Polygamy: A Controversial Practice in Abrahamic Religions - Essay Sample

Introduction

Polygamy has been a contentious topic in the Abrahamic and other religions worldwide. The term polygamous union originates from plural marriage, which is a marital practice where a spouse is married to someone else. Therefore, polygamy is the practice of getting engaged to more than one partner at the same time. Based on traditional norms, men would marry more than one wife based on their wealth and ability to sustain their families (Copeland 1). However, Christianity has been on the forefront to condemn polygamy despite several biblical readings suggesting that practice was common in the Old Testament and has continued to be practiced in contemporary society. From the reading Polygamy's True Role in Islam, Christianity, and Judaism, the extent polygamy has advanced in the Christianity religion emerges as a prevalent theme. Like other Abrahamic religions, Christianity does not provide any explicit prohibition to plural marriages, which has resulted in unceasing debates over the polygamous acts in this religion.

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The proponents for polygamy have been pointing out several people who had more than one wife including Moses, Abraham, Gideon, and Jacob, but who have been presumably considered as God's men. Likewise, there are also occasions where the practice of marrying more than one wife has been cited and approved in the Bible and this includes the Mosaic Laws (Copeland 3). On the other hand, the antagonists to the practice also quote several readings in the Bible suggesting that monogamy was a clear intention of the creator and that He did not initiate polygamy. As a result, people have been probing the true role of polygamy in Christianity and have come up with diverse views regarding the practice even though a considerable number of Christians are in support of monogamy.

In most societies, religions are the primary sources of moral values and are expected to provide guidelines on some of the prevailing issues that might be controversial. For instance, since Abrahamic religions have the highest numbers of followers in most regions in the world, they are expected to give guidance on marriage values. However, when it comes to the issue of polygamy they have not resolved the issue because of the lack of explicit codes that would prohibit or encourage the practice. As a result, polygamy is neither mandatory nor encouraged in Abrahamic religion giving an opportunity for people to make a decision on their own on whether to engage in the practice. Based on those that have been advocating for the practice, polygamy would be the best solution to certain occurrences rather than divorcing or getting into dishonesty in marriage. In fact, this a view that has been adopted even by most Christians who tend to discourage hypocritical pretense of morality by considering polygamy as a solution to some problems such as bareness.

For those in support of polygamy, they believe that the Old Testament is an important part of Christian faith and cannot be discarded. In fact, in the New Testament, they quote Jesus saying that He did not come to destroy the laws or prophesies but to fulfill them. Even those against polygamy cannot deny these facts and they acknowledge the entire Bible as their principal guide. Therefore, although New Testament takes up monogamy as the norm of marriage, it does not proscribe polygamy. As a result, even Jesus and the kings during the early Christian era did not prohibit or oppose polygamy in their areas of jurisdiction. For instance, from the readings Abraham has been termed as a perfect Christian even though he had more than one wife. Therefore, Christians do not condemn him for his polygamous acts because of the prevailing conditions that made him look for a second wife. Similar conditions have also been quoted by advocates for polygamy as some of the factors that polygamy should stand to be a legit practice in Christianity.

By comparing diverse views on polygamy from the Abrahamic religion, one can assume that the practice remains unrestricted although it is not encouraged. For instance, the Judaism religion feels that if polygamy was immoral then Abraham, David, Jacob, Solomon, and Judges would not have been considered as God's chosen messengers. Likewise, in Islamic religion polygamy was allowed after the battle of Uhud, which left so many orphans and widows (Copeland 6). The Islamic Law allowed men to marry more than one wife only if the man would manage to take the consequent responsibilities for providing unto widows and orphans left behind. In this case, for a man to marry more than one wife the decision is made at a personal level and he must be in a position to resolve the challenges that come with the new responsibility. Most of these views are in line with the Christian standpoint that does not encourage polygamy but on the other side have not prohibited the practice due to its own merits in regards to changing conditions in the society.

From the other readings, polygamy still evokes fascinating and revulsion views. For instance, in the reading, is Polygamy really so awful, they are several occasions that the practice has been advocated and others where it is condemned. However, wealth, as well as the ability to sustain more than one wife and their children, remains a primary consideration for Christians. In most cases, sufferings in polygamous marriages are evident among women and children, which has resulted in most people discouraging the act. In most cases, gender inequality becomes a predominant issue where only men are expected to marry more than one wife but women are condemned from being engaged to more than one man. Christianity has brought about some sanity on the polygamous issue by encouraging people to practice monogamy and the practice has succeeded in most parts of Europe. Nevertheless, people feel that these should not be the mandatory Christian norm because it may have succeeded in Europe but it might fair in other cultures based on social evolution.

The enduring controversies on polygamy in Abrahamic religions have attracted several parties to carry out their research on the role of polygamy in Christianity and other religions. For example, Americans have witnessed the positive and adverse effects of polygamy. They are numerous instances that polygamous practices have been perceived as the best solution to marriage wrangles and demanding situations. Chloe Sevigny and Dr. Martha Hughes Cannon are some of the females that have proved that plural marriages are beneficial to women. Contrary, some individuals such as Warren Jeffs, a fundamentalist Mormon leader, and Osama Bin Laden have tainted polygamous marriages negatively for marrying underage wives. Therefore, despite some Americans supporting the plural marriages a number of them also condemn the evils associated with it among some individualistic persons.

According to research carried out by cultural anthropologist Joe Henrich and colleagues, women are mainly the victims of polygamous practices but young and low-status men have been suffering on equal measures. For instance the elder and wealthy people have been hoarding women denying young generation men a chance to marry their equals, which have resulted in social problems. In this case, Henrich found that monogamy has been reducing crime rate by reducing the number of unmarried men who would have engaged in rape, murders theft, and drug abuse. The evils linked with unmarried men are as a result of failure to invest in families and their children. They are those who have also been going willing to engage in crime to make quick money just to attract women for a hand in marriage. By taking into consideration some of these hardships subjected to young men willing to marry, Christianity would not support polygamy which would work for the benefit of the society.

Stephanie Coontz, a marriage historian also suggests that polygamy practices are about power (Parson 2). For instance, a wealthy guy would have an added advantage over other men in that he has several women to assist in the household and bear babies for him. Eventually, when he needed assistance he would be assured of getting it from either of the wives or their children. The same perception has been endorsed by feminists and Robert H. Frank, an economist who feels that women have a lot to benefit from polygamous marriages (Parson 2). In fact, Dr. Martha Hughes Cannon believes that polygamy acts for the good of the modern American career woman. Therefore, despite some cases where women have suffered in the hands of evil men, polygamy should be considered as an empowering lifestyle for women.

Conclusion

In conclusion, in Christianity polygamy remains a perplexing issue, which is also the case in other Abrahamic religions. The issue has not been resolved due to the changing societal circumstances that may encourage or discard polygamous acts. Several people have also raised differing opinions on the issue with some focusing on the merits of allowing the practice while others have been giving the adversities of polygamy. Therefore, Christianity has been promoting monogamy but they have not provided explicit prohibition codes to polygamy due its advantages on certain societal circumstances such as barrenness.

Works Cited

Copeland, Libby. "Polygamy in Judaism and Christianity." The Religion of Islam, 9 Sept. 2014, www.islamreligion.com/articles/326/polygamy-in-judaism-and-christianity/.

Parson, Laura. "Understanding Mormon Fundamentalist Polygamy." Polygamy, Women, and Higher Education, 2018, pp. 21-36.