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If polygyny AND polyandry are in place, every male can have a wife. I've never heard of such a society though

Try the Polyamory Society.

And a man having more than one wife, as has been pointed out before (I think to you), is both polygyny and polygamy.

Yes it was pointed out, to me, but that does not make it true. In polygyny the man can have more than one wife but it says nothing about women having more than one husband. I would not be surprised at all if a wife in the FLDS would be stoned if she were caught with another man. And last year Iran was going to stone to death a woman who had sex with someone she was not married to. Years ago the Taliban stoned a married lady, even though her husband and both families pardoned her and asked the Taliban to let her live. However polygamy specifically states both men and women can have more than one spouse.

Falcon

Okay.

I just mean to say that they're both in the category of simultaneous-multi-partner relationships that don't involve marriage.

Polygamy doesn't involve marriage because it's illegal. Polyamorous people do take steps to write up legal papers though, for instance does one person have the authority to authorize medical treatment for a child who is not theirs. Here is the Polyamory Society's Legal Devision.

Personally I look at it like this; if marriage is religious government shouldn't be involved. And if it's civil then government shouldn't say one group can marry but another can't. Either way, in other words, government should not have anything to do with marriages other than enforcing legal agreements and contracts.

Falcon

Fascinating, but polyamory in San Francisco isn't exactly a representative sample of polygamy worldwide.

That was just one example. There are plenty of others, in the US at least. Try these:

1. The Polyamory Society
2. Sev on polyamory
3. Poly Potluck Discussion Group of Greater Seattle and Western Washington
4. Polyamory Archive
5. Twin Cities Polyamory Discussion Group
6. PolyOrlando
7. Poly Matchmaker

And those are just from my bookmarks. About.com, which is also in my bookmarks, has more.

Falcon

And what if the wives felt they wanted to bring in an extra husband? i'd have less trouble with polygamy if it worked both ways.

Polygamy does work both ways, both men and women can have more than one spouse. It's polygyny, where a man can have more than one wife, and polyandry, where a woman can have more than one spouse, that might not go both ways. Polygamy itself, despite what the mass media keeps saying about the FDLS, allows both men and women to have multiple spouses.

why bother with marriage at all?

Because some want the piece of paper and or the ceremony.

Just live with whomever, breed with whomever and keep rituals and paperwork out of it.

Some do. However if you go through the first website you'll see they still do some. For instance what can be done about children, who has authority over them or who can take them to a doctor. Children are a big factor legally so paper work needs to be done for them. Actually it takes more work to get polygamy/polyamory relationships working smoothly than it does 1 man and 1 woman marriages.

Still, there is the matter of what do the unmarried men in such cultures do?

They can get married, polygamy allows women to have more than one spouse.

Falcon

A spouce does not tolerate any competition.

Not all spouses are like this. Many in polyamoury find it better to have more than one spouse or lover. Of course it takes someone special who can live as a polyamourist. For instance someone who gets jealous would have a difficult tyme in a poly relationship.

Sure we can have 2F + 1M sex now, but I think this will make it easier to justify to the wife.

Why just 2F and 1 M? Why not 1+F and 1+M? Not all at the same tmye mind you but I believe along with many others that it's possible to love more than one at a tyme, that believe in Polyamory.

Divorce causes harm to children, so why wouldn't a revolving parenthood?

A child may suffer harm in poly relationships just as you say divorces but if you're going to ban poly relationships then why not ban devorces as well? The Polyamory Society works on potential problems of raising children and the site has a section partially on this though admittedly is mostly education. Just as there are for divorcies there are alsop resources for polies.

By being agnostic, you are saying that you don't know the answer

That's it, I don't know. I used to have beliefs but after an accident I had I lost them. I kow what they are I just no longer believe in them. I guess I'd say that I don't know how to have faith and need to experience something to believe. It's rather ironic to me because the docs didn't except me to live, they told my family while I was in a coma it would be miracle if I lived. NOT!!! I'm have to question them about this miracle because I don't see and haven't experienced it. As far as I'm concerned it would of been better if I hadn't lived.

Faith does provide a level of comfort or peace of mind that many don't have. You, in particular, might call it a placebo though.

As long as it helped me find peace I'd take the placebo.

Harm comes in many forms

Can you show me what harm is caused by Polyamory or homosexuality that isn't in monogamous heterosexual relationships?

Nature intended one father and one mother for each child.

I guess you've never heard of asexuality. Asexual organisms reproduce by themselves, either through cloning, vegetative means or self fertilization. Or have you ever heard of intersexuals? Here's a good faq on intersexuals, What is intersexuality (or hermaphroditism)? From the start of the page:

Our culture conceives sex anatomy as a dichotomy: humans come in two sexes, conceived of as so different as to be nearly different species. However, developmental embryology, as well as the existence of intersexuals, proves this to be a cultural construction. Anatomic sex ifferentiation occurs on a male/female continuum, and there are several dimensions.

why do you call yourself an atheist?

I know you're asking in general seeing as you start with "for all of you atheists:" but I'll bite anyway. I'm not an atheist. I am an agnostic, "a" without and "gnosis" knowledge, I am without knowledge and am jealous of those who have faith.