I shamelessly stole the title for this post from Ann Althouse and this article.
Remember how Rick Santorum was castigated for saying this:
"If the Supreme Court says that you have the right to consensual (gay) sex within your home, then you have the right to bigamy, you have the right to polygamy, you have the right to incest, you have the right to adultery. You have the right to anything," Santorum said in the AP interview.
According to this CNN article, Democrats and gay rights groups were calling for Santorum to resign because he had compared homosexuality to bestiality and polygamy.
Well, that's not quite what he said. What he said was that if you have a right to one form of sex that's traditionally been banned, then it won't be long before other banned forms of sexuality will be ok, as well. And guess what? The polygamists are using some of the same civil rights rhetoric that has been effective for gay marriage supporters.
Consciously taking tactics from the gay-rights movement, polygamists have reframed their struggle, choosing in interviews to de-emphasize their religious beliefs and focus on their desire to live "in freedom," according to Anne Wilde, director of community relations for Principle Voices, a pro-polygamy group based in Salt Lake.
It was bound to happen. Once an argument shifts from what is best or best recognized for society to individual freedom, the argument gets lost. Most Americans are in favor of greater individual freedom (call it the residue of the Revolutionary War) and they dislike what they perceive as discrimination and unfairness. It doesn't really matter what reason is given for the "discrimination," whether it is an appeal to history, morality, or economics.
Now, Utah law enforcement are prosecuting polygamists only for child abuse crimes, including marrying girls under 18. I guess this goes more with the "consenting adults" idea, but I still find it all creepy.
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