When a Man Loves a Woman – and a Woman, and a Woman, and a Woman

By: American Decency Staff

By Chris Johnson “There are tens of thousands of plural families in Utah and other states. We are one of those families. We only wish to live our private lives according to our beliefs. While we understand that this may be a long struggle in court, it has already been a long struggle for my family and other plural families to end the stereotypes and unfair treatment given consensual polygamy. We are indebted to Professor Turley and his team for their work and dedication. Together we hope to secure equal treatment with other families in the United States.â€Â That was the statement released by the Brown family of "Sister Wives" fame shortly after the show premiered on TLC several years ago. The day after the premier, Utah police announced that they were opening an investigation on the "family" on suspicions of bigamy. The investigation was dropped just a few days ago on June 1, presumably because the Browns left Utah for Nevada. Kody Brown, the husband in the "marriage" thingy, has sued the county, the governor, and the attorney general "claiming the state's bigamy statute violates their constitutional rights to due process, equal protection, free exercise of religion, free speech and freedom of association," according to the Associated Press. Click here to urge the advertisers not to empower degrading shows such as “Sister Wives." What is interesting about this statement and Brown's suit is that if you replace "bigamy" and "plural" with "gay," it is pretty evident that the challenge to change the essence of marriage would­­ not stop with legalizing homosexual marriage.­­­­ Indeed, the next battle is already starting with constitutional challenges like Mr. Brown's. More concerning still is the fact that both the country and the state essentially admitted that the Brown's lifestyle was illegal, but it is their policy not to prosecute unless there are other crimes like abuse going on in the home. While polygamy is illegal, the laws are not enforced. The government already accepts these arrangements. That is not only one reason that Kody Brown's franchise marriage scheme should be disturbing. As with TLC's other problematic reality show, All-American Muslim, the cable channel uses the show as a mode of indoctrination to normalize the concept of multiple marriages in the minds of its viewers. The episodes I watched from this past Sunday featured Kody and his four wives discussing opening a business and buying a house – for each individual wife and her children. The wives got together to figure out how to celebrate Valentine's day and cameras followed Kody to a flower shop where he asked the befuddled florist for four bouquets for his wives. The florist was quick to tell the camera that, while he wasn't the average customer, it wasn't her place to judge. "See?" the subtext says, "they are just like normal families, just with their own sets of challenges. There is nothing wrong with 'plural families.'" One moment shined in the episode about Valentine's Day, however. After several of the young daughters asked their dad to take them all to a father/daughter dance, one of the daughters instead asked her brother to escort her. She informed her mom that she did not want to share her date. Then she dropped a bomb on her mom with, "I'm not going to be a polygamist when I grow up, so…" Her mother sounded shocked that she'd "already decided at [her] young age" and told her that if she (the mother) was not a polygamist, neither the little girl nor her brother would exist. Is it so shocking that a girl would not want to share her Prince Charming with three other women? Seems pretty normal to me. Take a minute to let the advertisers of this show know that we as Christians, Americans, and their audience still believe in marriage – real marriage – as it has been and always will be truthfully defined: one man and one woman. ========================================================== To support our efforts please click here or mail your gift to American Decency Association (ADA), PO Box 202, Fremont, MI 49412. American Decency Association is a member of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability.

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