Polygamy: is it moral?

[Brighteye]

Polygamy has nothing to do with oppression, women-as-property or abuse, or at least no more than marriage or many other current institutions.
The fundamental difference is one of exclusivity, which does not, if granted to both sexes, imply any sexism.
Exclusivity is a strange and curious invention in relationships that served some purpose in eras when we needed to control population in order to keep living standards high ('Malthusian economies'), when paternity was otherwise hard to determine, and hence inheritance, and when communities were small and travel rare and hence there wasn't much of a relationship market.
If having sex is regarded as spiritually corrupting, and marriage is about financial benefit then desires for more don't matter, because desire doesn't really come into it anyway.

 

[Lillefix]

Personally I wouldn't mind being part of a two man two woman relationship.

 

[Brighteye]

Personally I wouldn't mind being part of a two man two woman relationship.

Actually, I'd quite like something like an 8-12-person relationship. Choice is good.

 

[carmen510]

Personally I wouldn't mind being part of a two man two woman relationship.

There's a Penn & Teller BS episode on Prostitution that also deals partially with polygamy (That includes a 2 man & 2 woman relationship), although I cannot legally post it here without violating the E for Everyone Civfanatics rule.

 

[Death_Machine]

I believe his point is that consensual oppression shouldn't be allowed. We don't allow people to voluntarily become slaves, for example.

Sure we do, but I believe leather, whips, & other accessories are required......... at least that is what a particular web page leads me to believe.

 

[RalofTyr]

Polygamy leads to problems. It upsets the already balanced ratio of women to men. Old men, who have become wealthy who can afford a younger second bride remove a potential mate for a young man, that could lead to a young male remaining single, which would make him a threat as he has nothing to lose. No wife, no kids, nothing. This is extremely dangerous in Islam.

Islam actually uses men's desires for sex as a tool to promote religion. First, you have to marry a muslim and second, it polygamy creates a lot of young Muslim men with nothing to lose that can go and invade another's land, take and convert their women.

This was the case for the ancient Greeks, who didn't really practice polygamy, but they did practice infanticide to the point the male/female ratio was sometimes 5 to 1. This created a lot of Greek males that went over seas and conquered and colonized foreign peoples. Most ancient Greek colonies, like Syracuse, were built on the remains of a native's settlement.

 

[IglooDame]

I envy you. Daily basis? I envy you.

Marry well, my friend. Naw, it's just that most of our social circle is composed of other 'lifestyle' folks in the first place, so aside from our own relationship being what it is, it is not something that must be hidden from friends.

Sure we do, but I believe leather, whips, & other accessories are required......... at least that is what a particular web page leads me to believe.

Don't believe everything you read on teh intarwebs. They're not required, just useful accessories.

Polygamy leads to problems. It upsets the already balanced ratio of women to men.

Sure, in a male-dominated society, but what of one where women are widely recognized as social equals, and where women could form female-led poly marriages as easily as men could?