Polygamy in BC

The CBC is covering a story about polygamists being persecuted in BC

. Interesting.

Many communities would crumble if polygamy wasn't in place. How so? Well polygamy is an intersting social set up that allows for many wives to be taken by one man. (or I guess many men to be taken by one woman but most cultures don't highten a woman's status enough to make this feasible or necessary.) So why is this a good thing? Well many of these cultures/places where polygamy has been ingrained are very poor, there are higher and younger death rates and men are in socially higher positions. This makes for single women and widows to be in a very difficult position. If a woman is not married and cared for within a family unit, in order to support themselves, many of them turn to prostitution or other degrating occupations. They become street people. This is one of the main reasons poygamy is so popular within these cultures. Not only does polymagy provide women with a future/home but it also helps to ease the workload in households. Instead of one woman trying to do all the chores (and in these societies, the "chores" take A LOT longer to complete due to lack of technology and resources), many women can work together to ease the workload.

Polygamy has been around since ancent days (Weren't King David and King Solomon polygamists?) and I would suggest it is more biblically founded than certain other "marriage" practices, you know the ones I'm talking about. But I do think we should be leary of it within societies/cultures where the social structures have bled out its necessity. I think it is an athentic quest to question polygamist motives and I also wonder where the lines of tradition should be drawn. This idea of tradition can be a big problem. Just because certain cultures have traditions, it doesn't mean these traditions are Biblically founded outside of their own cultures and/or cultural worldviews. (This thought goes back to an idea about the Bible's contextualization within different cultures making things ie. polymagy acceptable in certain contexts and not others. Spirit of the law and letter of the law might also come into play.) Perhaps this is also a Canadian problem. Canada is a country built on acceptance and tolerance. We are known for our patchwork. We are a county of immigrants, immigrants with different histories and worldviews. How do we divide up the traditions and deem some "good" and others "bad"? Very difficult to do in a "governed county" setting.

Anyway, I wonder if the next issue we will be facing in the degration of the Biblical term "marriage" in Canada is the legitimacy of polygamy. Not so likely with Conservities at the hull but it's something to keep an eye on.