Mark the midweek point with Wednesday’s afternoon reads:
What I’m about to say will not be positive and I don’t need to be bashed for my opinion because I will be tasteful about it.
That whole “Sister Wives” show is ridiculous. The whole polygamy thing is ridiculous. How on Earth could you ever agree and beok with your husband having 3 more wives? Its not normal or right.
Those poor children have known nothing else so of course this is normal for them. Unfortunately they are brainwashed in thinking this sense of normalcy is perfectly fine. It is not. Not by any stretch of the imagination.
Marriage is to be between two people. Not more than two. ONLY TWO. Not 3 or 4. It just isn’t ok. Marriage is sacred and this family has made a mockery of it, regardless of how ‘ok’ they are about it. It is wrong. And I’m sorry if anyone is going to argue with me and say there’s nothing wrong with their family. But this is America and we have free speech.
-Not Lissette
- Lissette on
They are not legally married (one marriage is), I’m not even sure the three others qualify as common law! I personally could not live in that type of atmosphere. That’s my choice though. I am torn on this. What they are doing behind closed doors does not affect me or my family. So part of me says to each their own! But the other part says something’s not right. How does he do his taxes? Does he claim all? How can he legally? How does he pay for Health Insurance/life insurance?
Lissette- what is NOT Lissette? I don’t get that
- mary on
Lisette/Not Lisette… Polygamy is not for me, I too have a hard time wrapping my head around it and I don’t have any intentions of living that way. But you said it’s not normal…. maybe it’s not YOUR normal, but in other cultures, some in North America and some in other parts of the world, it is other people’s normal. Not everyone has to adhere to our norms.
In my opinion, as long as plural marriages are only between consenting adults, I will live and let live. The Browns have said many times before that they are against arranged marriage and that if their kids don’t want to have polygamous relationships, they’re okay with it.
I feel for the kids for the fact that they experience so much prejudice for a situation out of their control (then again, so do many kids with homosexual parents, kids with alcoholic parents, kids with parents who don’t speak the dominant language, etc etc), but to me it’s not a black and white issue.
- alicejane on
In the midst of my soapbox rant, I forgot to say that I’m happy for the family that they had a healthy baby.
- alicejane on
Congrats to them! I don’t know – I watched the show thinking I would hate it, but all of the moms are strong, interesting, cool women that I could see myself being friends with, and I love their dynamic. The kids are all very close. I especially like when the teenagers are on camera – they seem well-adjusted and are quite articulate about their likes and dislikes about their family and their religion and if they will pursue the plural lifestyle themselves. Kody I could do without, I think he likes being the center of attention a little too much. But there is clearly a lot of love in that house and I can’t fault that.
Also that is a HUGE child and she had a homebirth! Go Robyn.
- Marissa on
If you watch the show you’d see they aren’t really being ‘brainwashed’, it seems as though most of the teenagers say they don’t want to be polygamists or they aren’t sure yet. Only one has been vocal about wanting ‘sister wives’.
It’s something I wouldn’t do in a million years but watching the show I don’t think it’s ‘wrong’. Wrong in my religion, yes. Legally speaking I don’t think it should be against the law for consenting adults to do this sort of thing. All the women want this lifestyle and are happy with it. I don’t really see how choosing to have more parents in a child’s life will affect them more negatively than choosing to just have one parent in their life.
- Amanda on
We just need to be more tolerant of people.
Their lives have absolutely no impact on mine, so why would I care if this man has 1 wife or 10?
- TC on
Not Lissette, I’m not sure how tasteful it was to say that their family isn’t normal or right, but anyways…just because it’s not your normal doesn’t mean it’s no one else’s. Polygamy is practiced in many parts of the world (sometimes with a woman having multiple husbands). They are Polygamists because that is part of their religious beliefs. So, the fact that you threw “marriage is sacred” out there as an argument is what’s ridiculous. They hold their marriages to be sacred too. Your religion is not the only one in this world.
I could never live that lifestyle, but I won’t judge consenting adults for making that choice. If you think their kids are brainwashed, you probably haven’t seen the show. Many of the teens have said that they wouldn’t want to be polygamists or they are on the fence. Yes, to them it’s “normal,” but they recognize the drawbacks and seem to have good heads on their shoulders. The girls all have professional aspirations and the kids all seem very normal. I suggest you watch the show before you judge them so harshly.
- Sarah K. on
Calling their family a mockery doesn’t sound like free speech, it sounds like hate speech.
- Janna on
My only issue with fundamental mormon polygamy is that it seems sexist. A woman should be ale to seal herself to more than one man, if a man can have more than one wife. Everyone should look into polygamy in mormonism, the roots are seedy and misogynistic.
- Indira on
Mary – Apparently if someone tries to comment on here from a public computer some systems won’t let them change the name. Thereby meaning 1 or 10 people can comment from that computer and all will appear as the same name. There was one Lissette that had been posting here that was outright rude, name calling, etc. I think she’s just differentiating herself from the other Lissette.
I wouldn’t ever do this personally, but what they do doesn’t really effect me. My issue lies with the fact that the parents have said that they are raising kids who they hope will follow the law, yet their life is based off of breaking a law…Some think polygamy should be legal and some don’t. As the law stands where they lived, it’s illegal. Their lives are based off breaking a law every day, yet they have directly stated they want the kids to do the opposite. If that’s the acse where should the line be drawn? This, that and the other law are ok to break, but all the others aren’t!?!…This is my question…
- Sarah M. on
I just find it wrong. I know that it my own opinion but how could a woman ever be ok with having to share her husband? That’s crazy. I know its ‘normal’ and ok for them but still. I think that is what really rubs me the wrong way.
-Not Lissette
- Lissette on
Sarah M, I think it’s because they think this particular law is wrong and they’re part of the group trying to have it changed. Not wanting their kids to go on a crime spree doesn’t mean they believe that every law is correct. It’s my understanding that it’s not that they want the state to recognize plural marriages, just not criminalize it. I think that’s fair as long as all of the adults are consenting. As long as no one is being hurt, the state really has no place in religion.
- Sarah K. on
Sarah K., I see where you are coming from about differentiating the law against plural marriage and the other crimes but i still think that breaking one law is still crossing a line. Where do they draw the line? I respect that they do not want their kids to break the law, but if they decide to break laws they do not agree with where will that end? What other laws will they deem not worthy of following? I have seen a couple episodes of their show, and i feel that their kids do seem well rounded and respectful. so maybe i am overthinking the issue of them breaking the law, but i feel they should first argue against the law and fight to have the law abolished. Instead of breaking it first and then arguing against the law.
- Anon on
Sarah K. – I do see where you’re coming from and it’s a valid point. But just because you don’t agree with a law doesn’t mean that you are above it and it thereby doesn’t apply to you. It doesn’t matter how major or minor the law itself is. That’s not how it works. People can’t just pick the laws they like to follow and leave the rest behind.
They seem like nice, respectful people. The kids seem very well rounded, respectful and appear to have a good head on their shoulders. I’m not saying that any of that isn’t true. It just seems more like it’s a ‘Do as I say, not as I do.’ kind of thing with the parents on this point.
And mary is correct. He’s only legally married to Meri. (Wow! Lots of Mary-ish words/names in that last sentence!!) The other 3 aren’t legal.
Congrats to the family. There is no shortage of love for the new addition!
- Sarah M. on
Sarah M. I understand what you’re saying and I agree. I don’t live their lifestyle so I’m only basing this off of what they’ve said on their tv show. They don’t want the state to recognize the other marriages. It’s not about that for them. So, they’re not trying to be above the law.
But, the fact is that in mainstream America, husbands/wives can choose to have sexual partners on the side and the state doesn’t care as long as the other spouse doesn’t. In fact, until very recently in New York, if both spouses committed adultery it would cancel out and the cheating spouses had to stay married. The state doesn’t throw people in jail for cheating on their spouses.
Kody Brown isn’t trying to legally marry any of the other three wives, so why is the government trying to criminalize it? Utah didn’t care about this polygamist family until they were on tv, even though everyone knows there are a lot of polygamists in Utah. It just sounds like this family was targeted for making their religious beliefs public.
- Sarah K. on
Thank you for clarifying your point further, Sarah K. Perhaps the government it trying to criminalize it based off the fact that the name of the show implies that he is married to all 4 of them? Like I said, regardless of the fact that I disagree with their lifestyle they seem nice and respectful based on the 2 or 3 episodes I’ve seen of the show. And there’s definitely a lot of love to be had by them. That’s never a bad thing, right!?!
I really quite like the same Solomon, too! You don’t hear it too often, either.
- Sarah M. on
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