QuakerInfo.com Forum

[Dan]

Shay,
Not baiting, just wondering why a society that would see gay marriage as OK would frown on polygamy and how if one is leagalized the other shouldn't be too?

And as for Quakers, yes some still wear bonnets and beards & somewhere between sixty and ninety thousand Morman Fundamentalists still live in polygamous relationships and no doubt many more would if the "law" allowed for it. It is a tenant of their religion you know.

And how about a Muslim? I believe polygamy is a tenant of their religion too. Should polygamy be allowed in America on the grounds of freedom of religion?

Now there's my bait. Any biters?

Thy Friend,
Dan

[Kiahanie]

Western society is very big on committed relationships between two people, and many laws and rights accrue to those who have legally recognized unions. Some 10% of our population is excluded from those legal rights and responsibilities simply because their sexual wiring is different. The discussion on same-gender unions stems from these specific sets of circumstances, not from the choice of religion or whether cultural practices should be portable.

I think it not unreasonable that in the future we may look at other forms of committed relationships. But let's take care of the business at hand on its own merits, and not be mixing red herrings with apples and oranges.
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"There is a field out beyond right and wrong. I'll meet you there." --Jellaludin Rumi

[trueRiver]

I saw this thread and thought it was worth re-awakening even though the previous post was almost 2yrs ago, as it contains some useful theoretical discussions.

I have started a new thread for first hand accounts of Friends involvement with poly relationships in these forums, giving a narrative account of how I came to my current views.

If you have ever tried Polyamory, before finding Friends or after, may I invite you to post your personal experiences (positive or negative) over on that thread, keeping this thread to continue the more theoretical discussion (if anyone wants to)

I have recently posted this description of my liberal British Quaker's thoughts about poly relationships over on a polyamory forum. Please feel free to reply in either forum.
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River~~

I hope other British Quakers who are polyamorous (or wondering if they are) will contact me by clicking the pm button below. Thanks.

[CelticNorth]

I side with Friend Dan on this argument. Heterosexual marriage, which defines marriage as that of between a man and a woman, represents symbollically the celebration of human genesis through the male and female union and the joining of two as one to enact and sustain the creation of new life and ustain the human spirit. It is a celebration and cultural blessing as old as agriculture, and was never meant to conotate anything other than the male and female union being representative of fertility and abundance, a desired continuation of the cycle of birth, life and death, a symbolism of all human destiny. That Christanity adopted and has promoted this symbolism should in no way detract from its deep inner meanings , which shapes the deep inner psyche of the mind as it connects and reinforces sexual identity to social purpose and civic life. Through our fathers and mothers we owe our own genesis, the celebration and beginning of our own lives, and it is that which is missing from other forms of marriage as social institutions. I think traditional Christianity theology has this one right.