Essay --

â€Å"He must not take many wive,s or his heart will be led astray. He must not accumulate large amounts of silver and gold.† ( Duet. 17:17 KJV) In today’s world many people have had different views and ideas on what polygamy really is, is it morally wrong? In this paper you are going to learn what polygamy is, who practices it, the affects that it has on children, wives and the husbands, risk factors, and most importantly why it is morally wrong. The world polygamy means the practice of having more than one wife. It comes from poly meaning ‘many’ and gamos meaning ‘marriage. Polygamy has been around for many years, and by many years, it’s been around since the biblical ages. In the Old Testament of the bible polygamy was allowed, not only was it practiced or allowed in the Old Testament but other cultures and religions practiced polygamy as well. These religions included Hindus, Muslims, and Christians. The Old Testament gives multiple examples of men being married to more than one wife at a time. The patriarchs Abraham and Jacob are known to be examples of righteous men who had several wives in the Old Testament. It is said that in ancient times when a man had more than one wife or wives and concubines(a woman who lives with a man but has lower status than his wife or wives) these wives and concubines were segregated by position and authority within the husband’s family. The first wife held the highest position and it was to her first –born son that the husband’s inheritance was given. (www.bibleresearch.org) Although there and many reasons as to why people practiced polygamy, some of these reasons were family reasons, personal reasons, and religious reasons. Practicing polygamy you would share family responsibilities, more freed... ...KJV) â€Å"And if a man take a wife and her mother, it is wickedness: they shall be burnt with fire , both he and they; that there be no wickedness among you ( Lev. 20:14 KJV) The first quote is stating that a man cannot be married concurrently to two women who are sisters, while the second quote prohibits a man taking a woman and her mother as wives, or they will be executed by fire. The quotes both go to show you in a religious way that polygamy was wrong, and still is. In Genesis 2:24 it says â€Å"Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother ,and shall cleave to his wife: and they shall be one flesh† . Note in that particular verse it says â€Å"wife† not â€Å"wives†, and that’s how it should be. There fore it is morally wrong to practice polygamy, and if one feels that it is not, maybe they should rethink their values, and what they consider morals to really be.