They made fun of Rick Santorum and other social conservatives when they suggested gay marriage would easily lead to legalizing polygamy. But now liberals see that “grander trend” on the horizon.
On Thursday night’s All Things Considered on NPR, they were casually discussing how “legalized polygamy could make a comeback” with Jonathan Turley, a law professor hired by the stars of TLC’s “Sister Wives” to push for that cause. He said polygamy enthusiasts are right where the gay lobbyists were ten years ago:
ROBERT SIEGEL: The Browns are known to some folks from television.
JONATHAN TURLEY: That's right. The Browns are the cast for a reality show called the "Sister Wives," who have a single husband and multiple wives. They are all consenting adults. They've been investigated for years; and the state agrees that there's no child abuse, no spousal abuse. What you have are people that prefer to live this way. This is a bona fide practice that goes back to the earliest days in multiple religions, including the Jewish, Protestant faiths as well as the Islamic faith. Many of the Old Testament figures were polygamists - some of the ones that are most revered by both Christians and Jews.
SIEGEL: But of course, that's - that could be an argument for slavery as well; that the people in the Old Testament held slaves. I mean, we can't judge by the mores of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
TURLEY: Well, the point is that it puts it in to sharp relief. It is a bona fide and long-standing religious belief.
SIEGEL: Is there anything germane in either of the arguments, either of the day's cases and same-sex marriage that relates to your case?(continued)
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