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Argument: It can be ensured that all polygamists are of consenting age

Issue Report: Polygamy

Reasons to agree

  • Serenity Valley. “The Argument for Legalization of Polygamy”. Later-day Saint Liberation Front. February 28th, 2006 – “As a special category of marriage, maybe we could require all participants in polygamy to be of a certain age of consent—say, 18 or 20 years old. In combination with educational requirements, this could help ensure that all participants in polygamous marriages are truly consenting. Then, polygamy would have a chance of either becoming what most of us consider a safe lifestyle, or of dying out. (The latter seems more likely; just as childbirth rates fall among well-educated women, so might rates of polygamous marriage).”
  • It is indeed a crime for girls to be forced to marry as minors. These crimes should be punished and the law should be enforced. But, that these crimes are occurring occasionally in polygamist communities is not an argument against polygamy. Existing laws can be used to ensure that girls are not forced to marry before a certain age. Serenity Valley. “The Argument for Legalization of Polygamy”. Later-day Saint Liberation Front. February 28th, 2006 – “As a special category of marriage, maybe we could require all participants in polygamy to be of a certain age of consent—say, 18 or 20 years old. In combination with educational requirements, this could help ensure that all participants in polygamous marriages are truly consenting. Then, polygamy would have a chance of either becoming what most of us consider a safe lifestyle, or of dying out. (The latter seems more likely; just as childbirth rates fall among well-educated women, so might rates of polygamous marriage).”

Reasons to disagree

  1. It can only be ensured that all polygamists are of consenting age if we close polygamist compounds.