Find the thought of marriage’s “incredibly
intense contract” with its big commitment “horrifying?” Think monogamy might be
too hard and result in a “sexless marriage” that leads to divorce? The answer
is simple: marry more than one person! Or, don’t marry them. Or sort of marry
them … just make sure there are more than two of you in the relationship.
Or so “polyamorous lawyer” Diana Adams told The Atlantic.
What does a polyamorous lawyer do, besides remind us of the shortcomings of traditional marriage? Adams works the legal system to procure benefits for polyamorous partners that would normally be exclusive to married couples – “basic things like ensuring tax benefits, or making sure that your partner is not financially vulnerable, or if you want to be sure that you can visit your partner at the hospital, we can do a healthcare proxy.”
But Adams also works to mainstream polyamory, and Slate was allowed her to showcase its merits as a valid “marriage alternative” in the Feb.19 piece [1]. Adams faced a battery of rough questions like, “Why does polyamory work for you?” “What do your other lovers give you that your primary partner can’t?” and “How are you using the law to empower non-traditional relationships like yours?”
Adams espouses a laundry list of reasons why multiple partners are ideal, from having more time for household duties, to raising kids, to fulfilling sexual desires. Pragmatic to the core, human nature, emotions, and morality don’t seem to factor into Adam’s assessment of why two (+) partners are better than one.
On traditional marriages, Adams said, “People have no idea what they’re actually committing to and are horrified a lot of times when they find out.” Yes, Judeo-Christian civilization has only had five or so millennia to get the gist of monogamous mating. That bit in the vows about “forsaking all others?” Very tricky.
And really, ditto for child-rearing. “So many parents are overburdened,” Adams said. She finds that “three adults per child is a great ratio.”
“I work a lot with lesbian couples and sperm donors in a three-parent model.” Wow, “Heather Has Two Mommies. And a Test-Tube.” Wasn’t that a Norman Rockwell painting?
While liberals have long mocked the “slippery slope” argument conservatives have made [2] regarding gay marriage, some are now acknowledging that they favor and promote all kinds of “alternative” relationships as equal to traditional marriage. Last Spring [3], it was polygamy [4]. “Polyamory” has been promoted [5] several times by ABC [6]. Teen promiscuity was even praised by Planned Parenthood [7] and the Huffington Post endorsed “teen sex sleepovers [8].”
Clearly the left has done its best to destroy the value of marriage, by advocating for commitment-less relationships and boundary-less sex in any form that they want.
— Kristine Marsh is Staff Writer for MRC Culture at the Media Research Center. Follow Kristine Marsh on Twitter. [9]