The Right to Exist in a Relationship with More Than Two Individuals in Western Society

The Right to Exist in a Relationship with More Than Two Individuals in Western Society

The Right to exist in a Relationship with more than Two Individuals in Western Society


The laws and popular views in western society state that polyamory, a marriage between more than two individuals, is illegal. I will defend that polyamory and relationships involving more that two consenting individuals should be made acceptable in our society through exploring what is defined as legitimate, focusing on the inclusion of others beliefs, evolutions of the laws in western society, and the consequences of not representing others within the legal system.
The word legitimate is defined as “born into wedlock”, “having full filial rights and obligations by birth”, “being exactly as purpose: neither spurious nor false”, “accordant with law or with established legal forms and requirement”, and “conforming to recognized principles or accepted rules and standards” (Meridian, “Legitimate”). The definition of legitimate, “accordant with law or with established legal forms and requirement” places emphasises on a relationship being only legitimate if it is legal. Relationships that are viewed as legitimate, according to western society, are mainly those between man and woman who are married. Due to the influence of Natural law in the western legal system this categorizes all other relationships as wrong; this including polyamory. This automatically excludes homosexual couples, those who have chosen not to marry, those who do not have sexual intercourse or those who have multiple partners as not recognized as being in a relationship.
Based on this principle one would argue that a polygamous relationships are illegitimate because it is unlawful in western society. To which law it is in accordance with, for there are religious laws and legal laws that define marriage. Relationships are consistent with the laws of what specific religion or the laws of which land. Which law is the legitimate one to defining relationships? In an article that was posted in The Star newspaper...

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