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Polygamy, or the practice of having more than one spouse at a time, is a very controversial issue that provides many ethical, moral and practical questions that surround the idea and its implementation into society. The purpose of this essay is to describe the practice of polygamy and why this practice is unwise to participate in due to the many risks toward mental, physical and spiritual health.
This essay will first examine the issues surrounding polygamy and how it has arrived in our society. The pros and cons of this practice will also be examined to demonstrate how polygamy is ultimately destroying our culture and freedom. The effects polygamy has on financial matters, legal issues, health and disease issues and biblical issues will all be addressed in this essay to highlight the true purpose of this disturbing and unwelcomed practice.
Polygamy Basics
Polygamy, simply understood means to be married to more than one person at a time. Since the law is a governmental issue, so is polygamy in its essence and most practical understanding. Man's laws are important and polygamy certainly falls under this category, but there is also God's or nature's law that may be of more importance in understanding what is truly at stake for practicing polygamists.
Smith (2013) described a scenario where legalization of polygamy in America would be a risky and dangerous proposition. She wrote "I really...
We don't need to arrest them either (unless they're doing something like abusing minors), but legalization would be a complete disaster. Does anyone think we need increased confusion and uncertainty in today's already confusing marriage culture? " The answer to that question should incorporate the significant divorce rate, and mental health problems that are rampant in our culture.
While the government does not have a right to intervene in people's lives, there is certainly a civic duty to keep polygamy out of our culture. Rauch (2006) explained that it is in fact dangerous to allow these practices. He wrote "societies become inherently unstable when sex ratios reach something like 120 males to 100 females: in other words, when one-sixth of men are surplus goods on the marriage market. The United States as a whole would reach that ratio if, for example, 5% of men took two wives, 3% took three wives, and 2% took four wives -- numbers that are quite imaginable, if polygamy were legal for a while."
Polygamy is also dangerous due to the many health factors that are included when people share sexual partners. Sexually transmitted diseases are much more potent when introduced in a polygamous environment where body fluids exchange is more common and…
References
Barber, N. (2009). The wide world of polygamy: We hate it, others love it. Psychology Today, 19 Feb 2009. Retrieved from http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-human-beast/200902/the-wide-world-polygamy-we-hate-it-others-love-it
Rauch, J. (2006). One Man, Many Wives, Big Problems. Reason, 3 April 2006. Retrieved from http://reason.com/archives/2006/04/03/one-man-many-wives-big-problem
Smith, M. (2013). The Dangers of Legalizing Polygamy. Ricochet, 25 June 2013. Retrieved from http://ricochet.com/main-feed/The-Dangers-of-Legalizing-Polygamy
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