Crimes of the Mind

Over at this blog, the writer rails against criminalizing thought: the thinking of some men that they have more than one wife.

You see, pretty soon, Wendell Nielsen will go on trial in Texas for having one legal wife and some other women whom he thinks of as "wives" (not "daughters"). He is not being charged with incest. He is being charged with "bigamy". In Texas' view, his crime is that he has one legal wife, a handful of other (always adult) partners with whom he has allegedly shared a dwelling or a bed but, WORST OF ALL, he believes in the biblical doctrine of plural marriage as restored through Joseph Smith. That's the kicker - that's what makes him a felon - not the women, the sex, the children, the cohabiting (all protected acts throughout Texas, Canada and the U.S.) - NO, it's the thoughts in his head, the abstract notions of theology and religious doctrine shared by at least 13 million Latter-day Saints.

While I do not agree with all of the writers apparent positions, the writer does have points about the criminalizing of polygamous thought as well as the denial of polygamous marriages.

Consenting adults should be able to marry, whether it is two women, or a man with two women, or four men and three women. Love is love, and not everyone loves or lives the same way.