I stumbled across an interesting article regarding polygamy in the US

http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/columnist/2004-10-03-turley_x.htm
http://www.biblicalpolygamy.com/

Polygamus relations in the US are not only on the rise (50,000 known cases to date in the US alone) but many started taking the matter to court fighting for the right of consent based multiple relationships.

Do you think we will see that in Australia?

Wow.. you are a cheeky possum arn't u :)

Ok.. I book your 9 yr old daughter to add to my 50 yr old wife.

On polygamy, forget anything 'doctrinal'.. there is no teaching about a man having only one wife in scripture EXCEPT in the new testament where leaders are called to have only one. There is good reason for this, and its usually found in the narrative sections of the Old testament where I fail to see even ONE harmonious or happy polygamous relationship.

They were without exception characterized by jealousy, enmity and strife. My namesake only had one :) "ruth".

You have Hagar and Sarah, Solomons multitudes of wives who led him after idols, Davids sons of different wives who created all kinds of intrigue and plotting for power.

Then there is the difficult issue of FAVORITES. Which while banned by the Quran, were totally embraced by the author of the Quran, i.e. Mohammed who loved the 'young one' most. (strange, I cannot for the life of me work out why....DUH!)

It must be so fulfilling for a 50 yrs old wife, to watch the man with whom she has spent a lifetime, doting over a 9 yr old kid, showering her with affection as though the older one did not exist anymore, apart from the 'obligatory' visit from time to time.

Polygamy is quite feasable even NOW... There is a Muslim in QLD who has 2 or 3 wives but only one is 'legal'. I think one is Leb or something but another is aussie. He reallllly didn't like Current Affair cameras peeking at his life and his manipulation of centrelink which is giving 'single parent' payment to the other wives .. NAUGHTY man...

So... if 'Scripture' (bible or Quran) cannot guarantee the best among humankind (Mohamed) follows it, then surely the wise course is not to flirth with trouble by having more than one wife.

I maintain that a man cannot possibly love equally 2 women. One WILL always feel neglected.

Hmmm u opened a can here didn't u :)

BD, thanks for a partly honest response to the issue.
I don't think that you are being particularly fair to the issue mixing child abuse and polygamy up though. We already have laws about guys your age and 9 year old kids. Should we ban adult heterosexual marriage because in some societies hetro's have married children? Much more reasonable to speculate about how the 50 year old hubbby will cope when his wife takes on a new 20 year old husband.

Polygamy within our society raises a lot of issues particularly when you consider the legal consequences (family/welfare payments, property settlements etc). Anybody entering into a polygamous arrangement faces a minefield if things don't go right.

My personal view is that consenting adults should be able to arrange their personal affairs without the involvement of the government or those who think they know best. Make their own choices and live with the consequences.

As long as they fit within the same town planning constraints as other people and don't get special legal benefits not shared by others then it's none of my business.

As to wether it will happen here. If so it would have to start with a build up of unofficial polygamous relationships until there were enough people in them and enough community acceptance of them for the government to realise that there was a some benefit in making it legal. Some way off yet I suspect.

R0bert

Could society accept female polygamy as easily as male polygamy?
With guaranteed financial income(working women), women actually need marriage less than men do because women always know who their children are.

Robert,

Good comment.
The issue with any new social trend is that it cascades lots of complications on legal, social, education and political system.

Boazy,

Stick to the topic my friend the polygamy mob in the US are your fellow mob and not Muslims. And its not about 'hidden' illegal one like your friend but 50,000 'in your face' cases who want to legalise it. The things Benny Hinn won't do for $$ :)

PS: the propaganda material you read should be for naive audience and you should not end up believing it. Its developed by good old 9th century missionaries like you.

Sharkin,

Interesting the article refers to polygamus societies for women in Asia and some parts of Africa. The thing is, in a secular world all relationships are consent based so technically its legal.

Fellow_Human, I doubt that BD has much sense of shared kinship with the mormons who are the main western "christian" sect where polygamy has some kind of acceptance. Likewise I'd be surprised if Benny Hinn gave any public support to the idea.

The points made in the article are good ones, child abuse should be dealt with as child abuse. Likewise the idea that serial unhappy marriage is legal but a group of people seemingly happily living together is not is somewhat strange.

Is there a generic word which covers all forms of group marriage, what about multiples of both genders?

R0bert