SEXUAL SINS OR NOT?

Sex has always played a big role in creation. Animals act on instinct and thus procreate. Humans are different. Sex has the purpose of procreation but also of bonding and enjoyment.

When talking about sex, things like marriage, fornication, adultery, “consenting adults”, “friends with benefits”, “casual sex”, “swinging”, homosexuality, bi-sexuality”, prostitution, zoophilia, rape, incest, GSA (Genetic Sexual Attraction), “avunculate marriage”, sexbots, etc. come up.

This is not a scientific study on sex and sexual relationships. We’ll look at general trends, behaviour of people in this field, and gather info from various sources to get a general picture of what is going on in the world of sexual relationships.

Sex according to the Bible:

Here I’ll refer to Kerby Anderson summary:

God created men and women in His image (Gen. 1:27) as sexual beings. But because of sin in the world (Rom. 3:23), sex has been misused and abused (Rom. 1:24-25).

A biblical perspective of human sexuality must recognize that sexual intercourse is exclusively reserved for marriage for the following purposes. First, it establishes the one-flesh union (Gen. 2:24-25; Matt. 19:4-6). Second, it provides for sexual intimacy within the marriage bond. The use of the word “know” indicates a profound meaning of sexual intercourse (Gen. 4:1). Third, sexual intercourse is for the mutual pleasure of husband and wife (Prov. 5:18-19). Fourth, sexual intercourse is for procreation (Gen. 1:28).

Sex is very powerful and can be compared to nuclear energy. Within certain specifications of containment it is very useful, without the bounds of containment it is very dangerous en even very destruct full and can cause disasters and lead to death

In the upcoming “pages” we will look closer at the various types of sexual relations for example fornication, adultery, prostitution, rape, homosexuality, pornography, sexbots, necrophilia, etc.

These pages are mainly put together from other sources, written by various people, on these matters. Credit is given and sources are quoted.

SOME OF THE INFO MIGHT BE DISTRUBING TO SOME PEOPLE, BUT THE PURPOSE IS TO PORTRAY WHAT GOING ON IN THE WORLD. JUST AS THE BIBLE ADDRESS THESE THINGS DIRECTLY IN VARIOUS PLACES.

POLYAMORY/POLIGAMY/POLYANDRY

CONTENTS

· DEFINITION

· GENERAL

· POLYAMORY/POLIGAMY/POLYANDRY LAWS IN COUNTRIES

· FILMS AND BOOKS ON AND ABOUT POLYAMORY/POLIGAMY/POLYANDRY.

· POLYAMORY

· ACTIVISTS IN LEGALISING POLYAMORY/POLIGAMY/POLYANDRY

· POLYAMORY IN THE NEWS

· OTHER POLYAMORIES IN THE NEWS

· SO CALLED “LIBERATED CHRISTIANS”

· POLYAMORY/POLIGAMY/POLYANDRY THE BIBLE

· CONCLUSION

· WHAT IF YOU WERE/ARE INVOLVED?

DEFINITION OF POLYAMORY/POLIGAMY/POLYANDY

SECULAR

POLYAMORY is usually not related to a religion and is unrelated to marriage, although some polyamorous people are married or have participated in commitment ceremonies with their partners. Polyamory means having multiple loving relationships, usually, but not always sexual. Unlike polygamy, people in polyamorous relationships stress the importance of open communication and equal relationships between partners whether male or female. Usually all parties involved know about the other partners and choose to be in those relationships. It can be hetrosexual or homosexual or a combination of both. Polyamory generally emphasizes long-term committed romantic relationships. Swinging generally focuses on casual sex without commitment or romantic entanglement.

Polyamory The practice, state or ability of having more than one sexual loving relationship at the same time, with the full knowledge and consent of all partners involved.

This is the definition used by California polyamorist Morning Glory Zell, who coined the term in the early 1980's. Polyamory differs from adultery because all the partners know about each others' lovers, so there is not secrecy or betrayal.

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Polyamory

Polyamory (from Greek πολύ poly, "many, several", and Latin amor, "love") is the practice of or desire for intimate relationships with more than one partner, with the knowledge of all partners. It has been described as "consensual, ethical, and responsible non-monogamy"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyamory

POLYANDRY refers to one woman with multiple husbands of which there are two types, husbands that are not related and husbands that have to be of the same family.

POLIGAMY refers to the practice of having more than one spouse at the same time. Poligamy is the term for having multiple spouses and is practiced in cultures worldwide. In the United States, TV shows such as Big Love and Sister Wives have portrayed the practice in Fundamentalist Mormonism. Fundamentalist Mormonism is a sect or religion that follows the early Mormon teachings which allowed for polygamy. It is also widely spread in Africa, among some Muslims, and other “primitive” cultures

POLYGYNY - Where polygamy is the concept of more than one spouse at the same time, while, polygyny is an example in which a man has more than one wife.

https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-difference-between-polyamory-and-swinging

http://www.lovemore.com/poly/swinging-and-polyamory-the-great-divide/

https://www.liveabout.com/what-is-the-difference-between-polyamory-and-polygamy-2171552

BIBLICAL DEFINITION

POLYAMORY – In the bible there are no reference to this concept of people just in love relationship and not in marriage.

POLYANDRY – In the bible there are no reference to this concept of women having more than one husband.

POLIGAMY – To be found in the bible e.g. Jacob with two wives and two concubines, King Solomon with many wives and many concubines, Abraham wife Sara and his wife’s slave Hagar

POLYGYNY – To be found in the bible e.g. King David.

But Monogamy was the standard in Scripture. God created Adam and Eve. Noah, a righteous person had only one wife. And we see that monogamy is the stand re-established in the NT e.g. Mark chapter 10. Why God allowed POLYGYNY and POLIGAMY shall be discussed in a later section.

WHY ALL THIS INFORMATION IN THE BLOG? TO SHOW HOW WIDESPREAD THE PROBLEM ARE. THE MAJORITY TEND TO IGNORE IT. BUT WE MUST FACE IT AND STAND AGAINST IT.

GENERAL

As metioned we’ll discuss POLYGYNY, POLIGAMY, POLYANDRY, POLYAMORY in this blog. Where the first three mention are well establish practises, POLYAMORE is a more ”modern” concept.

When googled the following were obtained:

· Polyamory - 2 960 000 results

· Polyamorous - 43 300 results

· Polyandry - 588 000 results

· Polygamy - 10 300 000 results

· Polygyny - 593 000 results

Showing how many information there are available and how widespread it is.

POLOYAMORE LEGAL ong time.

By Anna Pulley / AlterNet June 10, 2015, 12:31 PM GMT

As we've written before, the Western world is in love with monogamy—in concept, if not in practice. Throughout history, much of society has been predicated upon the idea of lifelong sexual fidelity between one man and one woman. On paper anyway. We enforce monogamy in social ways (don’t even try to bring your second wife to the office Christmas party!) and legal ways (paternity laws, property laws, inheritance laws, etc.), but the reality is far more complicated. While monogamy tends to hog the spotlight as the relationship model of choice, non-monogamy has been around (and in some cases thriving) for a very long time, and continues to be practiced today.

Here is just a small sliver of accepted forms of poly relationships, both past and present.

1. Ancient Mesopotamia and Assyria

In Mesopotamia and Assyria, monogamy (particularly arranged marriage) was considered the norm socially, but polygyny (when a man takes multiple wives) was frequently practiced by rulers and layfolk (no pun intended) alike. Philip II of Macedon had eight wives. Persian King Darius III also had several wives and kept a stock of 360 royal concubines “for his own personal use.” Plus, the Code of Hammurabi has rules on polygyny, noting that a man can take a second wife if she can’t bear him children. However! He cannot take another wife if his first wife offers him a concubine slave instead. Take that, hubby! And though some scholars dispute it, the historian Herodotus reported that every woman, at least once in her lifetime, had to go to the temple of Ishtar and have sex with whatever stranger happened to walk by and ask. This custom was thought to “ensure the fertility and continued prosperity of the community.” But it wasn’t all concubines and creepy-prostitution parties. In ancient Mesopotamia, “homosexual love could be enjoyed” without stigma or fear, and there are even texts that talk about pegging, or as historians call it, men “preferring to take the female role” in sex.

2. Ancient and Present-Day Egypt

Ancient Egyptian men were free to marry as many women as they wanted (i.e. as many as they could afford because indentured sexual servants don’t come cheap, amirite?). And many African countries today, particularly (but not limited to) those of a predominantly Muslim faith, still practice a form of polygyny. And in Muslim Malaysia, Rawang has a Polygamy Club that purports to have 300 husbands and 700 wives.

3. Ancient Greeks

Much ink (and other things) has been spilled documenting the ribaldry and lust of ancient Greece, aka the birthplace of democracy and orgies. From pederasty (sexual activity involving men and boys) to fellatio urns, the Greeks were not shy about their sexytimes. Like many Western societies, the ancient Greeks and Romans were monogamous on paper (men could not marry more than one woman, for instance, nor could they live with their concubines), but not so much in practice, particularly if you were a man. "The Greeks were anything but prudes," Nicholaos Stampolidis, director of the Museum of Cycladic Art, told the Guardian. "Theirs was a society of great tolerance and lack of guilt." The Greeks were particularly tolerant of bisexuality among men, at least in certain situations (bathhouses, school, war). The philosopher Aristophanes wasn’t wild about this, however, so he coined the term euryprôktoi, meaning "wide asses," which referred to the homosexual relationships between older and younger soldiers ("to increase loyalty during war time," Greece's PR person tells us). It sounds like Aristophanes could’ve benefitted from some ass-widening himself.

4. Non-monogamy in the Bible

Modern-day Christianity often advocates for “traditional marriage,” but the Good Book is full of instances where monogamy was definitely not de rigeur (multiple wives was big, and also prostitution, concubines, etc., not to mention a lot of other kinky stuff). The first reference to polygamy is in Genesis: “Lamech married two women.” In the Old Testament, several prominent characters were polygamists. To name a few: Abraham, Jacob, David, and Solomon. In 2 Samuel 12:8, God told David that if he wasn’t satisfied with his many wives and concubines, he could always have more. And Solomon had 700 wives and 300 concubines, according to 1 Kings 11:3. Like we always say, traditional marriage is between one man and 1,000 women. To be discussed later

5. Hinduism

Though it’s outlawed today, theRig Veda (as well as epics like the Mahabharata) mention that during the Vedic period, a man could have more than one wife, depending on one’s caste. If one was Brahmin (the highest ranking caste), one could have four wives. It goes down a wife for each subsequent caste system, with the Shudra caste only getting one extra wife.

6. Polyandry in Nepal

But enough about polygyny! Let’s talk polyandry (one wife, many husbands). The practice of fraternal polyandry, a woman taking several brothers as husbands, was once very common in Nepal, where “the rough landscape often requires more than one set of extra hands to cultivate.” Who couldn’t use an extra set of hands when tilling your wife’s fields? The practice is falling out of fashion today, due to religious influence, and job opportunities not dependent on farming, but local farmers attest that “monogamous marriages are financially more difficult.”

7. “Walking marriages” in China

In the Yunnan province of China, the Mosuo ethnic group has what’s called zou hun (walking marriage), which is basically the freedom to have sex with whomever you want. The Mosuo don’t have marriage the way Western countries do—couples don’t live together; women usually stay with their families; and men “share responsibility for any children born to women in their own family.” And, if a man is sexually interested in a woman, he asks if he can visit her, usually after dark. Sex is based on mutual affection and is not stigmatized.

http://www.alternet.org/sex-amp-relationships/10-surprising-times-history-when-polyamory-was-acceptable

LAWS IN COUNTRIES

The legality of polygamy varies widely around the world. Polygamy is legal in 58 out of nearly 200 sovereign states, the vast majority of them being Muslim-majority countries situated in Africa and Asia. In most of these states, polygyny is allowed and legally sanctioned. Polyandry is illegal in virtually every state in the world. The rest of the sovereign states do not recognize polygamous marriages.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legality_of_polygamy

POLYANDRY (More than one husband) is illegal in virtually every state of the world.

POLYGAMY - Most countries that permit polygamy are Muslim-majority countries in which

POLYGYNY (Married to more than one woman – wives with equal status) is the only form permitted.

Other examples:

· In India, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, and Sri Lanka polygamy is only legal for Muslims.

· In Nigeria and South Africa, polygamous marriages under customary law and for Muslims are legally recognized.

· In Mauritius, polygamous unions have no legal recognition. Muslim men may, however, "marry" up to four women, but they do not have the legal status of wives.

Polygamy in South Africa (From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

Polygamy is legal under certain circumstances in South Africa. All polygamous marriages entered into in accordance with the provisions of the Recognition of Customary Marriages Act are legal. The husband in an existing customary marriage wishing to marry a second wife must apply to a competent court for such a marriage to be legal. Hence President Jacob Zuma currently has 4 legally recognised wives. The court considers the interests of all parties to the marriage and may add whatever conditions the court deems just for the polygamous marriage to be valid under customary law. Polygamous marriages are not allowed under the Marriage Act and the Civil Unions Act.

A person married under the Civil Union Act which allows same-sex couples to marry, may not enter into marriage with a 2nd partner until the existing marriage is dissolved. Therefore only heterosexual men are allowed to marry more than one spouse at the same time.

South African traditionalists have been well known to practice polygamy and the topic has been a serious political issue in the past several years, especially in the 2009 elections. Many of the indigenous Bantu peoples, both Christians and Indigenous, are polygamous and Islamic South Africans such as the Cape Malays, Cape Coloureds and Indian South Africans who are Muslim also allow for polygamy.

Jacob Zuma, the current president of South Africa, is a self-proclaimed polygamist. He has been married five times, and is currently married to four different women. He has reportedly fathered 20 children among his wives and mistresses

In some countries polygamy are illegal due to laws against bigamy. Bigamy laws throughout the United States vary from Misdemeanour or Felony charges. Some states all forms of cohabitation outlawed. But with current changes in morality laws are changed or not enforced.

POLYAMORY – will be discussed separately as there is generally no legislation against it. In some countries it is prosecuted under laws against fornication and adultery.

FILMS AND BOOKS ON AND ABOUT POLYAMORY/POLIGAMY/POLYANDY.

POLYAMORY

As said will discuss polyamore separately as there is generally no legislation against it. In some countries it is prosecuted under laws against fornication and adultery.

Polyamory (more than one + love) are growing rapidly in the western world.

The the first usage of the word polyamory is credited to pagan priestess Morning Glory Ravenheart Zell in 1990. Though different forms of non-monogamy have presented themselves in various cultures for millennia, in Western culture in the early 1990s it was still seen as an alternative practice, the kind favored by, well, pagan priestesses. Today, polyamory is less tied to one specific subculture or identity. In the two decades since the first edition of The Ethical Slut has been published, polyamory has expanded into a practice that, if not outright mainstream, is at least much more widely accepted and understood. According to a 2014 article from Psychology Today, at least 9.8 million Americans are in some kind of non-monogamous relationship.

http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/features/the-ethical-slut-americas-growing-acceptance-of-polyamory-w502715

Polyamory, or consensual non-monogamy as it’s sometimes called, has been growing and gaining acceptance as a viable relationship model in the last few decades, with countless books and scholarly papers written on the topic, as well as scientific research, and perhaps unsurprisingly, reality TV shows. Polyamory exists all over, not just in liberal urban meccas. A 2009 Newsweek article estimated that “in the United States, over half a million families [are] openly living in relationships that are between multiple consenting partners."

http://www.alternet.org/sex-amp-relationships/10-surprising-times-history-when-polyamory-was-acceptable

The Influx of Young People Identifying as Polyamorous

The number of people who call themselves polyamorous or say they have an open relationship is on the rise. The media is in a frenzy and local groups are growing like crazy in areas that two years ago had little to no groups or at least little activity. This growth appears to be driven by the twenty something crowd. This is not to say polyamory is not growing among the older generations as well, it is but the biggest influx is people under thirty. We are thrilled to see the interest and exploration growing for so many people and especially to see people in their early twenties exploring open relationships, poly and many other alternative sexual and relationship choices.

http://www.lovemore.com/poly/the-influx-of-young-people-identifying-as-polyamorous/

POLYAMORE ACTIVISTS

Speaking to Vice, polyamorist Melissa Marie Legge said she always knew she was different.

“Consensual non-monogamy gives me the freedom to involve people in my life on my own terms and to negotiate relationships individually and contextually without having to follow a social script,” she said. “It’s something that I value highly and that I would say is a big part of my sexual identity overall.”

In the US, around 500,000 people are believed to be in polyamory relationships, according to Newsweek.

https://www.rt.com/viral/357799-polyamory-recognized-sexual-orientation/

Across the border, the Canadian Polyamory Advocacy Association, which calls for the rights of the “Poly Majority,” says the community has “custom-made” relationships.

“We believe every adult should create her own relationships,” the group says on their website. “No loving, life-enhancing possibility is out of bounds. That means women or men can have more than one partner… if everybody involved agrees it’s best for them. That’s not empty theory; we live all gender combinations.”

https://www.rt.com/viral/357799-polyamory-recognized-sexual-orientation/

There are a number of individuals who are activists working on behalf of polyamory. On the educational side, there are activists like Ken Haslam who endowed a polyamory collection at the Kinsey Institute and has coined terms like swolly to describe the overlap between swinging and polyamory, and polygeezers to describer older polys like himself. Jim Fleckenstein, an independent researcher and educator, presents at conferences and publishes in academic journals on a range of issues relevant to polyamory. Alan M. at Polyamory in the Media collects references to polyamory in popular culture.

Another group of activists is more practical and focuses on building skills among poly people and outreach to the general public. These include people like Dawn Davidson at Love Outside the Box, Sarah Taub and Michael Rios at the Center for New Culture, and Anita Wagner Illig with Practical Polyamory.

A loosely knit group of activists, the Polyamory Leadership Network is not exactly an organization in that it does not have much structure or officers. It provides a forum for communication among people “working to advance public awareness of polyamory … as a valid and positive relationship choice for some people [and] to educate the public and build skills and resources within the growing worldwide poly community itself.”

Organizations Focused on Polyamory

Since 1994, Loving More has published a magazine, maintained a website, and organized several yearly conventions for people in poly relationships. Currently headed up by Robyn Trask, Loving More provides education, advocacy, and community connections surrounding polyamory.

The Polyamory Society sponsors the PolyFamily Advocacy Division, which aims to: “support, assist and strengthen PolyFamilies of all forms and cultures with effective programs, services, information and resources in a spirit of responsibility and advocacy. To assist PolyFamilies in our community with issues and problems that confront them from infancy to old age, and from relationship(s) formation to dissolution through death or divorce.”

Based in Victoria, British Columbia, the Canadian Polyamory Advocacy Organization “advocates on behalf of Canadians who practice polyamory. It promotes legal, social, government, and institutional acceptance and support of polyamory, and advances the interests of the Canadian polyamorous community generally.

The Unitarian Universalists for Polyamory Awareness attempts to:” serve the Unitarian Universalist Association and the community of polyamorous people within and outside the UUA by providing support, promoting education, and encouraging spiritual wholeness regarding polyamory.”

Organizations Focused on Sex & Gender Minorities Including Polyamorists

In addition to the organizations listed above that are specifically dedicated to polyamory, there are a number of foundations, associations, and alliances dedicated to serving sex and gender minorities like kinksters, gays and lesbians, and polyamorists or others in consensually non-monogamous relationships.

The Woodhull Freedom Foundation aims to advance the recognition of sexual, gender, and family diversity. Uniting a range of sexual identities and practices, Woodhull affirms sexual freedom as a fundamental human right.

The National Coalition for Sexual Freedom has an extensive resource library with activist resources and information about consensual non-monogamy and BDSM.

The Sexual Freedom Legal Defense and Education Fund opposes restrictive sexual practices such as: governmental interference in consensual sexual expression between and among adults; interference in custody of children solely on the basis of parents’ private sexual expression; and criminal prosecution for consensual sexual acts. Under the direction of Executive Director Valerie White, the SFLDEF works to assist sexual minorities embroiled in legal cases with funding for legal fees, referrals to attorneys and expert witnesses, and information and education about alternative sexual expression.

The Polyamory On Purpose series aims to “talk about the practical side of polyamory and how you can plan to deal with all of the fun, insane, wonderful hassles of day-to-day in a polyamorous relationship.”

Based in Atlanta, Georgia, the Relationship Equality Foundation provides “outreach, education, and support for those involved in or seeking relationships with non-traditional structures, and education and outreach to the general public about these relationships.” REF does this with continuing education events for counselors, social workers, and therapists and conventions for polyamorists and their families like the Atlanta Poly Weekend.

A research and advocacy organization focused on education, the Community Alliance for Academic Research on Alternative Sexualities (CARAS) provides “support and promotion of excellence in the study of alternative sexualities and the dissemination of research to the alternative sexuality communities, the public, and the research community.”

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-polyamorists-next-door/201603/polyamory-advocacy

POLYAMORY IN THE NEWS

There are two forms of polygamy.

One of them is when a man marries more than one wife, which is polygyny, and the other being polyandry which is when a woman has more than one husband.

Now we are counting down the top 10 families that are famous of their polyamorous relationships.

10. Gay Three-Way Marriage
A trio of gay men named Joke, Bell, and Art tied the knot in Thani Province, Thailand on Valentine's Day 2015.

Joke and Art had originally been dating when they met Bell at a party.The three fell in love and when Bell was hospitalized with an unnamed disease, they decided they would marry.

Since Thailand doesn't allow same-sex marriages, they held a symbolic Buddhist ceremony and claimed to be the world's first gay married threesome.

9. Twins Date One Man, Get Surgery To Look More Alike

There's not a lot of sleeping going on at night Perth residents Anna and Lucy DeCinque are identical twins that share everything their job, their car, and even their boy toy, Ben Byrne.

They also wanted to look more alike and have shelled out over $240,000 for surgery including lip fillers and breast implants.

The threesome live upstairs from the twins' mum and from what gather from the reports must make quite a bit of noise during the night.

8. Man With 2 Women, 1 Baby Each

Melinda and Dani Phoenix were a lesbian couple living in California who decided they wanted a man in their lives.

A couple of months later, they met Jonathan Stein in a building class and both quickly fell for him. They confessed in a romantic letter that they wanted him to join them in their relationship.

Jonathan naturally said yes, and was soon living with the pair, impregnating both within a very short period of time.

7. Los Angeles “Throuple” Seeks Fourth

Adam Lyons, a former nerd turned pickup artist, may be the envy of his London schoolmates who once voted him “least likely to have a girlfriend.”

Adam is now in a “throuple” with Brooke Shedd and Jane Shalakova; Brooke recently gave birth to a son named Dant and has another son, Oliver, from a previous relationship.

The five of them live under one roof and are open to the possibility of adding another partner to make it a... fourple?

6. Lesbian Throuple Have Baby

Kitten, Brynn, and Doll Young are an all-female throuple who had a 3-way ceremony in Massachusetts in 2013.

The brides all wore white, and while they are not legally married to each other, they did have a lawyer work up a contract between them.

Kitten was reported pregnant by an unknown sperm donor the next year.

5. Billy, Jeremy, and Melissa Host Poly Weekend

Billy and Melissa Holder were a couple experimenting with an open relationship, when Billy met Jeremy Mullins.

He wasn't sexually attracted to Jeremy, but says he found “emotional intimacy” with him. Melissa bonded with Jeremy too, and he eventually moved in with them.

They've become very active in promoting positive connotations of polyamorous couples and host an annual Poly Weekend every year in Atlanta.

4. Five Couples, Four People

Here's the story//of a group of polys… Charlie (a woman) and Tom are married, but one year into their relationship he fell in love with Sarah.

Sarah, however, was in her own relationship with Chris (a man). At first Chris was uncomfortable that his wife was seeing Tom, but he and Tom became friends, and then Chris fell in love with Charlie.

Then Charlie and Sarah fell in love The 5-way fourple live in Sheffield, England and plan to grow old together.

3. Darger Family, Utah

Joe, Vicky, Valerie, and Alina Darger (with a total of 24 children) are the activists of the decriminalization of polygamy, who are living in Utah.

Their family was the inspiration for the series Big Love, on HBO, and they appeared on the show Sister Wives as well.

The scandal with the FLDS leader Warren Jeffs, prosecution and discovery of sexual abuse of minors within this sect really shook the public and the perception of polygamous communities.

2. Sister Wives – Browns Family

The Brown family became famous when the TV show Sister Wives started broadcasting on TLC, in 2010.

It is reality show that follows the life of a polygamous family living in Utah, where the husband has four wives and 17 children.

Kodi and his wives were stating that they started doing the show with a wish to fight social prejudices and raise the awareness of the public about polygamous families.

1. The Biggest Family in The World

Ziona Chana is living in India with his 39 wives, 94 children, 14 daughters-in-law, and 33 grandchildren.

The biggest house in the village is theirs, with 100 rooms. In 1942, Ziona Chana formed the Christian sect that allows the members to take as many wives as they want.

With such a big family Ziona feels blessed, and he says that the family gets along really well, treating each other with respect and love.

What's more, He stated to the media that he’s still looking for his next wife..

http://www.polyamorysociety.org/Honolulu_Weekly_Polyamory_Article.html

OTHER POLYAMORY PICTURES

OTHER POLYAMORIES IN THE NEWS

DR. ANYA TRAHAN

Relationship coach Dr. Anya Trahan, who runs Purple Mornings Reiki in Bowling Green, Ohio, says she was recently fired from two jobs for coming out poly with her book Opening Love: Intentional Relationships & the Evolution of Consciousness.

http://polyinthemedia.blogspot.co.za/2015/08/

DR. ANYA TRAHAN

Dawn M. Turner

Polyamorous relationships and the 'messes' of love. Is the heart big enough to accommodate polyamory?

My introduction to the concept of polyamory, or Polyamory 101 as I like to think of it, occurred a few months ago when I was walking with a friend across Harvard Yard. My friend, who's in her late 20s, mentioned that she engages in polyamorous relationships.

For a second, I thought: A poly-who? Then, my knowledge of Greek and Latin kicked in and helped me divine the word's meaning. Still, I didn't know it was a thing. Or, maybe I should say, a new thing.

A polyamorous relationship is one in which consenting adults openly have several deeply intimate, monogamous-like relationships, but without exclusivity. It may, as my friend described, include sex. It may not.

http://polyinthemedia.blogspot.co.za/2015/08/

Dawn M. Turner

DEBORAH TAJ ANAPOL, 1951 - 2015

Deborah Taj Anapol (1951–2015) was an American clinical psychologist and one of the founders of the polyamory movement, which started in the 1980s. Known for her work in erotic spirituality, ecosex, neotantra and Pelvic-Heart Integration, she was an advocate for multiple love and sacred sexuality. Her work made early use of the Internet to gather and organize like-minded people. She was also the co-founder of the magazine Loving More and its conferences. She wrote one of the first books on polyamory, Love Without Limits (1992); which was expanded and reissued as Polyamory: The New Love Without Limits, in 1997. An expert columnist for Psychology Today, she blogged at "Love Without Limits, Reports from the relationship frontier."

Anapol was a pioneer in opening the way for diversity of form in healthy relationships, and received the "Vicki" Award from the Woodhull Freedom Foundation for her work affirming sexual freedom as a fundamental human rights.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deborah_Anapol

Deborah Anapol, known as Taj. (Photo courtesy Becca Tzigany)

LOUISA LEONTIADES

When Louisa Leontiades’ marriage hit the rocks, she chose an unusual way to make things better, writes Carol Midgley

Louisa Leontiades lives in an open relationship with her boyfriend Gösta Hulden, left, (with their daughter) and her long-term boyfriend, Christian Heidarson, right

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/the-polyamorists-diary-why-i-agreed-to-a-menage-a-quatre-78rsws5knpt

LOUISA LEONTIADES

JOSH, SARAH, ALYSSA AND MARY ASHLEY

The vast majority would not support the thought that their partner is also seen with other people, but this is by no means the case of the next group of lovers. Americans Josh, Sarah, Alyssa and Mary Ashley form a "polyphamily".

It all started when Josh and Sarah formed a couple. The two had an open relationship since then, with other partners.

"I went out to meet with girls and so I met Alyssa. She liked both of us from the beginning, and the relationship evolved naturally, " Josh explained for the OpenMinded matrimonial site, according to Daily Mail .

http://stirileprotv.ro/stiri/bizar/barbatul-care-are-trei-iubite-iar-acestea-stiu-una-de-alta-si-nu-sunt-deloc-geloase-cum-arata-o-relatie-poligama-moderna.html

DR ELISABETH SHEFF
Elisabeth is the foremost academic and legal expert on polyamorous families with children. Author of The Polyamorists Next Door: Inside Multiple-Partner Relationships and Families (2013, Rowman and Littlefield), With a Ph.D. in Sociology, 15 years of teaching and research experience at three major US universities, and certifications as a Court Appointed Special Advocate (Fulton County, Georgia) and a Sexuality Educator (AASECT)

http://www.lovemore.com/conferences/polyamory-webinar/past-webinars/

DR ELISABETH SHEFF

ROBYN L TRASK

Robyn is the Executive Director of Loving More Non-Profit, a national leader for polyamory awareness, polyamory counselor, workshop facilitator and writer. Since 2004 Robyn has worked to expand media awareness of polyamory appearing in numerous articles, radio shows and TV. Robyn and Loving More were instrumental in the formation of Polyamory Leadership Network. A national speaker and advocate for polyamory she has been a speaker at conferences, taught at universities and been a featured keynote speaker. Robyn has been openly polyamorous for 23 years, raising three children in a polyamorous family. Robyn has been running polyamory support groups, teaching and facilitating relationship and sexuality workshop since 1999. In addition she counsels polyamorous individuals and families. Currently Robyn is working on two polyamory related books.
http://www.kamaladevi.com/photos#.WbZ56zGQzcs

Robyn L Trask

JENNIFER KING

Love the Ones You’re With

Pali Paths supports “polyamorous” relationships for people who want intimacy with more than one person — at the same time.

JENNIFER KING April 29, 1998

JENNIFER KING

http://www.polyamorysociety.org/Honolulu_Weekly_Polyamory_Article.html

Kamala Michael McClure Rachel Rickards

Get Ready for the Polyamory Movement August 22, 2016 by Erin Wathen

Guest post, by Katherine Willis Pershey.

Me, my wife and my live-in girlfriend: Polyamorous couple on sharing their bed with another woman - and how it benefits their six-year-old son

Kamala Devi and Michael McClure, aged 38 and 49 respectively, have been married for 12 years but swore off monogamy from the start
Six months ago they welcomed 27-year-old bisexual Rachel Rickards into their home in San Diego, California married couple who identify as polyamorists have opened up about their unconventional relationship, revealing how an active sex life boosts their mood and keeps them fit.

Kamala Devi and Michael McClure, aged 38 and 49 respectively, swore off monogamy from day one. They have up to a dozen different lovers each - some to themselves and some who they share.

Six months ago they welcomed 27-year-old bisexual Rachel Rickards into their home in San Diego, California, and now the three of them enjoy each other's company - and bodies.

Kamala Devi (right) and Michael McClure (center), aged 38 and 49 respectively, have been married for 12 years but they both swore off monogamy - six months ago they welcomed 27-year-old bisexual Rachel Rickards (left) into their home"

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/irreverin/2016/08/get-ready-for-the-polyamory-movement/

Kamala Devi Michael McClure Rickards

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2513813/Polyamorous-couple-sharing-bed-woman.html#ixzz4sNMpghC7

MANUEL BERMUDEZ, VICTOR HUGO PRADA AND ALEJANDRO RODRIGUEZ

Manuel Bermudez, Victor Hugo Prada and Alejandro Rodriguez have become the first trio to wed in a legally recognised same-sex marriage in Colombia (Picture: CEN)

Three men have made history by becoming the first trio to wed in a same-sex ceremony in Colombia.

Manuel Bermudez, Victor Hugo Prada and Alejandro Rodriguez tied the knot in a romantic ceremony on Saturday in the city of Medellin, in the north-western Colombian department of Antioquia.

Three people are legally allowed to marry each other in Colombia, where it is known as a ‘trieja’ – a word derived from two others: trio and pareja: trio and couple.

The trio became the first same-sex trio to tie the knot after spending years in love.

http://metro.co.uk/2017/06/14/three-men-marry-in-first-legally-recognised-polyamorous-wedding-6708801/#ixzz4sNNjLW3O

Kris Riek, Pete Benson, and Deborah Benson

Kristin (Kris), Pete, and Deborah are a polyamorous triad. Polyamory (called “poly” for short) describes relationships in which there are more than two partners or participants. Unlike swingers whose lifestyles thrive on casual sexual encounters, and polygamists who marry more than one person for religious or spiritual reasons, polyamorists see their relationships as a nurturing emotional connectedness between people.

The partners are like any couple trying to make their relationship work. Fulfilling the needs of three people is a demanding balancing act. But at least for now, the triad has resolved the issue of “musical beds.”

http://www.fluxstories.com/2013/03/loving-more-a-portrait-of-polyamory/

ADAM LYONS LIVES WITH BROOKE SHEDD AND JANE SHALAKHOVA

Short version of this new one: Adam was a lonely nerd, took pickup artist lessons, got so good at it that he set up shop as a dating coach, married "Alexandra," they moved to Texas, the marriage hit the rocks, they tried going poly to save the marriage, that worked until it didn't, and they broke up. Adam paired up with Brooke, they went on a unicorn hunt — and found one. Adam, Brooke and Jane have been happy ever after (we're given to believe) and are raising two kids in L.A.

Dating coach Adam Lyons lives with Brooke Shedd and Jane Shalakhova in a polyamorous relationship

http://polyinthemedia.blogspot.co.za/2015/04/uk-tab-spotlights-triad-with-kids.html

SO CALLED “LIBERATED CHRISTIANS”

Liberated Christians PO Box 55045, Phoenix AZ 85078-5045
Promoting Intimacy and Other-Centered Sexuality

COPYRIGHTED 1999 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED - MAY BE REPRINTED OR QUOTED FROM ONLY IF CREDIT IS GIVEN LIBERATED CHRISTIANS, MAILING ADDRESS IS SHOWN AND WE ARE SENT A COPY OF PUBLICATION.

MULTIPLE INTIMATE RELATIONSHIPS - A SUMMARY OF LIBERATED CHRISTIANS' VIEWS

(IMPORTANT NOTE: This statement will show that Liberated Christians' views are not to be identified with Mormonism or the beliefs and practices of "Christian polygamists" groups which have been recently profiled by the media. Recent news stories have mentioned Liberated Christians along with these groups. This statement will also show that, strictly speaking, our views are not to be too closely identified with the patriarchal polygamy of the Old Testament Hebrews.)

INTRODUCTION
Recent media attention has been paid to fundamentalist Mormon sects and families which continue to practice polygamy and also to certain groups which describe themselves as non-Mormon "Christian polygamists."

In light of these developments, we feel it is important to make a statement which summarizes our beliefs and distinguishes them from the beliefs of these recently publicized groups.

This statement does not contain biblical quotes to document or describe our beliefs. Various materials on this web site deal in a more detailed fashion with these beliefs and the relevant biblical material.

EVIDENCE FROM THE BIBLICAL RECORD
We believe that the idea of multiple sexual partners is in no way prohibited by the teachings of the Hebrew or Christian scriptures.

The ancient Hebrews, as portrayed in the Old Testament, clearly believed in multiple partnerships and this practice is nowhere condemned by God.

When the New Testament scriptures are viewed as a whole, taking into account the cultural context in which they were written, it is clear that neither Jesus nor the writers of the New Testament condemned such practice, although it appears that polygamy had, for non-religious reasons, substantially declined within Jewish culture by the time of Christ.

Despite this biblical evidence, the Christian church has persistently opposed polygamous relationships and has, at times, actively persecuted families which chose to practice this lifestyle. The church has also used twisted interpretations of various scriptures in defense of its opposition to this lifestyle.

A STARTING POINT FOR MULTIPLE INTIMATE RELATIONSHIPS
It is our view that God's evident acceptance of the type of polygamy that existed among the Hebrews is a starting point for discussing and developing modern views on multiple intimate relationships. However, it is important to notice certain characteristics of that form of polygamy which we believe are deficient in light of the perspectives of Jesus and the character of the New Covenant in Christ that we find in the New Testament scriptures.

The practice of POLYGAMY among the Hebrews was, technically, the practice of POLYGYNY, i.e., the idea of one man having multiple wives. In the Hebrew culture and many others throughout history, polygyny was connected with a strong PATRIARCHAL structure in which wives were viewed as PHYSICAL PROPERTY of their husbands. This structure, shared with other Near Eastern peoples who were contemporaries of the Hebrews, severely restricted the rights and freedoms of women, even though certain protections for them were built into the laws regulating marital and family life.

A NEW BEGINNING FOR MULTIPLE INTIMATE RELATIONSHIPS
While we view God's acceptance of this form of polygamy under the OLD COVENANT (God's relationship with the Hebrews) as indicating his approval of multiple relationships, we believe that under the NEW COVENANT (God's relationship with both Jews and Gentiles through Jesus the Messiah) it was God's intention to modify the patriarchal system in order to give greater equality to women. We believe that substantial hints of a new order of respect and freedom for women may be discerned in Jesus' relationship with women and their prominence in the ministry of the apostles and the earliest Christian church. We see no reason why this new freedom should not apply to relationship styles, as well as other aspects of spiritual life.

Thus, our views of multiple relationships are based on a greater freedom of BOTH sexes to relate intimately to partners of their choice. This means that women may have multiple partners, as well as men. (Technically, this form of polygamy is called POLYANDRY.) Regardless of the form, these partners are not to be treated possessively and jealously as property, but set free to share themselves, in Christian love, with others, as they choose.

In some of the material on our web site it will be noticed that we appeal to the practice of the Old Testament Hebrews as support for our views. We continue to grow in our understanding of the message of the New Testament regarding love, freedom and a better perspective on the role of women in the family and church. As we do, we are relying more upon these New Testament ideas as a foundation for our views of multiple relationships than on the concepts found in the Hebrew scriptures.

"POLYAMORY"-A NEW TERM FOR A NEW BEGINNING
The modern term, POLYAMORY (a Greek and Latin hybrid meaning "more loves" or "loving more than one"), was coined a number of years ago as an alternative to "responsible non-monogamy," a rather cumbersome term that was current among those who believed in multiple relationships. In Liberated Christians we also use this term for two additional purposes: to indicate that the relationships we advocate should be founded on principles of Christian love and as a way of distinguishing those relationships from patriarchal polygamy.

OUR VIEWS AND THOSE OF MODERN "POLYGAMISTS"
In light of the preceding statements, it should be clear that our views of Christian polyamory are not compatible with those of patriarchal Mormonism. In addition, Mormons once practiced polygamy in obedience to unique doctrinal beliefs, compatible with their patriarchal religion, which relate to heavenly rewards for Mormon males. Although polygamy was formally renounced by the Mormon Church more than a hundred years ago, some Mormons still practice the lifestyle, many organized into fundamentalist sects. It is important to stress that our views of polyamory have no such doctrinal connections.

Nor is Liberated Christians to be confused with certain contemporary "Christian polygamy" movements, which are clearly patriarchal in nature, even though they are not Mormon in doctrine. Some of these groups have recently set up shop in isolated areas of Utah and other western states, where they believe they will, like their Mormon "cousins," be able to escape notice. They have, however, been discovered by the media, which has produced numerous newspaper, magazine and TV news-magazine reports on their beliefs and practices.

Typical of the sound-bite culture of modern journalism, which seems to neglect thorough research under the pressure of beating competing news organizations to sensational stories, some recent news stories have lumped Liberated Christians in with both the Mormon sects and the newly-noticed "Christian polygamists." It is important to us that we distance ourselves from these groups.

WHAT WE ARE AND WHAT WE AREN'T
In addition to distinguishing ourselves from the groups mentioned above, it is important to note that Liberated Christians is neither a church nor a cult. We do not advocate that Christians who share our views separate themselves from their churches or isolate themselves in cult-like groups. However, we do recognize that Christians who believe as we do may wish to find fellowship with others of like mind. We encourage them to do that and try to facilitate it through certain divisions of our web site and through personal contacts.

We in no way advocate or support individuals who wish to cheat on their spouses by establishing intimate relationships without their partner's knowledge and consent. In this sense, the old term "responsible non-monogamy" or the term "consensual non-monogamy" is a valid watchword within our circle. We believe that a true, loving polyamory can only exist when all partners are in agreement concerning the relationships.

We are primarily an information source for Christians who are interested in exploring their natural tendency toward multiple relationships and provide biblical study material supporting their interests.

We have no formal membership. We do not sell anything except for packets of printed material for those who do not have access to our Internet web site and a few video tapes related to the poly lifestyle. We also offer Sybian machines for women at a discounted price and we receive a small referral fee from the distribututor to help defray our costs.

Liberated Christians is a registered non-profit (though not tax-exempt) entity, almost the entire financial support of which comes from the personal funds of the founders, who earn their living through ordinary occupations. The founders, far from getting rich through Liberated Christians, are, in fact, substantially poorer for their efforts. This is a labor of love, not of profit. We are, however, grateful for supporters who occasionally contribute to the ministry.

HOW WE VIEW THE BIBLE
The founders of Liberated Christians accept the Bible as our teaching source regarding our relationships with God and others and in that sense we might even be considered "conservative" Christians. We simply believe that the central biblical principle of loving God and loving neighbor may legitimately cover the practice of multiple intimate or sexual relationships. We believe that the tendency towards multiple relationships is a normal human tendency, not the product of sin.

We also believe that the Bible, especially the New Testament, does not teach the repressive, legalistic style of life and spirituality that has tended to characterize traditional Christianity and which stifles personal liberty in all areas of life, including the realm of sexuality and intimate relationships. In addition to advocating a liberated sexuality (which is not, by the way, the kind of "licentiousness" of which we are accused by our critics), we believe in a larger freedom to live our total lives under the "rule" of love that is possible if the Bible and the gospel of Christ are taken seriously.

WHO ARE THE PEOPLE WHO SHARE OUR VIEWS?
Many of them are mainstream, evangelical Christians, including pastors and their wives, church elders and Sunday school teachers. Some are seminary-trained theologians. Others are lay men and women from many different church backgrounds or no organized Christian background at all. They come from all walks of life, including college students, doctors, ministry professionals, housewives and blue-collar workers. They may be your neighbors, co-workers or even your relatives. (Scary, isn't it?!) They are ordinary people who have simply acknowledged that they have polyamorous desires, as do most other people who are unable to admit it to themselves, their partners, their church or their God.

THE FRUIT OF THIS MINISTRY
Thousands of people from all parts of the world "hit" our web site weekly. Of the many who contact us, most indicate that they have considered thoughts similar to ours for some period of time, but had no idea that such views could be reconciled with biblical Christianity. Almost invariably, they express their gratitude for finding relief from the conflicts they have experienced between their faith and the inclinations they have had for expanding their loving relationships.

In the more than six years (including the two years that we have operated the web site) that we have been hearing the "stories" of those who contact us, becoming regular correspondents with many and personal friends of some, we have become convinced that there is a substantial sub-culture of Christian individuals and couples who believe essentially as we do. Many of these people are from "conservative" or "evangelical" backgrounds and are desperately looking for fellowship with those of like mind. It is those people whom we are trying to assist in their growth toward a peaceful acceptance of the basic goodness of their sexuality and their polyamorous desires and toward a mature, spiritually sound practice of the poly lifestyle.

Progressive Christian

The problem with this view is that it’s not Biblical at all.

Scripture should be studied in context.
And Scripture are to be used in explaining other parts of Scripture
Scripture must be studied as a whole.

WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS

Why can't I have a biblically based family with multiple partners? Most of the great men of the Bible - Abraham, Jacob, David, Solomon - had many wives. Given your ministry's strong commitment to the Scriptures, I can't see why you're against things like polygamy and polyamory. I consider myself a polyamorous Christian. I love several different women, and there's no reason we can't build a strong family together on a foundation of consensual, ethical, and responsible non-monogamy. When did the "change" occur that established marriage as a covenant relationship between one woman and one man?

There never was any change. God intended that marriage should work this way from the very beginning: "Then the rib which the Lord God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man. And Adam said, 'This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.' Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh" (Genesis 2:22-24). As these verses show very clearly, monogamy was inherent to God's plan for humanity from the moment of creation.

You're correct, of course, to point out that several of the Old Testament patriarchs and kings had a number of wives. What you have failed to notice is that the Bible never really condones this practice. It simply describes it as part of the lifestyle of a typical ancient Middle-eastern chieftain. The Israelites probably picked up the custom of polygamy from their pagan neighbors.

If you study these biblical instances of polygamy in detail, you'll discover that none of them is portrayed in a positive light. In every case, the practice of keeping multiple wives results in problems for the king or patriarch in question. In some cases those problems are very serious indeed. If you doubt this, take a closer look at the lives of Abraham, Jacob, and David. Solomon is the best known and most extreme example of this principle. In the end, it was his many wives who led him into idolatry and destroyed his faith in the Lord.

Add to this the fact that polygamy had all but disappeared in Israel by the time of Christ. Paul's instructions in Titus 1 and 1 Timothy 3, specifying that deacons and elders must be "the husband of one wife," probably don't have anything to do with polygamy per se. Instead, they grow out of a problem that is far more familiar to most of us as modern Americans: divorce and what has sometimes been called "serial polygamy." The Romans were notorious for this kind of thing. It seems that their customs and habits had rubbed off on many of the occupied peoples of the Empire. This is part of the background for the question about the resurrection that the Sadducees brought to Jesus in Mark 12:18-27.

But enough of the historical perspective. Let's get back to the heart of your question. The real issue here is your claim to be a Christian who "loves several different women" and who wants to build a "family" on the basis of "responsible non-monogamy." That's an extremely risky proposition as far as we're concerned. Do you really believe you can make it work? Along with the biblical and theological difficulties, your plan has some serious practical, legal, and logistical flaws. What's more, it raises big questions about your understanding of the exclusivity of sexual love (which the biblical writers often use as a symbol for the exclusivity of our relationship with God).

In short, we think it might be a good idea for you to sit down and have a serious discussion with someone about the personal motives behind your "polyamorous" designs. With that in mind, we'd like to invite you to call and speak with one of our Focus on the Family pastoral counselors. They are available at this number.

https://www.focusonthefamily.com/family-q-and-a/relationships-and-marriage/biblical-perspectives-on-polygamy-and-polyamory

What does the Bible say about polyamory?

By S. Michael Houdmann, Got Questions Ministries

The word "polyamory" is a compound of two words: "poly," which is Greek for "many," and "amor," which is Latin for "love." It refers to a relationship in which a person has multiple sexual partners (not necessarily at the same time, i.e., threesomes). A polyamorous relationship is supposedly distinguished from "swinging" by the idea that polyamory involves love while swinging is simply recreational/casual sex.

Polyamory has long been common in dating relationships. Recently, the idea has expanded into "open marriages." An open marriage is a marriage in which one or both spouses are allowed to have extra-marital affairs. After all, if you truly love someone, shouldn't you allow him/her to explore, to follow the desires of his/her heart?

In reality, polyamory is poly-lust-ory. There is nothing "amor" about it. Polyamory is absolutely incompatible with what the Bible says about marital love. Marital love is pure, faithful, committed, and yes, jealous. Just as God is jealous for the worship that only He is worthy of (Exodus 20:5), so should spouses be jealous of the love that should only be given to them. Advocates of polyamory warn against the tendency towards jealousy. Imagine that!

It does not matter if a spouse gives permission or even participates in the polyamorous relationships. We do not get to redefine what the Bible says is sin. The Bible clearly and consistently declares that sex outside of marriage is immoral (Galatians 5:19; Ephesians 5:3; Colossians 3:5; 1 Thessalonians 4:3). It is adultery, plain and simple (Exodus 20:14).

There are "scientific" studies claiming that polyamory is genetic. Really?! You think?! "The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery" (Galatians 5:19). Of course it is genetic! Sin is hard-wired into our genetic code. We are infected with a desire for all things ungodly and immoral.

It should not surprise us that polyamory is increasingly being accepted in our society. It should not even surprise us that some view polyamory as compatible with marriage. Our society rejects God and His Word, and as a result, there is no authoritative standard for what marriage is. Whether it is gay marriage, polygamy, or polyamory – these are logical results of rejecting the biblical definition of marriage.

What's next? Pedophilia? Acceptance of incest within a family? Bestiality? Some may scoff and claim those perversions will never be accepted, but I hear the same claims coming out of those groups. "We love each other." "It is all consensual, no one is forced to do anything." "Who are you to question who and how I love?"

During the Winter Olympics, an athlete who serves as a youth pastor and is dedicated to his wife and children was described as living an alternative lifestyle. Sadly and disturbingly, traditional marriage is increasingly becoming an alternative lifestyle. But, you know what? I'll take it. It is an alternative to immorality and perversion. It is an alternative to fake love and disrupted intimacy. It is an alternative to the lies and deception with which the god of this world seeks to hide the truth.

"...the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ…" (2 Corinthians 4:4).
http://www.blogos.org/gotquestions/polyamory.

TOWARD A CHRISTIAN PERSPECTIVE ON POLYAMORY:

A Conversation Between Rev. Danny Cortez and Rev. Dr. Jeff Hood

February 3, 2015 by revjeff

J: Is there room in the Bible for polyamorous relationships?

D: I don’t see polyamory spoken of positively at all in scripture. When polyamory is mentioned, it is not approved or valued.

J: I think we are going to disagree on this. There are multiple points in the Old Testament were intimate love is shared equally by more than two people. I see love as the thrust of scripture. Throughout the scriptures, love being confined to a couple and only shared within that couple is not the normative construct. In the Old Testament, you have all of these plural relationships. In the New Testament, we are encouraged to not get married at all. Despite what evangelicals and fundamentalists would have us to believe, marriage and family is not the chief end of the scriptures at all.

D: The polyamorous relationships in the Old Testament are not motivated by love. These relationships are motivated by money and power. The polyamorous relationships in the Old Testament seem destructive. The men function as misogynistic and patriarchal dictators of multiple women.

J: There is no question that the way that polyamory was practiced in the Old Testament is problematic. When Jesus comes and shows us a new way of being, I have to wonder if that doesn’t open the world up to new and equal ways of sharing love. On some level, I think the disciples and Jesus were involved in some sort of polyamorous relationship. Love seemed to be pretty free flowing around Jesus.

D: First, I don’t believe the disciples had any type of sexual relationship with Jesus. Second, Paul makes it clear that marriages are to be made up of two people. Paul places a premium on singleness and calls all that are able to remain as such

J: I find Paul’s patriarchal words to be derogatory, demeaning and dismissive.

D: I get it. It’s like… If you can’t control your body then go ahead… I don’t think that is what Paul meant to convey. When you share your self with more than one person, the intimacy factor begins to go down. Love begins to lesson when it is shared beyond the intimate partner.

J: I disagree. I think that it is quite possible for love and intimacy to grow the more that it is shared.

D: How about an analogy? I think the more limited something is the more valuable it becomes.

J: Would you not say that love is a limited commodity anyways? I think love is something to embrace with all that we are whenever we find it.

D: It is true that love should be cultivated wherever you find it, but I am talking about the sexual intimacy part. When I think about my relationships with people, there are different levels of intimacy that I embrace with different people…but there is only one person that I am most intimate with…my wife. There are things that I do with my wife that I don’t do with anyone else. If I were to expand that, the intimacy would diminish.

J: I experience deep intimate relationships with persons who are not my wife. Danny, I would say that our friendship is an intimate relationship for me. I have been really blessed by knowing you. The more difficult piece of this is that many polyamorous relationships are situations where our culture has pushed closeted LGBT people to get married and instead of getting divorced from someone they have grown to love…some people decide to bring a third partner into the relationship. This situation is a result of our oppression. How can lovingly tell these folks that what they are doing is wrong? Some of these polyamorous relationships come from a desire to do no harm.

D: I will have to admit that I don’t know anyone in a polyamorous relationship. I feel like I can only speak from a distant theoretical understanding. This is a subject that I have little experience with.

J: Would you welcome a polyamorous family into your church?

D: I would receive them without question.

J: Would you bring all three parents or four parents up during a baby dedication or any other special church service?

D: I have no desire to police the relationships of our people.

J: I am not interested in condemning love. If people have learned to love each other and not do violence to each other, I just want to let them be. I love my neighbor as my self by letting them be.

D: I don’t think that scripture gives a robust position on this topic.

J: I don’t think that scripture gives any position on this topic.

D: I don’t think there is enough evidence in scripture to outright condemn polyamory. I just don’t believe it is the ideal that scripture is pointing us towards.

J: What about celebrating it? How would you help them to feel a part of the community?

D: I would invite them into my home. I would treat them the same as I would a relationship made up of two people. I would respect whatever they wanted to be called. I would love them.

J: You know we don’t believe in the holy couple. We believe in the Holy Polyamorous Trinity.

D: Throughout the world, we have spent so much time trying to manipulate and control people’s relationships. Whatever they look like, we need to spend more time helping people strengthen their relationships. I do believe that.

J: I don’t believe that the polyamorous struggle for equality is all that different from the LGBT struggle for equality. Love is love. I believe that the people of God must always stand on the side of love.

* Brother D asked me to add this clarification from his perspective:

So to be clear, even though polygamy was allowed in the OT, I believe the trajectory of scripture moves us towards monogamy. So when I say, I wouldn’t police the relationships, I say that in the same way missionaries have addressed polyamory in other cultures. What I meant is similar to what John Piper’s stance is in understanding that we need to give grace to people who are already in these relationships. Piper gives insight into the dilemma missionaries find themselves in when they encounter polygamy. Do we police the relationship and force them to divorce? Or do we leave room for grace?

John Piper writes, “When a polygamist is converted what should he do about his marriages? My inclination is to cut a lot of slack in the mission field as people move from the first to the second generation. So many things culturally have to be adjusted to biblical reality. Jesus, I think, clarified for us that marriage is one man and one woman, as it was in the beginning in Genesis 2:24. So that the divorce features of Deuteronomy were “given for the hardness of your heart, but it was not always so. And so now I don’t want you to do what they were doing.” I think polygamy fits into that same paradigm. God tolerated polygamy among the patriarchs. He never in the Old Testament communicated, “Stop doing that,” except by implication from Genesis 2….So I think you shouldn’t be married to two women today, or a woman to two men. And yet there are cultures that do it. And so you want to go evangelize those cultures. And you win them to Christ and now they have two wives. I might say, “OK, those who have two wives, be faithful to both of them until the next generation, or until one of them dies. But never do this again.” It’s hard for me, culturally, to know what the alternatives would be. In a sense I want to step back and say to the missionaries, I’m so distant from your problem at this point, that I don’t feel like I should get on a soap box and tell you how to do this. I want the principle to be clear. Preach to them, “One wife.” Now they may have a way of figuring that out so that they’re not having two wives anymore, but I just don’t know enough about the situation.”

I also don’t think describing the trinity as a polyamorous relationship is helpful since it’s a language that would affirm polyamory. But Jeff, these are the places we disagree and it’s always good to have dialogue with you.

http://revjeffhood.com/toward-a-christian-perspective-on-polyamory-a-conversation-between-rev-danny-cortez-and-rev-dr-jeff-hood/

BIBLE POLYAMORY AN OXYMORON.

When our Lord Christ said we were to love one another He did not grant any license to fornicate far and wide and especially from within a marriage. Anyone who claims to be Christian and at the same time engage in polyamorous pursuits, are doing so without any Scriptural endorsement. On the contrary, they are breaching the very principles of marriage expounded in God's Word from cover to cover. The woman was made for the man who is to provide headship. This headship he can provide for multiple women, thus one man with more than one woman in marriage is acceptable to God. Married men and married women engaging in multiple sexual encounters, whether short, long term or committed, are outside His definition of Biblical Marriage. Any multiple couples all swapping beds but claiming to be polygamous are in fact not, they are adulterers plain and simple. Let me be very clear, any married woman sexing with any other man is committing adultery as is the single or married man sleeping with her.
Deu 22:22 If a man is found lying with a woman married to a husband, then they shall both of them die, the man that lay with the woman, and the woman. So you shall put away evil from Israel.
Rom 7:3 So then if, while her husband lives, she is married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress. But if the husband dies, she is free from the law, so that she is no adulteress by becoming another man's wife.

Biblical Polygamy or Polygyny is not fleshly indulgence in multiple, wife, husband swapping sexual gratifications. It is to be deplored that more and more polyamorous "christians" and non-Christians are linking themselves to polygyny groups and dragging a Biblical ideal into the gutter. It might be time to leave polygamy to the masses and Christians claim the word that truly defines us; polygyny.
http://www.biblepolygamy.com/biblepolyamory.html

"WHY DID GOD ALLOW POLYGAMY / BIGAMY IN THE BIBLE?"

Answer: The question of polygamy is an interesting one in that most people today view polygamy as immoral while the Bible nowhere explicitly condemns it. The first instance of polygamy/bigamy in the Bible was that of Lamech in Genesis 4:19: “Lamech married two women.” Several prominent men in the Old Testament were polygamists. Abraham, Jacob, David, Solomon, and others all had multiple wives. Solomon had 700 wives and 300 concubines (essentially wives of a lower status), according to 1 Kings 11:3. What are we to do with these instances of polygamy in the Old Testament? There are three questions that need to be answered: 1) Why did God allow polygamy in the Old Testament? 2) How does God view polygamy today? 3) Why did it change?

1) Why did God allow polygamy in the Old Testament? The Bible does not specifically say why God allowed polygamy. As we speculate about God’s silence, there are a few key factors to consider. First, while there are slightly more male babies than female babies, due to women having longer lifespans, there have always been more women in the world than men. Current statistics show that approximately 50.5 percent of the world population are women. Assuming the same percentages in ancient times, and multiplied by millions of people, there would be tens of thousands more women than men. Second, warfare in ancient times was especially brutal, with an incredibly high rate of fatality. This would have resulted in an even greater percentage of women to men. Third, due to patriarchal societies, it was nearly impossible for an unmarried woman to provide for herself. Women were often uneducated and untrained. Women relied on their fathers, brothers, and husbands for provision and protection. Unmarried women were often subjected to prostitution and slavery. The significant difference between the number of women and men would have left many, many women in an undesirable situation.

So, it seems that God may have allowed polygamy to protect and provide for the women who could not find a husband otherwise. A man would take multiple wives and serve as the provider and protector of all of them. While definitely not ideal, living in a polygamist household was far better than the alternatives: prostitution, slavery, or starvation. In addition to the protection/provision factor, polygamy enabled a much faster expansion of humanity, fulfilling God’s command to “be fruitful and increase in number; multiply on the earth” (Genesis 9:7). Men are capable of impregnating multiple women in the same time period, causing humanity to grow much faster than if each man was only producing one child each year.

2) How does God view polygamy today? Even while allowing polygamy, the Bible presents monogamy as the plan which conforms most closely to God’s ideal for marriage. The Bible says that God’s original intention was for one man to be married to only one woman: “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife [not wives], and they will become one flesh [not fleshes]” (Genesis 2:24). While Genesis 2:24 is describing what marriage is, rather than how many people are involved, the consistent use of the singular should be noted. In Deuteronomy 17:14-20, God says that the kings were not supposed to multiply wives (or horses or gold). While this cannot be interpreted as a command that the kings must be monogamous, it can be understood as declaring that having multiple wives causes problems. This can be clearly seen in the life of Solomon (1 Kings 11:3-4).

In the New Testament, 1 Timothy 3:2, 12 and Titus 1:6 give “the husband of one wife” in a list of qualifications for spiritual leadership. There is some debate as to what specifically this qualification means. The phrase could literally be translated “a one-woman man.” Whether or not this phrase is referring exclusively to polygamy, in no sense can a polygamist be considered a “one-woman man.” While these qualifications are specifically for positions of spiritual leadership, they should apply equally to all Christians. Should not all Christians be “above reproach...temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money” (1 Timothy 3:2-4)? If we are called to be holy (1 Peter 1:16), and if these standards are holy for elders and deacons, then they are holy for all.

Ephesians 5:22-33 speaks of the relationship between husbands and wives. When referring to a husband (singular), it always also refers to a wife (singular). “For the husband is the head of the wife [singular] … He who loves his wife [singular] loves himself. For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife [singular], and the two will become one flesh....Each one of you also must love his wife [singular] as he loves himself, and the wife [singular] must respect her husband [singular].” While a somewhat parallel passage, Colossians 3:18-19, refers to husbands and wives in the plural, it is clear that Paul is addressing all the husbands and wives among the Colossian believers, not stating that a husband might have multiple wives. In contrast, Ephesians 5:22-33 is specifically describing the marital relationship. If polygamy were allowable, the entire illustration of Christ’s relationship with His body (the church) and the husband-wife relationship falls apart.

3) Why did it change? It is not so much God’s disallowing something He previously allowed as it is God’s restoring marriage to His original plan. Even going back to Adam and Eve, polygamy was not God’s original intent. God seems to have allowed polygamy to solve a problem, but it is not the ideal. In most modern societies, there is absolutely no need for polygamy. In most cultures today, women are able to provide for and protect themselves—removing the only “positive” aspect of polygamy. Further, most modern nations outlaw polygamy. According to Romans 13:1-7, we are to obey the laws the government establishes. The only instance in which disobeying the law is permitted by Scripture is if the law contradicts God’s commands (Acts 5:29). Since God only allows for polygamy, and does not command it, a law prohibiting polygamy should be upheld.

Are there some instances in which the allowance for polygamy would still apply today? Perhaps, but it is unfathomable that there would be no other possible solution. Due to the “one flesh” aspect of marriage, the need for oneness and harmony in marriage, and the lack of any real need for polygamy, it is our firm belief that polygamy does not honor God and is not His design for marriage.
https://www.gotquestions.org/polygamy.html

SUMMARY

The practical test below shows how complex these relations can be.

POLYAMORY/POLIGAMY/POLYANDY/ POLYANDRY are not God’s will for mankind. All scripture used by various groups are taken out of context to support their own lustful will.

WHAT IF YOU WERE/ARE INVOLVED?

Solution – Break with it and seek counselling.

The real solution regarding any sinful sexual relationship is found in the Creator of mankind and in His word, the bible. A Heart changed in the inner-man, by the grace of God through His Holy Spirit sets you free from bondage.

Consider the following:

Sex is like nuclear energy. Within a contained environment (marriage) very useful, outside disastrous, harmful and dangerous.

The solution to this disillusioned lifestyle is the Christian gospel. A Gospel of forgiveness and restoration.

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SEXUAL SINS OR NOT?

Wednesday, 18 April 2018

PAGES SEXUAL OR NOT

Tuesday, 20 February 2018

POLYAMORY/POLIGAMY/POLYANDRY