Not denying that at all. In fact, even the polyandry tradition must be the one forced in by men.
Re: why is polygamy illegal?
says the guy who cannot read or make any logical sense in any thread.
Re: why is polygamy illegal?
In this post, you said that this will be your last post in this thread then you went onto post three more times. Just saying.
Re: why is polygamy illegal?
Agree with this. The state doesn’t care how many males or females you have a relationship with, one on one or all at once. It does care however where immigration law, tax laws, welfare etc. are concerned.
Someone previously mentioned how corporate law can get extremely complicated and if the gov’t can deal with that, surely we can regulate polygamous and polyandrous marriages. In theory, it sounds plausible. In reality, not really!
I have studied corporate law and it’s nowhere near as complicated as you make it sound. Yes, you can have potentially unlimited number of vertical or horizontal branches of parent-subsidiary or sister companies. In reality, though, no corporation would go too far simply because the cost of bookkeeping and managing such a complex structure would be enormous. You could have multiple small investors (~preferred shares), but most likely a small number of owners with voting rights (common shares) who control the decision making and decide the long-term direction of the company. So while in theory you can have 100 wives who can also have 100 husbands and the tree just keeps growing, in practice, that’s a messy scenario.
Someone (I think zafra) mentioned that if we take the financial aspect out of the picture, the state should then have no problem recognizing and giving legal status to all the spouses of one person. Well, first of all, immigration rules (and potentially estate planning) would still apply. Secondly, I think this is where religion comes in. Marriage is a sacred bond and with the exception of Islam (with its up to 4 wives at a time allowance under certain circumstances), most major religions worldwide agree that a marriage should be between one man and one woman at a given time. Should religion be a factor when laws are made, especially in today’s age? Perhaps not but it is still an influence. To completely disregard religion would be ridiculous.
Re: why is polygamy illegal?
Regarding your first point: State does have a problem with anyone “declaring” polygamy/polyandry even if they don’t file for tax or immigration benefits. State doesn’t limit itself to denying these benefits, but considers it a criminal act and punishable by jail term.
Second: TBH the second argument of law complexity is plainly pathetic argument. There can be plenty of solutions, most simple, dont provide any tax subsidy or immigration for more than 1 spouse.
Third: You have a point there, and I think the present laws are based upon christian values, however its not true that most major religions prohibit polygamy. As far as I know, Buddhism, Judaism in addition to Islam do not.
I am not arguing in favour of changing the law, but i think in its present form these laws are hypocritical. Either criminalise multiple partners as well or dont criminalise either.
Re: why is polygamy illegal?
Not really.
Texas man arrested for bigamy, had 2 wives 20 miles apart - NY Daily News
This man was not seeking taxation or social welfare benefits for 2 wives. A simple Google search would reveal several arrests and indictments on bigamy/polygamy charges. There is more to it than social welfare/taxation.
It is amazing how complex corporate structures with unlimited subsidiaries and associated companies are allowed even though “cost of bookkeeping and managing such a complex structure would be enormous…” Complexity doesn’t criminalize such organizations but human relations.
If corporate laws are really that simple as you make them to be, I wonder why corporate and corporate tax lawyers are paid millions of dollars by big companies every year.
I can immigrate with my 20 children but not two wives? That’s sad. Immigration complexities arose much AFTER polygamy was banned.
Religious regulations should be implemented on the followers of that religion only. Should I be arrested if I do something that is not allowed in a particular religion even though I am not a follower of a particular religion?
Anyways, bible does not specifically disallow having multiple wives. Polygamy was practiced among Jews during the time of Jesus but he never said anything against it.
The funny thing about above story is that the man would not have been arrested if he just cheated on his wife but was arrested when he married his mistress. This, to me, just doesn’t make any sense.
Secondly, the wife says “You need to try to know the person you marry,” Williams said. “Try to be with him more than just a year and then marry him.” So, if polygamy/bigamy is about religion, why is she promoting living in sin for more than ‘just a year’ before you enter into what you called “Sacred bond”?
I have yet to find another example of a human activity that is criminalized because of legal and taxation complexities. Please help.
Re: why is polygamy illegal?
that dude was arrested because he had told each wife they are the only wife he has, and kept each other a secret - pissed off wife took him to court when she found out the nature of the cheat. 
i’m sure no one’s pushing for secret polygamy of that sort.
Re: why is polygamy illegal?
Spousicles - word of the week
Re: why is polygamy illegal?
Omg. I don’t understand the arguments in this thread. Can’t speak for other countries but based on the little US history I can recall, remember that the Mormon sect practiced polygamy early on in it’s formation. Mainstream Christians poo poo’d this because the Church by history from European period even before the settling of the Americas, had encouraged the abandonment of this practice in Europe.
Laws in the US early on have a Christian basis. Muslims are nowhere near any sensible legal representation in the US to lobby their ideas. With terrorism being associated with Islam, forget polygamy, even your Islamic nikkah and inheritance laws don’t hold up here.
Re: why is polygamy illegal?
^ That makes much more sense than taxation/social security complexities resulting in criminalizing polygamy.
Re: why is polygamy illegal?
Now why Rome went against Polygamy I can’t recall. The ottoman empire over east was practicing it openly at the time. Christians - early christians - did believe in polygamy and they practiced it. I’m talking about Christians in the Middle East before there was even such a thing as a Pope. I remember there were some political reasons for this back in the day, when I studied European History, but my memory on this is foggy. I mean, in their Bible, there are biblical stories of men with 1+ wife, like Abraham, although their discreditation of Hagira (Hagar) may have something to do with why they turn their nose up at Polygamy. I think later on the Church didn’t really recognize her as a true wife, it would have meant they would have had to give Muslims some credence.
Re: why is polygamy illegal?
It’s actually interesting to read what Christian preachers have to say about polygamy in the Bible and Old Testament. Seems like polygamy was a practice amongst jewish people and the Roman Church (after the Roman empire accepted Christiantiy eventually) didn’t know how to deal with their Jewish minority populations, and thus it became a “We don’t do the kinds of things those Jewish people do” culture. But its certainly in the New and Old Testament.
The Quran actually clearly settles the question. You’re allowed up to 4, which was a new limitation, reflecting the fact that society was becoming less and less barbaric, less wars, less disease, more respect for women, a new set of rules in the Quran that gave women rights they never had before, etc, making polygamy less of an option for a woman, since she was now clearly given religious rights to be independent financially and intellectually of men. Quran says you can have up to 4 BUT THAT ONE IS PREFERABLE.
So there just seems to be a continuum where Allah says, um, yeah, let’s move away from this practice if we can and give women their rights so they’re not forced to choose between polygamy vs. slavery/prostitution/starvation.
Roman catholic church was never into it. Henry the 8th got around it by marrying then divorcing or killing off his wives, to marry another. The right of divorce came into being around his time, cuz he wanted to do it himself. And after that the concept of being able to leave your husband became an actual option for women, slowly over time, to what it is now. Marry a guy, and if he doesn’t last the initial 3 months as a viable person to live with , chuck him out like yesterday’s garbage. :k:
American law is simply built on old protestant ideas. Prostestants adopted the anti-polygamy ideas from the Roman Church. It just wasn’t an in-thing in Europe. In parts of Eastern Europe and across the mediterranean , yes, but the Europeans thought it was a backwards practice, so never brought into the US.
So the USA only is now dealing with this in the terms of muslim men who want to carry on a tradition, or opt for the practice for whatever reason. And really weird southern Texan men.
Re: why is polygamy illegal?
bolded is true for homosexuality, instead.
so there should be some law against homosexuality as well?