Why Some Gods Love Polygamy

This episode of Religion Camp explores the historical and religious practice of polygamy, examining its prevalence, justifications, and evolution across various faiths and cultures. The host emphasizes that historically, polygamy was the norm for a vast majority of human societies, with monogamy being the outlier. The discussion begins with Judaism, where the Torah and Old Testament do not explicitly condemn polygamy. Abraham, the founder of Abrahamic faiths, took Hagar as a second wife at his first wife Sarah's suggestion. Jacob married two sisters, Leah and Rachel, and fathered children with their handmaidens, establishing the twelve tribes of Israel. King Solomon famously had 700 wives and 300 concubines. However, the Bible frames Solomon's downfall not as polygamy itself, but as spiritual corruption due to his wives worshipping other gods. Deuteronomy restricted kings from multiplying wives, a measure against royal excess, while the Talmud later debated a practical cap of four wives based on a husband's ability to support them. For approximately 2,000 years, plural marriage was legal in Judaism. Around the year 1000, Rabbi Gershom ben Judah instituted a ban on new polygamous marriages and on divorcing a wife without her consent, primarily to maintain domestic peace, protect women from abandonment and financial hardship, and likely due to social pressure to assimilate with surrounding Christian societies that forbade polygamy. This ban, however, only applied to Ashkenazi Jews. Sephardic and Mizrahi communities continued to permit polygamy as long as the husband could provide for his wives, with the practice persisting in places like Yemen until the mid-20th century. Modern Israel banned polygamy in 1977, though enforcement can be inconsistent, particularly in some Bedouin Jewish communities. Rare instances of an "heter me'ah rabanim," a permission from 100 rabbis, can still bypass the law. Christianity inherited the Old Testament's acceptance of polygamous patriarchs, yet its stance evolved. The New Testament doesn't explicitly ban polygamy but requires church leaders to be "the husband of one wife" (miasra). Scholars debate the precise meaning of this, but at the time of its writing, polygamy was already rare, and Roman society favored monogamy. Augustine of Hippo argued that polygamy was permissible for early humanity to rapidly populate the earth but became impermissible as circumstances changed, a view that held for over a thousand years. The Reformation saw a re-examination of polygamy. In 1539, Philip of Hesse, seeking to avoid divorce, privately asked Martin Luther if he could take a second wife. Luther, arguing that scripture didn't explicitly forbid it and seeing bigamy as a lesser evil than divorce, agreed, provided it remained secret. The scandal erupted when Philip's sister leaked the information. Simultaneously, radical Anabaptists in Münster under Jan van Leiden instituted polygamy due to a severe gender imbalance, leading to a brutal end for their movement. Today, the Catholic Church unequivocally condemns polygamy as a grave offense against marriage dignity, although some Catholics in East Africa continue the practice with varying degrees of church tolerance. Jesus's teaching that in the resurrection, people "neither marry nor are given in marriage" implies marriage is an earthly institution. Islam, as detailed in the Quran, permits a man to marry up to four wives, but with the strict condition that he must treat them all equally and justly. This is often interpreted as a regulated permission tied to welfare crises, such as the aftermath of the Battle of Uhud, which left many widows. Equal treatment entails equal time, housing, and financial provision. The Quran also acknowledges that men cannot equalize their hearts and will never achieve perfect equality between wives. Reformist scholar Muhammad Abduh used this Quranic logic to argue against polygamy, which became the basis for Tunisia's outright ban in 1956, the first Muslim-majority nation to do so. Other Muslim countries have varied approaches, from outright bans (Turkey, Albania) to strict restrictions requiring court approval (Morocco, Indonesia) to effectively unrestricted practice (Saudi Arabia, UAE). Hinduism has a different relationship with polygamy. Krishna is described as having eight principal wives and marrying 16,100 other women who had been held captive by a demon king, an act framed as protection and restoration of their social standing. King Dasharatha had three queens, whose rivalries fueled the Ramayana. Classical Hindu legal texts codified polygamy based on caste, with Brahmins permitted up to four wives and Kshatriya royalty taking multiple wives for dynastic alliances. The Hindu Marriage Act of 1955 banned polygamy for Hindus, Buddhists, Jains, and Sikhs. However, Muslim men in India remain governed by a 1937 law permitting up to four wives, creating an unequal legal framework. This has led some Hindu men to convert to Islam to marry a second time, a practice the Indian Supreme Court has since ruled invalid. More recently, Indian states like Uttarakhand and Assam have passed uniform civil codes banning polygamy for all citizens, regardless of religion. In many traditional African communities, polygamy was intertwined with "lobola" or bride wealth, a payment from the husband's family to the wife's family. More wives signified the husband's means to support a large household, elevating family status and providing agricultural labor. This practice offered protection and a place within the household for unmarried women, widows, and those without husbands. For chiefs and kings, multiple wives served diplomatic purposes, sealing alliances. European Christian missionaries, advocating for monogamy, often forced men to put away all but their first wife, leaving discarded wives and their children without legal or economic support. Some African independent churches have since split from mainstream Christianity to permit polygamous membership. The debate continues within the Catholic Church in Africa, with various proposals for integrating polygamous families. While polygamy rates have declined in some African countries due to urbanization and Western education, it remains legal in many. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS), or Mormons, officially practiced plural marriage, which Joseph Smith introduced around 1835. He contracted numerous plural marriages, some of which involved women already married (polyandrous ceilings), a concept not previously addressed by other major religions. Doctrine and Covenants Section 132, dictated in 1843, presented plural marriage as a divine covenant, citing biblical patriarchs. Smith publicly denied polygamy until his death, and the doctrine was publicly announced in 1852. The practice was complex, with women entering marriages for economic security, spiritual conviction, or under the perceived commandment of God. Emma Smith, Joseph's first wife, opposed it throughout her life. The U.S. federal government outlawed polygamy in 1862, upheld by the Supreme Court in 1879, which distinguished between religious belief and practice. Laws in 1882 and 1887 further targeted polygamists, stripping them of rights and even dissolving the LDS Church as a corporation and revoking women's suffrage in Utah. In 1890, LDS President Wilfrid Woodruff issued a manifesto ending new plural marriages, followed by a stricter one in 1904. Despite this, a breakaway group, citing an alleged private revelation, continued polygamy underground, forming the basis of fundamentalist LDS (FLDS) churches. The FLDS, under leaders like Rulon and Warren Jeffs, implemented absolute one-man rule. Warren Jeffs was convicted of child sexual assault and is serving a life sentence. In Utah, bigamy between consenting adults was recently reduced from a felony to a misdemeanor, a move argued to empower victims of coercion. Beyond religious contexts, a secular conversation about polyamory is emerging in America. Cities like Portland and West Hollywood are recognizing polyamorous relationships, granting rights like hospital visitation and insurance benefits. This is distinct from polygamy, focusing on consensual non-monogamy. Supporters argue that legal systems should not penalize relationships with multiple consenting adults. Critics raise concerns about legal complexities regarding child custody, inheritance, and medical decision-making, echoing the 'equal treatment' challenges found in Islamic polygamy. The episode concludes by noting that while polygamy has historically been justified by divine will or societal necessity for women's survival, a shift towards secular, humanistic arguments based on love and companionship is occurring. The host also touches upon research suggesting that societies allowing polygamy may become more violent due to a surplus of unmarried men, potentially linking this to modern dating app culture and the creation of "incels." The discussion highlights the multifaceted nature of polygamy, its varied historical roots, and its ongoing evolution in both religious and secular spheres.