Polygamy question...

[Shane 232]

The main question concerning polygamy cannot be answered effectively unless the limits of religious liberty are established.

That is easy to answer. As long as one's religious practice does not infringe upon the rights of another, the religious practice should be allowed. Thus when the issue is dealing with consenting adults, polygamy should be allowed. When polygamy deals with minors below the age of consent, it should be forbidden.

[there buster 20]

Quote:

As long as one's religious practice does not infringe upon the rights of another, the religious practice should be allowed.

That would inevitably result in chaos.

[Guest]

What was the question again?

[Stan 1,950]

What was the question again?

appears like few know :)

[Guest]

I say bring all the wives.

[there buster 20]

The question is whether a person emigrating to a different country is free to ignore the laws of that country under the claim of religious freedom.

Oh, and the correct answer, apparently is "Yes."

[Shane 232]

Let's say a Seventh-day Adventist immigrates to Cuba. He then has to do his mandatory service in the military. Would religious liberty require Cuba to provide him Saturday as a Sabbath? At his expense, should he be allowed a vegetarian diet? Should he be allowed to peacefully assemble with other believers on Saturday. Should he be allowed to pray before his meals in public?

[there buster 20]

Cuba is not a country that allows liberty of any kind. A person who goes there should expect to be imprisoned if they attempt to live in liberty. I would not move my family there and expect their liberty to be respected in any way. And if I went to protest or attempt to change things, I would expect incarceration.

[phkrause 3,693]

Nice one Stan. Not sure. Obviously God only wanted one male and one female when he created Man. But he did allow but didn't condone those that had more than one wife, like Abraham, David, etc. So I say let the wife's come also.

pk

[Gregory Matthews 6,435]

I do not believe the wives should be discarded however I believe that some Adventist churches do require converts to discard all but one of their wives when they convert.

In some places all of the wives would be allowed to become SDA members. However, the husband would be required to "discard" all but one woman!

Stan's question was an immigration question. It was not a question of marital rights under U.S. law.

Looking at some of the responses: I am glad that you are not in charge.

[teresaq 142]

The question is whether a person emigrating to a different country is free to ignore the laws of that country under the claim of religious freedom.

Oh, and the correct answer, apparently is "Yes."

no, that is not how i understood the question. the question is not whether polygamy should be allowed in that any man (or woman) already a citizen should be able to marry more than one wife at a time.

it is about how to deal with a difficult situation where the laws of a country conflict with reality.

the man does have multiple wives with whom he possibly has children. these wives may be dependent on him financially. the children do need their father, if hes a good one.

the question as i see it, tho it was not stated, is what is best for the country, the man, women and children?

personally i think an amendment should be made to allow for such immigrants, but only to those who were previously married.

[whbae 147]

The practice of poligamy should be banned any where in the world whether it is legal or not by the secular government.

Just look at the horrible mess we are in because of what Abraham did. If Abraham didn't begat a child from the second wife we would not have all these Muslams stirring up the terror.

Won

[Shane 232]

Polygamy is less than ideal. In societies that are not advanced, women out number men because they tend to survive childhood illness better. In this same societies, most women are not able to earn enough money to support themselves so they need to marry. Obviously when there are more women than men, if the women need to marry there will have to be some men with multiple wives.

I think it is sad that our church is involved with breaking up homes and families. The Bible teaches that a man with multiple wives should not be a deacon, it doesn't teach that he can't be a member. I went to college with a man whose father had two wives and was a Baptist. My friend's brother and aunt were Adventist. He didn't believe it was right that in order for his father to become an Adventist he would have to choose between his wives. My friend was from Kenya.

[phkrause 3,693]

That's true whbae, but that problem is because abe and sara tried to help God out. Don't forget David and Solomon also had many wife's. Which God did not condone, but didn't tell them that they had to give up there wife's.

pk

[whbae 147]

I grew up in the country where the poligamy was practiced and some tolerated. The 2nd or 3rd wife is called concubine. The most people accepted this practice then because the society was structured such a way that it was a mean for a woman to gain some sort fo financial security.

Regardless where men come from they are sexually greedy. Most of them are not satisfied with one partner only. One LLU graduate told me that it feels like sqeezing a same old tooth paste when you stick with one woman. Usually, womaen marry for the financial security, however, men set their eyes on some thing else. I guess this is the physiological difference between men and women.

Won

[Gail 2,670]

Squeezing the same old toothpaste? I wonder what his wife thought of HIS performance!

[teresaq 142]

Squeezing the same old toothpaste? I wonder what his wife thought of HIS performance!