’t enough of a person to satisfy me.”

Naturally this creates jealousy and anger in the home, as well as rivalry among the parents of half-siblings. It also prevents other people from marrying, by giving one person more,than his or her fair share of spouses.

Most polygamous societies agree that true happiness is found in a marriage consisting of one man and one woman, but the prosperous are pressured to take additional spouses as a status symbol, as an alliance with other high status families, or to ensure heirs.

It is a vicious cycle.
 
Wesrock said:
Polygamy is nothing more than a concession to an imperfect humanity, but it is not God’s design for us nor is it reflective of the Christian standard for marriage to which God calls us.
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What I can’t understand is why God never said anything that we know of to Abraham indicating his disapproval that he had two wives, Sarah and Hagar. Why didn’t He tell Abraham that this kind of marriage arrangement was not part of his design for us?

Genesis 18:1-4:
1 The Lord appeared to Abraham by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat at the entrance of his tent in the heat of the day. 2 He looked up and saw three men standing near him. When he saw them, he ran from the tent entrance to meet them, and bowed down to the ground. 3 He said, “My lord, if I find favor with you, do not pass by your servant. 4 Let a little water be brought, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree.
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Wouldn’t this meeting between God and Abraham have been a good opportunity for God to have said something?
 
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