Polygamy In America

As a Christian, when someone mentions marriage, it is an instinct to instantly picture a man and a woman, due to our views. However, times have changed and society has begun to accept other forms of marriage such as polygamist families. Within these families, they believe that it is their right to have multiple spouses, especially men. How is this accepted within society? According to Christian’s, one man and one woman should marry and stay faithful to their one spouse. Conversely, other religions test this norm that society has created through practices such as polygamy. Numerous judges, critics and politicians have concluded that polygamy is bad for women, but they never address why women continue to practice it. As research develops, society …show more content…
Surprisingly, Derek Jorgenson, an associate professor at the college of Pharmacy and Nutrition and the college of Medicine at the University of Saskatchewan, states it is the act of marrying more than one person at a given time (Jorgenson, 3). Unbelievably, polygamist families exist across the United States. In 1862, the practice of polygamy in the United States was outlawed, but it is still widely practiced today. The United States judicial system does not interfere with polygamist practices unless there are instances of rape or child molestation within these families (Jorgenson, 3). Ultimately, society has begun accepting the fact that not everyone shares the same values and beliefs and that there should only be interruption of such practices if there is harm caused. The judicial system has begun to strongly debate if they should decriminalize polygamist practices for such reasons. Considering the lack of enforcement against polygamous practices, Casey Faucon, associate attorney at the Baton Rouge office of Kean Miller, determines that polygamy does not solely cause harm (“Decriminalizing Polygamy”,20). According to Faucon, since polygamy is mostly practiced for religious purposes such as the Mormon church, Muslim Americans, and African American Muslims, the outlaw on polygamist practices interferes with one’s freedom of speech, religion, etc. (“Marriage Outlaws”, 3). As the generations continue to …show more content…
As a reflection of my research, I discovered that numerous women choose to enter polygamist families free willingly. Also, these women create strong emotional bonds within their polygamist community. Additionally, the media’s depiction of polygamous practices only accounts for a small amount of real life polygamist families. Ultimately, polygamy could possibly cause harm to a family in rare cases, but for those who are rather fond of the lifestyle should not have to live in fear of being arrested in regard to their religious