Marriage rights: Those crazy social liberals are at it again

[Joe Republic]

(If you hadn't already guessed, the headline is tongue-in-cheek.  Just wanted to cause a stir, given the location of this article. )


Source

3 Utahns try to open door for polygamy
By Pamela Manson

Until 1963, interracial marriages were illegal in Utah. Residents who suffered chronic epileptic seizures and were not sterilized also were barred from marrying in the state.

And, until 1993, anyone who had syphilis, gonorrhea or HIV could not make that walk down the aisle.

Now, in 2005, three Utahns who want to unite as husband, wife and wife say their preferred form of marriage also should be allowed.

They are asking the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to reverse a federal judge's rejection of their challenge to state prohibitions against bigamy and polygamy.

"The fact [that] much of American legal culture is based on monogamy does not justify a ban on polygamy," their attorney, Brian Barnard, of Salt Lake City, wrote in a brief filed this month with the Denver-based appeals court.

Barnard argued that a 2003 U.S. Supreme Court decision striking down a Texas law that prohibited sexual conduct between same-sex couples "provides individuals with protection from state intrusion as to intimate relationships."

On Dec. 22, 2003, G. Lee Cook tried to obtain a marriage license from the Salt Lake County Clerk's Office to wed a woman, identified in court papers as J. Bronson. Cook's legal wife was identified as D. Cook. G. Lee Cook wrote on the application that he already was married and told clerks that he wanted to legally marry a second wife. The clerks refused to issue a marriage license and refunded a $50 fee.

The three - who are all more than 45 years old and say polygamous marriage is a requirement for their exaltation and eternal salvation - filed suit in federal court against the clerks. The legal action seeks to overturn an 1879 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court, Reynolds v. United States, that upheld Utah's ban on polygamy.

In February, U.S. District Judge Ted Stewart rejected the argument that the prohibition on polygamy is an unconstitutional violation of religious and privacy rights and ruled that the state has an interest in protecting monogamous marriage.

Stewart also ruled that even the 2003 opinion in Lawrence v. Texas over the sodomy law did not grant a right to plural marriage, noting that the laws against bigamy and polygamy do not preclude private sexual conduct.

Under Utah law, Barnard says, married people living in a sexual relationship with someone who is not their spouse is guilty of bigamy, and deceit or a second marriage ceremony are not required elements of the crime. But although that provision makes it illegal for a married man to live with a girlfriend before his divorce is final, the law has been used to target polygamists, he contends.

There is no compelling governmental interest that makes the prohibition against religious polygamy constitutional, he argues in the brief.

Utah also officially abandoned plural marriage, in part, lawyers for the state say, because of social problems associated with polygamy; the exploitation of women and girls; and the encouragement of responsible procreation.

Barnard counters that the state does not regulate exploitative relationships between other couples, and if there were a compelling reason to promote responsible procreation, Utah would step into all family situations. Yet, there are no sanctions against an unwed mother who rears children alone, and there is no statute barring parents from divorcing and raising their children in separate households.

"The state does not restrict nor ban 'serial polygamists,' individuals who repeatedly marry, conceive children and divorce a series of spouses."

[Swing low, sweet chariot. Comin' for to carry me home.]

Mormons are not christians.

[Joe Republic]

Mormons are not christians.

There's a difference of opinion about that, but even if true - so?

[phk]

Mormons are not christians.

Heres to hoping Romney gets the nod in 2008.

[The Dowager Mod]

These people are not real Mormons anyway, the church banned aPolygamy as a pre requisite to get Utah admitted as a state

[Alcon]

Texasgurl is right - these folks are of a different sect, the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  They control a number of towns:  Rocky Ridge, Utah; Hildale, Utah; and Colorado City, Arizona.  Notice the median age.

[© tweed]

Texasgurl is right - these folks are of a different sect, the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  They control a number of towns:  Rocky Ridge, Utah; Hildale, Utah; and Colorado City, Arizona.  Notice the median age.

Wow, they must have sex early and often.

[Joe Republic]

So anyway, who wants to actually talk about this particular case?

[Swing low, sweet chariot. Comin' for to carry me home.]

Mormons are not christians.

There's a difference of opinion about that, but even if true - so?

Your attempt to lump these people together with social conservatives like me is a farce.

[Rin-chan]

Texasgurl is right - these folks are of a different sect, the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  They control a number of towns:  Rocky Ridge, Utah; Hildale, Utah; and Colorado City, Arizona.  Notice the median age.

Wow, they must have sex early and often.

Yeah, really.

These people need hobbies.

Rin-chan

[Joe Republic]

Your attempt to lump these people together with social conservatives like me is a farce.

Yeah that's nice.



So anyway.  Forget that they're Mormons from Utah.  Does anybody think they have a case?  Does anybody (other than Opebo) think they should have a case?

[Peter]

SCOTUS in Lawrence said that its decision did not extend to granting the right to have formal recognition of gay marriage/civil union. I hardly see how these polygamous group are then able to extract the right to polygamy from the decision given that statement.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

There are multiple mormom sects. While The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has a near monopoly, there are 250,000 mormoms who belong to the 2nd largest sect, the Community of Christ. The people in this article belong to some smaller sect.

[??????????]

These people are not real Mormons anyway, the church banned aPolygamy as a pre requisite to get Utah admitted as a state

The real Mormons still support polygamy. But due to its illegality its kept hush hush and underground these days. And of course you'd expect such whacky ideas from a cult.

[Jake]

Mormons are not christians.

Do they not believe in Christ? Or are Catholics not Christian enough to be Christian either?

[Sam Spade]

There is not enough space on this thread to describe my hatred of Mormons and everything about Mormon cult.  Needless to say, about the only cult that has loonier beliefs than the Mormons are the Scientologists, and not by much.

If I had a nuke, the first place I would think about launching it is Mecca, the second place is probably San Francisco and the third is probably Utah.  And the reality might not be in that order.

[??????????]

Mormons are not christians.

Do they not believe in Christ? Or are Catholics not Christian enough to be Christian either?

They also believe their founder found the gospel in the woods. And that heaven is on the dark side of the moon or some such nonsense.

[opebo]

Mormons are not christians.

Do they not believe in Christ? Or are Catholics not Christian enough to be Christian either?

They also believe their founder found the gospel in the woods. And that heaven is on the dark side of the moon or some such nonsense.

Their nonsense is no more ridiculous than the nonsense of the rest of your christians.

Oh and btw, as Joe Republican predicted, I'm pro-polygamy.  Why should the State or other citizens care if some people choose to live together in this way?

[Bleeding heart conservative, HTMLdon]

Mormons are not christians.

Do they not believe in Christ? Or are Catholics not Christian enough to be Christian either?

According to some people I know, no.  A lot of folks distinguish between "Christian" and "Catholic". 

Some aspects of Mormon religion may be strange to those who are not observant of it, but no stranger than a lot of other religious beliefs out there.  While I do not share their faith, I do applaud their commitment to service and charity.

These people are not real Mormons anyway, the church banned aPolygamy as a pre requisite to get Utah admitted as a state

Exactly.  This is a small sect of nutballs.  There are sects of nutballs that cling on to any religion - including protestant Christianity.  Perhaps if we live in a glass house, we shouldn't throw stones.

[opebo]

Mormons are not christians.

Do they not believe in Christ? Or are Catholics not Christian enough to be Christian either?

According to some people I know, no.  A lot of folks distinguish between "Christian" and "Catholic". 

Some aspects of Mormon religion may be strange to those who are not observant of it, but no stranger than a lot of other religious beliefs out there.  While I do not share their faith, I do applaud their commitment to service and charity.

Precisely!  It is not the particular beliefs that make religion strange and ridiculous, but the act of faith itself.

Btw, however, charity is offensive.  Entitlements are better.

You must be logged in to read this quote.

Exactly.  This is a small sect of nutballs.  There are sects of nutballs that cling on to any religion - including protestant Christianity.  Perhaps if we live in a glass house, we shouldn't throw stones.
[/quote]

Again correct, htmldon - you christians have no business critiquing polygamists or Mormons for their particular insanities, as you all believe the most absurd rubbish around.

[Joe Republic]

They also believe their founder found the gospel in the woods. And that heaven is on the dark side of the moon or some such nonsense.

LOL, those crazies.  I heard about this other nonsense religion where they believe the world was created in seven days, and their prophet is the son of a ghost, a virgin, and a carpenter.  Weirdos.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

they believe the world was created in seven days

Actually the ultra-ultra Fundies say six days

[Joe Republic]

they believe the world was created in seven days

Actually the ultra-ultra Fundies say six days

Well I guess they can believe that if they want, but I choose to believe that the seventh day was used to fit all the lightbulbs and give everything a second coat of paint.  My God chooses not to slack off on Sundays, but he at least gets double pay, and thereforeth he art a clever God.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Well I guess they can believe that if they want, but I choose to believe that the seventh day was used to fit all the lightbulbs and give everything a second coat of paint.  My God chooses not to slack off on Sundays, but he at least gets double pay, and thereforeth he art a clever God.

You think that God works on Sundays? They'll burn you at the stake in most of Wales for saying that

[Swing low, sweet chariot. Comin' for to carry me home.]

Mormons are not christians.

Do they not believe in Christ? Or are Catholics not Christian enough to be Christian either?

Mormons believe that man will become God; and that God himself was once a man, created by another God, who evolved into God.

That is enough right there to condemn the whole lot.  It is the exact same thought that caused the fall of Satan, and it is the exact same lie used on Eve in the Garden of Eden.  It is a condemnable doctrine.