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polygamy

With all they hype in the news over the polygamy raid in TX, it's brought back to my mind conversations from summer '93. I spent six weeks in Ivory Coast, West Africa, studying how to learn the inner-workings of a different society, as well as the many conflicts Christianity creates when introduced to a non-believing people group. One of the many controversial subjects was polygamy.

Polygamy is common among tribal societies. But what happens once a polygamist accepts Christ? To many of the African believers, they saw themselves as Abraham, David, and others: they took multiple wives to satisfy themselves, and not out of God's perfect plan. Yet God never commanded the multiple wives to be put away. My African brothers and sisters were absolutely mortified by America's concept of divorce. In their mindset, even if they never slept with wife 2, or 3, they provided for her and her children until her dying day, both emotionally and materially. How can someone make a commitment and not keep it?

And that leads me to ponder the "abhorrence" our media has toward polygamy. Why is it socially acceptable for a man to have a mistress/fiancee or sleep around, yet so terrible to have more than one wife? He's providing for all of them, and not abandoning them or lying to them. Granted, the issue of abuse and choice make a world of difference in this argument, but if the women choose polygamy and there's no abuse, I can't see how that is so much worse than how so many people choose to live in our society.

Now, should Bobby decide to take a second wife...our little joke of us being turtle food for that monstrous snapping turtle in the pond might cease being a joke.

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