Federal Judge; Utah’s Polygamy Ban - Unconstitutional

[Garland-Green]

Federal Judge Strikes Down Part of Utah’s Polygamy Ban as Unconstitutional  

[Garland-Green]

I read a news-reporter somewhere (I forget where), say that we as Christians should be happy about this, because it is in our interest that there is religious freedom. What are your thoughts about this? Is there a line unseen somewhere
that we should not cross? Is it Biblical? Should freedom come before Biblical principles? Is it really unconstitutional?  

[Rednal]

Morally speaking, I find it difficult to demand freedom for myself without offering freedom to others. The choice to do good only matters if the choice to not do good is also available - and that isn't even relevant in this case, really, because to the best of my research and studies, polygamy is Biblically acceptable.


Freedom should indeed come before Biblical principles - not because the principles are wrong, but because forcing others to follow them is. ^^  

[Garland-Green]

Rednal

Morally speaking, I find it difficult to demand freedom for myself without offering freedom to others. The choice to do good only matters if the choice to not do good is also available - and that isn't even relevant in this case, really, because to the best of my research and studies, polygamy is Biblically acceptable.


Freedom should indeed come before Biblical principles - not because the principles are wrong, but because forcing others to follow them is. ^^

I believe we see gradually through the Bible a movement toward monogamy, and away from polygamy. God was working with Israel to bring it back to his principles which we can see in the garden of Eden, One woman, and one man. God certainly could have made two or more wives for Adam, this would have endorse the idea of polygamy, but he made only one. It seems that God permitted (but did not endorse) it in the Old Testament, just like he permitted, but attempted to discourage (Matthew 19:8.) divorce.

Deut. 17:14-17: “I will set a king over me like all the nations that are around me,' “you shall surely set a king over you whom the LORD your God chooses; one from among your brethren you shall set as king over you; you may not set a foreigner over you, who is not your brother. But he shall not multiply horses for himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt to multiply horses, for the LORD has said to you, 'You shall not return that way again.' “Neither shall he multiply wives for himself, lest his heart turn away;

I would argue that polygamy is adultery. Jesus said if you look upon another woman with desire (married or not) it is adultery, a sin.

Paul insisted that a leader in the church should be “the husband of one wife,” a deacon or elder must have one wife... Titus 1:6.

The New Testament teaches that, “Each man [should] have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband” (1 Cor. 7:2). Monogamous marriage teaches us the type of the relation Christ has between himself and His bride, the church (Eph. 5:31-32). The church is called the bride, collectively as one (singular) each person is not a bride, as in plurality of wives and marriages.  

[Garland-Green]

Rednal

Morally speaking, I find it difficult to demand freedom for myself without offering freedom to others. The choice to do good only matters if the choice to not do good is also available - and that isn't even relevant in this case, really, because to the best of my research and studies, polygamy is Biblically acceptable.


Freedom should indeed come before Biblical principles - not because the principles are wrong, but because forcing others to follow them is. ^^

How is your stance when it comes to legislating morality to contain/restrict evil? Is it really freedom, to allow people to do evil, or does it eventually lead to less freedom for everyone? Freedom isn't really freedom, if it inspires us to do what is damaging to us i.e something that we will regret because of its consequences. I doubt anyone who took an overdose for example given the chance to speak after death would say they are sad that they died that way, but are glad they had the option to freely choose. It may be an extreme example, but sin is sin, and the consequence is the same.

Strictly aside from morality (if it is possible to argue societal good aside from morality?) we could argue that polygamy is damaging for society, and the individual, and that as a society we have to guard ourselves against it.

Is Polygamy Really So Awful?  

[Rednal]

It's very easy to assume that something is bad, or would be a problem, if it's different from what you're used to and you've grown up hearing that it's against your faith.

For example, starting in Proverbs 5:1, we have a section on "Warnings against Adultery", and it's soon followed up in 7:1 with "Warnings against the Adulteress"... as written by the man who had about a thousand wives and concubines total. Sure, Solomon wasn't perfect, but the same can be said of every human - and he was a heck of a lot wiser than most.

Deuteronomy 21:15 is also interesting, because it provides regulation for what a man with two wives should do in terms of giving inheritance - there's no specific prohibition of polygamy that I've ever been able to find, but there is a degree of Biblical regulation and instruction. Legally speaking, anything that's regulated is typically accepted as long as it follows the regulations - that's the whole point to regulation. You don't say "You may only kill a man by plunging a knife of at least twelve inches into his heart" if you really want to say "don't murder at all". That would be silly. ^^ And there are also a few verses on taking your brother's wife as your own if they die, with no stipulation like "unless you're married yourself" to stop polygamy. Numbers 15:32 gives us the classic story of a man who was killed for picking up sticks (in violation of the Lord's law), and from this we understand that the Lord was very serious about His laws being followed to a very strict degree.

Based on all of the actual Biblical evidence I can find, logic and reason compel me to accept polygamy. In terms of damage to society, I'm much more worried about those who seek to promote their own agenda and say that "everything must be in line with what I want".

Legislating morality is a bad plan. For one thing, people can easily break the law if they want to - it may be that the law crosses over with morality (most people have a vested interest in not being murdered), but the choice to do good only matters as long as other options exist. It also tends to come at the price of other people feeling oppressed by our faith instead of welcomed by it. Christians may be quite willing to accept legislation that follows Christian morals, but we're called to go out and spread the Gospel, too. Things that turn societies against Christ are counter-productive to our actual goals.

Besides, I don't really trust any moral-based legislation to not be modified by lawmakers and judges until it barely resembles its original form. Setting aside the idea of whether it should be done at all, I have significant doubts as to whether or not it would even work over a long period of time...