Hmong Refugees Face First Cultural Hurdle [Polygamy]

[kayell]

dated 3/2, but I haven't found any other posts on this, and it's an interesting situation.

http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=FT.com/WireFeed/WireFeed&c=WireFeed&cid=1074160749543

SARABURI, Thailand (Reuters) - A U.S. plan to take in thousands of ethnic Hmong refugees who fled the 1975 communist takeover of Laos faced its first cultural hurdle on Tuesday over the tricky issue of polygamy. More than 15,000 Hmong living at the Wat Tham Krabok refugee camp in Thailand -- many of whom fought alongside the Americans in the Indochina War -- are eligible under a resettlement program critics say was long overdue.

But polygamy, which is illegal in the United States, is a common practice among Hmong.

"We were told to apply individually as separate family members. But once we are in the United States we can live together again," said one camp resident who declined to be named.

snip

St. Paul Mayor Randy Kelly steered clear of the issue on Tuesday during a visit to the camp where authorities began processing applicants last month.

"I don't have the authority nor the ability to change the polygamy law in our country. This is an issue that needs to be addressed at a much higher level," he told reporters.

hmmm

[aquart]

1. Wasn't polygamy one of the horrors gay marriage would lead to?

And look! It's here!

[DieboldMustDie]

2. What's wrong with polygamy?

There are plenty of Bible passages supporting polygamy, I'm just too lazy to look them up right now. ;)

[Sandpiper]

3. The problem with polygamy

Is that it harkens back to the days when wives were considered chattel. Polygamy was used as a means for horny old goats to hook up with nubile teenage brides when their other wife started getting old and frumpy.

[kayell]

4. Sounds like CEO and Congress critter mating habits

[BiggJawn]

11. We stuill have that. Now it's called "Divorce".

And you don't have to keep the old spouse around. Go getcher self a young guy who doesn't need "Ditka pills"...

[mobuto]

16. But they can do that anyways

Nothing in the law prevents a dirty old man from divorcing his wife and marrying an 18 year old. I can see why polygamy isn't necessarily desirable, but not why it should be illegal.

[Fridays Child]

20. The reasons for the practice of polygamy vary among cultures.

In some societies, it's a function of wealth, as reflected by the control of multiple sexual resources. But in others, it's primarily a mechanism by which the more basic resources of food, clothing, and shelter are distributed, for the survival of the group.

In any case, as long as the participants in such a marriage are of majority and are not exploited or abused, it should be no one's business but their own. As a nation of laws, I think we have an obligation to level the legal and civil rights playing field for men and women. But to go beyond those two responsibilities is to legislate morality and religion.

[mobuto]

21. Naturally, they would breed prodigiously, eh?

There would be much time, and little to do. But ah with the proper breeding techniques and a ratio of say, ten females to each male, I would guess that they could then work their way back to the present gross national product within say, twenty years.

GENERAL TURGIDSON Doctor, you mentioned the ration of ten women to each man. Now, wouldn't that necessitate the abandonment of the so called monogamous sexual relationship, I mean, as far as men were concerned?

DR. STRANGELOVE Regrettably, yes. But it is, you know, a sacrifice required for the future of the human race. I hasten to add that since each man will be required to do prodigious... service along these lines, the women will have to be selected for their sexual characteristics which will have to be of a highly stimulating nature.

[Lizz612]

5. The other problem in the Hmong community

Teen brides with dowries. Its causing lots of problems with the girls still being in high school, the dowries not being paid in full, so the cops are called, and people start going to jail. In high school the hmong girls kept to themselves, and I had a friend once tell me that some of them were already married as far as the community was concerned.

[dArKeR]

6. Displaced Hmong heading to the US for shot at a better life

AFP , THAM KRABOK, THAILAND
Monday, Mar 08, 2004,Page 9

Thousands of Hmong refugees who fled Laos for Thailand 30 years ago are preparing for a new life in the US, closing a long and painful chapter in the disastrous US intervention in Southeast Asia.

In December Washington announced it was launching a resettlement program for up to 14,300 Hmong living in squalor at this camp centered on a Buddhist temple in Saraburi province northeast of Bangkok.

But thousands of other Hmong living in Thailand, often on the margins of society, are being left behind and have little prospects for a better future.

US, Thai and humanitarian sources said the camp at Wat Tham Krabok erupted in cheers when the Hmong heard they had finally been given the right to move to the US.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/edit/archives/2004/03/08/2003101680

[smallprint]

7. They'll be fine in Utah

http://www.sltrib.com/2004/Feb/02132004/utah/138462.asp

[pfitz59]

8. Exploring the Diversity of Mormon Culture?

Is that an actual magazine? Faith or fear? Brigham Young and his Stepford wives!

[smallprint]

9. Yeah, it's a real magazine

...but there was only one issue.

" In 2003, Mormon Focus, edited by Shane L. Whelan, debuted with a 5,000 copy run. Wilde and Kelsch helped develop the magazine. That first -- and last -- issue featured articles on living in plural marriage, home schooling and an overview of various polygamist communities.
As it turned out, most polygamists didn't want such attention; other potential subscribers were leery of having their names attached to "fundamentalist literature," Wilde said.
"We probably had our sights set too high," she said. "

http://www.sltrib.com/2004/Feb/02132004/utah/138462.asp


I can only imagine what the second issue would have featured...

[brainshrub]

10. We should have a constitutional amendment banning Polygamy

in order to protest the sanctity of marriage. /sarcasm

[Muddleoftheroad]

12. Actually, we should

We should propose the counter amendment that allows for gay marriage but states that marraige is and shall remain the area of only two unrelated people.

[chenGOD]

13. People of legal age...

should be allowed to marry whomever they wish, as long as all parties are consenting adults.

[Muddleoftheroad]

14. Not at all

We are not interfering in their actions, all we are talking about is the state sanctioning of those actions. The state should NOT sanction either incest or polygamy. And, since we are redefining marriage, we should make that clear.

[chenGOD]

15. Self deleted...

[mobuto]

17. Why not?

The state has a compelling public policy interest in forbiding incest - the offspring of such relationships are the victims, suffering disproportionately from genetic defects. But polygamy offers no such compelling interest. How is society harmed by consenting adults marrying?

[Muddleoftheroad]

18. Harmful to children

And that reality should trump the others. Again, adults can do as they wish. At issue is state sanction.

[mobuto]

19. How is it harmful to children?

Are three parents worse than one parent? No parents?