Commentary on Polygamy

After reading Mel's post about polygamy I've decided to try and tackle this topic myself. For several years now I've been thinking about this topic on and off. Wouldn't it be nice if marriage wasn't so strictly defined and viewed by other people. Wouldn't it be nice if this were 17th century France when every man had a mistress and everyone in society was very well aware of it. Wouldn't it be nice if we turned this over and every woman had a mister (ok, what word am I looking for?) and everyone in society would be well aware and it'd be seen as normal.

We seem to have progressed from the bible days when polygamy was common. Sometimes we define progress as good and sometimes we define it as bad. Today society considers progress from polygamy to monogamy as a good thing, but I'm not too certain of it myself.

All these divorces? Wouldn't a lot of them be resolved if society didn't think so highly of monogamy? Wouldn't a lot of divorces just end in a fun extended family in a polygamous environment? Isn't that how differences between couples were resolved in the bible era?

Instead, we're raised to believe that anything outside the marriage is bad and evil. We're raised to think it is morally wrong. We're raised to standards imposed by a modern society.

Sure this works great for those who are religious and are comfortable with sticking to strict rules. But there are those of us who don't care much for rules, especially if they are solely moral rules that do not harm any other human being.

Personally, I'd love to have a second man around the house. Sure, I may not put my 100% into feeling love for both of them, but isn't that the case when a mother has two kids or more? Do we really always need 100% of someone's love and attention? Can we not just live with getting 50% from two people? And truly, does a mother really give only 50% to each of her two children???

I asked my husband what he thought of the subject, but apparently I caught him at a bad time to compose a thoughtful answer other than - "Does that mean I can bring in another woman?" While I was perfectly fine with it, he didn't seem too thrilled about me bringing another man into our house. His claim, "too much competition." I can see why the competitive nature of men would make it more difficult for them to share the same woman. But it sure would be nice if I could have two men in my life without neither of them worried about where they stand with me.

I can love two. I can care about two. So why can't I share a life with two?

Admittedly, this isn't the deep thinking post I could write about this topic, nor is it a double-sided post where I also think about the negative things of polygamy. Maybe because I don't WANT to know the negative and only care about what makes me happy?

I stress, like Mel, that this is my own opinion and in no way do I judge anyone from any belief system, religion or culture. To each his own.