I have absolutely no problem with bigamy or polygamy as long as the relationship is entered into voluntarily by all of the parties. I think the societal bias towards monogamy is almost solely due to christianity's dominance in the developed world. Several societies throughout history have accepted bigamy and polygamy. The reason such relationships tend to have one male and multiple females is probably due to most cultures being strongly patriarchal. 

 

I have no interest in being in a polygamous marriage but I also have no interest in being in another marriage again. Maybe time will change my mind. There is no reason why bigamy, polygamy or any other marriage structure should be illegal as long as everyone involved is a consenting adult. One thing I learned in my marriage is that I really enjoy living alone and having a place to retreat to where no one bothers me, so I don't want to have one wife let alone two or three wives and a husband or two. But if someone else wants to have a variety of spouses, who am I to tell them no?

 

I think the person who is honest with their lover(s) about their feelings and attraction for others is a better person than the one who is in a monogamous relationship and lies.

 

If you are interested more on the subject you might want to check out a book written by one of our regulars. 

http://www.rationalresponders.com/forum/29404

 

   

Well, bigamy is wrong because it's dishonest. If polygyny or polyandry is being done by consenting adults then it shouldn't really matter to anyone else.

As a species, we aren't meant to stay with one person or even fuck just one person; it's not in our biological make-up.  There's a reason people cheat on their spouse and it isn't because they don't have feelings for them or anything; it's because we're curious by nature and want to satisfy our primal hunger.  Some of us can keep that in check because we lead lives that make up for the nagging others feel (i.e. well off, traveling a lot, good distractions, etc.)  Some of us are just unhappy enough and stressed to hell and throw caution to the wind.  I mean, even with a cornucopia of shit to even out the will to fool around, that doesn't mean it's one-hundred percent guaranteed to keep us in check all the time.  Even the best marriages and relationships end in tears and sometimes the circumstances behind his/her actions are not fully understood by anyone especially the one that did it in the first place.  The usual response is "it just happened" and the reason for that is because we can't help our attraction to people; we feel the need to act on it.  Sometimes it's harder to resist and other times, nature takes it's course.  Others understand this better when their significant other tells them of their unfaithful activities because they aren't naive to the reality of the world while others choose to live in denial, get jealous, not even bother to hear their side and maybe work to strengthen the bond they had granted there is still one before the "cheating" started. 

 

Of course, those with a bad relationship and a marriage that was never going to work in the first place or "falling apart" can never benefit from anything said previously since no amount of talking or "working it out" would make a bit of difference given the circumstances.  Most people are content with living under the guise of outdated partnerships that revolve around religious beliefs when we should be evolving to see that love can be experienced and given to more than one person intimately if the feelings are there.  Jealousy is possession and possession is jealousy, but if you're a caring guy that has two women who you share equal emotions with, then all that shit tends to dissolve because there's no reason to fight or get angry.  I know it's not as simple as that because feelings change, but it's just a basic psychological example.   

Why? An appeal to subjectivity isn't even an ethos. It's just a safe position from which you don't have to address the substance of opposing claims or argue for the truth of your own beliefs. I guess it is a real time saver though.

Maybe bigamy is okay if you're doing it to prevent fascists from discovering a Jewish girl hiding in your attic, but I don't argue with religious people or moral skeptics anymore.

I don't argue with religious people because for all I know when someone is emotionally invested in the position they've taken up, not only are they immune to arguments and facts but assailing them with such only serves to strengthen and intensify their beliefs. I wish I'd never done it. Not because it was a waste of time but because it probably caused harm.

I don't argue with moral skeptics because with that one takes such an incredibly strong position on the epistemic status of all moral beliefs without providing reasons as it is only a great position when the burden is on the other person.

In my mind it's not enough to push the burden of proof back at me when you're making a universal claim that seems to defy common sense and don't see the need to justify it with some positive argument. It has nothing to do with you. It's the nature of such discussions and that I do consider to be a complete waste of time.

And the opposite of monogamous is non-monogamous.- not polygamy which applies to marriage.  I completely misused the words bigamy and polygamy and tried to correct it but i thought everyone would figure out what i meant. lol

Polygamy, Bigamy and Polyandry should all be legal, just like monogamy.

Monogamy is an opinion. It should not be forced on others.

Many people see polygamy has been a horrible thing because of the "Jeffery's" case of abuse, rape and many other crimes. I think this is no different than any monogamist relationship where the father or the mother commit crimes; or as being in a monogamist relationship doesn't mean you are better parents than a homosexual relationship.

This country is ready for a change, a revolution of mammoth proportions. People are starting to see the extremists who have infiltrated our government and they are getting tired of the hyperbole. The church is losing its power to influence and soon, I believe, you will see gay marriage legal in many states. Even England is getting ready to put legal gay marriages up for a vote.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Again, I fail to see the problem...

"So very sorry... but I had a few hours of fun with your wife on your wedding night. And yes... I asked; she remembers it very fondly! Crazy damn nympho... any kids come out of that mess, by chance?"

 

kk

I'm of the opinion "Two wives" and "two husbands" are always better than one (it's kind of a perfect love triangle) +

I see moral skepticism as a 'cure' for moral authority, in the sense of maximizing some tool's frustration while reducing their rationality to nearly zero. Lulz galore, and whatnot.

It happens whenever someone breaks a "taboo" or some such.

 

Is efficiency a desirable goal in marriage? 

 

As far as combining income for a common goal a polygamous marriage would be far more efficient. More people bringing in income means that the goal is reached much more quickly. One person living in a house is very inefficient, two people is a little more efficient, three or four even more efficient as far as income and bills. Assuming of course that the additional partners are in fact providing incomes and not solely dependents. 

 

Of course adding additional people might make determining what goal to earn money for far less efficient if they all have some say in the matter. I don't think you can really say one type of marriage is more efficient than another. It completely depends on what you want to be efficient at. 

 I could see where polygamous marriage may be efficient if it were stable, but in my opinion this is an unstable scenario. How could you divide your time equally with that many partners? If it were not divided equally, what is to prevent them from finding a situation more beneficial to them? Right now I'm envisioning an office building where everyone swings and occasionally shares paychecks; seems chaotic.   This I can definitely agree with. I still contend the significance of efficiency, but a little R&R every now and then is good for your health.