Repulsive. It's against the law, too, but the law doesn't get enforced. Sometimes I despair at the chances of civilization moving forward.

I thought you might like to listen to this Holly, broadcast this morning on CBC Radio. I haven't listened yet because I don't have Real Player, but it's being repeated on air tonight, so I'll get it then. Click on Listen to Part 2 to download.

http://www.cbc.ca/thecurrent/2006/200611/20061123.html

Polygamy Debate

We started this segment with the voice of a young woman testifying in court, in a preliminary hearing against Utah polygamist Warren Jeffs. Jeffs is charged with two counts of rape as an accomplice for his alleged role in forcing the woman, who was 14 at the time, to marry her 19-year-old cousin. Jeffs is the leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, a Mormon offshoot that claims polygamy ensures an exalted place in heaven.

While a U.S. judge decides whether there's enough evidence to take Warren Jeffs' case to trial in the U.S, we wanted to weigh in on polygamy here in Canada. After all, about 500 people in Bountiful, B.C. remain members of the breakaway Mormon sect. In fact the witness we just heard from still has family there.

But while some say Canada's current laws against polygamy are outdated and ineffective, others say we need our current laws to continue sending a strong message against polygamy. To explain the laws on polygamy and what she thinks is wrong with them, we were joined by Professor Beverly Baines, the Head of Women's Studies at Queen's University. She's the co-author of a report on polygamy prepared for the department of Status of Women Canada. And Professor Nicholas Bala is also with the Faculty of Law at Queen's. Both were in Kingston, Ontario.

(And because it's part of my artistic and intellectual endeavor, the whole damn thing is copyrighted. All rights reserved.)

Yes. Absolutely.

Thanks for the link, Pony. Like you, Hattie, I find the idea of sharing a bunkbed with a couple who is having sex quite unpalatable, particularly when I'm married to the man in question, but as I explain here, I think such arrangements should be legal, though I reserve the right to argue vociferously about why intelligent, self-respecting people should shun them.