Let's All Roll Down The Slippery Slope Together

CNN:

A lawyer for a Utah man with five wives argued Monday that his bigamy convictions should be thrown out following a Supreme Court decision decriminalizing gay sex.

The nation's high court in June struck down a Texas sodomy law, ruling that what gay men and women do in the privacy of their homes is no business of government.

It's no different for polygamists, argued Tom Green's attorney, John Bucher, to the Utah Supreme Court.

"It doesn't bother anyone, [and with] no compelling state interest in what you do in your own home with consenting adults, you should be allowed to do so," Bucher said.

This is, of course, exactly what the wingers said would happen. Once you legalize gay sex, the next thing you know the polygamists will use it as an excuse for their abhorrent lifestyles, then the dog Santorumizers will, and then Western civilization will collapse.

I happen to disagree with the slippery slope reasoning, except for one thing: I think this guy has a bit of a case, at least with the bigamy convictions (the child rape conviction should still stand). What the hell is the State doing regulating the definition of marriage? The same thing it was doing regulating sexual activity: overstepping its bounds. I don't believe in bigamy myself, but that's essentially a religious belief for Mormons*, and neither I nor the State have any compelling interest in their married lives.

And of course, the wingers like to conflate this with stuff like incest, child rape, etc, because they don't seem to get the issue of harm. When the welfare of a child is at stake, all bets are off and the State does have an interest in protecting the health and safety of that child. When you're talking about consenting adults, they have a right to love and practice religion any way they want without interference.

So I say let Mormon men have their multiple wives, and let Utah remain in the Union. Keep the State out of our bedrooms.

ntodd

* At least it was an official Mormon thing, until Utah succumbed to Federal blackmail in 1890.  ¶ 3:24 PM