| Let's Bring Back Polygamy 08-21-04 mpg To the Editor: To celebrate “Gay Pride Day” in San Francisco I’ve sent the following for your consideration. --- LETS BRING BACK POLYGAMY --- In light of recent events in San Francisco I think it has come to everyone's attention that the restrictive and moribund institution of marriage is coming to an end as we know it. We owe a never-ending debt of gratitude to the "gay" community for expanding this institution to include ever more life style choices. This long historical process first started when the Catholic Church instituted a policy of priestly celibacy. Since this policy did not allow the priests to practice what they preached, the lifetime loving union of a man and a woman for the purposes of raising a family, the church inevitably began to attract people who did not share these restrictive views of what the marriage relationship should be. As a result the church hierarchy, according to most recent statistics, is no longer composed of, nor does it represent, its parishioners. It is not an accident that the Supreme Court recognized this change by recently striking down the sodomy laws nationwide and ON THE SAME DAY, also allowed the relationships between priests and young adults to go on without sanction. (As long as you wait for the statue of limitations to run out). It is not an accident that even the Catholic Church recognized that these changes were no big deal when they simply transferred priests from one parish to another without sanction, for 20 or 30 years after they had engaged in these alternate activities. Even after the ridiculous public brouhaha that occurred when these activities came to light the Church successfully confined its sanctions regarding "wayward priests" to just transfers within the Church. Again we owe a debt of gratitude for this liberating change that has taken place in the Catholic Church and all of society to many people including those in the "gay" community. Kudos to them, to one well-known homosexual photographer in particular for his outstanding achievements in photography reflecting this change. Such as his photo of the crucifix being urinated upon. A seminal work, which will no doubt be compared some day to the Mona Lisa or the Sistine Chapel. Marriage as an institution is still quite moribund and restrictive however. Despite the liberation of our societies religious institutions, there is much more work that needs to be done. Although many television shows such as "I married a millionaire" "ellimadate" "bachelorette" etc are successfully freeing this musty old institution from its rigid confines, no doubt again thanks to many homosexual writers, producers, directors, etc....we as a society still have a long, long, way to go. In this bold endeavor we should admire the homosexual community's bravery in going against historic norms in their quest to have same sex marriage. Keep in mind for over 10,000 years almost no society defined marriage as occurring between the same sexes. We in the U.S. will be taking a step that heretofore almost NO OTHER SOCIETY HAS EVER TAKEN. From the plains of East Africa to the darkest jungles of South America, to the Mountains of Tibet, to the South pacific islands. None of these other cowardly and timid societies have contemplated what we are about to attempt. What do they know?.... Nothing of course. A great example of this almost absolute historic ban would be the episode recently aired on PBS about the Greek city-state of Sparta. As detailed in the show, the Spartan society was one of compulsory homosexuality and pedophilia. All eligible young boys were required to join the rigorous Spartan military camps where they were introduced by older males to the arts of sex. According to the announcer the Spartans believed this would contribute to the Spartan soldier’s "love for each other", group cohesiveness and an esprit-de-corp. It turns out that when these boys would become men and have to marry, according to the announcer, "they would be so sexually confused that their bride to be would be given a crew cut, dressed in a military uniform, and placed in a darkened room so the marriage could be consummated." Sounds like a religious institution that has just been discussed. It is of course possible that some in the homosexual community would like to introduce this wonderful and beneficial system to our own military and society, another example of the homosexual community's forward thinking. But I digress, the point is that even Sparta,..... EVEN Sparta, always defined marriage as the union between a man and a woman, for the purposes of inheritance and producing children for the society. Again kudos to the homosexual community for trying to out do even the Spartans. BUT WHY STOP THERE ? Although same sex marriages were practically unheard of throughout all of human history, Polygamy is a venerable and well-established institution with a long successful track record. Polygamy has been practiced in the U.S. by the Mormons, and in some cases is still being practiced throughout the Middle East, Africa, and Asia, by diverse religions such as Islam and others. There is ABSOLUTELY NO REASON not to allow polygamy if the United States is going to allow same sex marriages. If two woman (or more) enter into a loving relationship with a man, the state, if it allows same sex marriages, has no legal, religious, ethical or moral arguments to prevent this union. As stated before same sex marriages are UNHEARD of in history, whereas polygamy has been around for thousands of years. Think of the benefits. For years conservatives have been railing against the number of poor unwed mothers in our society unable to raise their fatherless children. Why restrict these mother's options to just marrying each other, or getting another male to be the substitute father of their child? If wealthy males could be allowed to step forward not only could they achieve the benefits of unlimited sex with multiple partners that our society currently bestows upon them but also that of a loving legal union and the children that result from this union with multiple partners. Certainly the homosexual community could have no objection. That would just be hetro-bashing. BUT WHY STOP EVEN THERE? Obviously these benefits should not just be restricted to males. Many females in our society have been liberated and currently earn much more then their male contemporaries. If two men (or more) enter into a loving relationship with a female, how can the state POSSIBLY OBJECT to them getting married (polyandry) when it has allowed same sex marriages. Although I don't have the historical data, I believe that even polyandry has been more common through out history then same sex marriages. BUT WHY STOP EVEN AT THIS POINT? Again since it was the Gay community that has repeatedly pointed out, ad nauseam, that it's old style & hide bound thinking to get married solely for the benefit of producing children, it would logically follow that with contraception freely available why retain the restrictions against marrying your cousin, or for that matter your son, daughter, mother, father, etc. Why indeed restrict marriage to polyandry or polygamy? If three Gay men or woman, or for that matter two men and two woman, all wished to get married together the State, if it allows same sex marriages, has ABSOLUTELY NO MORAL OR LEGAL AUTHORITY WHATSOEVER to stop them and prevent their happy unions. Surely no one could object. It would be a violation of these brave souls civil rights and freedoms. And why restrict marriage to a "life long commitment"; this country certainly doesn't now with a 50% divorce rate. Although many in the homosexual community say that’s what they want, lets be serious, many, many others don't. We should all think outside the box. "Marriage" should be allowed in year-by-year, month-by-month, or perhaps given some of the proclivities of the homosexual community, day-by-day increments. Marriage should simply be considered as a contractual relationship between any set group of two or more persons for a given amount of time......... PERIOD. Again Kudos, congratulations and kisses to the entire gay community for this liberation, oh there may be some hetro-bashing homosexuals that say we'll never have polygamy or other arrangements in San Francisco, but lets be honest, if we don’t there are some other areas of the country that would certainly allow it. It's inevitable and we should all learn to live with it. Lets be quite candid, as the Spartan example proves, having sex with, or marrying, the same gender, has NOTHING to do with your genes, that's just a myth. It's a life style choice. One that can be taught to ALL the people of a society as it is currently by our media and other institutions and one that can even be foisted upon a society’s young adults. As is the case with most changes in a societies social culture it's the WEALTHIEST who set the trend and are pushing this agenda. Perhaps they were bored with only just having sexual liaisons with the same sex and they now want society to codify them If as an American you support same sex marriage, then you as an American, must recognize that being "Gay", "Hetro", or, where our society seems to be heading, having sex with all genders, ages etc. is perfectly acceptable. By recognizing same sex marriage you are also recognizing this choice. To be consistent and not hypocritical, you must be perfectly happy to have your son or daughter marry someone of the same sex. In some cases someone older, wealthier and more powerful then they are. Throughout history the poor or powerless have faced difficult choices. They have always had the hope of establishing a family, having a house, having children etc. We as a society are giving everyone more choices, which in some cases may lead to more happiness, but in many other cases, may lead to nightmares. This is what our society is embarking upon........ YOU MUST CHOOSE! Or perhaps, to keep things a little simpler as a society, instead of going down this road we could all just let marriage be between a man and a woman (or between men and woman) as it has been throughout history? It's just a thought. -- mpg |