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A. A Kentucky mountaineer fighting overseas in WW1 kept getting nagging letters from his wife back home. He was too busy fighting to write letters, even to his wife. At last, angered by his wife’s scolding letters, he sat down and wrote her: "Dear Nancy: I been a-gittin yore naggin letters all along. Now I want to tell ye, I’m tired of them. For the first time in my life I’m a-fightin in a big war, and I want to enjoy it in peace as long as it lasts."
People are attempting to redefine marriage from one man and one woman for life, and broadening the definition to include homosexuals. Once that is done, you can move to polygamy and polyandry. Next, what about removing the age restrictions, so that an adult can marry a child? Is there any place to stop?
To illustrate the ridiculous extremes to which redefinition can go, consider this caricature:
Subject: A Scene in the San Francisco Courthouse!!!
“Next." “Good morning. We want to apply for a marriage license." "Names?" Tim and Jim Jones." "Jones? Are you related? I see a resemblance." "Yes, we’re brothers." "Brothers? You can’t get married." "Why not? Aren’t you giving marriage licenses to same gender couples?"
"Yes, thousands. But we haven’t had any siblings. That’s incest!" "Incest? No, we are not gay." "Not gay? Then why do you want to get married?" "For the financial benefits, of course. And we do love each other. Besides, we don’t have any other prospects."
"But we’re issuing marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples who’ve been denied equal protection under the law. If you are not gay, you can get married to a woman." "Wait a minute. A gay man has the same right to marry a woman as I have. But just because I’m straight doesn’t mean I want to marry a woman. I want to marry Jim."
"And I want to marry Tim. Are you going to discriminate against us just because we are not gay?" "All right, all right. I’ll give you your license. Next."
"Hi. We are here to get married." "Names?" "John Smith, Jane James, Robert Green, and June Johnson." "Who wants to marry whom?" "We all want to marry each other." "But there are four of you!" "That’s right. You see, we’re all bisexual. I love Jane and Robert, Jane loves me and June, June loves Robert and Jane, and Robert loves June and me. All of us getting married together is the only way that we can express our sexual preferences in a marital relationship."
"But we’ve only been granting licenses to gay and lesbian couples." "So you’re discriminating against bisexuals!" "No, it’s just that, well, the traditional idea of marriage is that it’s just for couples." "Since when are you standing on tradition?" "Well, I mean, you have to draw the line somewhere."
"Who says? There’s no logical reason to limit marriage to couples. The more the better. Besides, we demand our rights! The mayor says the constitution guarantees equal protection under the law. Give us a marriage license!" "All right, all right. Next."
"Hello, I’d like a marriage license." "In what names?" "David Deets." "And the other man?" "That’s all. I want to marry myself." "Marry yourself? What do you mean?" "Well, my psychiatrist says I have a dual personality, so I want to marry the two together. Maybe I can file a joint income-tax return."
"That does it! I quit!! You people are making a mockery of marriage!!"
By now, I’m sure most of you know the subject of polygamy or plural marriages has resurfaced in the news. A Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints compound was recently raided by Federal officers over accusations of polygamy, child abuse, and teen pregnancies. And isn’t sad that for the 401 children removed from the West Texas polygamist compound, life as they know it – where even laughter was forbidden – is about to change drastically.
Now the victims of what state authorities suspect is the largest child abuse case in the nation’s history, these children are likely to face a myriad of psychological problems, including extreme phobias, identity issues and problems obeying authority figures, according to several cult experts. Through the proverbial turmoil these daunting questions come to mind. What future have these children been afforded? Will they ever have the opportunities SO many of us take for granted? What dreams that they Dared to Dream will actually reign true for them now?
Once when Mark Twain was lecturing in Utah, a Mormon acquaintance argued with him on the subject of polygamy. After a long and rather heated debate, the Mormon finally said, “Can you find for me a single passage of Scripture which fo...
WHY POLYGAMY IS WRONG
Mark Twain once debated with some Mormons that polygamy was wrong. Polygamy is a form of marriage in which a person has more than one wife at the same time. When asked to prove it from the Bible, Mark Twain quoted Matthew chapter 6 verse 24 where it says we cannot serve two masters.
MONOGAMY TRADE-OFFS?
The Utah Chapter of the National Organization for Women (NOW) is promoting polygamy as a solution to the problems of working mothers. Elizabeth Joseph said, "I've maximized my female potential without the trade-offs associated with monogamy."
TWO MASTERS
Once when Mark Twain was lecturing in Utah, a Mormon acquaintance argued with him on the subject of polygamy. After a long and rather heated debate, the Mormon finally said, "Can you find for me a single passage of Scripture which forbids polygamy?"
"Certainly," replied Twain. "'No man can serve two masters.'"
A CONFIDENT FAITH
Jesus indicted the Pharisees saying: "All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not. For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers" (Matthew 23:2, 3). The rules they made for others were much stricter than the ones they made for themselves. That is often the case with religious men.
D. R. Dungan, in his book, HERMENEUTICS, observed: "I knew a man who had a hobby on marriage. He was of the opinion that no man could marry twice without being a polygamist--in heaven, if not on the earth. His wife might die, but that had nothing to do with it; if he married again he would be guilty of polygamy. You could not talk with him five minutes without having his hobby brought out and made to canter in your presence.
"But his wife died, and in less than a year from that time his theology changed on that point. Almost anything that men want to do, they can find some text of Scripture that will sound like giving it support. And it is exceedingly difficult to make any man see that he has been preaching that which is not true. He has posed before the people on the subject, and is not willing to incur the humiliation of saying, 'I was wrong, and my opponents were right.'" A man’s wishes sometimes blind him to the truth.
Why do men draw such varied conclusions from the Scriptures? I think the answer is found in their approach to Bible study. Some people go to the Bible to dis¬cover what God has revealed on a particular subject, while others go to the book in search of proof for what they want to believe. Conclusions should not be formed and then Scriptures sought to validate them. We should look to the Scriptures and form our conclusions based on what is revealed in them.
Jesus said, "Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" (John 8:32). Paul admonished, "Prove all things; hold fast that which is good" (1 Thessalonians 5:21). It is only when we do this that we can have confidence in our faith!
The Boundaries Of Moral Propriety have expanded in the last year, as more Americans today than a year ago say the death penalty, embryonic stem cell research, and having a baby out of wedlock are morally acceptable. At the same time, Gallup’s annual Values and Beliefs Survey shows Americans are most likely to say the death penalty, divorce, medical testing on animals, gambling, wearing fur clothing, and embryonic stem cell research are morally acceptable, while adultery, polygamy, cloning humans, and suicide are viewed as the least acceptable. Americans give a poor grade to the state of moral values in the country, and express little hope things will improve. (Gallup Alert 5/16/05)
Polygamy: An endeavor to get more out of life than there is in it.
