Why is polygamy concidered wrong?

Question

David and Solomon were concidered among God's favorite people and they each had hundreds of wives.

considered-sorry about the spelling, but it doesn't answer the question.

Yoda, where does it say that?

What is big love?

I'm not Mormon, I'm referring to consenting adults.

It should also be allowed for women to have multiple husbands, or a gruop of adults to call themselves a family. I can't find in the Bible where God speaks out against it.

Icy U-- God definitely did speak out against the murder of Uriah, but not the subsequent marriage.

This is a great discussion. Polygamy is not for everybody, that is true. Not for people with low self esteem, certainly not for minors, and not for the unwilling.

Answer 1

Not sure. I practice polygamy and I know from experience that if you're going to practice it, you better be able to handle it. Many people want to be polyamorists because they get to have many lovers. But what they don't realize is that their many lovers also get to see other people, and some I've met cannot handle that.

Answer 2

Ok here's why:

Those who live in their own communities tend to find their additional spouses from within their own communities or networks of like communities. In many cases, this involves daughters of polygamous families entering into arranged marriages with much older men who already have a number of wives. In some cases, a man marries a woman who has children from a previous marriage, then marries the children.

Marriage age is often young and sometimes below the legal minimum. It is also not uncommon for fairly close relatives to marry, leading to inbreeding if not incest, though part of this comes from the difficulty of keeping track of the complex net of familial relations. As there will always be an excess of male children, a significant percentage of young men are compelled to leave their home towns, and sometimes wind up homeless.

Those who are geographically separated from other polygamists in their culture use other means to find additional spouses. Some polygamists use the Internet.

From what I've seen on tv there's a lot of rape and insest. I've seen shows on women trying to escape. The men control the society. It's a very sexist culture. The women have to work and support the kids while the men have all the power. The men run around and have sex....often raping their own daughters. There's a lot of battery and physical abuse. There's a complete lack of respect for women in those societies.
This what I personally have witnessed, so I don't want people bitching at me telling me I'm wrong. There's a lot of evidence to support this as well.

See:
Utah Attorney General's Office and Arizona Attorney General's Office. [http://attorneygeneral.utah.gov/polygamy/The_Primer.pdf The Primer, Helping Victims of Domestic Violence and Child Abuse in Polygamous Communities]. (pdf) Retrieved on May 31, 2006.

Answer 3

The real answer as to why it is "wrong" for Christians these days is because of those darn dirty Pagan Romans.

The Romans were generally monogamous. When they adopted Christianity, in the 4th century, Christians decided to adopt their social culture on the issue (as well as Christmas, Easter and other pagan traditions, but anyway).

Monogamy is not a Christian idea, it is a pagan Roman idea. As you stated, polygamy is a-okay in the bible. God never says one thing bad about it (but he does say bad things about 700 other things, so he must be fine with it).

Christians trot out Genesis and Adam and Eve and the "one flesh" idea, but this directly contradicts (surprise!) the bulk of the bible which says polygamy is fine.

Another reason is ironic. They can't support polygamy (even if it IS biblical) because then their arguments against gay marriage are hurt. This is ironic because they (incorrectly) claim gay marriage will lead to polygamy.

It would be funny if it weren't so sad.

Answer 4

I think it's control. Remember, some of the people who originally settled the Americas were the Pilgrims - the people so conservative, so religiously twisted, so freakish, that the British told them to get the f**k out!

Now, the Pilgrims wouldn't have wanted polygamy!

I don't have a real answer, except it's tradition that it's wrong. It may have been practiced in early times of the human race to help the population grow quicker. As with most all species, one male can fertilise *many* females.

Answer 5

I have read the answers. The ideas that polygamy being wrong is very correct. Here in Utah there are still pockets of people that live that way (It's illegal buy the way). I see young girls being used like cattle to satisfy the lusts of the men. They say it's done for religious reasons but forcing young women to live in a community where they are nothing more than property is evil. Since Joesph Smith was the one who began this mess he has to be a false prophet.

Answer 6

God said that polygamy was something He tolerated because of the hardness of their hearts. Forever, He has always desired woman and man to be monogamous. He created Adam and Eve, didn't He? He didn't create Adam and fifteen women. Polygamy is adultery. Our natural being tells us it is wrong. A man cannot truly love his wife if he is sharing his affections with other women. There is an exclusive bond that cannot exist in such a situation.

Answer 7

You should really read the New Testament of the Bible sometime like 1 Timothy 3 or Titus 1 - Its also illegal, and the Bible calls Christians to follow the laws of the land as well.

Answer 8

Yes, but that leaves fewer choices for poorer men, and keeps women from getting all the attention they deserve. While I agree that David and Solomon are proof that the "marriage has been one way for thousands of years and God said so" idea is wrong, I can see why society would move past that.

Answer 9

It's considered wrong, because people are afraid of sex. AND the government has outlawed it. Just don't get married. It was very acceptable in the social climate of that time, as it is acceptable to have open relationships now; dating 5, or 6 or any number of men and women. You can have an orgy, you just can't marry them. Back then it was all good, now, we're a little flakey. You can have *** sex with guys, and do numerous partners, but you can't have two spouses. Crazy? yes... we live in a scizophrenic society.

Answer 10

God does not consider it wrong. We consider it wrong.

It is difficult to have more than 1 wife and love them both equally without any conflicts. It would be equally difficult for a woman to accept there husband having another wife. In most cases, polygamy would not lead to a happy household. I would think it would be rare that a relationship like that could be successful.

Answer 11

Well, I think they had to have that many wives then to populate the world faster. Poor guys, can you imagine trying to keep 100 wives happy.....sexually too? I don't believe in having more than one wife these days though. It does say in the bible that man and woman become one when they wed. So, I just don't believe polygamy should be right.