The culture of polygamy

One of my favorite movie quotes of all time is from Austin Powers-Goldmember when Austin’s father (Michael Caine) says, “There’s two things in this world I can’t stand—those who are intolerant of other people’s cultures, and the Dutch.” Oh, yes, there are many politically correct people in the world of academia who are tolerant of everything and everyone—except “intolerance.” World history and foreign language classes have the stated goal to bridge the gap between cultures and to make students more tolerant of others. And US History courses are to be less a celebration of the greatness of America, and more a searing indictment of her serial intolerance and injustice toward Native Americans, African Americans, women, immigrants, and the poor.

At what point is something a point of “culture” which can be appreciated and tolerated, and when does it become scandalous and offensive enough to judgmentally declare ourselves to be intolerant of it? I remember some years ago when I was responsible for chaperoning a group of American Christian high school students on a trip to Germany, where they would stay with host families. One young man said that at one party, the German kids wanted to not only drink and smoke but turn off the lights and dance nice and slow with their partner. My student said that they didn’t want to do that, that it was wrong. His German host said, “But that’s our culture.” Responded the Christian student (who is now a pastor), that’s not culture, that’s just sin.

A secluded, isolated temple compound near San Angelo, Texas, was raided last week. Over 400 children, suspected of being the victims of sexual abuse, have been taken into state custody, have been assigned lawyers, and will go through DNA testing to determine paternity. This is allegedly a polygamist group known as the Fundamentalist church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and their head, Warren Jeffs, is already in jail for having relations with a 14-year old girl. The regular Latter-Day saints, commonly known as Mormons, disavow any relationship to the “Fundies” because they renounced polygamy years ago.

I saw a news story in which three of the young women from the compound were distraught that their children had been taken away from them and, upon questioning, denied that any adult men had had relations with underage girls. What it boils down to is the definition of “underage.” According to one cultural definition, if a female is able to bear children, she is of marriageable age. And since the onset of puberty can take place even before age 10, it certainly is frightening to imagine the abuses that may have been taking place behind the secrecy of the compound walls.

Or is this just a cultural difference between us and we should be more tolerant of those who are not like ourselves? In Latin American countries, young girls celebrate the quinceañera at the age of 15. Although there is a religious rite and blessing attached with the event, the history and tradition of this cultural event was to signify a girl’s passage from childhood to womanhood, and to announce that she was ready for marriage. In our study of Islam, we noted that the prophet Muhammad’s favorite wife was Aisha, who was 9 when the 52-year-old prophet (Peace be upon him) consummated their marriage. Even today, the marriageable age in Yemen is 9. In Iran it is 13. In the middle ages, Christian Europe did not judge child marriages—and defined them as marriage to a girl who was between 7 and 12. 12-year old girls were frequently married, and considered of the age of consent. Shakespeare’s Juliet, after all, was 13. The age of marriage varies throughout the United States. With parents’ permission, girls can marry at age 16 in Michigan, 15 in Hawaii and Mississippi, and even 13 in New Hampshire.

It certainly appears that this is going to cost the citizens of Texas a fortune. If every one of these 400 kids is assigned their own attorney, and given DNA testing, and placed in foster care, the expenditure is going to be enormous. But at least these dirty old men who used young girls as breeders will have been stopped. Our tolerance goes only so far.

Dead Man Walking

This weekend I got to see my son Zeke in his college’s production of “Dead Man Walking.” Zeke plays the role of Matt Ponchelet, a convicted murder who is awaiting his execution on death row in Louisiana. He begins to receive visits from Sister Helen Prejean, who sees Matthew’s humanity and dignity despite his crimes and hostile attitude. Although he clings to his claims of innocence and his insistence that others were really to blame nearly till the end, Ponchelet confesses his guilt and is assured of God’s forgiveness. Although his crimes brought consequences, he was able to receive grace and was redeemed.

The play was preachy in some spots. Although it purports to show both sides of the capital punishment question, it definitely slanted toward the “anti” position. Because the sentiment is expressed through the words of Sister Helen, it is intended to represent the position of the Catholic church, which is that human life is a seamless garment, and that to be consistently pro-life, a Christian must oppose abortion, capital punishment, and war. To paraphrase “Dead Man Walking,” murder is murder whether committed by Matt Ponchelet or by the government who executes him.

I believe that this position is not consistent with Scripture, however. Passages that teach Christians to “turn the other cheek” rather than seeking personal revenge speak to a personal morality that allows justice to be executed by God’s governing authorities. Romans 13 says that the government is God’s agent to punish the evildoer, and that it does not bear the sword for nothing. However, unlike the Old Testament civil law that prescribed the death penalty (a la the Code of Hammurabi) for a wide variety of offenses, the New Testament is not a type of Christian Koran that is meant to be a constitution for civil society. A government that executes a criminal is bearing the sword as God permits. It is, therefore, impossible to call capital punishment “immoral” on the basis of the Bible. If, however, a society chooses not to apply the death penalty, that does not mean that it has abandoned God. Civil societies have the freedom to devise their own sanctions for criminal behavior in order to protect the innocent.

I once was summoned for jury duty for a capital murder trial. Actually, I was a member of the jury pool who was stricken by the prosecution because I wouldn’t be a reliable vote for the death penalty. Although I had no personal problem with execution and could not call it “immoral” and in conflict with Christianity, I admitted that I didn’t want to be the one to become the executioner, because I believe that as long as a person has breath and life, he has opportunity to repent and turn to Christ for forgiveness. I had a hard time putting myself into the role of ending that time of grace and sending the person to their eternal fate.

The United States is the last nation in the western world to utilize capital punishment. It is likely to be a topic of conversation this week as Pope Benedict visits our country. How have your convictions developed on this topic?

Real-life Bart Simpsons

OK, so it’s not school violence on the level of the Virginia Tech murders a year ago. But that doesn’t make this story less shocking.

A group of third-graders (8- and 9- year olds) in Waycross, Georgia (note: not in a place like crime-ridden Detroit where one could blame the poor environment) devised a sophisticated plot to murder their teacher because she had the audacity to scold a little girl for standing on her chair. One child was to crack the teacher’s skull with a glass paperweight while others used duct tape to secure her mouth and handcuffs to bind her arms, while another would do the stabbing as another kept a lookout and another got ready to clean up.

Sounds like they got an “A” in cooperative learning.

The offenders will be punished, of course. Some will receive suspension or expulsion from school, and the ringleader (a girl, FYI) may face charges of attempted murder or conspiracy to commit aggravated assault.

Society’s experts are baffled at this behavior. Aren’t children supposed to be pure and innocent?

• This writer says, “What do you expect when they receive so much violent stimuli in media and video games?”
• This writer not only blames the poor and disrespectful attitude of parents, but finds it possible to blame President Bush and all who complain about public schools.
• This one says that children really don’t realize the consequences of their actions and probably figured that, like cartoon figures, you can drop an anvil on them and they get up and walk away unharmed.
• This one figures that they were just showing off and would never have carried out their plan.

What is perplexing to me is that so many people do not grasp the fact that human beings are sinful from the moment of conception, and that the sin nature is capable of every manner of evil. John Calvin grasped it. The biblical principle of Total Depravity is one of the five pillars of Calvinism. The Bible tells us in Psalm 51:5, “Surely I was a sinner a birth; in sin did my mother conceive me.” Because of this, St. Paul wrote to the Ephesians, chapter 2: “As for you, you were dead in trespasses and sin.” Furthermore, as Paul also wrote to the Romans, chapter 8: “The sinful mind is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so.”

The disrespectful little hellions in little old Waycross, Georgia, act that way because that is their natural impulse. Spend some time with a room of two-year-olds, and you will experience the unchecked and uncorrected selfish and defiant urges of the sinful flesh. And we all know what happened to Charlie and his big brother...


Some of our country’s founders believed this to be true, because Calvinism was the predominant religious mindset in colonial times, and Thomas Hobbes’ political views echoed Calvin’s religious ones. This is why so many checks and balances were written into the constitution. This is why a Bill of Rights is necessary. It is because the founders sought to limit power and prevent its abuse in the hands of malevolent rulers. They recognized that human beings are congenitally evil. “They have all turned aside, they have together become wicked; there is no one who does good, not even one.”

On this day, Hollywood lost one of its legends. Actor Charlton Heston, perhaps best known to today’s younger audiences as Moses in “The Ten Commandments,” passed away at the age of 84. In 1998, Mr. Heston was elected as president of the National Rifle Association, and it was not uncommon during the Clinton-Lewinsky years to see bumper stickers on pickup trucks that said “My president is Charlton Heston.” Personally, I have no vested stake in gun rights. Most hunters or other gun-rights advocates will quote the second amendment and its stated “right to bear arms.” But those who wish to ban guns and limit the second amendment often reveal this naïveté about human nature. Weapons do not cause crime; they are a tool in the hands of criminals. And as we discussed earlier when the Colorado church was assaulted by a deranged killer, guns can also be a life-saver in the hands of those committed to defend and protect innocent life.

Can you guess where the presidential candidates stand on the issue of gun ownership or legislation banning or restricting guns? Even John Kerry (D-MA), the democratic nominee for president in 2004, made sure to have a photo-op with him hunting. (Of course, these photo-ops that try to prove that you’re a “regular guy” can backfire. As in, let’s go bowling and score a 37. ) Almost assuredly they will say that they support the second amendment but favor common-sense restrictions on gun ownership. That is to say, people like NRA members have no common sense, since they are opposed to such restrictions.

Aren’t we grateful to be part of a school that recognizes human nature for what it is, and applies the only life-changing remedy—the Gospel of Jesus Christ—and force—God’s Holy Spirit?