Over the weekend, a group of Utah teenagers held a pro-polygamy rally:
"Because of our beliefs, many of our people have been incarcerated and had their basic human rights stripped of them, namely life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness," said a 19-year-old identified only as Tyler. "I didn't come here today to ask for your permission to live my beliefs. I shouldn't have to."
Polygamy is banned in the Utah Constitution and is a felony offense. The rally was unusual because those who practice polygamy typically try to live under the radar.
It drew about 250 supporters to City Hall, said Mary Batchelor, co-founder of Principle Voices of Polygamy, which helped organize the event.
Polygamy's image moved further along on its path to refurbishment ... The AP made sure to note that the crowd was dressed mostly in flip-flops and blue jeans, that they spoke on cellphones and played loud music, and that many of them stressed that their home lives had not included "abuse, neglect [or] forced marriages."
My comment:
Why should anyone care how anyone else lives his or her personal life, especially if it's a religious choice? I understand Utah's history and why polygamy is a felony there; it's the only way they could get into the United States in the 19th Century. But this is the 21st Century.
Increasingly I am coming to believe that the government should not be in the marriage business. If people want to be recognized in a religious partnership in whatever configuration among consenting adults, it's their business and their religion's business. If people want to be recognized in a secular partnership, then it's the state's business. But it should not be called marriage, and I'm increasingly beginning to believe that civil partnerships should not have any special benefits attached to them. It's not fair and it's not right, and I say this as a legally married woman.
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And two thoughts: If the government got out of the marriage business, where would that put welfare checks for those families? Secondly, hard cases don't make good law; for every example like the ones you cite, I wonder how many more responsible families there are?
