Anyone being affected by Proposition 8?

[glatt]

This polygamy question is interesting to me.

I support gay marriage. I think it's ridiculous that the government would let some consenting adults enter into a legal contract but not others.

But I oppose polygamy, because everything I've heard says that, in practice, it is bad for women and children. Basically, it's only good for men rich enough to take on several wives. And those wives live in virtual poverty.

So how do I, from a legal standpoint, embrace gay marriage and oppose polygamy? How can I say that adults can only enter into a contract with one adult and not more than one? If I'm entering into other contracts, I can do so with multiple people. I can divide my plot of land into smaller plots and sell them to multiple buyers. I can go into business with a bunch of friends and create one partnership with all of them. The government recognizes those contracts. If marriage is opened up to gays because they are consenting adults with equal rights, why wouldn't marriage be opened up to all consenting adults, including polygamists?

[Lamplighter]

reductio ad absurda or ponzi scheme is the argument.

In a finite population, if some males have multiple spouses then other males are lacking.
In small polygamous communities, such boys are driven out by one means or another.

[glatt]

Originally Posted by Lamplighter

reductio ad absurda or ponzi scheme is the argument.

I'm not following you on either point. Can you flesh those out at all?

[piercehawkeye45]

Originally Posted by glatt

So how do I, from a legal standpoint, embrace gay marriage and oppose polygamy? How can I say that adults can only enter into a contract with one adult and not more than one? If I'm entering into other contracts, I can do so with multiple people. I can divide my plot of land into smaller plots and sell them to multiple buyers. I can go into business with a bunch of friends and create one partnership with all of them. The government recognizes those contracts. If marriage is opened up to gays because they are consenting adults with equal rights, why wouldn't marriage be opened up to all consenting adults, including polygamists?

I think there are two approaches you can take. The first is kind of a 'cherry picking' approach. There is more than enough studies that strongly show that polygamy is, overall, bad for society. It hurts everyone besides rich old men. Then, we can ban it the same way as we banned other things that are bad for society. Those reasons do not apply to gay marriage therefore it should not be made illegal. I would even make the argument that gay marriage is good for society. The downfall of this approach is that it is biased and someone make an argument how gay marriage or interracial marriage, etc are bad for society and should be banned.

The second approach is to step back and ask why the government should recognize marriage in the first place. Marriage is a contract that tends to make couples more stable and more likely to invest, bettering society. As long as a certain type of marriage does that, it should be legal. Polygamy and marriage of non-humans doesn't have the incentive to invest and stabilize, therefore it should be treated differently. I prefer this way since it is more objective.

[glatt]

Originally Posted by piercehawkeye45

marriage of non-humans

well, we don't even have to talk about those or even children. If you aren't a consenting adult, you can't enter into a contract. Dogs can't sign contracts. And children have very limited rights under the law.