MONOGAMY - PAGAN GODDESS ROOTS (what the...?)

First my comments then a very interesting history.

Ah monogamy, that Utopian ideal that causes so much misery. Where do we get this idea that we should only have one and only one partner for life? Not only is it selfish on our part but repressive to the other partner.

Now I'm not saying a lifetime partner is a bad thing, I wholly encourage it, but they should be open enough for each to have an occasional sexual experience with an outsider. It releases pent-up sexual tension and the accompanying frustration. Forcefully repressing natural urges only leads to one despising the other and eventually conflict. Sexual freedom should be encouraged and enjoyed. A variety of partners is wholesome and essential to individual identity.

Now I'm not saying every relationship should be wide open with thousands of anonymous partners. I just think that the contrived 'one man one woman' ideal should be left up to those involved. One should not be raised nor taught to expect the completely unrealistic promise of fidelity, nor should it be the only standard by which we consider a relationship successful. So many wonderful pairings are torn apart because one partner "cheated" on the other. How stupid.

Especially here in America we have this so called 'trust' issue. Who invented that idea. It's pure psycho-babble hogwash. "You cheated on me, I can never trust you again, I want a divorce!" How pathetic is that. So grown-up. Work it out, it's not the end of the world. YOU ARE NOT THAT SPECIAL. GET OVER YOURSELF. Learn the difference between love and sex already.

Only in America with our grandiose, it's all about ME & MY feelings and unrealistic expectations does the discovery of marital infidelity inevitably lead to drawn-out scenes filled with drama, apology, contrition and oddly the detailed recitation of each liaison. Sadly it's the children that suffer. Having to watch so called 'grown-ups' displaying childish behaviour: yelling, screaming, door-slamming, name calling, hitting & shoving. Then the parents play mind games on the kids, picking sides, playing one against the other. No wonder kids these days are screwed up emotionally. Just watch the Jerry Springer show to see what's really going on in America.

In most other countries they aren't so uptight. Martial fidelity isn't such a big deal. In Holland they say "going strange", Ireland "playing offsides", 40 percent of Russians see infidelity as harmless! Japanese woman aren't so much as upset by the act itself but the lack of discretion shown so that she learns about it! In Indonesia they refer to the couple as having a "wonderful interval". Now that's a healthy attitude!

Of course it's just reinforced by the terms we use in America: Unfaithful, Infidelity, Cheating, Sneaking Around, Down Low, Double-crossing. All derogatory. Notice the first two, the 'socially accepted' terms (no pun intended) are not surprisingly religiously inspired. The others all conjure up sleazy, dirty or criminal intent.

It all has to do once again (surprise!) with the fricken church saying whats right and wrong. Reinforced through popular culture and our upbringing. Beginning with toddlers and the silly fairy tales we read to them, prince meets princess and live happily ever after. White picket fences and White Weddings. Books and movies sympathize with the faithful wife while portraying the other woman (or man) as a harlot, slut, homewrecker! Only sex within marriage is considered proper and holy. Adultery is condemned, at one time by death to one or both involved.

While I can see the benefits of the nuclear family ideal in past cultures, we are mature enough now as a species (well some of us are) to rid ourselves of the guilt and needless shame associated with the natural urge to 'spread it around' and enjoy the gift of sex. Girls are told to wait for marriage, for the right one to come along. While sampling the local flavor beforehand just might produce longer lasting and happier marriages.

I could go on and on about the stupidity of this approach but let's look at a brief history and false arguments of IMPOSED MONOGAMY, which as we shall see all comes down to power and money.

The following has been condensed from http://www.patriarchywebsite.com/monogamy/mono-history.htm which ironically is some minister arguing for polygamy. Guess he's not happy with the one he's got, god bless him (wink). I took out most of the 'preachy' stuff, but his essay is right on the money. Just remember when you read Roman think Pagan (monogamy equals pagan goddess worship).

MONOGAMY IS AS OLD AS ADAM
Some say monogamy is as old as Adam. But that’s not the real issue. From the beginning, through the generations, even to this day, monogamy, polygamy, platonic and celibacy are known forms of marital status, and of course rising up strong is "homogamy", the old time abhorred practice of homosexuality which is once again fighting for recognition and acceptance. What is in question here is how and when monogamy began to be imposed as the only right form of marriage acceptable to society.

MONOGAMY AND SHOULD-BE MONOGAMY
The practice of faithful monogamy stipulates that a man can marry only one wife at any one time in his life. Even though the various forms of marriages have been practiced through the generations, monogamy has emerged to become law in some countries today, such that the legal registration of more than one wife become a violation. This is called "Should-be" or "must-be" monogamy.

The first instances of such widespread enforcement were in Western Europe and it eventually gained worldwide acceptance in the modern world, especially in the Western Hemisphere. How did it happen? More so, how did it become known as the only acceptable standard when so many of the Bible’s founding patriarchs were openly polygamous? The answer of course would be one of greatest concern to Christians. And it will be an interesting but a very tragic one.

SOME HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
We have to look at some other related history first. The Roman system was an empire built on conquest with incorporation. The secret of Rome's strength lie in her ability to incorporate vanquished nations into her own political body. Never before had so many people been brought under one government without making slaves of most of them. Gradually the Roman Empire became permeated with the philosophy of the Greeks and the religions of the Jews and Christians. The natural part of human life was raised to a higher plane.

THE ROMAN EMPIRE AND THE ROMAN CHURCH
Christianity became known as the official western religion, and the native religions of the western world became known as heathen - uncivilized and unenlightened. However it was not so in the beginning. It may be a surprise for many to know that during the first 3 centuries, the Christians suffered tremendously under the Roman government which tried to destroy them. However, Christianity was spreading too vigorously to be kept under control. The strategy of elimination through persecution eventually changed to one of embracing it and controlling its destiny to fulfill the purpose of their rulers.

The church on the other hand made a compromise to accept Rome and became the destroyer of her mother (Israel) who bore her. In the process, truth suffered. Biblical commandments that the Apostles taught were subordinated to pagan convenience. The church entered into apostasy. This was fully realized in the 4th century when Emperor Constantine the Great declared himself a Christian, the first pope and the ruler of the church.

One after another, the unscrupulous entered the Church to take control, ravish and strip the Church to total spiritual nakedness and bankruptcy, and then clothed her in mockery and strange garments. Greco-Roman ideologies, values and pagan practices and rituals were adopted as standards and holiness in the Church. The Christian Jews who had understanding of God’s truths refused to toe the line. As a result, they were denounced as traitors, betrayers and murderers of the Lord. The wolves now had a totally free hand, this time in the Name of God. This is the background and setting for the origin and history of the "must-be" monogamy theology.

CATHOLIC PRIESTS WERE MONOGAMOUS AND POLYGAMOUS BUT MADE CELIBATE
Due to the widespread illiteracy of the scriptures, whatever the Catholic priests said were considered as God’s Law and divine truths. One area of total distortion was that of marital relationship. It was common for Catholic priests to have multiple wives and mistresses. In 726AD, it was acceptable for a man with a sick wife to take a second wife so long as he looked after the first one. With concerns for protecting Church property from inheritance however, offspring could not inherit church property and it was later declared that all sons of priests were illegitimate. In 1022, Pope Benedict VIII banned marriages for priests (monogamous or polygamous). Finally in 1139, Pope Innocent II voided all marriages of priests and all new priests had to divorce their wives. All these were done to possess and protect money and church property. Making polygamy a sin and marriage unacceptable for a priest was a slow and purposeful process.

CELIBACY AND ASCETICISM PROPAGATED AS HOLINESS
Backing up this hidden agenda, was an anti-human Greek doctrine and the hatred of Satan, manifested as holiness against all human nature and passions. It is called asceticism; the paganistic teaching that to be spiritual is to be poor, thus sex and all human passions would have to be denied for the highest fulfillment found only in monastic lifestyle. This distorted view of human passions and sexuality put a terrible burden on the shoulders of all who wanted to be spiritual. Worse still, it became the root and the source of much more other lies and deception regarding holiness and marriage forms in the whole Christian world.

Celibacy was propagated as the new standard of high attainment in holiness. Sex was taken to be unclean and sinful. Marriages were painted, at best as being a necessary evil to guard against sexual sins such as fornication. Because of such a heathen belief, monks and nuns were considered holier and closer to God than anybody else, and priests would necessarily be celibates. Marriage was considered an activity of the flesh, if possible, to be avoided by those seeking spirituality. Thus monogamy would be tolerated as an acceptable norm among the "less spiritual" and polygamy would be condemned as an abomination. Clearly, Greek philosophy and Roman monogamy were in control of the entire Church.

ROMANS WERE NOTORIOUSLY MONOGAMOUS
Christianity was strongly and aggressively propagated from the Roman Empire into the West and thus came to be known as a western religion. It should be noted that the Romans were notoriously monogamous due to an inherent exclusivity (which we shall discuss later) in monogamy. These are some of the practices and enforcement, even on their own monarchs and nobles. Nero, the Caesar who divorced, banished and murdered his first wife in order to marry the second. Even Napoleon who crowned himself could not overthrow this law, and had to divorce his beloved wife, Josephine in order to marry another so as to yield a son. Such facts and examples are clearly evident in European history. Yet were the Romans truly monogamous? History tells us that in the Roman Empire and in medieval Christendom, though marriage was monogamous, mating was often polygynous. A lord of a manor would have one wife but his household was set up as an unofficial harem of servant girls.

MONOGAMY PROPAGATED THROUGH CHRISTIANITY AND WESTERN SUPREMACY
Thus we see how Christianity was corrupted with to the point of being almost totally heathen, bowing down to saints and angels, paying for salvation with money and penance. Despite reformations and revivals in the 15th century that challenged and overthrew the ritualistic corruption, Greco-Roman values and interpretation of the Bible are still very much in the Christian lifestyle. This includes enforced monogamy, the Roman (pagan) form of idolizing woman and the goddesses. Christianity today is still very much Romanized where monogamy is Law rather than being Hebraic in nature where polygamy was well accepted in the sight of God and man. By renouncing the Jews, the ways of the patriarchal fathers and their ways were also renounced, thus so was Biblical polygamy. This is a big mistake of the early Church. And because the reformed Church did not thoroughly cleanse herself from Romanism, Biblical patriarchy was only partially restored and polygamy is still considered an abomination. The Church is still arrogant and piteously far from returning to her Hebraic Roots. She can, but only through much trials and tribulations before she is willing to let go of her sacred should-be monogamy calf.

MARTIN LUTHER CHALLENGED SHOULD-BE MONOGAMY
For political purposes, a young Prince Philip was arranged to marry the daughter of Duke George. This unhappy union led him to several affairs, for which he felt so condemned that he refrained from the Lord’s supper. He could have easily annulled his marriage through the Roman Catholic Church, which was a common procedure that would not have caused the slightest comment. But being an avowed Lutheran, he refused to consider this way out but instead considered to keep his first wife and marry another woman, a charming 17 year old Margaret. After winning the girl’s approval, he approached her mother who said, "We must not break God’s laws!" Martin Luther was consulted. After much consideration, a letter was signed and approval given, but he was told to keep it a secret. Philip lived with his 2 wives and had children through them. Soon the secret leaked out and the Reformation was placed in severe jeopardy. Because the penalty for bigamy was death, Prince Philip was forced to prostrate himself before Emperor Charles V and beg for his forgiveness. The irony of it all was that the emperor himself had illegitimate children all over Europe and the pope had legitimatized each one in order that they all might inherit titles and attain high office.

THE POWER BEHIND THE SHOULD-BE MONOGAMY
Roman monogamy was portrayed as God’s only divine standard. Luther could not change it. There were too much to undo. But because the major part of the world is still unchristianized, there are actually much more societies of the world that are polygamous than monogamous. The spirit behind the corrupt Romans still continues, out living the Roman Empire, and is manifesting itself, not just in the religious system but also in the supremacy of Western culture, economy and technology. Thus the ambition to conquer the world did not die with the Roman Empire, but continues into the supremacy of the Western world. It is now in the Greco-Roman Worldview that is fast taking over the world.

MONOGAMY AND THE MODERN WORLD
"Should-be" monogamy never gained worldwide attention until the last few centuries. The should-be monogamy idea was not popular in previous generations, not until its strong uprising in the last 150 years or so. In fact, polygamy was still openly practiced in the last generation in non-western countries, and is today still practiced in modern societies, even though not so openly because of the outcry of the Western Feminism movement. How quickly the should-be monogamy concept has taken over, such that it makes polygamy appear sinful and wrong ever since the beginning. A worldwide ethnographic survey of 849 human societies show 708 whose customs are polygynous (more than 1 wife), 4 polyandrous (more than 1 husband) and 137 monogamous. Other than the religious and supremacy factors, there can be a few other reasons for this.

MONOGAMY AND FEMINISM
The next reason is that during the last war torn period and after, polygamy was badly abused by irresponsible men who had made it appear evil. The restoration of women’s dignity and respect, giving them their "rightful liberation" and equality had automatically promoted monogamy to be the only right form of marriage, and polygamy since then was declared abusive and unworthy of a good respectable marriage. Supported by the deceived Church as good teaching and declared as the only right way of marriage, this "truth" becomes law, not just among Catholics and Protestants, but also in modern societies.

THE APPEAL OF MONOGAMY – EXCLUSIVENESS OF ROMANISM
Another reason for the quick popularity of monogamy lies in the exclusive nature of the should-be monogamy form that is extremely appealing. But what exactly is the exclusive nature of this modern monogamy form? Romantic love means finding a soul mate – someone whose values and sense of life mirror our own. We feel a drive to organize our life around this person and no one else. If someone says, ‘I love you’ in a romantic context, this what they are understood to be saying. This seems a good modern notion of romantic monogamy that we would all readily accept. It has the good intention of bringing responsibility back into the decaying society. But it has also given us some other unintended insights.

In real modern day practice, monogamy is but the exaltation of free love and the justification of self-love. Possessiveness is not only condoned, but glorified. That’s why it is so appealing. It readily satisfies the inner desire of a woman to possess her man exclusively, and the inner need of a man to please and idolize his woman completely above all other things, to be completely engrossed in her only. A candlelight dinner never fails to portray a very romantic moment. We say, "Oh! How romantic!". But how awfully unromantic it will be if another party is involved. For should-be monogamy to work, the elements of romantic exclusiveness must be involved. I am not saying that candlelight dinners and privacy are bad. But essentially, this reveal that the elements of the Roman spirit are nothing but exclusivity, possessiveness and idolatry. And such elements are perpetuated as dominant factors into all aspects of modern life of the should-be monogamy culture and this is where the failings begin. The two persons involved finally imprison one another, thus marriages of such kind are open to destruction.

We know by now that for sure, the origin of the should-be monogamy was not Biblical as assumed by many. It’s definitely not from the biblical patriarchal fathers, as many of them were polygamous. It really was from Rome. Although in Western Europe, the idea of romantic love (in some sense) has had a long history, its acceptance as the proper basis of marriage has never been as widespread as it has been in America culture. Why the United States? The answer, at least in part, is philosophical. What was distinctive about the American outlook and represented a radical break with its European past were its unprecedented commitment to political freedom, its individualism, its doctrine of individual rights, and, more specifically, its belief in a person’s right to happiness here on earth. Both the individualism and the secularism of this country were essential for the idea of romantic love to take wide cultural root. It’s now crystal clear where should-be monogamy originated and why it is so appealing to the human self. Historically, the Romans were known to be highly monogamous but kept mistresses and abused their maids and slaves, and were also known to be very sadistic in sports and love making. And we know in part, this characteristic has found its place in modern society.

This historical observation and social deduction are not wrong, for we can also see throughout the world that the more affluent, self-sufficient, self-centered, secular and individualistic the people are, the more romantically inclined and monogamous the society is. Should-be monogamy as righteousness is hollow, a placebo, a false consolation and a false truth for the self-seekers and the uninformed.

MONOGAMY AND ROMANTIC
Even the word, Roman-tic tells us where should-be monogamy is from, the Roman culture and the Roman Empire which is Western Europe, where values contradict biblical standards. And we can be so blind as not to see it before our eyes when we read the word Roman-tic, and yet we expound and exalt it at every wedding and declared it as holiness at every pulpit!

MONOGAMY AND PROTESTANTISM
What about the Protestant world? With America drinking it all in and taking the lead, "civilized" nations swallowed the Romans’ doctrine of love, digested it into her religious system, namely Christianity, and exported it with the Gospel as a total package for living. Alas, wherever the Gospel went, the whole package was received and swallowed without question as total Gospel truth. Thus the true Biblical Gospel which God has ordained to be rooted in the Middle Eastern patriarchal culture is deceptively suppressed and replaced with one that is adulterated by a heathen Roman culture. In the Biblical patriarchal setting of our forefathers polygamy was not just tolerated, but accepted. But the western Gospel is romantically and not patriarchally inclined, thus it is actually not just anti-polygamy but also anti-patriarchy. This is why the Old Testament seems to contain many passages of polygamy and patriarchy that cannot be expounded by western Protestant Christianity.

THE CONCLUSION
History brings forth a conclusive evidence. The enforced should-be monogamy, no matter how much it is sanctioned legally or socially, or how righteous it is portrayed religiously, it was never originated from the Scriptures, and has never been set as the only standard for marriage by God. It originated from the pagan Romans that had and are still overtaking the world under the modern title, Greco Roman Worldview.