Gee, great minds think alike. And so do ours. (?)
I used to think a harem would be fun too. But now that I have a wife and 4
daughters, the thought of yet another woman around the house, well, just
isn't the same anymore.....
I guess the alternative would be to have another husband around the house,
which of course, I find unacceptable, but I guess that's my carnal nature
coming through. This ties into the curious question of why polygyny
(multiple wives) is much more common than polyandry (multiple husbands).
I'd say masculine jealousy is one factor.
Interestly, there was a Christian sect in New York state about 100-150 years
ago that practiced "complex marriage"--basically, a communal group marriage
where all the men were married to all the women (Presumably, only
heterosexual relations). It eventually fell apart because people wanted to
(selfishly) pair off into exclusive relationships. I really don't know
anything else about the sect, or how they justified it scripturally, or
(even more interestly) how in the world they dealt with basic human
psychology (i.e., jealousy & such).
It might be safe to say that polyandry & polygyny are stable patterns under
some socio-economic circumstances and under some unique combinations of
individual personalities, but that monogamy is most stable under the
broadest circumstances. Group marriages would tend to break apart into
pairs. But that's not an answer based on scripture.
Actually, my wife did give me permission to have a second wife, but only if
she had me exclusively for the evenings & weekends. (I guess I could have
lunch with wife #2.) ;-)
Grace & peace,
Dennis Sweitzer
----------
From: PMJAQUA
To: asa
Subject: Re: 'monogamous' rels.
Date: Wednesday, August 14, 1996 3:44PM
Bravo Dennis!!
I too have always thought a harem could be quite useful, not to
mention fun. Darn that government for getting in the way of my pursuit of
happiness again.
Mike Jaqua
_________________________________
Subject: RE: 'monogamous' rels.
Author: "Sweitzer; Dennis" <SWEITD01@imsint.com> at INTERNET
Date: 8/14/96 2:52 PM
Speaking of relationships.
There's a lovely girl at church who my kids adore & we get along with well.
What if my wife agrees to have another wife around the house? With 4 kids,
it'd be a big help, and a 2nd income would be handy. Does anyone on the
list server have a scriptural problem with that?
There is an irony in the recent discussion of Monogamy,and homosexual
relations.
We find clear prohibition of homosexuality the old testament and apparent
condemnation of homosexual acts in the New Testament, and yet some of us
argue that the important thing for a sexual relationship is that it occur in
monogamy.
We find no prohibition of polygamy in the Old Testament, and limited
prohibition of it in the New Testament, yet there seems to be the assumption
that monogamy is the explicit norm.
I have to point out that many OT folks were polygamists, and there it seems
to be accepted as normal throughout the OT. In the NT, pastors were to be
the husbands of one wife, but that's about all that's said. Scripturally, I
can't make a case against polygamy, other than by example. (Of course, it's
also illegal, but that's Federal/State law). Maybe someone else can.
Dennis Sweitzer
(cohabitating with 5 females. )
(But happily married to 1 & only 1 woman.)
(4 daughters!)