THBT Polygamy Should be legalized

Prime Minister

For most of us, we have always been taught from a young age that a normal relationship
should be between two people only. Anything beyond that is no longer considered
healthy. That is what we call Polygamy. Polygamy is the practice of having two or more
partners, whether sexually or not. There are two kinds of polygamy: polygyny (a man
having an affair with more than one woman) and polyandry (a woman in a relationship
with more than one man). Although such state is shunned by many, it has existed for
thousands of years now in various cultures around the world. As more and more types of
marriages start being accepted around the world, we start to question whether others
should be accepted too. Polygamous marriages are accepted in quite a few areas, but
also clearly condemned in the other remaining areas. But we the government want to
legalise Polygamous marriages in all areas because it's a person's right to decide who
he wants to marry, and that people who already practise polygamous marriages should
have the opportunity to celebrate their traditions in other countries, also as we publicise
polygamous marriages we start to be more aware of the problems it causes in society
and we can solve it. We are not saying it is better than the monogamy system or that
everyone should practise polygamy, we just want to give people the choice.It should be
noted that many of the organisations in favour of polygyny particularly, faith-based
groups are explicitly against polyandry. This topic will present the merits of both, but
will consider the roots of that division.

One of the main reasons why we wish to legalize Polygamy is the fact that People
should have a freedom of Choice.
The law should recognise freedom of choice. If somebody wants to marry more than one
person, and all parties involved agree, then the state should not get involved. We have a
right to privacy, and a right to non-interference in our family life. These are not absolute
rights, but they are important: breach of them needs to be contemplated with extreme
care and is not merited here. This is particularly important because some religious sects,
Like Islam, for instance, promote polygamy. It is explicitly stated in the Holy book of
Quran in Surret-Al-Nissa', that Polygyny is sort of promoted in Islam, so banning it also
impinges on freedom of religion.

Refutation: In most cases, some of the partners involved in polygamy will not
have true freedom of choice. Presumably, one of the partners will be proposing
the addition of another person to the marriage; the first partner may well not truly
desire this, but feel unable to refuse. This could particularly be a problem in
religious groups that are happy for men to marry many women, but deny women
the same freedom. As Quoted by Daphne Bramham; Author of the book: The
Secret Lives of Saints: Child Brides and Lost Boys in Canada's Polygamous
Mormon Sect,: "Within that particular group, those women have absolutely no
choice. They are separated from the mainstream community."
Whilst a law that allowed polygamy might give a handful of people more freedom,
it would actually deny it to many others. It was also stated by the Prime minister
that Islam Promotes Polygamy, in all actually, Islam Promotes Polygamy on the
grounds that the first wife is okay with the whole issue, and if both, the current
and future wife have the same rights and freedoms.

My Next point would further explore is that humans could actually love more than one
person. The idea that the individual can only truly love one person is artificial and false, a
product of a particular time, place and culture. In fact, in a study conducted by Goerge P.
Murdock, on human societies worldwide, of 1231 societies noted, only 186 were entirely
monogamous1. Polygamy is not about freedom to fornicate with anyone; it's about
cementing relationships with individuals one wants to spend the rest of one's life with,
just as in monogamous marriages. It also happens to reduce adultary. Polygamy is
basically getting into a legal relationship with more than one person, if this is case, then
Adulty would pretty much be Non-existant.

Refutation:Marriage is about devotion to another, the giving of oneself wholly to

that person, granting love to them to the exclusion of all others. How could one
have such a relationship with more than one person? It's not possible to devote
yourself entirely to more than one person. Polygamy therefore necessarily
involves the exploitation of at least one party - and the denigration of the
relationship that exists between the others.

My third and final point, is the fact that Polygamy gives us an opportunity to choose the
right person, Clarifying, The ability to marry people who are already married presents us
with the chance to take partners that have already proven themselves in society as
responsible parents and providers - that is, to reduce the risk in marriage. It also means
that one doesn't have to settle for those "left over"; you can marry the person you want,
not just the person that's left. Very few countries have exactly the same number of males
and females; in the UAE, there are 2.2 males per female, but in Estonia, there are only
0.84 males per female1. This means that monogamy restricts options significantly.

Refutation: The idea of taking an established partner simply because of their

status is anathema in the modern age it implies that income determines
suitability as partner, and suggests that the partner concerned will forever be
dominant in the relationship. That logic would see CEOs with 10 wives and
unemployed people with none - hardly supportive of the everyone should be able
to marry model this proposition argument supports. Furthermore, it is difficult to
decipher statistics like these. Many people dont want to marry. Certainly, not
everyone wants to marry at once, which would be needed for statistics on total
population to be of any use.

Points that Could Be Refuted (Government)

A threat to the family unit?:

A family unit is not undermined simply by the addition of extra parental figures. All
providers, regardless of number, can play a role in the home and in the family. Partners
of the same sex in a polygamous relationship, usually women, develop a bond that is
stronger than friendship, since they share the common goal of making the same man
happy; this plays a critical role in forming a stable polygamous marriage. We see many
issues in some monogamous marriages, such as unbalanced family roles between
husband and wife and between siblings. It can be established that there are good
polygamous marriages and bad polygamous marriages, just like there are good
monogamous marriages and bad monogamous marriages. It can be ascertained that a
good polygamous marriage is certainly more stable than a bad monogamous marriage.

One love?:
The concept that a person is only meant to be "in true love" with a single individual is
false. This idea was formed through a specific culture (at a specific time and place) and
has been adapted into our modern society. We forget, however, that many societies
before us had accepted polygamous marriage. We must remember that this was not
done so due to promiscuity, but rather a powerful desire to spend the rest of one's life
with certain individuals, just like in a monogamous marriage.

Opposition Leader:
-According to the UN or united nations, Statistical Division, there are 57 million more
men than women. If a man takes more than one wife, he's tipping an already over-tipped
scale. If we happen to encourage it more by legalizing Polygamy, there might be not
enough woman for the increasing amount of men.

With that being Said, let's start first by reassessing what the Prime minister just said.
(Refutations)

-In the Various Societies that already recognize and deal with Polygamy, and in
particular, Polygyny a huge percentage of the reason of its occurrence is because the
Wife happens to be infertile. This promotes the idea that a Woman's role in the society is
a birth Machine and that she's reduced to an object that's primarily used for pregnancy.
Such cases also set the ground for abuse, on the female part. It is also a good place to
point out that since the pure intention of Polygamy sometimes, is to give birth to
Children, legalizing it would mean more and more children added to the ever-growing
population of the world, not to mention, more and more strain on the already over-
strained resources of many countries,
Now, to start off, Let me take you through a brief of what point I shall be tackling today. I
will be talking about
To start off, my first point, is the fact that Monogamy preserves the true meaning and
unity of marriage. Polygamy undermines the institution of marriage, trivializing the union
of two people: imagine the competition to be married to the most partners, or to live in
the largest family. This sends all the wrong messages to society as we attempt reinstitute
the stable family as the ideal place to live and bring up our young. It inflicts harm to
children, who - even if they know their parentage - are presented with confusing signals
about role models and family life. Many studies have made sure that there is a close
relationship between polygamy and psychological problems among children and women
inside polygamous families. According to a Jordanian study it was stressed that
polygamy affected rate of drop in school among children, escalated addiction of alcohol,
juvenile delinquency as well as causing to low self-esteem. This basically confirms the
ever-growing harmful effects Polygamy has on Children who are raised with Polygamous
marriages.
Refutation: The whole point of this debate is that marriage does not have to just
be between two individuals. This simply redefines marriage rather than trivializing
it. There is not currently competition to have most children so why should there
be competition to have most wives? Furthermore, this point comes from a very
limited perspective; if polygamy is seen as acceptable, there is no reason why
children should be confused, and they may well have a better family life as it is
more likely that there will be a parent around for them.

My Next point is going to stress upon the numerous harmful social effects polygamy
inflicts on the people involved. It has been highlighted that Women in Polygamous
marriages are more likely to suffer from low self-esteem and depression and
unsurprisingly have lower marital satisfaction as a result of not being the centre of
affections of their spouse. Now according to a study conducted by a professor called Al-
Sherbiny, in 2002, he confirmed that the first wife is affected with psychologically in
polygamous marriage and hence they are vulnerable to visit mental health centers.
There are also higher risks of being infected by sexually transmitted diseases. A study in
Nigeria conducted by a professor in Biology from Nigeria, found that men with 3 or more
wives had twice the risk of extramarital sex compared to monogamous men "indicate a
link between high-risk sex, number of wives, and risk of HIV/AIDS." Among these other
problems increasing the number of marriage mixes greatly enhances the chances of
inadvertent incest, especially in relatively remote, inward-looking villages and small
towns where generations of people live in the same area and are unlikely to move -
exactly the kind of places most likely to take up polygamy if allowed to.

Refutation: Incest is a possibility in any society, particularly one in which families

frequently break up. In fact, compared to modern society it's arguably less likely
amongst polygamous families, which tend by virtue of their adherence to religious
requirements to keep strict records of lineage - unlike most in modern life.

The third and final point Ill be discussing is that Other Terrible practices most likely
accompany polygamy. Where polygamy is found, a wealth of other offences follows.
Forced marriage, child abuse, rape, welfare fraud, incest - all staples of the polygamous
communities in the USA, along with the broader exploitation of women. The same
supply-and-demand forces that drive the economy ensure women are worse off in
societies where polygamy is practiced that was a quote that a professor testified with at
a landmark court case examining Canada's ban on multiple marriages. Shoshana
Grossbard, a professor at San Diego State University Grossbard whose primary
research has focused on polygamous cultures in Africa., was quoted saying "In the
cultures and societies worldwide that have embraced it, polygamy is associated with
undesirable economic, societal, physical, psychological and emotional factors related
especially to women's well-being,"
polygamy is associated with teenage brides, arranged and forced marriages, payments
to brides' fathers, little emphasis on "romantic" love and poor access to education or the
workforce all designed to restrict women's ability to choose whom they marry.
"The men in polygamous societies want these institutions to help them control women,"
Other unintended consequences of polygamy include jealousy among plural wives and
psychological or health problems, she told the court.
While Grossbard acknowledged it's difficult to attribute any single issue to polygamy, the
fact so many of these problems consistently appear in polygamous societies and at
much higher rates than in monogamous ones suggests they are caused by polygamy.
Another thing that she was quotes sauing "I conclude that polygamy actually causes
some of these institutions to be created," she said.
"The fact that so many of them are present in cultures that also have polygamy, my
conclusion is that men in polygamous societies will manipulate the social institutions in
ways that will facilitate their control of women."

Refutation: This is a cheap slur. Polygamy doesn't necessarily create other

offences, and once legalized those other offences, if they occurred, would simply
be prosecuted as the law demands. You can't say something should be illegal
because there's a theoretical link to other illegal things. Forced marriage is an
issue as much in other communities, such as for those of Indian origin practicing
monogamous marriages, as it is for those that wish to practice polygamy. We
agree that society needs to decide how it wants to deal with that offence with
regard to its minorities: such a dilemma is entirely separate from allowing
polygamy or not, in which forced marriage remains wrong.

Other Points:

(Government):
Polygamy makes having a family Easier:
More providers can make great contributions to the home. It makes the family unit more
efficient, as more people can pursue careers and bring in money, but due to economies
of scale, less additional money will be needed for each additional partner. For example,
it is cheaper to cook in large quantities than if each person were cooking individually.
Similarly, additional people in the house wont need another kitchen or necessarily
another bathroom, so therefore its cheaper to live in groups particularly groups with
multiple incomes. In addition, there is more likely to be a person staying at home, which
saves on childcare. While it will not always be the case there are many ways in which
living in groups can be more economical.

Refutation: Just because something is economically efficient, it isn't necessarily

better. The idea that one of the best reasons for marrying an additional person is
because it will cost less in the long run completely undermines the ideals of love
that marriages are based on. Furthermore, in many societies where men can have
multiple wives, it is actually expensive, as the man is expected to provide for
everybody as well as pay dowries, so it is economically unsound1. If there are
extra adult incomes, they must be shared amongst the extra adults, and often get
soaked up in the high number of children polygamous relationships tend to
produce.

(Opposition):
Polygamy is Logistically Complicated.
There are many questions as to what legal polygamy would look like. How many extra
partners can one have? Are line marriages legal? Will one village be able to marry
another village? Without restrictions, that sort of thing will happen sometimes. Either
way, the proposition loses: if restrictions are imposed - say, only one extra partner - then
why that number only? If not, then imagine the consequences of a contested estate or
bitter divorce.

Refutation: Why impose numerical restrictions at all? It is obviously easy to poke

fun at the lives of others who choose to live in this way. But once we agree that it
is acceptable, it is difficult to logically impose restrictions that would be, by
necessity, arbitrary. More sensible might be a transfer of the idea held by the
Muslim faith - that partners are able to provide for one another adequately. It is
true that this practical point is difficult for the proposition to answer, but the
opposition also has practical stumbling blocks. How exactly should we police
polygamy? Should polygamists be imprisoned? This is difficult, especially when
children are involved. This is a debate about principles - throwing up absurd
practicalities cuts both ways.

The third and final point that Ill be discussing is that Polygamy creates a hierarchy.
Hierarchy within a family structure will emerge, with a 'head wife' dominating over her
rivals: this is at the root of religious polygamy, being seen in Sarah's domination over
Abraham's other wives in the Bible. The attempts by the man in polygamous marriages
to dominate and control the wives encourages and institutionalizes the very thing that
leads to the break-up of the majority of family units - namely, jealousy, violence and
sexual encounters with others.

Refutation: Hierarchies also exist in monogamous families - between husband and

wife, between siblings. That they similarly have the capacity to exist in
polygamous marriages isn't a true argument against such unions, capable as they
are of producing stable homes, just as monogamous marriages do. Some
marriages are good, some bad - that's true of both monogamy and polygamy. For
those involved, a good polygamous marriage is better than a bad monogamous
one.