THEMILKMAN said:
Monogamy-the practice of having only one spouse/mate (etc.)
I've heard people before (mostly promiscuous people) give the excuse that monogamy goes against our base instincts as human beings/animals. They give the example that most animals just whore around with every other one so why shouldn't humans? (Although I believe some animals do practice monogamy not sure which ones though) They think our sole goal in life is to spread our seed around as much as possible. Truth? Or a convenient excuse for their promiscuity (generally whoreing around in case you don't know)?
Not to mention those crazy Mormons LOL.
I feel that monogamy is right simply because it just feels right. Having more than one spouse/mate (etc.) seems like it would just make you feel dirty. But I've never experienced a polygamous relationship so I can't say for sure.
How do you feel about monogamy?
EDIT: Secondary question: If polygamy was all of a sudden generally accepted in society (and legal) would you practice it?
I answered "other".
Polygamy is nessicary for society. Humans are more advanced than other animals as is our society, not to mention our basic capabilities. As a result we have to operate differantly.
Simply put, our population is generally split 50-50 between the genders, with things going a few percentage points in either direction at various times. When you start seeing people with multiple spouses, you wind up with those extra spouses being removed from the "pool" of availible mates and wind up with a lot of people with nobody. Not to mention putting all of the best people into the hands of a few.
Understand that even if things go cross gender, with wives having multiple husbands (which is fairly rare) it comes down to social class. The rich are going to have as many spouses as they can afford to maintain. Also, all arguements about gender equality aside, it's much easier for a man to have multiple mates (and impregnate them) than it is for a woman to have multiple husbands and bear them all children or whatever (all comments about a few of the matriarchal societies out there aside).
As a result Polygamy is going to largely lead to a large number of angry young men without an availible pool of women. Also while "unfair" and superficial, understand that the majority of attractive women are typically going to be marrying (or being married off to) the richest guys out there that can support them. This means that the women who don't wind up being married into some rich guy's Harim (not to be confused with a Harem... a Harim is where you keep your wives, a Harem is where you keep your concubines) are liable to be... less than desirable.
Over the years I've read some stuff about Polygamy and the sociological impact of it. To avoid making this rant too long, in short societies with tend to practice Polygamy wind up having a lot of problems. Wars are started by the elite to get rid of the excess men, and you see a lot of obtuse laws put into place to maintain the social order. It's been argued that a lot of the theocratic cultures out there which are also Polygamists developed their laws, doctrine, and policy largely to try and keep the population in order under these circumstances. Faith and fear of supernatural retribution can keep people in line under some rather extreme situations. Those same policies can arguably be considered contributing factors to why faith based cultures who never underwent a transition to an age of reason have not progressed like the rest of the world has.
Even in the US there have been problems in dealing with Polygamy cults.
http://www.epinions.com/content_415015014020
http://marriage.families.com/blog/defining-marriage-what-about-polygamy
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost_boys_(polygamy)
Just to show a few.
The bottom line here being that even in the US there is a problem in dealing with the results of this kind of lifestyle, because (as mentioned above) there is no way to prevent these groups from casting out the young men (so the older, wealthier men can have all the women) once they are no longer legally obligated to provide for them.
In the US we don't have to worry about some Shiek (Arabic) Or Rajah (Indian) making societal wide policy or "speaking for god" to deal with the problem, or someone starting a war to cut down the population of men. But there is still a societal effect, and while the above examples are simply an annoyance, affecting a relatively small group of people, if we saw this going on throughout the entire nation it would be catastrophic.
Thanks to those who read this far, the bottom line is that I am against Polygamy for sociological reasons. I think Monogamy is nessicary for the smooth functioning of society, and Polygamy has been a contributing factor to the decline (or lack of advancement) of many civilizations.
