I find Steve Chapman’s comments endorsing legalized polygamy to be patently ridiculous.
There are two main arguments against polygamy, neither of which Chapman mentions. The first is that modern married heterosexual couples have enough problems raising children in a traditional marriage. Raising children in a polygamous or homosexual marriage is just asking for trouble.
Second, if a guy takes four wives, for example, who is going to support them and their children? Are all the wives going to work? There is no guarantee of that. How many kids will come of this marriage? No one can guarantee there will be no children. Will the husband’s income be enough to support all the wives and all the kids, or are they all going to end up living near the poverty line or on welfare?
His argument that we don’t enforce laws against adultery, etc., doesn’t justify polygamy. Adultery is a difficult thing to prove without catching the parties in the act. The police have bigger issues to handle. Saying that lax enforcement of one law excuses the breaking of another is nonsense.
The argument that polygamy should be allowed as a part of our general freedoms is also bogus. Freedom is a tool. It doesn’t exist for its own sake. The purpose of the state is to guard the lives of its citizens. Freedom is a tool that allows the state to better serve its purpose than would otherwise be the case. We often confuse our freedoms with our wants. Just because we desire something does not mean we should have the freedom to pursue that desire. I don’t see how legalized polygamy better serves the purposes of the state than does a ban.
