Polygamy As Guilty Pleasure

OK, maybe not polygamy but watching polygamy.  Maybe that's not the right term either; I don't really mean watching people practice polygamy, except that's exactly what it is.  And it is certainly a mind-altering thing to do.

My wife and I watch an interesting set of shows, mostly taped and watched the next day or so to avoid commercials for cars, beer and feminine hygiene products, and to zip through those plaintive and depressing ASPCA ads.  Many, of course, are "reality shows", where people invite camera crews into their lives and expect us to watch.

Apparently, in some cases, they actually do watch.  One such show debuted its sixth or maybe tenth season or so this week; I'm referring to the amazing television show known as "Sister Wives."  If you somehow haven't heard of it, Sister Wives is the reality story of a polygamist family consisting of a man named Kody Brown, his four wives Meri, Janelle, Christine and Robyn, and maybe 17-18 children; I lost count.  They left Utah a few years ago and now live openly as polygamists, in four houses on a cul-de-sac in Las Vegas.

Note that I didn't say "a family led by" Kody Brown, because although he is the man of the house, and is a strong individual, I would not want to present the image of dominance.  To say that he is the "chairman of a committee" might better portray things, as there is plenty of input from all five in family decisions.  That characteriztion is, of course, necessary, since our general image of polygamy in the USA is colored by knowledge of cultish behavior and abuse by notorious practitioners, such as Warren Jeffs and his crowd.

The Brown household is nothing whatsoever in any way, shape or form like what you expected; more Ozzie and Harriet than Bonnie and Clyde.  Actually, it's more like Ozzie and Harriet and Harriet and Harriet and Harriet.  And that's the appeal to the show.  Twenty times an episode you have to snap yourself out of the scene about one child starting college, or another dating, another dealing with Asberger's, or the wives running their jewelry business, or going to the personal trainer, and remind yourself that this is a polygamous family.

In other words, the only thing about the Browns that is different from what my household was when our kids were between two and twenty, is that there are three more wives (and 15 more kids), and Kody is a lot taller than I am.  And that, friends, is precisely what I think the show is about.  Their faith is presented openly and, polygamy aside, appears not to be different to any concerning degree from Mormon or even mainstream Christian theology. 

The children appear amazingly well-adjusted (normality is hard to fake at that age), and at the same time, both properly disciplined and granted freedom of thought by their many parents (the decision to practice polygamy themselves is very clearly presented as optional).  The eldest child, son Logan, is a student at UNLV and is such a mature, impressive young man that if I had a job opening, I'd hire him no matter what.  The next eldest are daughters also now in college, and you could probably watch them talk for an hour and never guess they are from a plural family.  In fact, the scary inference is that if kids could be raised to be that normal, moral and "together", we ought to be encouraging polygamy.

OK, maybe not. I for one can't imagine how to deal with multiple spouses even if you were raised in the culture. My view of marriage after many decades of it is quite different.  But if this is polygamy -- and given their visits to other such families depicted on the show, it may be a lot more representative of the culture than the cultish stories are -- then the Browns have succeeded in opening our eyes to acceptance and tolerance of their choices in life.

Not all will be as accepting, and that's fine.  But if welcoming the Browns is an example of practicing the tolerance that the left demands of us, then fine; let me start by tolerating their family choices.

Copyright 2015 by Robert Sutton