{"id":17486,"date":"2013-12-18T06:45:59","date_gmt":"2013-12-18T11:45:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/?p=17486"},"modified":"2013-12-17T19:34:21","modified_gmt":"2013-12-18T00:34:21","slug":"and-now-polygamy-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2013\/12\/and-now-polygamy-2\/","title":{"rendered":"And now polygamy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

A federal judge has ruled that Utah laws against polygamy are unconstitutional.<\/p>\n

From Utah Polygamy Court Ruling On \u2018Sister Wives\u2019 Case Confirms Fears Of Social Conservatives<\/a>.\u00a0 (Religious News Service)<\/p>\n

Fueling debates over marriage and religious freedom, a federal judge declared on Dec. 13 Utah laws criminalizing polygamy are unconstitutional, ruling on a case involving the Brown family from TLC\u2019s reality series \u201cSister Wives.\u201d<\/p>\n

Social conservatives who have argued for marriage solely between one man and one woman have long warned that allowing gay marriage would ultimately lead to allowing polygamy \u2014 an argument that\u2019s both feared and rejected by gay marriage proponents.<\/p>\n

Perhaps not surprisingly, groups advocating for legalizing gay marriage were quiet in response, saying that legalizing polygamy is not part of their mandate.<\/p>\n

\n

At the same time, proponents of traditional marriage did a victory lap of sorts, saying their worst fears are starting to come true.<\/p>\n

\u201cSame-sex marriage advocates have told us that people ought to be able to \u2018marry who they love\u2019 but have also always downplayed the idea that this would lead to legalized polygamy, a practice that very often victimizes women and children,\u201d said Tony Perkins, president of Family Research Council, in a statement on Monday (Dec. 16).<\/p>\n

\u201cBut if love and mutual consent become the definition of what the boundaries of marriage are, can we as a society any longer even define marriage coherently?\u201d<\/p>\n

The case involves the cast of \u201cSister Wives,\u201d which entered its fourth season earlier this year, featuring Kody Brown and his four wives. The Browns are members of a fundamentalist Mormon group, not part of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints<\/a>, which does not condone the practice of polygamy.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile we know that many people do not approve of plural families, it is our family and based on our beliefs,\u201d Kody Brown said in a statement. \u201dJust as we respect the personal and religious choices of other families, we hope that in time all of our neighbors and fellow citizens will come to respect our own choices.\u201d<\/p>\n

A 2012 Pew Research survey found little acceptance of polygamy among Mormons<\/a> with 86 percent of them saying it is morally wrong. Wider American opinion on gay marriage, meanwhile, has evolved over the past decade. In Pew Research polling in 2001, Americans opposed gay marriage 57 percent to 35 percent. Two 2013 polls suggest 50 percent of Americans are in favor of gay marriage with 43 percent opposed.<\/p>\n

U.S. District Court Judge Clark Waddoups\u2019 ruling attacked sections of Utah\u2019s laws against cohabitation, saying in his decision that the phrase \u201cor cohabits with another person\u201d is a violation of both the First and 14th amendments.<\/p>\n

In his decision, Waddoups, who was nominated by President George W. Bush, writes that while there is no \u201cfundamental right\u201d to practice polygamy, the issue really comes down to \u201creligious cohabitation.\u201d<\/p>\n

The judge\u2019s ruling does not say that Utah has to recognize multiple marriages, said Brad Greenberg, a research scholar at Columbia Law School. The Supreme Court has repeatedly indicated that determining who can marry is almost exclusively the province of the states, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cA ban on polygamous marriage does little to deter those who want to enter into multiple marriages, some illegally, and then live together,\u201d Greenberg said. \u201cSo Utah\u2019s criminal ban on cohabitation sought to address these practices with a broader ban. That is what Judge Waddoups ruled was unconstitutional, because it criminalizes conduct outside Utah\u2019s ability to define marriage, and in doing so encroaches on First Amendment protections.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote><\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A federal judge has ruled that Utah laws against polygamy are unconstitutional.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1281,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,26],"tags":[1753],"class_list":["post-17486","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-family","category-law","tag-polygamy"],"yoast_head":"\nAnd now polygamy<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A federal judge has ruled that Utah laws against polygamy are unconstitutional. 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