by Mark Niwot

Created on: November 18, 2009   Last Updated: November 19, 2009

Should polygyny be legalized?

There is nothing to "legalize", at least so far as those who can read the Bill of Rights (First Amendment) are concerned, or for those who understand that God ordained marriage, and not government. Our own Declaration of Independence affirms that the proper function of government is to "secure these Rights" granted by our Creator, not criminalize them.

In particular, then, those who claim to care about what the Author of Liberty, and also the Author of the Bible, has to say about the issue should study both His Law and our own 'supreme law' carefully! Since our national government is prohibited from "preventing the free exercise" of one's faith, even those who do not share a belief in the Bible must recognize that the case for polygyny is very real, and very consistent. It is a well-accepted legal principle that statutes in violation of higher law, either the Constitution or God's, are "null and void". Finally, it is important to understand that ALL of the principles of our own common law, the early letters of the Committees of Correspondence, and the debates preceding the battle for independence and the later ratification of the Constitution, accept without question the premise that man's law must be in harmony with the principles of the Bible.

Some people by this point have probably noted that the correct word, "polygyny", has been carefully used in this essay rather than the more general term, "polygamy". This is because, whether one "understands His plan" or not, and whether others even agree or not, a man may have more than one marriage Covenant according to the Bible, but a woman may not. (The proper term for the Biblically-prohibited practice of multiple husbands is "polyandry".) Even the most superficial reading of the myriad comments in the Bible concerning marriage makes this point undeniable - whether it fits modern "politically-correct" sentiment or not.

A proper study of the many references, examples, ordinances, and even practical guidelines in the Bible that allow or specify polygyny would require an entire book, and not merely a short essay, to examine. Only a few, however, should make the issue quite clear. Certainly the multiple wives of the patriarchs (Abraham and Jacob, most obviously, but also many others, such as Gideon) make it clear that God never prohibited polygyny, and He also said, "I change not".

King David was called by the Bible "a man after God's own heart", and - in spite of being sharply criticized

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