John Stossel on polygamy.

Fiannan · #1 (**permalink**) 08-06-2008, 04:03 AM

Quote:

"Texas authorities on Tuesday indicted the leader of a polygamous sect ... on charges of felony sexual assault on a minor, the first criminal charges to stem from a massive raid on the group's West Texas compound," the Los Angeles Times reported last week.
The Associated Press and other press outlets used similar words: "indicted polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs ... charges of felony sexual assault of a child."
Straightforward reporting? In my "20/20" special "Sex in America," polygamy activist Mark Henkel said no, it's an ignorant distortion.
"The media kept saying, 'Polygamist leader, polygamist leader,'" Mr. Henkel told me. "But the case actually involved incest and arranged marriage of a girl with her 19-year-old cousin. There wasn't anything [that] had to do with polygamy. [Mr. Jeffs] wasn't called an incest leader. He wasn't called an underage-marriage leader. He was called a polygamist leader."
Mr. Henkel and his Web site, TruthBearer, campaign against the press and others who lump criminals like Mr. Jeffs with all polygamy.
Mr. Henkel won't disclose his own family situation. In Maine, where he lives, even purporting to have more than one wife is against the law. Mr. Henkel complains that American laws are hypocritical.

...

"If they're saying that's immoral, they're calling the greatest heroes in the Bible ... immoral! ... Saying that Abraham, with his three wives, was immoral. Jacob had four wives. David had seven known named wives before Bathsheba."
Mr. Ben-Israel calls plural marriage a civil-rights issue. "Who is this government that's in somebody's bedroom? ... It was illegal for me to marry a white woman at one time. ... It was illegal for me to vote at one time. And if I had accepted somebody else's definition of what was right and wrong, I would still be riding in the back of the bus.
"We're not saying this is for everybody. Everybody don't like football and basketball or tennis. But those who do ought to be free to do this."

How Many Wives Is Too Many? - July 30, 2008 - The New York Sun

Stossel, as usual, cuts through the propaganda, media distortions, and political grandstanding by hypocrits (Note: Harry Reid) and presents a very thoughtful investigation into polygamy. Wish there were more journalists like him.

MarginOfError · #2 (**permalink**) 08-06-2008, 08:42 AM

Quote:

"Who is this government that's in somebody's bedroom? ... It was illegal for me to marry a white woman at one time. ... It was illegal for me to vote at one time. And if I had accepted somebody else's definition of what was right and wrong, I would still be riding in the back of the bus.
"We're not saying this is for everybody. Everybody don't like football and basketball or tennis. But those who do ought to be free to do this."

Are you supporting this quote?

hordak · #3 (**permalink**) 08-06-2008, 09:45 AM

stossels my hero

FunkyTown · #4 (**permalink**) 08-06-2008, 09:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MarginOfError

Are you supporting this quote?

I am, Moe. I am very sincerely supporting this quote. I know what you're saying because I've read the OP's posts as well.

Good on you, Moe.

Misshalfway · #5 (**permalink**) 08-06-2008, 09:54 AM

I think that it should be ok for this kind of religious practice to be argued in the halls of justice. BUT, I do think that any participant should be at least 18 and that the government should be able to intervene if any abuse is happening. They should have to follow and be subject to the law in this regard just like everybody else. In this Texas case, I feel for the innocent, but don't wish to see culture of child molestation enabled or overlooked.

Fiannan · #6 (**permalink**) 08-06-2008, 01:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Misshalfway

I think that it should be ok for this kind of religious practice to be argued in the halls of justice. BUT, I do think that any participant should be at least 18 and that the government should be able to intervene if any abuse is happening. They should have to follow and be subject to the law in this regard just like everybody else. In this Texas case, I feel for the innocent, but don't wish to see culture of child molestation enabled or overlooked.

I agree on the minimum age for entering into a polygamist marriage being 18. Also, I believe that the same laws should apply to polygamists as to monogamists.

MarginOfError · #7 (**permalink**) 08-06-2008, 01:50 PM

Not answering my question? What's up with that?

Quote:

"Who is this government that's in somebody's bedroom? ... It was illegal for me to marry a white woman at one time. ... It was illegal for me to vote at one time. And if I had accepted somebody else's definition of what was right and wrong, I would still be riding in the back of the bus.
"We're not saying this is for everybody. Everybody don't like football and basketball or tennis. But those who do ought to be free to do this."

Are you supporting this quote?

Fiannan · #8 (**permalink**) 08-06-2008, 02:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MarginOfError

Not answering my question? What's up with that?

Question? The guy made a statement and from what I understand he's correct. So what's the problem?

MarginOfError · #9 (**permalink**) 08-07-2008, 01:56 AM

Just seems a little odd to complain about government in our bedrooms regarding plural marriage and the cry foul over government in our bedrooms regarding gay marriage.

Fiannan · #10 (**permalink**) 08-07-2008, 02:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MarginOfError

Just seems a little odd to complain about government in our bedrooms regarding plural marriage and the cry foul over government in our bedrooms regarding gay marriage.

Yet here you bring up the irony -- homosexual sex was a criminal offense until after WW2 (and remained so in half the states in the US until the Supreme Court ruling a few years ago invalidating Texas' anti-sodomy laws). So homosexual actions are legal, and just about every type of heterosexual adultery and fornication are legal, but if a group of people want to live in a polygamist family that's considered wrong?