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Introduction

In your opinion, what are the advantages and disadvantages of polygamous marriages? Do you think polygamy and arranged marriage would help to lower the divorce rate in our society today? A polygamous marriage is when a man has more than one wife at the same time. This used to be particularly common in Islam. However the Qu'ran does state that a man should marry no more than four women. Today polygamous marriages are becoming more rare, as in western countries it is illegal to marry more than one person at a time. Along with this, in the Qu'ran, there is a condition that all wives must be treated exactly the same and today it is generally accepted by Muslims as impossible to do this, 'Marry women of your choice, two or three or four; but if you fear you will not be able to deal justly with them, then only one' (Surah 4:3). Polygamous marriages have disadvantages as for the husband, as if he is a Muslim, he would always have to make sure that he treats each wife equally in every respect, to make sure he is not going against his religion. Along with this a disadvantage is that the husband, in many religions such as Islam or Christianity, is expected to support their wives financially, therefore the husband would be under pressure to earn a large amount of money to provide for more than one wife. ...read more.

Middle

Another advantage to women is that being part of a polygamous marriage means that women can marry men they are attracted to, even if they are already married with out breaking up a family. This is particularly important because there is a larger population of single women than men. Polygamous marriages means that women can have a female friend for life as well as a husband therefore providing a better chance of meeting diverse needs. Also, although polygamous marriages can mean a husband has to earn more to support more people, in particularly in modern days, it can be an advantage because if some of the wives work it provides more adult incomes reducing the fear of unemployment and lack of finance. Similarly, although polygamy can mean more money having to be earned by the father, if the family live and work on a farm, a larger family can mean a larger income as more land can be worked on with more people to help. Another advantage to polygamous marriage is that it reduces the seduction of innocent women. This is because if a man promises to marry her, he cannot use his existing marriage as an excuse for not fulfilling a promise. Also polygamy means that with the possibility that her husband can remarry without divorce, a woman does not need to worry about losing her husband and income in case her husband perhaps wants a younger woman. ...read more.

Conclusion

I think that there is a possibility that if there were more arranged marriages in society today, there would be a lower divorce rate as a husband and wife may feel obliged to stay together. This is because they would not want to disappoint their parents who arrange the marriage. However, more arranged marriages may cause more divorces as because the couple have never met before they get married, there is more of a possibility that the couple do not get on. If they do not get on together, it would lead to divorce. Similar to the possibility of polygamy leading to a higher divorce rate in the society today because women are more independent, because women have independence, they are likely not to feel obliged to stay in an arranged marriage if they are unhappy, as they do not have to rely on their husband for money. In conclusion, I think that polygamy and arranged marriages would certainly cause a higher divorce rate in our society today, and certainly not lower the divorce rate. This is because in our society today women are more independent and do not feel that they should or need to rely on their husbands. Therefore they are likely to leave him if they are not in love in an arranged marriage or they are not happy that their husband wants more than one wife in a polygamous marriage. ...read more.

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