Because we need someone for the far right to demonize now that gays are becoming mainstream. - Edit 1
Before modification by Joel at 07/10/2010 01:32:29 PM
Apart from that, no idea. Since I know all the stock responses about child brides and other forms of abuse are going to be trotted out I'll just say up front that I hope we can all agree marrying an 8 year old to a 50 year old who beats and rapes her nightly is wrong even if you only do it once, so it's not really relevant to this discussion.
Perhaps an argument could be made against polyandry, at least historically, because until recently there was no way to know with certainty who fathered the child of a woman with multiple partners. Polygyny, obviously, has never faced this problem, and so it doesn't really surprise me that the latter is common and the former rather uncommon even in ancient times. In the 21st Century, however, a DNA test can quickly resolve the issue in either case, to the extent it matters (if finding out your ten year old son isn't your biological son changes how you feel about him, well, I hope his "other" father is better than you. ) And in the final analysis (we're not supposed to say "at the end of the day" any more, but I tire of just saying "ultimately" all the time) this is still America and I still believe my right to swing my arm ends where it intersects your nose--and not until. So if consenting adults want to have multiple spouses, that's their problem (though from a strictly literal perspective it's only legitimate for members of the Abrahamic religions to have multiple WIVES; multiple HUSBANDS is still adultery, probably for the reason I first stated. )
Perhaps an argument could be made against polyandry, at least historically, because until recently there was no way to know with certainty who fathered the child of a woman with multiple partners. Polygyny, obviously, has never faced this problem, and so it doesn't really surprise me that the latter is common and the former rather uncommon even in ancient times. In the 21st Century, however, a DNA test can quickly resolve the issue in either case, to the extent it matters (if finding out your ten year old son isn't your biological son changes how you feel about him, well, I hope his "other" father is better than you. ) And in the final analysis (we're not supposed to say "at the end of the day" any more, but I tire of just saying "ultimately" all the time) this is still America and I still believe my right to swing my arm ends where it intersects your nose--and not until. So if consenting adults want to have multiple spouses, that's their problem (though from a strictly literal perspective it's only legitimate for members of the Abrahamic religions to have multiple WIVES; multiple HUSBANDS is still adultery, probably for the reason I first stated. )