What do atheists think of polygamy?

[Foolish_Fool]

I can see it working. I can see it failing. Overall I think it would be harder to maintain than a two person relationship.

I don't see a reason to outlaw it because it's bad for the partners or children. If we were to outlaw relationships on such grounds then we would have to outlaw single mothers, long distance relationships, etc, because it is not an "ideal" enviroment for children. Which is just stupid, because some single moms do better than alot of two parent houses. Good polygamists could make it work. Life is rarely ideal, but with a little extra effort you can always make it work.

 

[HumanisticJones]

My partner and I are both personally not that into the idea of polygamy. For us it really has allot to do with personal observations and a general discomfort with it. But let us see what atheism has to say about it...

Atheism what do you say about polygamy?
"I don't see how that's related to not holding a belief in a deity."

Given that atheism isn't really a moral code, I doubt you'll get the same answer from every atheist, and if you did, probably not for the same reasons. As a humanist, I feel that if the polygamous relationship is not harmful to all parties involved both physically and emotionally, and that it brings happiness to all parties involved, then it is a good thing for those people.

 

[DrFate]

nt.

Its cheaper because the guys can share expenses. Oh wait, that is Polyandria.

 

[Shemjaza]

I don't recall her saying that it was "fundamentally bad" for children -- just that there were significant dangers. But your point is well taken. There do exist examples of reasonably successful polygamous families.

I apologise for getting angry. I was upset by the comments and implications of these quotes.

The problem with legalized polygamy is that it causes a huge problem if one spouse dies or divorces from the "family". How would the assets be divided? Who would get custody of the children? It's a big enough mess when two people go through this, can you imagine three or more? And what about the children? Having to live a secret life out of fear and shame? What about people who already practice polygamy in secret and the wives share the children and the husband hops from bed to bed every night of the week? These kids never know who is more important in the family or who is the favorite. You want to practice polygamy? Fine, but leave kids out of it. They don't deserve that sort of life.

Like I said, there can't be any of this, "I can do what I want and as long as it feels right it's no one's business...not even the government's!" when there are children involved. When there aren't any kids in the picture, hey, whatever floats your boat make it sail, babe. But when children are involved, that's when the "I'll do whatever I want" era ends. At that point it becomes about how will this affect the children and I don't care how well the parties seem to get along, polygamy in a civilized society will always be difficult for the children.

 

[ElloDarwin]

Hello,

"What do atheists think of poligamy?"

What an odd question!

Would anyone expect a common stance on any given issue from say,those who don't believe in the Loch Ness monster?

Atheism isn't a religion,therefore there is no common, binding influence.



For the record,I have no interest in poligamy.


Ello

 

[Romanseight2005]

I have two classmates who both bought Paris Hilton's dance album. One has dropped out of school, and the other just failed an important Chem exam.

This shows that obviously, Paris Hilton should be imprisoned.

Didn't she recently go to prison? Now I know why!

 

[Jane_the_Bane]

Paris Hilton is evil. No, wait: it takes a certain degree of intellectual awareness to be evil.
So, Paris Hilton is... a force of nature?

 

[Diavolos]

Answer from an atheist here...

The institute of marriage has not caught up with the rapid pace of paradigm shifts in how society regards its members (at least here in the U.S., which I am most familiar with) . Women are freed, so to speak, from the ancient vicegrip of arranged marriage and male dominance, and the subsequent changes that have followed in the wake of all these changes has caused divorce rates to skyrocket, among other things. How we look at marriage overrall needs a lot of reflection.

Regarding polygamy, I'll echo the views of others, that as long as everyone consents and is happy with the arrangement, I see no ethical conflict. However, I find the likelihood of this situation arising to be rather unlikely, and the risk of discontent arising later into the relationships to likely be higher than among monogamous couples, thus, I would probably caution against it.

Regarding the person who wondered where atheists get their morality from, this question is readily answered - go to Richard Dawkins' website and ask in the forums, and I'm sure you'll get plenty of responses.

Essentially, atheists get their morals from the same places you do, and I don't think Christians or religious folks have any special claim to morality at all. They assent or disregard the moral precepts of their holy texts with regard to society around them and the norms of the day, and thus I regard religion as simply a codifying force of moral opinions already held, not their source. Furthermore, there is much to say about our innate "moral sense" - evolved altruism and our psychology playing a major role in that, such that our evolution plays a major factor in why we are apparently "moral". Evolution explains our behavior much more thoroughly than religion, which offers commands, not an explanation (for instance, psychology and biology provides good explanations of why we do not ALWAYS do what is "good") ; and it is through reason and philosophy that we can reliably derive effective, practical, provisional moral codes.

That Buddhism, Jainism, Epicureanism, and other nontheistic philosophies with their own moral codes have existed for hundreds and in some cases a few thousand years flies in the face of any claim that atheists "cannot" be moral, which is a patently absurd position. Clearly we are, and what baffles me more is that some theists can't seem to understand how, lacking God, one could be moral. That's a funny idea; atheists certainly aren't unable to understand why theists can be moral.