Remember when we were debating same-sex marriage some of us tried to point out that once you start messing with the definition of marriage there’s no telling where it’ll end? That polygamy would be next? Because once you decide that a marriage is simply the recognition of a loving relationship, there’s no reason to get hung up on the number of people involved in said loving relationship?
I remember. We were laughed at. We were told tut-tut, of course not, because polygamy is illegal.
Hundreds of GTA Muslim men in polygamous marriages — some with a harem of wives — are receiving welfare and social benefits for each of their spouses, thanks to the city and province, Muslim leaders say.
Mumtaz Ali, president of the Canadian Society of Muslims, said wives in polygamous marriages are recognized as spouses under the Ontario Family Law Act, providing they were legally married under Muslim laws abroad.
“Polygamy is a regular part of life for many Muslims,” Ali said yesterday. “Ontario recognizes religious marriages for Muslims and others.”
[…]
However, city and provincial officials said legally a welfare applicant can claim only one spouse. Other adults living in the same household can apply for welfare independently.
Once again, I wonder where the feminists are… Why aren’t they up in arms about this? Do they think polygamy is good for women?
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Andrea adds: If I had a dime for every time a social liberal or even a libertarian told me family and marriage policy doesn’t matter, I’d be retired in Waikiki. Social liberals appear to be AOK with an illogical double standard: Yes to same sex marriage, no to polygamy (though clearly we have not said no to that at all). And my libertarian friends? With some of their attitudes toward marriage-one almost has to wonder whether they don’t secretly long for bigger government.
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Rebecca adds: “‘Polygamy is a regular part of life for many Muslims,’ Ali said yesterday.”
No kidding. Lots of things are a regular part of life for many Muslims, but it doesn’t follow that we want these behaviours replicated in Canada, much less at taxpayer expense. Maybe we should jump on the Rowan Williams bandwagon and declare sharia in Canada inevitable?
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