Why Not Polygamy?
First, a disclaimer. I voted on November 2nd in the state of Ohio. I abstained on the gay marriage amendment for a variety of reasons and, quite frankly, I do not care very much one way or the other about gay marriage.
Nonetheless, there is an aspect of this issue that I find quite illogical.
If gay marriage, then why not polygamy?
Are not the principal reasons given in opposition to gay marriage the same reasons that would be used to oppose legalized polygamy?
Marriage has been defined throughout the Western world as a union between one man and one woman. The requirement that the union involve people of opposite genders is only one of the defining criteria. The other is that the union involve a total of two and only two people.
Both criteria are supported by religious tradition, legal tradition and cultural tradition. In fact, polygamy has more religious support than gay marriage.
It seems that the reason why gay marriage has attracted such support while almost none exists for polygamy is that the gay (marriage) lobby is much more powerful than the polygamy lobby and the former has captured the very attentive ear of the Democratic Party.
Should civil liberties be determined by special interest pressure politics? I hope we can agree not. Thus, gay marriage advocates should explain in a logical manner why gay marriage should be made legal while polygamy should not ... or they had better start protesting on behalf polygamy as well ... or, at the very least, they should admit that they are hypocrites and not the human rights advocates that they are pretending to be.
Nonetheless, there is an aspect of this issue that I find quite illogical.
If gay marriage, then why not polygamy?
Are not the principal reasons given in opposition to gay marriage the same reasons that would be used to oppose legalized polygamy?
Marriage has been defined throughout the Western world as a union between one man and one woman. The requirement that the union involve people of opposite genders is only one of the defining criteria. The other is that the union involve a total of two and only two people.
Both criteria are supported by religious tradition, legal tradition and cultural tradition. In fact, polygamy has more religious support than gay marriage.
It seems that the reason why gay marriage has attracted such support while almost none exists for polygamy is that the gay (marriage) lobby is much more powerful than the polygamy lobby and the former has captured the very attentive ear of the Democratic Party.
Should civil liberties be determined by special interest pressure politics? I hope we can agree not. Thus, gay marriage advocates should explain in a logical manner why gay marriage should be made legal while polygamy should not ... or they had better start protesting on behalf polygamy as well ... or, at the very least, they should admit that they are hypocrites and not the human rights advocates that they are pretending to be.
posted by TandaPundit at 8.11.04
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home