The ancients discovered the benefits of polygamy in order to allow leaders and heirs to create strategic allowances with more than one other group through marriage. This was when marriage was not related to love, but was essentially an economic contract. Love and sexual relationships were run on the side and so polygamy did not necessarily mean that extra-marital engagements were unknown.
Historically, polygamy was practiced in about 85% of the societies known to us. Most allowed men to marry more than one woman (polygyny) and more infrequently women were allowed more than one man (polyandry). But even in polygamous societies, only wealthier individuals could afford this so it tended not to be the norm.
Under Confucianism polygamy prospered and spread from China across Asia. The Chinese Communist Party banned it in 1949 but East Asians have increasingly been instituting the practice of “secret second wife” as their wealth has grown. This is especially popular today in Hong Kong and Macau.
Polygamy was practiced under ancient Hinduism but is now banned in Modern India under Hindu Marriage Law, although it is legal for Indian Muslims.
Polygyny was practiced in ancient Judaism, where the Torah protects the rights of women where multiple wives occur, but also required a man to marry and support a deceased brother’s widow. Polygamy was outlawed by the Rabbinic leadership in the 11th century, although in continued in Jewish societies living under Muslim rule until more recently.
Islam continues to allow polygyny, stipulating that a man can marry up to four wives. The Quran provides guidance for the fair treatment of multiple wives. Only Turkey and Bosnia-Herzegovina are Muslim majorities that have prohibited polygamy under law; most Muslim countries continue to allow it, as do counties that with Muslim minorities, despite it being illegal for other religious groups.
The Bantu people of sub-Saharan Africa have traditionally practiced polygamy – polygyny and polyandry, until their traditions came into conflict with Christian missionary teachings that spread and formed the basis of the law.
Most of what we hear about polygamy in the news today is related to various Christian fringe groups. Mainstream Christianity has outlawed polygamy following the writings of Saint Augustine. So where so the fringe movements find the justification for polygamy?
Small reform movements shoot up from time to time, seeking an antidote to all modern evils, and they circumvent much Christian doctrine by looking back to the Bible as their sole source. Basing their lifestyles on those of biblical icons such as Isaac, Jacob, Moses and David, some such groups allow polygamy, but carry out second and subsequent marriages in secret to avoid clashes with the law and public outcry.
One of the larger movements associated with polygamy is Mormonism. Founder of the Mormon Church, also called Church of the Latter Day Saints (LDS), Joseph Smith, claimed to have received a revelation from God in 1831, which allowed for men only to practice what he called “Plural Marriage”.
At first polygamy was widely practiced, but in secret. In 1852 religious leaders began to speak publicly about its existence. Mormonism, which was based in the United States, inspired the 1862 US Anti-Bigamy Act and in 1879 the US Supreme Court declared polygamy to be illegal in all US territories.
The LDS rewrote its doctrine on this matter following clashes with the law in the decades that followed. After the leadership issued an anti-polygamy Manifesto in 1904, the Mormons officially prohibited polygamy.
Mormon splinter groups continue to break away from the mainstream on the ground on wanting to practice polygamy, and they tend to be treated as an embarrassment to the Mormon Church. Although at any time there are only a handful of such breakaway sects, they tend to receive much press attention, because their insistence on illegal marriage is made even more picturesque by their tendencies towards outdated clothing and lifestyles.
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