Life of Brian

Bookstore Now Online

We've added a bookstore to our webpages.  You can go directly there via the pages at http://astore.amazon.com/shakespeareeclec or just click on the bookstore link in the sidebars here or at our main pages at http://www.briandavidphillips.com for convenient access.

Not a lot there right now, but we will be adding new products and categories over time (I probably will just have the one bookstore for all of my interests instead of several small stores for different sites and just expand the categories).

It will be easier to keep everything under one roof that way.

If there's something you feel I really must list that's available from Amazon, the let me know and I'll consider adding it).  I will likely material sent to us for a reveiwer here in a category here and in the bookstore as well so it's easier for folks to access.

All the best,
Brian

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Akon Gagged By Label After Polygamy Comments

Akon has been gagged by his record company from discussing his polygamous lifestyle . . . Akon Gagged By Label After Polygamy Comments . . . his reaction has been one of discussing how "the land of the free" isn't really so free at all. Of course, there is a difference between his relationship with a corporation and the rights of free speech . . . but.

Akon is now fishing for a venue to discuss his polygamous marriage and lifestyle even further . . . Akon plans polygamy show . . . reality television . . .

Rapper AKON wants to introduce his three wives to the world in a reality TV show. Despite his record label Universal banning him from promoting his polygamy to the world, the Senegalese-born star is determined to show how his lifestyle doesn't harm anyone and follows the rules laid down by the Koran. He says, "Me personally, I would love to just crack it wide open. It's fun to talk about stuff like that, it opens the line of communication so people can get to understand each other. Women can get to understand men and why they do what they do, and that was the purpose of even bringing that up altogether. "So right now I'm working on some situations to where we might create a show around this whole thing and just do it. That would be dope."

Of course, as most reality shows end up showcasing the stars as bumbling foolks, fluffy buffoons, or worse, producers with an agenda might just want to take him up on that offer. Unless, of course, he produces it himself which means cable access only.

Then again, Big Love has certainly got more folks curious and interested and perhaps less unsympathetic regarding the subject.

Valerie . . . working to legalize/decriminalize polygamy

Valerie reveals everything about herself but her family name . . . movement is trying to legalize polygamy . . . of course, despite recent court rulings, that battle is far from won and is likely to not be for a very very long time. Polygamy laws are not just about the bedroom or even religious freedoms. A lot more has to be addressed on that front before any legislation will make it through.

life of a 'sisterwife'

The Guardian has a piece describing the romantic life within a polygamous relationship The life of a 'sisterwife' . . . not quite as hot and heavy as many of the fantasies out there, albeit a bit more risque than Big Love portrays. Of course, life within monogamous relationships can get rather risque or not, depending upon the folks involved . . . all marriages or human relationships are unique to the folks within them.

convicted bigamist appeals to U.S. Supreme Court

Interesting approach to appeal, convicted bigamist appeals to U.S. Supreme Court . . . a straight out defence trying to overturn Reynolds directly. There is a lot to the argument as folks are being prosecuted for polygamy bia the expansive conception that if they are religious polygamists and live together then they must be legally polygamists but folks who live together and are not religious polygamists are not being prosecuted for what is essentially much the same behavior. The argument of selective prosecution is very strong, particularly since there are a number of contemporary cultural mores which fly in the face of this particular practice of picking and choosing who to prosecute.

Kentucky has more polygamy cases than other states . . .

Aaron Brewer has been charged with bigamy in Kentucky.  He's in the process of divorcing his wife of fifteen years but the divorce had not yet been finalized in Kentucky when he married a new wife in Arkansas.  He was charged with bigamy on Sept. 8 in Kentucky.  The original article here also has an interesting observation . . .

Bigamy is a felony punishable by one to five years in prison. The Herald-Leader reported in 2002 that more bigamy charges are filed in Kentucky than in 11 other states that also track the crime. In 2001, Kentucky had 35 bigamy prosecutions. Only North Carolina came close, with 27. Florida reported a total of 12 in 2000 and 2001. In comparison, Utah, a state closely identified with polygamy, had prosecuted fewer than 10 bigamy cases since the 1950s.

Kentucky outstrips others for polygamy prosecutions, more than Utah where many polygamy communities are based but prosecutions are rare compared to the other states.  Of course, the Utah resistance to legal polygamy but reluctance to prosecute the many communities there since the 1950s is partially related to a huge crackdown that showed law enforcement agents breaking down doors, forcibly removing women and children and beating men senseless in one of the largest polygamy prosecution debacles in that state's history, one that engendered public support of the day for the rights of the polygamists to live their lives in seclusion and freedom and cost the attorney general his job.  Very few folks would want to step into that legal and public relations quagmire again.

Is Brad Pitt promoting polygamy?

Bruce Wilson is using extremely spurious thinking to condemn Brad Pitt's stand on gay marriage, link it to pro-polygamy religious groups, and by extention argue that polygamy should be illegal and therefore those who rightly support gay marriage are wrong . . . is Brad Pitt promoting polygamy?.

I am going to suggest that the author is being somewhat colorful and perhaps loose with image when he says that the folks in the polygamist communities were shouting praises of "Hosanna! Praise the Lord! And thank God for Brad Pitt." . . . descriptive license perhaps, just as the rest of the "logical" extentions should also be considered more color than logic.

Wilson takes note that Brad Pitt said of his reliationship with Angelina Jolie . . .

Angie and I will consider tying the knot when everyone else in the country who wants to be married is legally able.

. . . to which Wilson argues while it seems to be a support for gay marriage it must also be considered a blanket argument in favor of legalized polygamy.

The rest of Wilson's argument against polygamy is specious with no clear reasons to oppose it and more to support the legalization but the conclusion is that since he believes polygamy should not be legal then gay marriage should not.

Wilson does make the blanket statement that . . .

I have yet to meet anyone who supports legal recognition of both gay marriage and polygamy, despite the fact that it should be clear to everyone that an argument for gay marriage is also an argument for polygamy.

He obviously hasn't come across the Marriage Rights Manifesto which is being pushed by some gay marriage advocates as an expansion of marriage rights beyond the gay marriage issue which inherently supports the rights of many more. He also hasn't been reading the secular (non-religious) polyamory and pro-polygamy advocates. There are plenty of folks who support the extention of legal protections of marriage beyond monogamy - straight or gay.

When reading Wilson's piece it seems there are more reasons to argue in favor of gay marriage than against it but although he argues against polygamy he give no reasons to do so, he just assumes it must be a fact. In this his reasoning, just as his colorful projection of Brad Pitt as a pro-polygamist fails.

All the best,
Brian

Polygamy Proposal Witch Hunt

Pro-polygamy groups are understandably upset that a Nevada Senator has called for a Federal probe into polygamy . . . polygamy proposal called 'witch hunt' . . .

"It is disconcerting to have a senator take a real strong position on that," said one Utah polygamist, who asked the Deseret Morning News not to use his name. He said all of his wives are consenting adults. "It appears to be a reaction to (Warren) Jeffs and the FLDS culture."

Rep. Harry Reid is pushing for federal taskforce in polygamy crackdowns. However, local law enforcement says that the federal goverment has already been involved and that they have done all they can do . . . morally and legally. Reid's using the Warren Jeffs arrest as justification for his push but this is also a point that the federal government is already involved and that the charges are limited to non-polygamy aspects of the LDS culture. However, Reid's call specifically mentions the religious aspects in his own speech (Reid distances the LDS from the Mormon church which gave up polygamy which he is a member of) . . .

"For too long, this outrageous activity has been masked in the guise of religious freedom. But child abuse and human servitude have nothing to do with religious freedom and must not be tolerated," Reid wrote. "Individuals who force minors into adult relationships and marriage must be brought to justice."

The thing is that in this it is not polygamy these folks practice which is at fault but in how they practice it and the so-called human abuses are covered in other laws, laws which the federal government can more readily enforce. Polygamy is not wrong per se but child abuse and forced marriage is.

Pro-polygamy groups, of course, are upset at Reid's call. They also have some strong justification for their points in that polygamy is technically not a federal offence but is handled at the state level, making Reid's call for federal prosecution of polygamy problematic . . .

Members of the polygamous community of Centennial Park, Ariz., called Reid's request a "modern-day witch hunt." "Polygamy is not a federal offense but is to be regulated under the prerogative of state's rights," said Joyce Steed of the Centennial Park Action Committee. "Therefore, one could question what his justification is for asking the federal government to target their efforts on an unpopular minority. We can be sure polygamy does not represent a personal moral issue for the senator, coming out of the state that has legalized prostitution."

Technically, states can legalize polygamy. Utah became a state under the condition that Mormons give up polygamy - a case of forced religious reform for political reasons (so much for religious freedom). Technically, Utah could legalize polygamy if they wished to. Any state could. However, it is unlikely to happen anytime soon.

Call for Polygamy Investigations Redundant

Nevada Senator Harry Reid has called for more federal involvement in investigating polygamy in the Western states but folks who've been involved in such investigations for years say that his Polygamy Investigation Request Redundant because the federal government has been involved for quite some time. Of course, Reid's call may have something to do with visibility in the news at the moment rather than merely with cracking down on polygamists for their alternative lifestyle or religions (specifically in illegal activities associated with lifestyle and religious practice). Utah Representative Jim Matheson has jumped on that bandwagon as well given the recent publicity associated with the Warren Jeffs arrest. Federal law enforcement has been cooperating with local officers for some time. The question becomes how much of the call for prosecution is based upon criminal actions and how much upon religious intolerance. The anti-polygamy laws were first put into place in regard to Mormonism due to religious intolerance and had nothing to do with the rights of children or wives. The crimes against children and women can be prosecuted under long-standing laws . . . but the anti-polygamy laws still stand merely because of religious intolerance in a nation where religious freedoms are constitutionally guaranteed. I have personally met many women and children who have been terribly abused within monogamous relationships . . . we're talking about beatings, miscarriages, rape, even torture . . . but, to my knowledge, no one has taken these abuses and generalized them to mean that all monogamy is wrong and should be abolished and legally sanctioned. Abuses by polygamists should be punished . . . however, they should be treated the same as abuses by anyone. It is not the polygamy that is inherently wrong, it is the actions of some people who practice it.

Protect children, yes, but leave cockamamie grownups alone

Tony Phillips has some worthwhile comments on the media sensationalism behind the Warren Jeffs case in protect children, yes, but leave cockamamie grownups alone . . . but while he makes some very very worthwhile points, he misses a few too.

Yes, polygamy is considered norm in most human societies both throughout history and right now:

...for the overwhelming majority of human history, throughout cultures and across the inhabited earth, polygamy of one form or another has not only been tolerated, it has been the norm. It still is. The Ethnographic Atlas recorded the marital composition of 1,231 societies between 1960 and 1980. Of them, 186 were monogamous. That’s 15 percent. As recently as 26 years ago, 85 percent of human societies had prevailing marriage norms that included some form of polygamy.

Yes, the government should keep it's nose out of the private choices of individuals.

Yes, Jeffs is being prosecuted more for "exploitation of children" by allegedly forcing young girls to marry old geezers.

However, despite that point the government is very much interested in curtailing the practice of polygamy, polyamory, or any other poly involving multiple spouses legal or otherwise. The Green polygamy prosecution was pushed exactly in a way that Phillips (Tony, that is) says the government has no business interfering with. There were no legal marriages and Green made it clear he never "married" any of the women living with him. Hoever, the state used the concept of common-law wife to prosecute as a legal wife anyone living with someone for more than the minimum time for common law marriage rights to kick in. So, Tony will need to rethink his whole multiple co-ed strategy if he ever decides to move to Utah or other states that have begun using the same legal gambit (prosecuting polygamy when no formal laws have been broken).