Decriminalizing Polygamy

[RainbowsAndGumdrops]

So back to the polygamy topic. I think that if Polygamy becomes legal, you should be allowed to go on your honeymoon ALONE (meaning just the two of you). Afterall, it may be the last alone time you have with your man.

 

[Pepper]

I can't imagine a honeymoon with any of those creepy people.

 

[RainbowsAndGumdrops]

I can't imagine a honeymoon with any of those creepy people.

I wouldn't marry creepy people. See, I'd get 3 husbands. I'd keep my current hubby because he is a good hubby and the best dad. I'd then get an absolute hunk. Finally, I'd get a nice rich businessman. I'd take a 2 week trip to Hawaii with any of them...(or perhaps invite all 3 :innocent

:woohoo::woohoo::woohoo::woohoo:

 

[MCDRAW]

Yes, polygamy (and marriage of girls/boys under 18) is practiced in cultures all over the world - the difference is that in those countries it is both legal and socially/culturally accepted. That is NOT the case in the US. Here it remains ILLEGAL to have more than one wife/husband OR to MARRY or have SEX WITH A CHILD.

Frankly I could give a FLIP how many spiritual wives some weird yayhoo of a man has...so long as he is honest with ALL his "wives" about how many wives he has and they ALL are over 18 when he does the whole "celestial plural marriage" thing with them or they start a family. I don't believe a "spiritual wife" is entitled to ANY assistance either - she should be considered the same as a legal wife - so the "husband" has to be able to FULLY SUPPORT ALL of his WIVES AND CHILDREN himself. If they are going to embrace the idea of polygamy, then they should also have to embrace supporting their families - as in NO STATE OF FEDERAL MONEY or SERVICES - if they believe God intends them to have 7 wives and 60 children then surely "God will provide" the husband a job to support all of them.

If we want to STOP the cycle of abuse and child-brides I think the FLDS children should be required to attend an accredited public school or an accredited private school until they are 18 or graduate - NOT home schooling, but a school that maintains the STATE REQUIREMENTS for graduation. Right now, I can assure you the "home schooling" the children get IS NOT approved by the state and does NOT meet state educational requirements. The women "teaching" likely didn't graduate from HS themselves. Putting the children into a real educational environment, with certified teachers where religious training and chores CANNOT be a part of the curriculum, would prepare the children for ANY life they decide to live - within the FLDS or outside it. Nothing needs to change, - there can even be a dress code or a uniform that meets FLDS wardrobe requirements and Religious "training" and chores can continue - before and after school, on weekends and in the summer. THEN - If AFTER GRADUATING and turning 18 the children wish to be polygamous - well great, but they won't be doing it out of ignorance with no education or knowledge of the world outside the FLDS.

My Opinion

To require them to be educated in accredited schools and not home schooled....you would have to require everyone to be educated in accredited schools. Otherwise, it's discrimination.

 

[Trino]

FLDS pologamy is a lot like many men on the outside who have relationships with several different women, often at the same time and sometimes with underage girls. Many of these women/girls, like FLDS, end up collecting welfare. The real difference is that FLDS tries to make it appear legal, a religion, and an above board activity. Either way, it's the children who suffer. You just cannot legislate morality.

 

[FlowerChild]

To require them to be educated in accredited schools and not home schooled....you would have to require everyone to be educated in accredited schools. Otherwise, it's discrimination.

"Everyone" isn't in the custody of CPS and if CPS retains control over these children they can require a LOT of things. Like for the FLDS mothers to have NO CONTACT with the FLDS or it's members. And even HOME SCHOOLED children have certain requirements that must be met in their education - which I doubt include door knob washing or picking up trash. And I would think that requiring the children to get a HS Diploma or GED is discriminatory - it is all about what is "right" for the children and it's still a parent's responsibility to educate their child(ren). I don't think the state means thru the 8th grade either.

The FLDS parents may have to meet certain requirements to have their children returned to their custody - and education may be one of those. It doesn't matter what OTHER families do - their children haven't been removed by CPS.

My Opinion

 

[mollymalone]

From what I'm reading, in the CPS reunification lists, education is one of the conditions that will be required.

 

[yolorado]

From what I'm reading, in the CPS reunification lists, education is one of the conditions that will be required.

Thank you, God! It sounds like that's been totally lacking' for those poor kids. If these people are going to dump their unwanted 17 year-old boys on and on 'evile' society, leaving the kids to fend for themselves, the least they can do is leave them with a decent education leading toward a high school diploma.

 

[mollymalone]

Thank you, God! It sounds like that's been totally lacking' for those poor kids. If these people are going to dump their unwanted 17 year-old boys on and on 'evile' society, leaving the kids to fend for themselves, the least they can do is leave them with a decent education leading toward a high school diploma.

There's a drawback with all this though, so don't get your hopes up too high. The parents, once they have their children back could beat feet and disappear, thus making any court orders or CPS guidelines moot. I'm not a betting person but it's probably good odds that many or most will do so.

 

[KR2tonenow]

Doubtful they will get them back, and if the women do, it will be on a very tight rope to abide by all the laws that they have been breaking.

CPS takes children out of homes-that are considered "unsafe". Will these women be able to provide safety to these children, even though they have allowed abuse to be present at "the Ranch"?

 

[mykodiak]

CPS is proposing to give parents until next April to "provide a home free of persons who have or will abuse" children and "demonstrate the ability to protect the child[ren] from sexual abuse." The children will remain in state custody until a judge is satisfied that the parents have complied.

Sooo, IF I'm reading this correctly, the children might be kept in state custody until April 2009. I wonder if the parents will really stay around that long. :waitasec:
Oops...That was from the Dallas Morning News article.

 

[Vegas Bride]

IMO all the women who can, will be working on having new children asap, some may already be pregnant. They'll do what they can to hide their pregnancies and will deliver their "new crop" outside of Texas. They'll feel the children who were taken away have been tainted now by the outside and no longer sweet and clean so no longer worthy of being flds.

VB

 

[cheko1]

IMO all the women who can, will be working on having new children asap, some may already be pregnant. They'll do what they can to hide their pregnancies and will deliver their "new crop" outside of Texas. They'll feel the children who were taken away have been tainted now by the outside and no longer sweet and clean so no longer worthy of being flds.

VB

I totally agree with you Vegas Bride.....
The old geezers were probably told to take a extra viagra pill & impregnante any gal up to & including menopause.

 

[TGIRecovered]

IMO all the women who can, will be working on having new children asap, some may already be pregnant. They'll do what they can to hide their pregnancies and will deliver their "new crop" outside of Texas. They'll feel the children who were taken away have been tainted now by the outside and no longer sweet and clean so no longer worthy of being flds.

VB

I'm afraid you are correct. Any woman who truly wanted help to get out had that opportunity when the place was raided. The ones who chose to return to the compound have, in effect, condoned the abusive and un-godly practices of th FLDS. No way are those power-hungry, perverted men going to stop impregnating women just because the little girls are gone!

Susan

 

[yolorado]

IMO all the women who can, will be working on having new children asap, some may already be pregnant. They'll do what they can to hide their pregnancies and will deliver their "new crop" outside of Texas. They'll feel the children who were taken away have been tainted now by the outside and no longer sweet and clean so no longer worthy of being flds.

VB

You're almost certainly right. I think the operative phrase for Texas is "outside of Texas." To be sure, TX wouldn't have gone into the compound without a complaint. I really believe that. They wouldn't have had a reason to, but I think they might have been waiting for a reason. Once they had it, once they could go in, once they saw with their own eyes what they believed to be abuse, I think they intended to make a point. They wanted the FLDS to understand TEXAS RULES which are a little bit tougher, quicker and harder to undo than Utah and Arizona rules. If the FLDS wants to pick up and go back to Arizona and Utah (or Colorado, they're buying land here too-yikes) because they don't like the way Texas plays the game, well so be it. At least that's what I think Texas is thinking.

 

[southcitymom]

I would have no issue with legalizing polygamy.....

Neither would I. I don't even understand why it's against the law.

 

[mollymalone]

Neither would I. I don't even understand why it's against the law.

I belive the prevailing wisdom when it was outlawed, as well as today, is that it promotes the abuses against women and children that we are seeing reported. Back when it was originally outlawed, I think it was equated with a form of slavery.

 

[mysteriew]

Sociologically polygamy is a problem. Look at the math. X number of males are born, X number of females every year. From year to year, those numbers differ by a small amount sometimes more girls, sometimes more boys. Those kids grow up and get married. Now if 1/2 of the males marry multiple females that leaves 1/2 of the males without the opportunity to take a wife.

Now take that 2 or three generations, you have many many males running around with no wives- about 1/2 the male community. With a huge opportunity to become rebellious. Men have biological urges also. Urges that want attention from women, and now half the community are without women. How long before they start tempting the women? Before they start challenging the men? How long before they use force to satisfy their urges?

So yeah, sociologically it is a problem. And the FLDS realizes it. That is why they began the "lost boys" program. A way to decrease the male population.

 

[yolorado]

(by mysteriew)Now take that 2 or three generations, you have many many males running around with no wives- about 1/2 the male community. With a huge opportunity to become rebellious. Men have biological urges also. Urges that want attention from women, and now half the community are without women. How long before they start tempting the women? Before they start challenging the men? How long before they use force to satisfy their urges?

Yes, good points. How long before they strap on suicide bomb belts, drive car bombs or fly airplanes into crowds of innocents to kill themselves and take as many others as possible with them to get 72 virgins in paradise, since that may be their only hope of getting a date. We have history to show us that polygamy and religious zealotry can be a lethal coctail.

 

[mollymalone]

Sociologically polygamy is a problem. Look at the math. X number of males are born, X number of females every year. From year to year, those numbers differ by a small amount sometimes more girls, sometimes more boys. Those kids grow up and get married. Now if 1/2 of the males marry multiple females that leaves 1/2 of the males without the opportunity to take a wife.

Now take that 2 or three generations, you have many many males running around with no wives- about 1/2 the male community. With a huge opportunity to become rebellious. Men have biological urges also. Urges that want attention from women, and now half the community are without women. How long before they start tempting the women? Before they start challenging the men? How long before they use force to satisfy their urges?

So yeah, sociologically it is a problem. And the FLDS realizes it. That is why they began the "lost boys" program. A way to decrease the male population.

All of this is if the people are living within a "closed" society as the FLDS are and only take spouses from within their community. There are polygamous couples or groups that have spouses who are from outside their groups.