Texas Polygamy Ranches Remind Us To Keep An Open Mind
By Olivia Lapeyrolerie ’11
News Reporter
One day, I ventured onto CNN.com to check the headlines. I saw the regular features: election updates, foreign affairs, another ridiculous statement from the White House, and the weather. But when I saw an article titled “Polygamy Ranch under Investigation,” a chill went down my spine. Polygamy, in modern society? Hadn’t we banned these misogynistic practices? I decided that was a very narrow-minded perspective on the issue, so I went to Google and did some research.
Polygamy is defined as a form of marriage in which a person has more than one spouse. Today it is used to describe a man who has multiple wives simultaneously, but the term has a few different meanings. Polygamy can be traced back to the traditions of the natives of the Indus River Valley. The practice appears in every religion and is still practiced today in many countries, though society has denigrated it since the eighteenth century.
Polygamy has been banned in the states since the nineteenth century. In the past couple of years, police have arrested leaders of Mormon cults that have practiced polygamy with underage girls. Two weeks ago in El Dorado County, Texas, the police received a call from a member of the Fundamentalist Church of Christ of Latter Day Saints, saying that her middle-aged husband had been abusing her. The police followed up on the claim, and found more than they expected. Investigators found polygamy, underage marriage, and most shocking of all, a bed inside the church so that newlyweds could consummate their marriage.
This cult is being evacuated and searched by the police; they have yet to find the girl who called them complaining of domestic abuse. What astonished me the most was the fact that women and children were reportedly resisting the help of the police and refusing to leave the compound. I wondered if they were crazy. How could anyone not want to leave such a constricting lifestyle?
I then realized that I was a narrow-minded, stubborn citizen that did not understand people who were not so willing to conform to modern society’s ideals. Not so long ago, polygamy was legal and practiced in many different religions. After a series of incidents in which teenage brides were being wed to old men who would abuse and rape them, society decided that this practice was sexist and morally corrupt. But what about those people who participate in polygamy and do not use it to commit felonies?
The major problem I have with polygamy is when young girls are unwillingly married to older men. Then, they are abused or forced to have sexual intercourse with their new husbands. I try to see myself in this situation, and it gives me nightmares. The idea of marrying someone as old as my dad or my grandpa against my will disgusts me. I imagine that these girls are terribly confused, but because it is the religious norm, they have no one to console them or help them get out of their situation.
I am not saying that I support polygamy. I am saying that the people who practice polygamy deserve to defend their beliefs. They do not deserve to be portrayed as stupid or outdated by society. However, I do believe that we should help those in polygamous relationships who are being abused.
