Why doesn't  our government or local authorities do nothing about the Polygamist in our country?
541928
We have tried to get it legalized but the government is very slow when it comes to changing the law. Hopefully, polygamy will be legal by 2008. I hope you agree that this is good news, even if we have to wait awhile.
1128033
True.  I don't understand why the government tries to control people's happiness.  They shouldn't worry about who's married to who.  They should be more concerned with how many of my friends their killing in Iraq.
493493
Not at all; marriages and divorces are overseen by the state.
231049
Sounds like every problem of every country,and there are no answers without greed and malaise being removed .why bother with the whole problem when even a small portion cannot be made better.world law on matters of decency is a option,but years away.
710184
i do not think that the government should have any say in it.\nthey should act as a records keeping body and that is it.\n\nthey get their 35 bucks for the marriage liscense and after that they keep it on file for future records. other than that it should be the decision of each individual church, and legaly ordained minister to decide whom their religion will allow them to marry.\n\nI am an ordained minister. it should be my choice if i wish to preform a marriage or handfasting ritual for same sex couples then it should be my religious freedom to do so. and the government should have to recognise it as legal. \n\nthe violation of my religious freedom is nothing in contrast to the violation to the couple's right to life liberty and the persuit of happiness. \n\nbesides they have jsut as much right to loose half of their s**t as the rest of us.
1078447
I have no earthly idea why people keep insisting on defining marriage!  Why is this such a big deal?  There are so many things that are truly imporant that we can put our energy into solving rather than someones desire to marry someone of the same sex.  You certainly wont stop them from having a relationship.  What are you doing that the government will decide to ban next?  Frankly, whatever goes on in my underpants is none of the governments business.  All of those who are in support of BIG GOVERNMENT telling you how to conduct your private lives had better watch out, you may get more than what you bargained for.  Obviously, since this question keeps coming up over and over, there are more people out there that have little else to do but worry about this nonsense.  If this has to do with Christianity, divorce, partner swapping, adultery, sexual abuse, spousal abuse, etc. have already made a mockery of marriage so who cares if homosexuals want a part of it.  I think there is something in that big Bible that you all are thumping that says that we have all have free will....Please stop trying to legislate morality and personal decision that have absolutly nothing to do with you.  If you dont want to marry someone of the same sex, DONT.  And no, I am not gay, I am just not so hypocritical that I feel I need to impose my lifestyle on others.
294906
It's one of the United State's most fundamental issues to protect each individual's freedom of religion.  Of course our government has no right to have any say in religion whatsoever (unless the religion requires others to be harmed like it said above).  It is even more important to note that its a FREEDOM of religion.  It should not be encouraged or discouraged.  Many politicians today quote biblical phrases and speak of their beliefs according to how government should be applied.  This is wrong, because there are those who do not believe in Christianity.  We have to remember the basis of this country.  The puritans came over here in the first place to escape religious persecution!
131198
It was to be expected there are no laws protecting freedom of speech over there, its a pretty rigid society where the government try to keep tabs on individualism.
192672
Yeah it does but most people are scared of changing tradition or thinking outside the box. Gay marriage shouldn't be a matter of morality. It's a matter of rights. Gays have a right to pursuit of happiness like the rest of us. I don't think it's right that the government should say who and who can't be married. That just opens the doors for them to step into other issues that they should stay out of.
473797
No, Mormon polygamists are shunned by the mainstream but are very open about their practices.  In all there are about 20,000 practicing polygamists mostly in arizona and texas, although theses numbers are highly contested (opponents to Mormonism tend to overstate these numbers while Mormons tend to understate them.  The actual number is unknown.) There are many problems with child molestation within these groups and authorities especially in Utah have been cracking down on these communities in recent years.  It is important to note, in order to avoid bigotry and disinformation about Mormonism, that these groups split from the larger body of the Mormon church over a hundred years ago.
1077657
Civil marriage (i.e. the license you get when you get married) is not religious in any way, shape or form. It is in its very nature controlled by the government and government thus has the right and responsibility to define it. I don't think it should do so in a way that blatantly discriminates against a group like homosexuals, but it is most certainly within the government's prerogative to define marriage. If you find a church that agrees to, you can have a wedding ceremony to whomever or whatever you like, but only the government can decide if the government is going to recognize it.
1134346
i will start by saying that i am a heterosexual male....\n\nbut i agree with you.... our government should not be imposing their religion will on Americans!!!! there are too many serious problems happening right now in American than to worry about what people do behind close doors....\n\nbut it is the religious right and christian idiots who think that they must impose their beliefs on others.....  if you don't believe in gay marriage don't get one....  people have the right to do as they please..... and all this crap about marriage between man and woman being sacred is just crap.... with our +50% divorce rate.....
192036
Don't believe all the hype.\n\nThe Silent Majority of America still goes to church is very monogamous and does a great deal of voting.  Just because the news media is bombarding us with every wacko that stands up and says up is down and two and two are five, don't you believe it.\n\nSooner or later the people sleeping around end up with some form of VD or worse.  The people promoting secularization have a major personal crisis and turn to God.\n\nJust be patient, let them rant and rave and show their true colors and see how they end up years later.
508028
Probably because our country is losing its morality due to our liberal teachings not to judge anyone.  In our society, everybody's individual decisions and actions (short of murder) are accepted as equally valid; people are also able to excuse away any immoral action they have committed (i.e. rough childhood, mental abuse, etc.).  We've become such a nation of amorality, that to us, we have no "right" (or ability) to judge who's plight is most valid and who really needs/deserves to be allowed in to the US.
700728
Breakaway Mormon polygamist types don't recognize the authority of the state when it comes to matters of mariage, so usually none of their marriages are legal. It's not bigamy unless you try to make it official with more than one partner. Polygamists typically don't get a marriage license for even wife #1. When it involves minors however, that's when they get into trouble.
383457
well im canadian and its legal in my country. i believe that the government has no business in the bedrooms of people and it is a proven fact that you cant legislate religious morality (prohibition is a prime example). I dont know why people are so worked up about it im mean if your not gay then why is it a big deal. it shouldn't be a big deal its a choice and legalizing it should not make any difference to people who are not gay so they should but out.\n\nok lady below me if you dont like crime then you dont know what your talking about because Crime (in general): thought to be the work of Satan, proven to be the activity of the masses. Crime is your Nation's largest employer and the mover of more money through our economy than any other activity. To prove this point, simply try to envision how our society and its economy would be with the total absence of all crime: no police, no private security industry (rent-a-cops, etc.), no lawyers, no judges, no courts. no FBI, no ATF, no law makers (senators, representatives, county supervisors, city councilpersons, etc.), no criminal justice system of any kind, half as many firefighters (arson and criminal code violations account for most fires), half as many doctors, nurses, and hospitals (with all their supporting personnel) to take care of all the stabbings, beatings, shootings, poisonings, and a host of others injuries and ailments brought about as the result of crime, no more lock, key, and safe industry, few walls and fences would be needed, the media (TV, news- papers, etc. would have to lay off thousands without crime stories and dramas), the paper industry would all but collapse, two million inmates would have to be released, a million hookers would have to be cared for, and the number of industies, large and small, that supply all the cars, vans, buses, helicopters, uniforms, medical supplies, and thousands of other products and services that are needed as the result of crime, would simply disappear. Without all crime, tens of millions would be instantly unemployed, millions upon millions of square feet of real estate would lie vacant, and the domino effect from all this would bring ruin. And just who is committing all this crime? There aren't enough atheists and freethinkers around to hold accountable. Got any ideas? The ads say "Take a bite out of crime." (Don't take too big a bite, it just may cost you your job or business.)\n\noh and the bible is full of $hit just like religion
197154
Actually, it's a federal law in the US:\n\nBigamy: Crime of marrying during the continuance of a lawful marriage. Bigamy is not committed if a prior marriage has been terminated by a divorce or a decree of nullity of marriage. In the United States if a husband or wife is absent and unheard of for seven (or in some states five) years and not known to be alive, he or she is presumed dead, and remarriage by the other spouse is not bigamous. It is not necessarily a defense to a charge of bigamy that the offending party believed in good faith that he was divorced or that his previous marriage was not lawful.\n\nThe U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1878 that plurality of wives (polygamy), as originally permitted by the Mormon religion, violated criminal law and was not defensible as an exercise of religious liberty. The Latter-day Saints renounced polygamy in 1890, but the practice has persisted among some, although it has been rarely prosecuted.