After reading all the negative effects of polygamy people wonder why polygamy still exists and the answer is simple, fear. Fear holds polygamy together like glue. In the article, “Polygamy Is Harmful to Children’s Development” by Pete Vere, Rene insinuates how leaving a polygamist lifestyle instills fear in teenagers, “Most believe they’re condemned to hell. Many will end up alcoholics, drug addicts, strippers, prostitutes, and prisoners” (qtd. in 1). For this reason, teenagers are too scared to leave polygamy, they do not want to be condemned to hell, or end up unsuccessful, which is exactly what polygamist leaders tell them will happen. Hearing these things everyday destroys both girls and boys self-worth. Consequently they belittle themselves and do not strive to become someone great. In the article “Secrets of Polygamy Revealed” Irene Spencer claims that, people are brainwashed into thinking polygamy is a must, she says, “From a fourth generation polygamous family, it had been drilled into the young girl that plural marriage was required to enter heaven” (1). For some people, grasping the concept of polygamy may be difficult, but for the people who have grown up …show more content…
Leaving polygamy is like trying to leave a gang, “Wives are threatened with mental institutions if they fail to ‘keep sweet’ or obedient for their husbands” (Chon and Kelly 1). One of the things that makes America great is freedom, allowing polygamy America is taking away this freedom, because people do not choose it they are forced into it. They are forced into it and unable to do anything about it because they are fearful of what may happen if they do. Polygamist households run on fear, “He ruled his house with fear. I remember how deathly afraid I was whenever he came home from work” (Mackert 1). When people are fearful towards someone they do not question anything they say. Instead they just do as they are
So what exactly is the justification and reason for polygamy? Mormons believed that when a couple or family is sealed in the temple of the Lord by one holding God’s priesthood keys of sealing, that the bond is not "until death do us part," but rather for all eternity. If this is true, then when a man is widowed and he marries a second wife, he then has two wives. The Mormons believe that if a man can have multiple wives in heaven, then the same should be true on Earth. "According to the Lord’s law of marriage, it is lawful that a man have only one wife at a time unless by revelation the Lord commands plurality of wives in the new and everlasting covenant" (McConkie5770). If a woman who is sealed in the temple is widowed, she not allowed to be resealed: only a man is allowed a plurality of spouses.
I find the statement people are silent out of fear to be true. I try to avoided conversations that could offend someone or could be misinterpret. It reminds of a conversation with a friend one time. We were watching the movie “Lion King” when he jokingly compared me to the laughing Hyena. I jokingly compared him to voodoo witchdoctor which happens to be a monkey. To my surprise, he asked, “Did you pick the monkey because I was Black?” I was so embarrassed and ashamed when I hurt his feelings, I never thought of it as a racial comparison. Although we laughed it off, it still bothered me that I hurt his feelings.
The article Breaking the Cycle Mother, Daughter Find It Can Be Difficult to Leave Polygamy behind Polygamy: It 's Tough to Break the Cycle by Joan O 'Brien is about a mother’s experience leaving a polygamous marriage. This mother, Betsy Barlow of Salt Lake City also inspired her daughter, Ellen to do the same thing. It is explained that Mrs. Barlow felt that being a part of a polygamous marriage was defeating for women and herself. O’Brien states, “Barlow believes that in practice, polygamy ``suppresses ' ' women”. Most women would drop out of High school to raise children for the one husband and Mrs. Barlow was taught that this was the only way to reach the celestial kingdom. Her parents taught her this and she openly admits to teaching her
Sex at Dawn, written by Christopher Ryan and Cacilda Jethȧ, is a non-fiction writing about the evolution of relationships from polygamy to monogamy. According to the authors, polygamy is leading to divorces, and a change in behaviors of males and females, both humans and primates. Different cultures see that one should have intercourse with multiple men before marriage and others do not believe in such customs. Some cultures commit infanticide when a bodacious female is born in the family because the family prefers to have a male around, as males bring home the necessities to survive, while females generally do not. Another topic in the writing is the change from living in a community to living in a nuclear family. Finally, in some norms it is common for children to be unaware of who his or her parents are and to have multiple family members or strangers take care of the children. There are many customs in the world that some see as strange, but it is normal for the people who grew up around these particular traditions. While reading this book, some of my views have changed on some topics.
In Western culture, there have been attempts to establish polygamist groups, primarily based upon differing religious viewpoints; however, most of these have not been able to withstand the pressure applied by the religious and cultural majority. If one wants to live and prosper in a given society, it is not advantageous to swim too hard against the current.
...ly has happen to monogamy in America? Is it dead, dying, or alive and well? Based on the facts of the time, overall, monogamy is dying in the American society. As best stated by Rosie Wilby “monogamy is not dead, but it's on a life-support machine” (Wilby). Non-monogamous practices are more present in today society than ever before in American history. The rise of such practices is for a variety of reasons such as, but not limited to the, change in the way the media and how society views this topic. It is however, time to get back to the core values of monogamy in America. We need to revert back to the ways of the past. A past where individual had only one partner at one time. For the greater good of society we need to get back to living as couples and raising our children together as if we were birds. Non-monogamous practices have no place in my views of America.
In view of these facts, it is clear that divorce and polygamy both belong to the category of situations that deviate from the ideal marriage. With that in mind, Christians should not be quick to judge polygamy, especially while ignoring divorce. Evidently, it takes more courage, consumes more energy, and involves more responsibility to be in a polygamous relationship than to divorce and remarry.
Fletcher-Stack, Peggy. “Polygamy: Not as Rare as You May Think.” Beliefnet. Beliefnet, Inc., 2011. Web. 19 Dec. 2011. .
Beall, L. (2005). The Impact of Modern-Day Polygamy on Women and Children. Journal of International Cultic Studies, 2 (1), 2-8.
Polygamy is considered illegal in the United States, which would make it a deviant practice. That fact is on the bottom burner for me when considering this situation. Forcing someone to theoretically spend the rest of their life with someone not of their choosing is definitely out of the norm in my opinion. On to...
In today’s world many people have had different views and ideas on what polygamy really is, is it morally wrong? In this paper you are going to learn what polygamy is, who practices it, the affects that it has on children, wives and the husbands, risk factors, and most importantly why it is morally wrong.
The Western Religious leaders and moralists believe only one spouse for life is the highest form of marriage. Some of the most "primitive" peoples are strictly monogamous in their ideals, while some "highly advanced" cultures have moved away from the stri...
Many people would happily accept an opportunity to have their daily stress reduced by employing help with not only their children but also with daily household responsibilities of cooking and cleaning. Especially in this fragile economic state the average family living in America cannot afford the luxury of hiring a house cleaner, cook or nanny. However, there are polygamists families in America have the abilities of multiple adults contributing to the same household because of the lifestyle choice of having multiple spouses. The extra help comes at a price for woman, by having to share her husband with other woman and raising her children in the difficult and uncommon lifestyle. Polygamy takes a total acceptance and understanding of it by the mothers, in order for polygamy not to have a negative psychological impact on her children. Children are the innocent victims of polygamy; consequently, they grow up witnessing a tense environment filled with their mother’s insecurities and rivalries with the other wives, which sequentially end up harming the child in the end. Furthermore, polygamy can be psychologically damaging to children because of the increased rates of not only welfare fraud, domestic violence, and underage marriages but also child abuse and neglect.
In today’s society the assumption asserts that there must be only two adults integrated in a relationship, however in polygamous environments, having more than one spouse is traditional. Some may argue that Polygamy is simply just an alternate lifestyle. This, however, ceases to be true. Young girls are being forced to marry older men and sometimes relatives. Little boys are often abandoned because it appears to be competition for older men. Children are victims of sexual and physical abuse. Whereas, for women, they generally become stripped of their money and experience competition against the multiple wives a husband. Although Polygamy is viewed as immoral by society, the main focus point should be saving young children and women because
B. Relevance: For those of you who don’t know, polygamy is the practice of having more than one wife or husband at a time. Although it is illegal in all 50 states, many still practice polygamy in secrecy effecting many lives. I would say a reasonable amount of us may plan on getting married in the future. Some