Polygamy should be legalized in the West

I thank Korashk for taking part in this debate. 1. Numerical superiority of females over males: Con has stated that I have misinterpreted the meaning of "Right to Marriage" and then goes on to explain why. He explains that "Right to Marriage" does not mean a person is guaranteed a marriage if he/she demands one. Rather, it means that everyone "should have the opportunity to pursue marriage" and that there must be two consenting parties for marriage to occur. In brief, one person's "Right to Marriage" is not being violated if nobody wants to marry them. Unfortunately, Con seems to be missing the point to my first argument. ----------- Defense ------------- Definition of "Right to Marriage" according to United Nations: Men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race, nationality or religion, have the right to marry and to found a family. http://www.un.org... The reason for my first argument is to prove that in many major countries today, the female population exceeds the male population by MILLIONS, meaning that there will always be millions of women out there who are forced to live without a partner if Polygamy isn't legalized. By pointing out this fact, I am proving that "the right to marry" simply does not exist for these extra females. It is not a matter of nobody wanting to marry them, rather, it is a matter of nobody LEFT to marry them. Although in theory, they all still have the "Right to Marriage" in the sense that they can still marry if there is someone available, in reality, because there is no one avaliable, they therefore haven't this Right. Think about it this way, how could 100 women all realistically have the right to marry when only 80 men exist? If 80 out of the 100 women find husbands, the 20 women who are left are by reason, denied of this Right. That is unfair. 2. Males are naturally polygamous: Con believes that my second argument is not relevant to this debate, but clearly it is. ------- Defense ------- By pointing out that men need and want sex far more than women, I am proving that Nature has intended for Polygamy to exist. It is without doubt that Nature plays a huge role in forming our judgement on many important issues. For example, the majority of people who are against gay sex are against it simply because it is not natural - it contradicts the main and most fundamental purpose of sex, which is to reproduce. Therefore, Nature's intentions becomes a very powerful tool to use as an argument. In summary, although man's greater need for sex has nothing directly to do with the process of marriage, it does however support the nature of Polygamous marriages. Plus, I would argue that sex is a large part of marriage and therefore it should be considered in this debate. 3. Polygamy being a successful practice: Con has correctly pointed out that I have not provided a source for argument number 3. Being a Muslim myself, I have made the mistake of assuming that my opponent understands Islamic Law regarding Polygamy as fully as I do. To amend on my mistake, I will prove that polygamy is a successful practice, but more importantly, that Muslim women are in support of it. This is important because many people think Polygamy is unfair to women. Below is information from an news article: In August 2009, The Ashaari Muslim clan founded a "Polygamy Club" that claims the noble aim of helping single mothers, reformed prostitutes and women who feel they are past the marrying age. The founder of the clan is a Muslim woman named Hatijah Aam, who is the fourth wife of Ashaari Muhammad. She is quoted saying: "We want to change the way people perceive polygamy, so that it will be seen as something beautiful instead of something disgusting." This quotation proves that Muslim woman see Polygamy as something beautiful, promote it, and practice it. A woman named Kartini, 41, says polygamy has served her well; while she was busy arguing court cases, her husband's first wife would cook, clean and look after the children. "The wives can complement each other," she said. "Of course, you miss your husband and there are natural feelings of competition and jealousy at first. But after a while, you try to become friends and you learn that you can share your problems with each other." This quotation clearly shows the successful experience a Muslim woman has had in a polygamous marriage. A businessman named Ikramullah, says "Some people treat polygamy as a laughing matter because they do not fully comprehend it, but a community that practices it would know that it is not bizarre. In fact, you would be teased if you were a man with only one wife." This quotation suggests that those who truly understand polygamy see it as something very normal. It also suggests that there is a very wide misconception with this practice that has led to its negative reputation. http://www.polygamy.com... 4. Polygamy has been around since the dawn of mankind: Con writes "Blatant appeal to tradition coupled with a lot of unsourced information." --------- Defense ------------ Here is evidence suggesting that Polygamy has been practiced for thousands of years: In his book, 'Iran During the Sassanian Period', Christenson writes: "Polygamy was considered to be the basis of the family. Practically, the number of wives, which a man could have, depended on his means. The poor people apparently could not afford to have more than one wife as a general rule." In the 'Social History of Iran from the fall of the Sassanians to the fall of the Omayyads' the late Sa'id Nafisi writes: "The number of women whom a man could marry was unlimited and at times it is observed in the Greek documents that one man had hundreds of women in his house." Montesquieu, quoting a Roman historian, says that several Roman philosophers, who were being tortured by the Christians because they refused to embrace Christianity, fled from Rome and took refuge in the court of the Iranian King, Khusro Parviz. They were astonished to see that not only polygamy was legal there, but the Persian men had intimacy with the wives of others also. http://www.al-islam.org... First Kings 11:1-3 indicates that King Solomon had 700 hundred wives and 300 hundred concubines http://wiki.answers.com... According to I Chronicles 3, King David had 7 wives http://en.wikipedia.org... 5. Religion does not really forbid Polygamy: Con writes "Who cares? This is a debate about matters of law and in the West religious preference as nothing to do with the law. Also, church influence is not the deciding factor with polygamy." ------- Defense ------- It is common knowledge that laws are created to reflect the values and beliefs of a society. For example, the law that puts murderers behind bars reflect our enduring values of retribution and justice. The law that forces the murderer to compensate the victim's family reflect our value of restitution. How does this have anything to do with religion? Religious teaching are often responsible for many of our strong values and beliefs, such as the belief that homosexuality is wrong, a belief that has been reflected in our law for hundreds of years. Even now, gay activists in Argentina find themselves in a fierce battle with large religious protest groups as same sex marriage law reform takes place. In this sense, religious values directly impacts the outcome of our laws, thus this is a very valid argument. Thanks.