tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1237087217187172116.post1301122182026855123..comments2024-03-28T10:44:30.518-06:00Comments on American Creation: U.S. Presidents and the MormonsBrad Harthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17669677047039491864noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1237087217187172116.post-79589467351424307752009-11-20T13:22:50.500-07:002009-11-20T13:22:50.500-07:00No, I'm not willing to go there either---we...No, I'm not willing to go there either---we've seen what happens. There will be blood.<br /><br />But when contemporary issues are injected, polygamy would make for a good "control" in the thought experiment.Tom Van Dykehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07121072404143877596noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1237087217187172116.post-59995684539961584132009-11-20T11:09:06.967-07:002009-11-20T11:09:06.967-07:00I agree. Polygamy is an interesting "lab stu...I agree. Polygamy is an interesting "lab study" of sorts that could be applied (but I'm not willing to go there) to a lot of current issues.<br /><br />Thanks for the Augustine link. Very interesting.Brad Harthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17669677047039491864noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1237087217187172116.post-11510113085690206762009-11-19T20:38:44.833-07:002009-11-19T20:38:44.833-07:00Polygamy could be an interesting device to examine...Polygamy could be an interesting device to examine contemporary issues at arm's length, since the issue itself isn't very controversial, and the using the device in thought experiments could yield more light than heat.<br /><br />It has a certain Christian connotation, dating chiefly back to St. Augustine, then Christian practice, then the Justinian Code.<br /><br /><i>In the Christian tradition, a "one man one woman" model for the Christian marriage was advocated by Saint Augustine (354-439 AD) with his published letter The Good of Marriage. To discourage polygamy, he wrote it "was lawful among the ancient fathers: whether it be lawful now also, I would not hastily pronounce. For there is not now necessity of begetting children, as there then was, when, even when wives bear children, it was allowed, in order to a more numerous posterity, to marry other wives in addition, which now is certainly not lawful." (chapter 15, paragraph 17) Sermons from St. Augustine's letters were popular and influential. In 534 AD Roman Emperor Justinian criminalized all but monogamous man/woman sex within the confines of marriage. The Justinian Code was the basis of European law for 1,000 years.</i><br /><br />..if we can take Wiki's word for it.<br /><br />http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Types_of_marriages#Christian_acceptance_of_monogamy<br /><br /><br />However, regardless of its religious implications, there's no question it became part of the Western culture, an example, if you will, of a cultural Christianity, a cultural prejudice in favor of one mode of marriage over another.<br /><br />Yet it would be difficult [but possible, I suppose] to make a natural law case for monogamy, or any other kind of case to the exclusion of other modes/conventions.<br /><br />Still, as noted, that monogamy is the law of the land isn't very controversial even today. How it was dealt with by the republic in the early days of Mormonism provides good fodder for thought.Tom Van Dykehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07121072404143877596noreply@blogger.com