Why is polygamy not legal in the US?
140656
Americans who believe polygamy is immoral vastly outnumber the number of people who believe it's worth fighting for.
476011
According to Justice Scalia, the legal arguments used in favor of same-sex marriages apply equally to polygamous marriages. Personally, I think we could solve both arguments by getting the government completely out of the business of telling you with whom you are allowed to form relationships. Whoever came up with the idea that you had to ask the government for permission to get married? I'll tell you: Churches wanted more political power in Europe, and bigots wanted to keep blacks from marrying whites in America. Without those two "honorable" traditions, we would all still have freedom of marriage. Polygamy has a longer history in almost every culture in the world, including English and Native American, than monogamy has. If consenting adults are free to marry someone of the same gender (which is clearly contrary to almost all human tradition), then they must also be free to marry two other consenting adults of the opposite gender (which is clearly supported by most human tradition).
541928
We have tried to get it legalized but the government is very slow when it comes to changing the law. Hopefully, polygamy will be legal by 2008. I hope you agree that this is good news, even if we have to wait awhile.
212845
Have you ever heard of polygamy involving more than one husband? I like it about as much as the idea of a threesome with two women. Don't men have enough problems with just one wife?
515196
I wish polygamy was an accepted practice. Who does it hurt anyway? Nothing bad can come from it. Just more people loving each other.
462653
Genetics are in no way even remotely related to polygamy. Societies in the past have been polygamous, and monogamous. Every society sets up it's own social rules, but there is no standard for humans. Don't try to come up with justifications, if people want more than one, they should get more than one, and visa versa.
226858
try search all the engines you can on the web with the key words "polygamy" and "law", sorry i cant help, i haven't looked much into the subject!
267359
It became illegal in the U.S. territories in 1862, probably because people were very upset that the Mormons were practicing this form of marriage.  The LDS church eventually gave up polygamy in 1890, because the US government came down so hard on them. Utah was allowed to become a state in 1896. \nI think that originally this was something outlawed by each individual state, but not the federal government because hardly anyone was interested in doing it. In the 1800's women had an increasingly louder voice in politics, and they no doubt pushed men to outlaw the practice.
452020
Because polygamy is WRONG.  Marriage is about commitment between two people, not three, four, or five.  And there's nothing wrong with homosexuality.  I think they have as much a right to get married as anybody else, as long as its only to ONE person!
1008571
Let's start with some background information.  Polygamy exists in three specific forms, including polygyny (one man having multiple wives), polyandry (one woman having multiple husbands), or group marriage (some combination of polygyny and polyandry). Historically, all three practices have been found, but polygyny is by far the most common.\n\nIn America the Mormon religion is the most famous for polygamy.  The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints practiced polygamy in the United States and referred to it as "plural marriage".  Polygamy among these groups persists today in Utah, neighboring states, and the spin-off colonies, as well as among isolated individuals with no organized church affiliation. Polygamist churches of Mormon origin are called "Mormon fundamentalist". According to one source, there are as many as 37,000 Mormon fundamentalists, with less than half of them living in polygamous households.  Most of the polygamy is believed to be restricted to about a dozen extended groups of polygamous Mormon fundamentalists.\n\nWith this one example, proof that polygamy is not immoral to the entire world.
514852
Why is a man allowed to have more than one wife in Islam? i.e. why is polygamy allowed in Islam?\n\nAnswer:\n\nDefinition of Polygamy\n\n1.  Polygamy means a system of marriage whereby one person has more than one spouse. Polygamy can be of two types. One is polygyny where a man marries more than one woman, and the other is polyandry, where a woman marries more than one man. In Islam, limited polygyny is permitted; whereas polyandry is completely prohibited.\n\nNow coming to the original question, why is a man allowed to have more than one wife?\n\n\n2.  The Qur’an is the only religious scripture in the world that says,"marry only one".\n\n\nThe Qur’an is the only religious book, on the face of this earth, that contains the phrase ‘marry only one’. There is no other religious book that instructs men to have only one wife. In none of the other religious scriptures, whether it be the Vedas, the Ramayan, the Mahabharat, the Geeta, the Talmud or the Bible does one find a restriction on the number of wives. According to these scriptures one can marry as many as one wishes. It was only later, that the Hindu priests and the Christian Church restricted the number of wives to one.\n\nMany Hindu religious personalities, according to their scriptures, had multiple wives. King Dashrat, the father of Rama, had more than one wife. Krishna had several wives.\n\nIn earlier times, Christian men were permitted as many wives as they wished, since the Bible puts no restriction on the number of wives. It was only a few centuries ago that the Church restricted the number of wives to one.\n\nPolygyny is permitted in Judaism. According to Talmudic law, Abraham had three wives, and Solomon had hundreds of wives. The practice of polygyny continued till Rabbi Gershom ben Yehudah (95% C.E to 1030 C.E) issued an edict against it. The Jewish Sephardic communities living in Muslim countries continued the practice till as late as 1950, until an Act of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel extended the ban on marrying more than one wife.\n\n\n3.  Hindus are more polygynous than Muslims\n\n\nThe report of the ‘Committee of The Status of Woman in Islam’, published in 1975 mentions on page numbers 66 and 67 that the percentage of polygamous marriages between the years 1951 and 1961 was 5.06% among the Hindus and only 4.31% among the Muslims. According to Indian law only Muslim men are permitted to have more than one wife. It is illegal for any non-Muslim in India to have more than one wife. Despite it being illegal, Hindus have more multiple wives as compared to Muslims. Earlier, there was no restriction even on Hindu men with respect to the number of wives allowed. It was only in 1954, when the Hindu Marriage Act was passed that it became illegal for a Hindu to have more than one wife. At present it is the Indian Law that restricts a Hindu man from having more than one wife and not the Hindu scriptures. \n\nLet us now analyse why Islam allows a man to have more than one wife.\n\n\n4.   Qur’an permits limited polygyny\n\n\nAs I mentioned earlier, Qur’an is the only religious book on the face of the earth that says ‘marry only one’. The context of this phrase is the following verse from Surah Nisa of the Glorious Qur’an: \n\n"Marry women of your choice, two, or three, or four; but if ye fear that ye shall not be able to deal justly (with them), then only one."\n\n                                  [Al-Qur’an 4:3]\n\nBefore the Qur’an was revealed, there was no upper limit for polygyny and many men had scores of wives, some even hundreds. Islam put an upper limit of four wives. Islam gives a man permission to marry two, three or four women, only on the condition that he deals justly with them. \n\nIn the same chapter i.e. Surah Nisa verse 129 says:\n\n"Ye are never able to be fair and just as between women...."\n\n                                 [Al-Qur’an 4:129]\n\nTherefore polygyny is not a rule but an exception
1094502
polygamy, at least your are legal.
119482
I'm sorry but a religion who is against homosexuality because it's not a marriage between a man and a woman but their men are allowed to have more than one wife is completely f'ed up.  It was Adam and Eve, not Adam and Eve, Stacy & Amanda. \n\nTim : while mormons practiced polygamy much more back in the day, there are still mormons who have more than 1 wife.  Not many, but there are still some.  *******Even though they do not practice polygamy as widespread as they once did, they do feel that since David, Solomon and other patriarchs had many wives, obviously God would not look upon it as a sin. **********  Can I put that more clearly Tim who has to continue defending his answer.   \n\n"I have many more wives than one...and am not ashamed to have it known." this quote is by a very famous Mormon by the name of Brigham Young.
1099613
Secular law in most western countries with large Jewish and Christian populations does not recognise polygamous marriages. However, few such countries have any laws against living a polygamous lifestyle: they simply refuse to give it any official recognition. Parts of the United States, however, criminalize even the polygamous lifestyle; these laws originated as anti-Mormon legislation, although they are rarely enforced. Polygamists may find it harder to obtain legal immigrant status
858421
you dont understand a thing about polygamy.
1133004
another county? or another country? not all marriages are recognized everywhere. for instance, if a man has three wives in another country it wouldn't be recognized in a place that outlaws polygamy. likewise, same-sex marriage is legal in massachusetts but not other states.\n\nfor new york city marriage license info, check out this site: http://nycmarriagebureau.com/about/marriagelicense.html\n\nfor new york state in general: http://www.nysegov.com/citGuide.cfm?superCat=82&cat=154&content=main\n\nif you're getting married in another country (let's say, ireland) but live in new york, i recommend contacting the city licensing bureau to find out exactly what you need to do.\n\ngood luck, and congratulations! :)
536589
I think it should  not be illegal. Why should it be illegal? Is there any good answer? The government and the churches claim that it would be against the sanctaty of marriage. Can marriage be anymore damaged than what it is today? Should marriage be sanctified at a drive up window? Should marriage be desolved because they decide that they are not compatable. Should a woman divorce her husband so that the state will give her more public assistance. Should marriage be desolved so that a couple can keep their SSI benifits? Should a marriage be desolved so that a woman can keep her children? All of these and more are the downfall of marriage, not that the two involved are man/man. Should a man's male spouse loose everything they have both worked for because he is not legaly married to him? How can the sanctity of marriage be anymore damaged than it is already? My mother was married three times. My sister was married three times. My brother was married twice. Is there any sanctaty in that? It's all trying to be controled by a bunch of homo-phobics, and a bunch of self serving politicians. And I'm sure that the insurance companies have their paws in the till somewhere too. What matters is that if two people love each other and want to make it a permanent connection, then who has the right to stand in their way? And what gives the government the right to say anything anyway? Marriage is a church matter, and the constitution clearly states that the church shall not interfere with the operation of the government and the government shall not interfere with the operation of the church. The government should only have the power to refuse Gay marriage if the marriage is performed by a judge. Church marriages sould only be controlled by the church.