The Economist
BY STEPHEN MACEDO
…The real question is: why would anyone argue for the equal legal recognition of plural marriage given that it has existed for centuries but never taken the hoped-for egalitarian social form? Mr DeBoer asserts that, “Polyamory”, the name given to egalitarian adult romantic networks, “is a fact. People are living in group relationships today.” Yet he cites no studies of the prevalence of this arrangement—or its effects—because there are none. The evidence of polyamory is entirely a matter of anecdote, speculation and free-love advocacy. In no Western society is there any broad social movement for polygamous or “polyamorous rights” equivalent to the decades-long struggle for the rights of gay, lesbian and transgendered citizens. Responsible liberal societies ought to reform complex social institutions such as marriage on the basis of reliable evidence and widely available social knowledge.
Let me be clear: I am not arguing that polygamy is “inherently immoral”, as some have asserted in the past with respect to both plural and same-sex relations. I also allow that in particular instances polygamous families can be successful and healthy. But the general human experience with polygamy–past and present–suggests to me that there are weighty and legitimate grounds for concern here that allow us to distinguish plural and same-sex marriage.
So I agree with the libertarians that consensual plural cohabitation should not be prosecuted. Tolerance has been the de facto policy across America for decades, though we may need clarification on that score. A clear policy of toleration would be sufficient to allow respectable polygamists now living in the shadows to emerge. No doubt we will continue to learn about this “experiment in living”. But equal legal recognition of polygamous marriage requires positive evidence that this is a general social form that serves the interests of adults, children and society generally in a way that is consistent with our basic constitutional commitments to equal liberty and fair opportunity. Whatever the libertarians might say, the public morality of a liberal society not only allows but requires reasonable efforts to preserve important social institutions that are conducive to equal freedom and fair opportunity for all.
The libertarians are right about one thing: no one knows how these matters will look 100 years from now. But why should we expect future generations to look favourably on radical social experiments conducted in the absence of supportive evidence? And why would we credit their judgment if they did? History’s arc, as best we can now tell, bends away from the plural marriage and toward monogamy, gender equality, and same-sex marriage.