On one side are members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, a polygamous sect that lives in Bountiful, civil liberties advocates and supporters of so-called polyamorous relationships. They argue the state has no business in the bedrooms of the nation, and violates the charter guarantee of religious freedoms of those for whom multiple marriage is a tenet of their faith.
It isn’t just religious freedom. It is about basic human freedom to pursue voluntary relationships with other adults.
On the opposite side are the federal and provincial governments, women's rights groups and self-described "survivors" of polygamy, who insist polygamy inevitably leads to sexual abuse, child brides and human trafficking - crimes that justify outlawing the practice.
Women’s rights groups? There are women’s rights groups who recognize that laws need to be repealed when they restrict a woman’s right to choose her spouse(s). If she wants “spice” in her life, that should be her right.
The only thing polygamy inevitably leads to is… more than two people sharing life together.
Oppal said he has no doubts about which is the correct answer.
"That's what I was arguing with my son about, you have to look at this in a global sense, the harmful effects of polygamy," he said.
What does that mean? Most of the mess in the world from the last hundred years has been from people in supposedly monogamous marriages.
"And you've heard some evidence about that, the abuse of women and children, the fact that the underlying philosophy of a polygamous relationship is demeaning to women."
Prosecute abusers for abuse. And how is allowing a woman to decide what kind of a marriage she will have demeaning to her? Canada has, thankfully, the same-sex freedom to marry. And yet a woman isn’t allowed to marry more than one woman? Why not? How is it demeaning?
The RCMP did not have enough evidence to support charges unrelated to polygamy, such as sexual abuse, said Gabelmann. It's a problem cited by governments arguing in favour of the law: polygamous wives, including young teenagers, are reluctant witnesses.
You’d get more tips and more witnesses if people didn’t fear having their home torn apart and being thrown in prison simply for having more than one spouse or being married to someone with more than one spouse. So this supports the freedom to marry. Legalizing polygamy will reduce abuse.
Adults should be able to marry any consenting adult(s).
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