Did anyone listen to NPR yesterday? (5/28)

[OrByte]

Originally posted by: Moonbeam
Does anybody know why Islam allows more than one wife? I for one wouldn't want any relevant information coloring my thinking.

I think it is a safety in numbers kind of thing and polygamy in Islam is an exception to the rule, not the norm.

Also, the more children a man has the better for him. Having multiple wives provides for the possibility of many offspring.

But Islam limits the amount of wives that a man can have to 4.

He better choose wisely!!

 

[Atreus21]

Originally posted by: OrByte

Originally posted by: Moonbeam
Does anybody know why Islam allows more than one wife? I for one wouldn't want any relevant information coloring my thinking.

I think it is a safety in numbers kind of thing and polygamy in Islam is an exception to the rule, not the norm.

Also, the more children a man has the better for him. Having multiple wives provides for the possibility of many offspring.

But Islam limits the amount of wives that a man can have to 4.

He better choose wisely!!

I think the broadcast said something about their being a dearth of eligible men.

 

[Vic]

Originally posted by: OrByte
Polygamy practiced by immigrants, brought into the United States, is a relatively new thing.

That's not really true. Polygamy was a somewhat common practice in the US up until anti-Mormon persecution of the 1800s. Few practiced it openly, but keep in mind that marriages were recorded in Bibles (if it all) until about the 1920s. Marriage licenses and meticulous govt records are the relatively new things.

And while Catholicism has AFAIK always frowned upon polygamy, I wouldn't say that the reason why polygamy is illegal is due to the fact that the US was founded on Christian beliefs and polygamy is something that is strictly forbidden in traditional Christian sense. That's nonsense.
Polygamy is illegal in the US because of anti-Mormon sentiment in the mid-to-late 1800s. Period. There were no laws outlawing polygamy prior to.

I'm a devoted one wife kind of guy myself, but what consenting adults choose to do with their own affairs or in the privacy of their own homes is none of ours or the govt's business.

 

[dainthomas]

Originally posted by: BoberFett
Who the hell wants multiple wives? I'll stick to a single wife and multiple girlfriends.

.

 

[Moonbeam]

Originally posted by: Atreus21

Originally posted by: OrByte

Originally posted by: Moonbeam
Does anybody know why Islam allows more than one wife? I for one wouldn't want any relevant information coloring my thinking.

I think it is a safety in numbers kind of thing and polygamy in Islam is an exception to the rule, not the norm.

Also, the more children a man has the better for him. Having multiple wives provides for the possibility of many offspring.

But Islam limits the amount of wives that a man can have to 4.

He better choose wisely!!

I think the broadcast said something about their being a dearth of eligible men.

Yes, there was no real state in those times and no social welfare, and there were lots of dead men who had died defending Islam leaving destitute families behind so Mohamed made an exception so that men could care for their brothers families as I understand, anyway.

 

[DerekWilson]

Originally posted by: Moonbeam

Originally posted by: Atreus21

Originally posted by: OrByte

Originally posted by: Moonbeam
Does anybody know why Islam allows more than one wife? I for one wouldn't want any relevant information coloring my thinking.

I think it is a safety in numbers kind of thing and polygamy in Islam is an exception to the rule, not the norm.

Also, the more children a man has the better for him. Having multiple wives provides for the possibility of many offspring.

But Islam limits the amount of wives that a man can have to 4.

He better choose wisely!!

I think the broadcast said something about their being a dearth of eligible men.

Yes, there was no real state in those times and no social welfare, and there were lots of dead men who had died defending Islam leaving destitute families behind so Mohamed made an exception so that men could care for their brothers families as I understand, anyway.

actually, there are christian references to levirate marriages (marrying a brother of a dead husband) and the acceptance of polygamy (the wisest man, solomon, had hundreds of wives) ...

it's been a long time, but i believe the islamic tradition limits to 4 equally treated wives, but only men of a certain religious station are allowed this option as well ... i'll have to look it up. either way, most muslims do not practice polygamy.

i would say it is probably equally acceptible and equally practiced and equally religiously justifiable in islam, judaism and christendom -- that is to say not much at all.

as others have pointed out, polygamy has traditionally been associated in public ways with overtly abusive behavior. whether there is a direct link to abuse and polygamy or a different think linking both practices back to something else is not something people care to look at.

i wouldn't want a polygamous relationship, and i don't think its a particularly good choice for anyone. but i also don't like my own liberties restricted, and as long as nothing that could actually be called abuse is going on, i don't see why it shouldn't be a legal option for some to chose if that was their inclination.

besides, big love is a good show 🙂

also, this nation was not founded to be a christian nation -- it was founded to be a nation of freedom and liberty. we've forgotten what that means these days, and way too many people think it means freedom to do only what they think is acceptable ... this is not how it was intended to be and not the least of whom that have mucked it up are the christians who feel they must legislate goodness and morality because people are sinful.

to me this reduces the power of God -- he isn't enough to keep us in line and we need laws and punishment to do so. as a christian i utterly reject the views of moralists. i believe we are called to live by example and spread the truth, not to brow beat our neighbors into submission to our beliefs. in case you missed it i am a christian by the way.

 

[DerekWilson]

I don't think I like the fact that they were reporting on it. In a conspiratorial sort of way, I see this as giving it some real-world legitimacy; talking to real people who led ordinary lives, except for living in polygamy. I mean, is polygamy taboo or not? If not, then why is it illegal?

also i find that a really odd thing for the OP to say though no one seems to have mentioned it.

not everything that is not taboo should be legal. or the other way around either ...

it is also, i think, not right to say that discussing something that is a reality gives it any more legitimacy than it already has. i mean, isn't it arrogant to say that public knowledge and approval of something is required for it to be legitimate or not? i, for one, dislike the idea that American popular opinion defines reality -- i prefer to think that the truth is out there and that it is the individuals who must seek it out.

for a culture that purports to reject socialism, we sure have embraced collectivism in interesting ways ... for those keeping score we used to be heavily into individualism and personal liberty in this country. now all people talk about is democracy as if this is synonymous with freedom, forgetting all the time that we derive our freedom from the limits we placed on even our own self governance through the constitution and the bill of rights. we aren't free because we are a democracy, we are free because the majority is not allowed to subjugate the minority -- we are free because we are a republic with limited government. well that freedom is being eroded by the push toward "real" democracy rather than what we have right now.

but i digress ...