Constitutional fight about polygamy

After the government of British Columbia (BC) tried to convict a fundamentalist Mormon sect in Bountiful, BC on charges of polygamy they have moved on to more dangerous grounds.  The government wants the Supreme Court of BC to confirm or deny the constitutionality of Polygamy under the law.  If the court confirms that polygamist relationships should be protected under law, as same sex marriage was in 2005, then a law which has existed over 100 years with the movement of Mormons to Canada in the 1890s will be removed.

It is fascinating to see how this plays out.  I am convinced that the BC court will rule that polygamy should be protected, while illegal underage marriages and abuse should be prosecuted.  If the Canadian courts are to be consistent with the trends over the past 1o years I can see no other reaction.   There seems to be no law against multiple partners, laws were struck down on other definitions of what a marriage entails so there is little that can be said in favour of single partner unions over a multiple partner other than what havoc it will play with divorce and pension laws.

While there are other reasons to be unhappy with what is going on in Bountiful (there are some who are saying things are not so bad others would of course disagree) there is little that can be presented that would justify continuing discrimination under this evaluation.

I think I have been pretty clear that I do not defend anything going on in Bountiful, I have heard a few horror stories that also do not surprise me.  Yet polygamy, either polygyny or polyandry,  as a relationship is seemingly little different from other monogamous relationships that can have abuse and problems.  Of course this could be the tip of a another relationship iceberg and may prove that government sponsorship of marriage in general is just not tenable if what the definition becomes is always legally moved to various more distant goal posts.

This reference case could just be the beginning of a new world for those who believe and practice polygamy.

End of the line for FLDS in Canada we are going to appeal to the Constitution

Ok lets be honest.  An appeal to the Charter of Rights and Freedoms is probably the stupidest thing a government wanting to stop something could do:

The British Columbia government will not launch an appeal after criminal charges against two polygamist religious leaders were recently thrown out of court, the province’s attorney general announced Thursday.

Instead, Mike de Jong said he will ask the B.C. Supreme Court to clarify the controversial polygamy laws, and rule on whether they violate the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

The announcement comes a month after a B.C. court threw out the charges against Winston Blackmore and James Oler.  Read the rest of the article here.

That sounds good in theory, but the record of the Charter on ruling on these things is well pretty poor.  Courts have ruled in favour of the following:

1. Same Sex Marriage – see in Canada it is a civil right, sorry Elder Oaks

2. Group sex um parlours – yeah less said here the better

3. Abortion laws and other moral laws get thrown out often

So asking the BC Supreme court to rule on the whole of Polygamy and charter rights sounds like a land mine waiting to be stepped on.  I get the impression they just do not get it.  Of course I could be wrong and maybe the court will rule against them but I suspect the FLDS will be head over heels at present.  Unable to bring a charter challenge themselves they have goaded the BC government to do it for them.

British Columbia the new home of Polygamy, just in time for the Winter Olympics, maybe that Egyptian bobsled team can bring their wives now.

BC Supreme Court throws out Polygamy challenge

At the beginning of this year I posted a few articles on the issue of the British Columbia government’s insistence to prosecute polygamists over the objections of their advisors.  As I suspected the BC Supreme Court has rejected the government prosecution of the Polygamist sect in Bountiful, British Columbia.

The CBC has a good article here giving an overview of the ruling.

One would think that the British Columbia politicians could have seen this coming.  It the obsession of the government to be seen to be doing something which prompts failure to actually accomplish anything.   Come on, should it not be obvious by now that this is going to be an epic fail?  Our government and courts have legislated or legalized various other forms of marital and non-marital relationships.  Does polygamy differ that much from group sex clubs and same sex marriage?  Honestly?

Yes there have been suggested evidence of abuse, and under age marriages to older men to girls in the community.  But the government is falling into an obvious trap.  The burden of proof leaves them often looking Texas stupid.    I think if the government insists on challenging this further they will legalize polygamy.    Because they are failing to attack the real problem in the FLDS communities.  It is not the polygamy but the abuse and teen marriages which are at issue.

In order to win they will have to attack this like Utah and Arizona and stop trying to convict them on polygamy.  It is a false hope at best.  Particularly with polygamy which is going on in the Islamic community in Canada.     The fact is a few scandalous books and reports by the media are not good enough evidence to convict these men.  Period.

Anyway the fight continues.

Polygamy letters to the editor

With the British Columbia (BC) decision to charge two men from Bountiful BC with polygamy under the Criminal code of Canada there has been an interesting batch of letters to the editor making the rounds.  I will try and post some of the for and against here:

Card and Sir John A.

So last night I was reading a borrowed copy of the Diaries of Charles Ora Card: The Canadian Years.  I was fascinated to see that he traveled with Elders Lyman and John W. Taylor to Ottawa, to see the Tory Government of the day.

In the fall of 1888, a year after they arrived in Lees Creek (present day Cardston), these men went east to lobby the government.  As they crossed you got snippets of Cards opinions about various locations.  The prairies were rolling, Northern and Central Ontario had an absense of trees according to Card.  (I think this would shock us now)  

Polygamy, the lifestyle choice

I was recently doing some searches when I came across two different sites.  One is Muslim, or at least appears to be while the other appears to be non aligned.

Both proposed matches for polygamists looking for sister-wives.

Get to Know John W. Taylor

This is John W. Taylor, son of John Taylor the Prophet.

Born in 1858 in Provo John served the church as a missionary converting over 250 people to the church.  He was ordained and apostle May 15, 1884.  Taylor was a main proponent of polygamy at the death of his father along with Joseph F. Smith.

Taylor however is also well known in the town of Raymond Alberta Canada.  His efforts to establish the Saints in Raymond were considerable.  He sought for and got a Sugar mill in place and with the help of local coal and rail barons the Galts he was able to establish Raymond as a major centre outside of Cardston in Southern Alberta for LDS members.  Up until the 1970s the Raymond Stake was called the Taylor Stake in his honour.

The town also created a street in his honour as well in 2000.

Taylor stayed true to the principle of plural marriage after many of the other leaders saw things could not stay as they were.  It all came to a head over the seating of Apostle and Senator Reed Smoot.