Talk:Polygamy in the United States

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[edit] Scope of article

A significant proportion of the history of polygamy in the US is that of the Mormon movement. One cannot ignore that history, even if it renders the article "one sided" or imbalanced. The main discourse to date has involved their philosophy. By all means expand it to make reference to other, non-LDS groups. That is why I'm reverting the historical deletion.

Do you have any refernces that polygamy in the US started with Mormons? I have never read that, it may be there, but you will need to demonstrate it by providing it. Also, there is no need to repeat the development of polygamy within Mormonism since that would just be a regurgitation of another article. Does this make sense to you? Also, when you edit on the discussion page, sign by typing four ~. --Storm Rider (talk) 10:11, 11 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Polygamists outside Latter Day Saint movement

Please note that some polygamous groups in the United States are not, and have never been, affiliated with the Latter Day Saint movement. See the relatively modern Christian polygamy movment [1]. Their practice and legal experiences should be reflected here as well.

As for the name usage in this article, please see the LDS project here for proper use of names and historical references to the Church's identity. Wikipedia:Naming conventions (Latter Day Saints) WBardwin (talk) 23:35, 9 May 2008 (UTC)

This article, given its title, should be much broader than the groups affiliated with the FLDS or from LDS history. That article has already been written and this should not be a redundant article. I deleted a great deal of material because it overbalanced the article with too much focus on the early LDS Church. Focus on the title and expand on it.
Being a genealogist I am aware that after the Civil War it was common to see a man with more than one wife in the south. However, I don't see this covered often. It would be interesting to see if this has been studied to support that with references.
Also, I do not believe that polygamy was started by Mormons. That practice has been around since man began to live in communities. I think you will find that Mormons did not start the practice in the US.
I would be curious to find out how many Muslims practice polygamy in the US today; does anyone have any facts in this regard? Several religions teach polygamy today and they should all be covered if it is practiced in the US. --Storm Rider (talk) 02:37, 10 May 2008 (UTC)
There's also House of Yaweh. — Val42 (talk) 16:30, 16 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Muslim visitors and immigrants

What is the legal status in the U.S. of Muslim visitors or immigrants who have become parties to a polygamous marriage in a country where this is widely accepted, or Americans holding dual citizenship who have entered into such marriages abroad? Wnt (talk) 17:52, 22 May 2008 (UTC)

You are alluding to a difficult situation; finding reputable references for these topics. I would think that we could find some expert that has looked at this issue, but we need to begin looking for references for much of what this article should say. --Storm Rider (talk) 19:12, 22 May 2008 (UTC)
I tried looking this up on the Web once.... that's why I asked here. ;) Wnt (talk) 05:08, 23 May 2008 (UTC)
Muslims who are willing to openly state that they are in polygamous marriage(s) are denied entry into the US as permanent immigrants. As to other status categories, I don't know about work visas or education visas. However, I believe polygamous Muslims, and those in traditional cultures that have polygyny, can enter the US on a visitor's visa. I would think that US sites on immigration and visas could have some information. WBardwin (talk) 02:48, 24 May 2008 (UTC)
I added a few references below that describe polygamist Muslims in the U.S. --Storm Rider (talk) 06:06, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Information for possible inclusion

I was searching for information on polygamy in the United States today and ran across a few interesting articles:

  1. USA Today address the legal contradictions of polygamy in the US today
  2. Religion today offers a number of books as references; unfortunately they all focus on Mormonism and do not appear to address the practice of non-Mormons.
  3. Slate discussed polygyny among Muslims in the United States and why they are comfortable not striving to legalize polygyny in the United States.
  4. A blog, not a reputable source, discusses polygamy among Muslims in the US. In skimming it seems like the blog refers to other sources for the story.
  5. There is a group of Christians that practice polygamy and its legality within Christianity.
  6. Here is an informal list of polygamist sects in the U.S.
  7. Here is another article on U.S. Muslims practicing polygamy.
  8. Islamic teaching of polygamy.

These are some quick references that we should review and determine what could/should be added to the article. I know there is more, but this seems like a good stepping stone. --Storm Rider (talk) 18:05, 23 May 2008 (UTC)

These are interesting tidbits, but fall short of a full explanation. From one of the blogs I took the word nikah, which leads me to Wikipedia's information on the Islamic Marriage Contract and a good reference.[2] —Preceding unsigned comment added by Wnt (talk • contribs) 15:41, 25 May 2008 (UTC)