7. While much remains to be done, we have seen remarkable progress in recent decades in closing the gender gap in social and economic capital. There are many relationships, especially now that the woman is the partner with more social capital, more education, better income and better prospects. This is one of the most obvious changes in the educated and elitist society. Under these conditions, I can easily imagine a wife taking several husbands. And while we should never assume progress, I think we clearly have a duty to spread this changing state of relative social and economic value of men and women throughout society. If we do, you will find that this problem disappears. Beyond the constitutional foundations of due process and equal protection, polygamy must be legalized if the safety of women and children is to be a goal. Ignoring people in isolated communities in the western states and foothills of Mexico because of the illegality of polygamy is dangerous for people and contradicts efforts to empower women. Reynolds and Davis established a court-developed definition of religion that distinguished faith from practice, while maintaining laws prohibiting polygamy, which many considered an evil similar to slavery (the issue had delayed Utah`s accession to the Union). The question raised in these cases was: Should society tell a religious sect not to voluntarily engage in polygamy if the members honestly and sincerely believe that polygamy is prescribed by the Bible or other religious texts? The Court answered a similar question in Sherbert v. Verner (1963), in which she overturned a denial of unemployment benefits to a Seventh-day Adventist who had been fired for refusing to work on Saturday, her Sabbath. Here, the court seemed to close the distinction between faith and practice made in Reynolds and Davis.
This is not an abstract subject. In the dissenting opinion of Chief Justice John Roberts, he noted: “It is striking how the majority`s reasoning would apply equally forcefully to the claim of a fundamental right to plural marriage. As is often the case with critics of polygamy, he fails to mention why it is a fate to be feared. Polygamy is taboo today, just as much as same-sex marriage was a few decades ago — it is effectively discussed only as outdated jokes about Utah and the Mormons banning the practice more than 120 years ago. The argument for limiting the number of people who can marry once is weak and reminiscent of claims once used by opponents of same-sex marriage. If consenting adults deserve autonomy and dignity, then polygamy should be legalized. Social liberals who recognize the rights of the LGBTQ+ community must recognize that some people also find value and love in unions with more than one person. The most discouraging and least convincing arguments are those that merely reconstruct the steamy arguments that have been used against same-sex marriage for so long. “If we allow group marriages,” one seems to think, “why wouldn`t marriage with animals or children come next?” The difference, of course, is the agreement.
In recent years, a progressive and enlightened movement has insisted that consent is the measure of all things in sexual and romantic practice: as long as everyone involved in a particular sexual or romantic relationship is consensual adults, anything goes; If a person does not give free and informed consent, no sexual or romantic commitment can be tolerated. Polygamy should be legalized. While decriminalization would work for most, that`s not all. If it were legal to simply be decriminalized, that would be acceptable, and while everyone has their own concepts and beliefs about what marriage is or can be, why should belief in people be legal or non-legal based on someone else`s beliefs? If all participants are accepted and sign their documents as a sign of acceptance, why should they not be recognized as legal? Entrenched sexism exists and will shape how polygamy unfolds as it spreads! And even outside of deep-seated sexism, men may be more reluctant to share a woman with other men than women to share a husband with other women. The prohibition of polygamy was not only more dangerous for women and children because it drove entire communities underground, but it was also contrary to United States efforts to seek tolerance and equal protection of the law. Despite renouncing the practice as a condition of statehood, Utah remains home to many polygamists. As such, it should legalize polygamy, or at least reduce current penalties. How does polygamy violate a woman`s right to equality – rights and duties? As for marriage, during marriage and at its dissolution – with her husband? To answer this question, you need to think about the rights and obligations that state law imposes on marriage – when it begins, during its existence, and when it ends in divorce or death. In the beginning, each person has the right to marry the other; Historically, marriage has also been used to punish sexual relations between partners.
However, in polygamy, the man has the right to marry as many women as he wishes, while the wife is limited to one husband. In addition, the sex life of husband and wife is different: he has sex much more often than she does.