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Nov. 8, 2005 Playboy Mogul, Hugh Hefner is currently with three cohabiting with three women who call themselves "wives," despite the lack a government marriage license. Judge Walter Steed of Utah also lives with three women. He legally married the first woman in 1965. His wife's sister joined the family in 1975 and a third sister joined in 1985. The latter marriages were "sealed" in a Mormon Church but not recognized by the Government. Hugh Hefner is thought a womanizing liberal while Judge Walter Steed of Utah is considered a religious conservative. Hugh Hefner is within his legal rights to chose an alternative lifestyle. Whereas the Judge is said to be breaking the law by practicing polygamy. The difference between the two men is religion. The judge is fighting to keep his 25 year job for what is a common practice in the Hilldale, Utah community where he and his wives reside. Hilldale citizens follow a pioneer-style dress code. The women wear long dresses with high collars. The men wear plain white shirts and dark trousers. The woman have long hair while the men keep beards. They are like the East Coast Amish and Mennonite societies with lifestyles different than the surrounding communities but they manage to peacefully co-exist. Two people of the same gender can legally enter into a domestic partnership agreement. They can have a religious ceremony sanctifying their union. The government will not recognize it as a marriage but they are still within their rights to consider themselves married. It makes no sense that a gay couple can legally cohabit together as domestic partners and a hedonistic playboy can live with three women young enough to be his daughters with no legal consequences while a Fundamentalist Mormon man stands to lose his job for doing the same thing. This is the ultimate example of hypocrisy. If the judge were a pagan in a tantra house that practiced group marriage, he would not be in danger of losing his job. Of course it is dubious that he would have become a judge in the first place. There are some advantages to polygamy. If a man can provide for more than one family, he has proven himself. The older wife doesn't have to worry about being replaced by a younger model. If more than one of the wives is employed, there is more income for the family. If one of the wives chooses to stay at home, finding reliable child care is not an issue. If a man seduces a woman with a promise of marriage, he can't use his current wife as an excuse not to fulfill his promise. If the woman is bisexual, she can have the best of both worlds. There are more women than men so sharing the man is practical. The Government needs to butt out of Judge Walter Steed's business. They are in violation of the constitutional amendment guaranteeing the separation of church and state. If the Government does not recognize the marriages that he had "sealed" but his church, than he is not a polygamist by Government definition. If he chooses to sleep with three women, that is his business. He is not the first judge to sleep with three women. He just does it with the consent of his legally recognized wife and the sanction of his church. It is the Judge's Christian beliefs that are getting him in trouble with the law. Examine the Bible. Nobody ever told King Solomon that he could not have 700 wives. Men were even allowed to have concubines in biblical times . There is nowhere in the bible that polygamy is preached against. It was not only common in the Old Testament, it was a common practice in Jewish culture at the time of Christ. Monogamy was only brought to the Jewish world by Roman civilization. Monogamy is motivated by politics not religion. Mormons located to Utah so that they could practice their religious beliefs in peace. Plural marriage was an original tenet of the mainline Mormon church, but the faith abandoned the practice as a condition of Utah's statehood in 1890. The obvious motivation was politics not religion. Certainly the practicing polygamists at that time did not toss their wives and children out into the streets. Many of them split from the main church into various fundamentalist sects that still reside in Utah. Multiple spouses is a common practice in the Hilldale, Utah community where the judge and his wives live. Technically Polygamy is illegal but the statue is rarely enforced. It should not be illegal if the marriages are not recognized by the government. It's none of the government's business. They need to leave the judge and his family alone, Personally I like the way the Inuit Tribes in Alaska do traditional marriage.. Polygamy and spouse sharing are acceptable. Frequently, there are more men than women. Rather than having a bunch of frustrated men, the woman has multiple husbands. The wife rotates to different households with different husbands every month or so. The husbands that she was not residing with had conjugal visitation rights. Marriages of the Inuit people are generally arranged and stable The lifestyle they choose is motivated by practicality rather than religion. Politics is certainly not the deciding factor and that is a very good thing. ------------ About the author: Bonijean Isaacs is a freelance writer and Astrologer in West Virginia. Email: inez4liberty@gmail.com Tell a friend about this site! ------------ All articles are EXCLUSIVE to Useless-Knowledge.com. Please link to this article rather than copying and pasting it onto your site (which would be unauthorized and illegal). |
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