Define: Marriage

I watch a lot of TLC reality television. I watched "Jon and Kate," I watch "19 Kids and Counting" and I have a hopeless addiction to "Sister Wives" (and "Big Love" on HBO).

Tonight, Todd and I watched the second season premier and the second episode. While watching and discovering that the poor Brown family is now under a bigamy investigation I have to ask myself...who the hell cares?

The dude owns his own business and can support his four wives and all their kids. As far as I can tell, they aren't committing insurance or tax fraud and their kids are well rounded, active and normal kids. Kids that are never neglected because there is always a mom at home that cooks and takes care of the kids. I get that Utah and Mormons in general are trying to break away from the polygamy stereotype and distance the church as far from the nutjob FLDS. But, it's not like they're the only religion that's ever practiced polygamy in the history of religion (or modern religion!!) It's not like they're even the only religion that has a history of taking young brides.

(I do not condone underage marriage or teen pregnancy in any way. I think kids should be kids for as long as possible. However, I am ever open to other people's religious beliefs and while I may think some things are wrong, I still try to be open minded. In 7th grade, I read the book "Shabanu" about an 11-year old girl forced to marry a much older man to protect her family's honor. She becomes marriageable when her period starts. I was 12. I remember thinking how insane it was to possibly be married at the age of 12.)

Mostly, I don't think that the courts in any manner can intervene in religious beliefs. It is part of the 1st amendment and it's not the government's business if a man chooses to marry more than one woman. If there is child abuse or fraud committed, it is perfectly acceptable for the law to get involved.

I want to touch on gay marriage here, too. To say that homosexual couples ruin the American family is one of the most ridiculous things to ever say. I loved the thing going around Facebook talking about Larry King's and Elizabeth Taylor's multiple marriages and that they're the ones ruining the sanctity of marriage. This is one of the things I love about living in Massachusetts. I think it's sad that the government has the right to say who can be in love. What kind of world do we live in? Who does it really affect to let two men or two women declare their love for one another and get a tax break? Of course, these are the same lawmakers that are trying to redefine RAPE. There aren't enough curse words in the universe to describe these people.

I want to raise my children to be open-minded about other people's beliefs and grow up knowing that whatever they become will be perfectly acceptable with me. I will love them no matter what. I will find a way to make life as easy as possible if they choose a lifestyle that is not what is considered "normal". How do I do this in today's world?

The same people that claim they are fighting to keep America free are trying to stifle people's personal beliefs. I hope in the next 20 years we really begin to see a positive change in this country. As the current generation becomes more political what will change? How can there be so much anger towards other lifestyles in the 21st century? I'm pretty sure I've written this before but I really don't understand how I, a moderately educated person, seem so much smarter than the people that are running this country... Todd likes to say that in the next 10 years, we can have a president that grew up playing video games and how cool is that going to be? A president that takes technology seriously would be awesome. But how is this going to change the outlook of the world?