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Argument: Religious polygamy is the victim of unfair prejudices

Issue Report: Polygamy

Reasons to agree

  • John Tierney. “Who’s Afraid of Polygamy?”. New York Times. March 11, 2006 – “When polygamy was outlawed in the 19th century, the Supreme Court upheld the ban by citing the evil consequences of a practice that has always been odious among the northern and western nations of Europe. It dismissed polygamy as a feature of the life of Asiatic and of African people, as if that were reason enough to damn it.”
  • “Anti-polygamy statutes assault civil liberties”. Daily Herald. June 25th, 2006 – “Rachel Jeppson, Orem, Outlawing polygamy height of governmental hypocrisy, It seems that a polygamist is only a criminal if he or she is involved in the lifestyle for religious purposes. Any other man or woman involved in multiple relationships of an intimate nature, regardless of the length of time, are considered part of the ‘modern’ men and women of America. Decriminalization would protect the freedoms of families who practice plural marriage as part of a sincere faith or as a lifestyle of personal choice. It would also open up polygamist societies, serving to address the concerns of the people who are worried about “abuses that go unreported.'”

Reasons to disagree

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