Sue. I'm in no way defending polygamous marriages or poly amorous relationships - I thought I'd made that clear already - and, as an atheist, I'm unlikely to defend the rituals or customs of any religion, although I'd admit to an indoctrination into Christianity at school so that might have biased me towards its religious ideas. Sharia courts have no legal authority: they are not part of the UK judicial system and cannot overrule British courts or make legally binding decisions. They're essentially not dissimilar to arbitration rules with industry bodies agreed in commercial contracts to avoid courts when resolving disputes (actually, arbitration bodies probably have more authority as the companies involved have agreed that under UK civil law whereas Sharia courts have no legal basis).I'd agree there is some confusion because marriages that take place in mosques are religious ones only; ones legal within UK law have to be covered by a separate registry office wedding. I understand some Muslim brides, particularly from abroad, don't understand this and might be undermined if only a religious wedding takes place. Their "husband" might subsequently marries someone else, or in fact decide to have multiple religious weddings. I don't think that's illegal and, in some ways, as it's polyamory (not polygamy) it's not a lot different from the Marquis of Bath's "wifelets" other than it's probably being done without the consent of the first "wife" who, unfortunately, doesn't realise she isn't legally married. I suppose it could be deception which might be considered fraudulent? I certainly in no way agree with such deception! However, a polygamous marriage may be recognised in the UK if it was legal in the country where the ceremony and registration took place, both parties had legal capacity to enter into a polygamous marriage and at the time of the marriage were domicile in the country where it was legal, and neither party was domicile in the UK at the time of the marriage. This is an interesting article about polygamous marriages. It appears not to be that common even in countries where it's legal. An exception appears to be mainly in sub-saharan countries where it appears it's not limited to Muslims and is not uncommon among Christians in that area. So it's probably more cultural than religious? I note Afghanistan is a highlight on the map as well, again perhaps a result of Taliban terrorists misusing religion than Islam per se? We shouldn't forget Mormon Christians who seem to be keen on poligamy? https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2020/12/07/polygamy-is-rare-around-the-world-and-mostly-confined-to-a-few-regions/I've seen that some extreme religious evangelist sects in the US are now re-establishing the idea that men are the head of the household, there's rumours some MAGA followers would like to export that to the UK ... One might want to worry about that as well as Sharia courts and polygamous marriages - it's the evangelist in the US that push for abortion bans and controls on contraception? (I'm sure Mr Farage and co will push back on that.)On your other point, from a pragmatic point of view, I'd agree it might be considered sensible for women to try and protect themselves against pregnancy as they are often the one literally held olding the baby, but condoms do fail and the pill can have side effects - I can remember a friend of a friend having a stroke at the age of about 22 back in the 1970s because of the contraceptive pill. Viewing this from a secular point of view, I just feel there's a number of inconsistencies and hypocrisy around this area, particularly when you consider the number of children born to unmarried mothers is now apparently greater than 50% and 1 in 10 children live in a blended family ("stepfamilies" or separated families where there may be a mix of step parents, natural parents, one parent versus children and any siblings). Still, I guess your views are pretty obvious, Sue!As I said, life isn't perfect, especially after a few drinks ...(Mr Google's AI assisted with the collection of information and statistical data and apologies, I may have used the term polygamy previously when I should have said polyamory.)
Michael Ixer ● 27d