The Truth Is More Important Than The Facts

I suppose it boils down to what you are comfortable with (I'd certainly never do it).
I don't know much (if anything) about the topic - but what exactly are a woman's "obligations within the union"? To me, it sound like that entails being a fertility factory. Don't know about the other ladies, but I like to think I'm a little more than my uterus. Am I way off base? Please, correct me if I'm wrong.

i think we judge other cultures that do it because we are brought up a certain way and are taught that we are right in what we do. It is certainly different then how i was brought up and i think it makes me uncomfortable because i don't understand it, more then thinking it's wrong. Though, personally, i could never do it-being one of many wives or having multiple husbands.
Side note: what's with your link EZLN?? i looked at it, and although i don't know a whole lot of Spanish yet, it looks like a political site in Spanish for freedom-is that the idea?

ok ok, one thing at a time

the obligations thing comes in on a couple of things. its not just sex or reproduction one way, it's both ways. and thats not it, we are also obligated to be supportive and respectful and loving and open to our spouses (God willing.)its not just about what the woman needs to do for the man (which is the unfair part of this whole thing in many cultures) but what both need to do and be for the other person. and that would take alot of work and compromised in a polygamous marriage, on both sides.

ok, the EZLN. this is a website on/by the Zaptistas National Liberation Army. i know a little bit about it, but thats why the page is up. so i could find it again. the EZLN was a response to the Mexican governments violation of a communal land agreement with the Chiapas indians. this was done to provide land for international companies. so thousands of people were displaced from lands they had farmed as a community for thousands of years. the EZLN formed and created a number of small attacks on government and commercial locations. on new years day 1991? (can't remember that) they launched an all out attack on the government and commercial forces which had stolen their land and their lives. the US back response ended with the deaths of thousands of Zapatista's including numerous innocent women and children.

the link is up for me mostly because it has a link to the speeches of Subcommandente Marcos. his words are the very soul of every person who is supressed by money, power, greed, hate and deceit. if you have time read some of northwest by two winds on there. it is brilliant stuff.

The polygamy is not such a simple question. The Bible can only be said to support it by it's lack of commentary prior to the New Testament. All of the examples of Polygamy were open examples of painful relationships. Although the New Testament only speaks to leaders only having one wife. The solution that missionaries have made is that polygamous husbands should keep all of their wives but that they will not be leaders in the church. It'll be interesting to see whether or not this pattern is maintained over time.

Very often polygamous relationships serve the purpose of giving security to women in patriachical societies. Since women is such societies have difficulty making their own living, men who have wealth can take more than one wife and it is some humanitarian in some situations to do so. Mormans have provided examples of polygamy in this society despite their early rejection of it in the 1890's. Often times the examples that are cited are tragic because of the incest that sometimes is a part of such subcultures (this is not a biproduct of Mormanism since Morman's are also opposed to incest as a practice).

What I would say is that our society is so far removed from it that it is difficult to understand it. I'm not sure if I could speak to the issue without intense bias that would seemingly contradict Biblical narrative.

Polygamy may not be wrong but it is not a practice worth pursuing. It could work theoretically but the jealousy that seems to go on with such relationships is not worth the effort.

Women being married to multiple men is a rare occurance but I seem to recall that it happens in some tribes. That would be mainly in Matriachical tribes.

I totally agree with you mark.

yeah i would too. i guess Biblically speaking the "Old Testament" gives rules as to how to work polygamy, not rules against polygamy. i also agree with the painfulness of the whole thing. it would be very hard not to have a favorite, or to take sides (or appear to) in family discussions.

the other problem with the "Mormons" who are currently involved in polygamy is that it often involves underage girls and women who are forced into marriages (one example being the community of Blessed in the interior of BC.) here again, it's mixing one practice that is not wrong (polygamy) with one that is (in essence pedophilia.)

it's just something our society is incapable of grasping. it's not something we can go into other cultures and say it's wrong, we simply don't have Biblical evidence its not. but at the same time it's something we have to be careful with, as far as even promoting the idea that it's ok (or not sinful.) i have often wondered which situation is worse for the woman, having a husband who's unfaithful or sharing your husband with other women in the home. ladies??

I hope to God I'll never have to deal with either issue in my marriage.

As a wife I would have a problem with both of those options. In our marriage it wouldn't fly for either of us.

i can understand that. the only reason i am intrigued by the ideas of polygamous marriage is because i love being surrounded by women. i don't mean that in sexual way (well 99% not sexual), i simply love being around women. when i'm with women i feel comfortable, with men i always feel awkward or like somethings missing. of course it's not something i'd pursue, i have enough problems living in my own head. i need someone to make my life less complicated not more.

The right person won't complicate things. Only compliment.

Isn't having sex sorta like being married to the person? Isn't it true on some level that although people get a legal divorce they are still married in God's eyes? If so, then don't we practice a form of polygamy in our society even now (not saying that it is right but just to point out that although we say we don't understand it we sorta do just in a not nearly so organized nor well-run way; and obviously not with consent or by the go-ahead of the church)?

it's one of the reasons state sanctioned marriage is a retarded idea. marriage is a religious and social covenant, not a legal one.
the Biblical aspects of divorce are pretty broad in their interpretation. i'm not sure how to go about explaining it without going back and reading ALL the scripture. i know there is something that says a spouse who leaves or causes the end of a marriage will be held accountable for the "adultery" of the other person if they remarry.

yes, someone who complements me, thats what i need. what compliments a disthymic narcissistic obsessive with motivation problems?

I think you need someone who complements you too, although compliments are always a good thing (as long as they don't go to your head).

Oops...yes...I meant complEment...with an "E"...
and compliments are nice too aren't they.
What's disthymic?

disthymia is a emotional/psychological condition similar to depression. normal people have a brain/emotional pattern that has highs and lows around a centerline. a disthymic person has the same highs and lows but theirs are centered around a line which is located at the same place as an average persons lows.

i should also say that i have a liver condition called Gilberts Syndrome. it causes me to have a bilirubin about twice normal, and if not controlled or if it flares up it gives me a very yellow tone to my skin. doctors say it has no other side effects, but many people with the condition report having "unexplained" fatigue, depression, anxiety, and other problems.

all in all, i've got a few problems. that's why i say i need less complications, not more.

I have no idea what to say - just that I'm intrigued by the things you bring up on here matt, your honesty (though sometimes harsh), and your willingness to debate, and not just blindly stand behind an idea...

lets talk about pregnancy now, i know so much but i want to learn more!!

Pregnancy? Everything I know is heresay....never been pregnant - want to be one day (but NOT today!)...post something - i'm sure you'll get some response!

see, i read mis-consceptions by niaomi wolfe (well half, it was heavy and a little scarey - i want to finish it though.) that book basically blew out everything i though about pregnacy, and i knew a bit before i started. i think its a beautiful thing and that it should be made into the most wonderful and unpainful experience possible.

if i post something there is a possiblilty i would have to use pictures.