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By Lily

** NB: Despite an appallingly long hiatus (which was entirely my own fault), Andrew has kindly let me resume my occasional guest posts on Owens Rhetoric. Thanks, APO! ~ A grateful Lily

Polygamy Trials

As all you OR news junkies have doubtless heard, yesterday a Utah jury convicted the leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints of two counts of being an accomplice to rape. The defendant, Warren Jeffs, has been leading his fringe Mormon sect along the same lines for many years, but it has taken a long time to actually prosecute him for anything. For those of you who are interested in further reading on this topic, I?d encourage you to check out Under the Banner of Heaven by Jon Krakauer. This non-fiction page turner includes a detailed discussion of Jeffs, his life story, and his belief system, and puts him in the context of the larger fundamentalist LDS movement.

I?ve had some interesting discussions recently about polygamy. Especially fascinating to me are the parallels between discussions over polygamy and same-sex marriage. The two topics share several common nexuses,* including questions over the impact they have (or don?t have) on heterosexual marriage/family structure and the potential abuses inherent in these practices when minors are involved.

Here?s one question I haven?t figured out yet: speaking in the context of consensual adult relationships only, is there any internally consistent way to reject polygamy and condone same-sex marriage? I ask because several states now allow same-sex marriage or civil unions, and some polls show Americans are growing increasingly tolerant of it. But I don?t know of too many polls stating that Americans are growing increasingly tolerant of polygamy / polygyny / polyandry, and certainly no state has even come close to allowing them. This seems contradictory to me. If the objections to same-sex marriage bans are all about the government respecting individuals? dignity and privacy by staying out of private relationships between consenting adults, then why isn?t there a mainstream national debate about multiple marriage rights? The Anglican Communion, for example, sure isn?t being torn apart by disagreements over polygamous clergy.

Seems to me that we should either condone both multiple marriage and homosexual marriage, or reject both. I can't figure out any way that I can honestly support the latter without also supporting the former. What?s the difference?

*Nexuses? Nexes? Nexi? Ack!

Full post as published by Owen's Rhetoric on September 26, 2007 (boomark / email).