Gordon Smith defends polygamy

[Jacobtm]

Why do liberals hate polygamy?  If gay marriage is acceptable because of 'two consenting adults' then why not the same for a whole bunch of adults consenting to being married to one person? 

I don't think it's a liberal thing to hate polygamy, pretty sure almost everyone in the U.S. is pretty biased against it. Many liberals probably take anti-polygamy stances because people will be that much more opposed to gay marriage if they think that polygamy will follow in 30 years.

Of course, if you want to define marriage as a bond between any 2 consenting adults, then there's really no reason to limit it to 2, as long as they're all consenting adults. Though in practice, don't lots of Mormons end up marrying minors?

[Jacobtm]

Why do liberals hate polygamy?  If gay marriage is acceptable because of 'two consenting adults' then why not the same for a whole bunch of adults consenting to being married to one person? 

Because it leads to an exploitation of women, and a bunch of beta males being left out in the cold. Polygamy is insane as anything that should be other than rejected.

The idea that because some cases of polygamy lead to abuse of women does not mean that all will. For hundreds of years women couldn't vote or own property, and they were all in completely monogamous relationship. Does this mean that marriage leads to abuse of women? No, it means that patriarchal societies do. Just because lots of polygamy takes place in patriarchal societies, doesn't mean that marrying more than 1 person is wrong, it just means that patriarchy is wrong.

[Jacobtm]

In short....I have one wife.  The reason I have one wife is because I don't want two.  I don't want two, because I am not an idiot. The one is quite sufficient.  And sometimes, the one is --- errr ---- more than sufficient.

Solomon was a fool.

This is an illogical reason to disallow polygamy. Just because you don't do something and think it's a bad idea, doesn't mean others shouldn't be allowed to. The same exact argument could be used with children. While one family may think having one child is more than enough, some may want to have 5, 10, 15 children. It's their choice, and just because you think it's a bad one, doesn't mean it's immoral or shouldn't be allowed.