First, here then after the jump…
The author above asks,
Put aside the (likely true) accusations of underage brides, put aside the welfare mothers this situation creates, put aside the unusual nature of their religious practices; the question that stands is should these people be allowed to practice their religion when it comes to plural marriage?
What if a religious practice mandated child brides? Or heavy drug use? What if it mandated forced rape of the wife? Of something heinous. We cannot hide behind religious freedom to all all manner of acts. Many countries in the West have built this notion of religious liberty up to the point where people are afraid to question anything done in the name of religion.
I am thinking of the children, married and unmarried, the women, regulated to what I can only see as property in these marriages. We should remember that Mormonism started off with polygamy as a ‘principle,’ but abandoned it before Utah became a state. Now, while fundamentalists hold to it, it seems that others are experimenting with it. If you notice the families above, they are not exactly what comes to mind when we picture fundamentalist Mormons.
If you read the comments at the post above, and indeed, in other discussions, you will note that will some call for the legalization of polygamy based on religious liberty, they call for government interference to protect children and women. Hypocritical, a bit.
