If polygamy advocates have their way, even adultery, which is still against the law in some areas will be protected by the law. The pro-polygamy movement seeks to use the legal ruling of Lawrence v. Texas which includes the phrase “…the full right to
engage in private conduct without government intervention.”
Using a ruling such as Lawrence v. Texas, activists will consider ‘private conduct’ as inclusive of affairs/adultery. Infidelity hurts people and families. The betrayal of trust is damaging to the whole fabric or the families and parent-child relationship. There are reasons why adultery has been considered a crime over the centuries. Judges did not make it a crime solely because they wanted to deprive people of ‘fun’. Prohibitions against adultery have been necessary in order to protect spouses and children from undue harm. Although an honorable person will abide by their marriage vows, for many people, only the threat of law keeps them in line, and in some of those cases, they are ‘keeping in line’ only becasue thay have not been caught. Marriage is not only two people joining together to form a legal entity, they are creating a family. They are pledging not only themselves, but their resources to the joint bonding between the two of them. When people can sever those bonds on a whim, it makes the society unstable and filled with licentiousness. Some people do not choose to excercise self-control and will only respect the law if their is a strong enough penalty to keep them in line.
Presently, many communities have laws against adultery. Such laws are beneficial to families and the community. The erosion of such laws would be detremential to families, communities and society as a whole.
Best Regards,
Jeffrey Murrah
