YankeeFan
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- Nov 19, 2004
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Someone -- probably Tony -- raised the possibility that polygamy would be the next battleground.
The post was scoffed at, but is there any doubt that if a case was brought before the Supreme Court it would have four guaranteed votes in its favor?
Gay marriage and polygamy have different constituencies, so it's not the next battle for the LGBT community, but I think it is inevitable that it comes before the courts.
Polygamy has been practiced by cultures around the world, for thousands of years. Only in the worst cases of forced child marriages, or due to fraud, do we see it prosecuted.
In reality, it's already accepted.
So, how long until this becomes an issue, and how long before it is legally recognized in one or more states?
Fredrik deBoer, writing for Politico, believes the time is now:
Welcome to the exciting new world of the slippery slope. With the Supreme Court’s landmark ruling this Friday legalizing same sex marriage in all 50 states, social liberalism has achieved one of its central goals. A right seemingly unthinkable two decades ago has now been broadly applied to a whole new class of citizens. Following on the rejection of interracial marriage bans in the 20th Century, the Supreme Court decision clearly shows that marriage should be a broadly applicable right—one that forces the government to recognize, as Friday’s decision said, a private couple’s “love, fidelity, devotion, sacrifice and family.”
The question presents itself: Where does the next advance come? The answer is going to make nearly everyone uncomfortable: Now that we’ve defined that love and devotion and family isn’t driven by gender alone, why should it be limited to just two individuals? The most natural advance next for marriage lies in legalized polygamy—yet many of the same people who pressed for marriage equality for gay couples oppose it.
This is not an abstract issue. In Chief Justice John Roberts’ dissenting opinion, he remarks, “It is striking how much of the majority’s reasoning would apply with equal force to the claim of a fundamental right to plural marriage.” As is often the case with critics of polygamy, he neglects to mention why this is a fate to be feared. Polygamy today stands as a taboo just as strong as same-sex marriage was several decades ago—it’s effectively only discussed as outdated jokes about Utah and Mormons, who banned the practice over 120 years ago.
Yet the moral reasoning behind society’s rejection of polygamy remains just as uncomfortable and legally weak as same-sex marriage opposition was until recently.
It’s Time to Legalize Polygamy - Fredrik deBoer - POLITICO Magazine
The post was scoffed at, but is there any doubt that if a case was brought before the Supreme Court it would have four guaranteed votes in its favor?
Gay marriage and polygamy have different constituencies, so it's not the next battle for the LGBT community, but I think it is inevitable that it comes before the courts.
Polygamy has been practiced by cultures around the world, for thousands of years. Only in the worst cases of forced child marriages, or due to fraud, do we see it prosecuted.
In reality, it's already accepted.
So, how long until this becomes an issue, and how long before it is legally recognized in one or more states?
Fredrik deBoer, writing for Politico, believes the time is now:
Welcome to the exciting new world of the slippery slope. With the Supreme Court’s landmark ruling this Friday legalizing same sex marriage in all 50 states, social liberalism has achieved one of its central goals. A right seemingly unthinkable two decades ago has now been broadly applied to a whole new class of citizens. Following on the rejection of interracial marriage bans in the 20th Century, the Supreme Court decision clearly shows that marriage should be a broadly applicable right—one that forces the government to recognize, as Friday’s decision said, a private couple’s “love, fidelity, devotion, sacrifice and family.”
The question presents itself: Where does the next advance come? The answer is going to make nearly everyone uncomfortable: Now that we’ve defined that love and devotion and family isn’t driven by gender alone, why should it be limited to just two individuals? The most natural advance next for marriage lies in legalized polygamy—yet many of the same people who pressed for marriage equality for gay couples oppose it.
This is not an abstract issue. In Chief Justice John Roberts’ dissenting opinion, he remarks, “It is striking how much of the majority’s reasoning would apply with equal force to the claim of a fundamental right to plural marriage.” As is often the case with critics of polygamy, he neglects to mention why this is a fate to be feared. Polygamy today stands as a taboo just as strong as same-sex marriage was several decades ago—it’s effectively only discussed as outdated jokes about Utah and Mormons, who banned the practice over 120 years ago.
Yet the moral reasoning behind society’s rejection of polygamy remains just as uncomfortable and legally weak as same-sex marriage opposition was until recently.
It’s Time to Legalize Polygamy - Fredrik deBoer - POLITICO Magazine
