Ron Strom was seeking information for an article he was writing about the impact upon polygamy by the U.S. Supreme Court's June 26th decision in the Lawrence v. Texas case. To do so, he sought pro-polygamy information from the TruthBearer organization.
The interview went very well, perhaps even to the surprise of Ron Strom himself. For every argument, question, and concern he raised, he received an intelligent answer.
As can be heard on the audiocassette recording of the interview,
a number of excellent points were able to be successfully made. Mr. Strom was positively surprised that he received responses from the Founder which were actually more constitutionalist conservative than even WorldNetDaily.com.
For examples...
No doubt, pro-polygamy activists will want to be sure to order the audiocassette recording of this telephone interview.
What now follows is Ron Strom's article, followed by a quick clarification and comment at the end.
Polygamists see open door for acceptance
Multiple-wives crowd hopes to capitalize on sodomy decision
By Ron Strom
© 2003 WorldNetDaily.com
Posted: July 4, 2003
1:00 a.m. Eastern
"Polygamy is the next civil-rights battle."
That's the new battle cry of proponents of "Christian polygamy" who say their lifestyle is one step closer to being accepted after the Supreme Court's controversial decision last week invalidating state sodomy laws.
A website set up for media to get information about the pro-polygamy movement enthusiastically hails the Lawrence v. Texas decision, quoting from the majority opinion that Americans now have "... the full right to engage in private conduct without government intervention."
As WorldNetDaily reported, critics of the decision believe the court has usurped the role of lawmakers, establishing a far-reaching precedent that threatens any law based on moral choices, including incest and polygamy.
Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia includes examples of non-traditional marriages in his dissenting opinion, saying laws against the practice are now open to review.
Scalia talks of "state laws against bigamy, same-sex marriage, adult incest, prostitution, masturbation, adultery, fornication, bestiality and obscenity," saying "every single one of these laws is called into question by [the Lawrence] decision."
Said the polygamy website: "Obviously, this [decision] means enormous ramifications for the civil rights of adult, freely-consenting, marriage-committed polygamists."
The site links to a much more extensive site called TruthBearer.org, a page dedicated to promoting "Christian polygamy."
Its introductory page states, "As preached here at this ministry, Christian polygamy is only about life-long-committed (hence, NONpromiscuous), consensual, NONabusive, loving Christian marriage. The only educational matter here is that this is about men ever-growing in other-centered, ministerial, giving, selfless love in marriage to more than one woman (as Christ so selflessly and givingly loves the Churches)."
The organizers say their aim is not to legalize polygamy, but merely to decriminalize it. They don't believe government has any role whatsoever in regulating marriage.
A link to biblicalpolygamy.com presents what its creators claim are reasons that "polygamy really is biblical."
Another site on "Christian polygamy" (which appears to have been created by those who established TruthBearer.org) states:
"Only a few short years ago, the mere suggestion of putting the words 'Christian' and 'polygamy' beside each other as one term would have been laughed at. It would have been called a 'contradiction in terms' and an 'oxymoron.'
"But no one is laughing anymore.
"After much patient prayer, love, and work by committed Christ-centered, Spirit-led, Scripture-believing evangelical conservative Christians, from all kinds of different denominational backgrounds, the Truth is being believed and spread to others! Christian polygamy has become a reality and is now being taken very seriously in a number of spheres of influence."
The Rev. Jerry Falwell, WorldNetDaily columnist and nationally known Christian minister, spoke strongly against the practice of having multiple wives, telling WND: "Christian polygamy is an oxymoron." Falwell condemned the Lawrence ruling, saying it opened the door to "bestiality, pedophilia, even drug use" in the privacy of one's home.
TruthBearer.org, based in Old Orchard Beach, Maine, was founded by Mark H****l in 1994.
"You are speaking to a diehard constitutional conservative," H****l told WorldNetDaily, saying his support for the Lawrence v. Texas decision and polygamy is in line with the framers of the Constitution.
"My fellow conservatives are making a terrible mistake" by condemning the ruling, he said. "They are reacting like knee-jerk liberals."
H****l compared marriage to Social Security, citing some conservatives' desire to privatize the government retirement program.
"Why not privatize marriage?" he asked rhetorically. "Why is big government a part of marriage?"
H****l says marriage in the Bible is never linked to government and that today, the feds should not be able to dictate to Americans: "You're only allowed one wife."
Christians who believe the state should regulate marriage, he says, "are trusting in the false god of socialist government."
Referring to the sodomy case, H****l told WND: "Lawrence v. Texas has kicked open a whole new door for us."
He says the ruling effectively voided every anti-polygamy law on the books, assuring that "whatever consenting adults choose to do" is permissible.
TruthBearer.org's strategy, says H****l, is to persuade "conservative, Bible-believing Christians" of the appropriateness and superiority of polygamy. When they are won over, H****l says the liberal "tolerance-oriented" people will then come into line.
While H***** uses the polygamy of biblical patriarchs as part of his defense of the practice, Falwell says those Old Testament men were sinning by taking multiple wives.
"The Bible very clearly condemns Christian polygamy," he said. "[The Old Testament patriarchs] all did it in defiance of the Word of God. … God's plan was Adam and Eve – not Adam and Steve, and not Adam and several Eves."
H****l's movement is clear to point out that its philosophy is not based on historic Mormon polygamy: "Christian polygamy is not Mormon polygamy. The two have two distinctly separate foundational reasons and two distinctly separate histories. They draw no basis from each other."
[ END OF ARTICLE ]
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The audiocassette recording of the 38-minute telephone interview with the Founder of TruthBearer.org, pertaining to the above published article, has been mass produced and is now available for order.
For briefly clarifying the matters....
In the interview, Mark the Founder more specifically said, "My fellow conservatives are making a terrible mistake, reacting [to Lawrence v. Texas] like knee-jerk liberals offering big government socialist solutions." As well, Mark the Founder did not ever suggest that polygamy was "superior", only that it was an equally valid Biblical option.While the article does link to TruthBearer.org and to BiblicalPolygamy.com, the article makes quotes from two other sites which were not linked. Those two sites are ChristianPolygamy.INFO and Pro-Polygamy.com.
As well, for additional information about the Lawrence v. Texas case and its impact on the pro-polygamy Cause, readers may also want to read the following op-eds:
Santorum's Point: "Polygamy Rights" (05/06/2003)
Court Decisions Secure "Polygamy Rights" (07/01/2003)
As for Jerry Falwell, it can be thus noted that this article "forced" him to acknowledge the actual existence of "Christian Polygamy." Understandably, he gave the expected (albeit unsupportable) comment in opposition. One can immediately note that he provides zero Biblical support ---absolutely nothing--- for his assertion that supposedly "the Bible clearly condemns Christian Polygamy." He did likewise with the unsupported assertion that the Biblical patriarchs' polygamy was supposedly in "defiance of the Word of God." (Of course, should Jerry Falwell ever study the matter later, he will realize that, if they were so "defiant," then the same God who removed 70,000 people by pestilence after David had simply "counted the people," and being the same God who denied Moses entry into the Promised Land for simply "hitting a rock," He would surely have stopped and come against David and Moses for marrying their additional wives.) Lastly, the old unsupported standby "Adam and [one] Eve" anti-polygamy argument also obviously falls short immediately upon considering that polygamous Moses was the one who authored that very story in Genesis!
Despite Jerry Falwell's unresearched and obvious (although expected) mistakes, the fact remains that this discussion required him to be confronted with the issue of Christian Polygamy in a very "public" way. Over time, should he choose to truly study the Bible more deeply on the matter, if his heart is/becomes genuinely surrendered to the Holy Spirit, then he, too, may very well receive the revelation of the undeniable Scripturality of Christian Polygamy indeed.
In any event, with these clarifications made, though, there is no doubt that Ron Strom's article did positively present and represent what was said in the interview quite well indeed. He is truly to be commended indeed for operating with such honesty. And because readers of WorldNetDaily.com tend to be conservative Bible-believers, it was all the more positive and valuable an article indeed.
The ministry of TruthBearer.org is truly and genuinely grateful to Ron Strom at WorldNetDaily.com for the truly positive telephone interview which he conducted prior to writing this article, as well as for writing the article itself. Notwithstanding the aforementioned clarifications, the interview and the article provided yet another constructive opportunity with which to get out our positive message about TRUE Christian Polygamy.
And now YOU can get a copy of the audiocassette recording of this very positive media interview too. YOU can help further spread the word to others too! Order your copy TODAY!
Glory to God that that message gets out! Alleluia Hallelujah!
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