On marriage.

With Andrew's upcoming nuptials I've been thinking about the institution of marriage. Recently Congress has turned down a constitutional amendment that would bar same sex marriage. The argument for the resolution mainly concerned protecting the institution of man-woman loving.

Now I believe marriage nowadays is a modern concept as throughout history it was mainly a property arrangement. If you take the argument that our conception of marriage is a tried and tested one that needs to be protected, then shouldn't we allow polygamy? I mean really the practice of plural wives has been around a lot longer than our monogamous commitments, so what's the issue with them?

I can live with numerous women, have sex with them, breed, and share property and the law could say nothing about it. There may be common law issues depending on the state, but if I married them I would suddenly be a criminal.

I don't understand the practice of polygamy nor would I want to even try, but Republicans shouldn't use the argument of protecting age old institutions when in fact a lot of those practices would frighten most people with a sensitive constitution.

If you haven't seen the Tom Hanks produced "Big Love" yet check it out. It's actually a really good show.

"The aura of the theocratic death penalty for adultery still clings to America, even outside New England, and multiple divorce, which looks to the European like serial polygamy, is the moral solution to the problem of the itch." - Anthony Burgess