I was just cleaning out my documents and found this dumped into a Word doc. I dug it out of a newsgroup a long while back and thought it fit the current theme here these days.
I spent a little while editing it for grammatical corrections and basic formatting.
I thought it was worth the read once my head stopped pulsing from the constant bad English.
The Foundation of Human Liberation
by Ezequiel González (edited with Word for errors by Blaise )
When we talk about human liberation we normally think about things like National Independence, feminism and even gay rights. Yet in order to accomplish true human liberation we must go to the roots of the problem; to the very foundation of the human society, to the family.
The family unit is extremely important because it is the place where the basic needs of the individual are satisfied. First it provides a nourishing, stable environment where the newborn can grow and mature into a stable, healthy adult. Then, for the adult as he gets married and forms his own family, the family unit provides the environment where he can enjoy his sexuality in a safe, emotionally uplifting and productive way, while at the same time enjoying the benefits of companionship, tender loving care, and support. The children then provide the adult the opportunity to be creative, sharing the best he has to give with a growing human being. Finally, as the adult grows old, his offspring will provide him/her with the support and caring he will need.
In our society we think about the family as something established by the Godhead, inalterable for ever and ever. We understand the family unit as formed by father, mother and children. Uncles, grandparents, etc., etc. are part of the extended family unit. We tend to think of this family arrangement as the only valid one. We are so sure about this that we have sanctified it as a religious ritual and a legal requirement. Any other family arrangement is seen as "sinful" and illegal to the point that in some cases is heavily penalized.
Yet, this traditional family arrangement seems not to be working all that well. Many marriages end up in divorce. Most are plagued with unfaithfulness, and many of those who survive for a long time do so at a huge price in term of emotional pain and suffering. Far from being the environment where the individual realizes him/herself fully, marriage [as we know it today] becomes a drag, a chain, and a pain in the ass that limits the individual preventing her/him from realizing his/her full potential.
Christians will most likely blame that on our "sinful nature" and the works of the "devil". Others may find other culprits. Perhaps, there is a grain of truth in all that. But hereby I postulate that the failure of the marriage institution as we know it in our western society has less to do with the devil or our own shortcomings than with the shortcomings of the marriage institution itself.
A given institution or social arrangement designed to satisfy basic human needs will only be successful if it takes basic human nature into account. That institution cannot and must not be based upon ideals or theoretical models that do not correspond with reality. I feel that marriage as we practice it in western society seeks to impose an artificially "moral" family arrangement that contradicts the fundamental sexual and social needs and drives of the human being.
The inner selves of the individual; both his/her higher self in contact with the collective mind and the Godhead, and the lower self in direct contact with our biological drives, find this artificial social arrangement disgusting and repealing. No wonder then, most marriages end up in divorce, and many of those that do survive do so through pain, suffering and personal limitations.
The higher self loves and seeks to interact with many individuals, yet marriage [as we practice it in western society] locks him/her up into a one to one relationship that will be the primary, fundamental and molding interpersonal relationship in his/her life. As a child he is bound to grow in an environment where the image of Mom and Dad, loving or fighting each other becomes the primary model of societal and interpersonal relationships. As he moves out of the home and interacts with the open society where there are many adults freely interacting with one another, this child will be unprepared to face this new reality. The societal model he learned at home will no longer be useful. Eventually that new adult will marry and enter into his/her own one to one relationship with another adult... and the cycle will repeat itself.
Sexually speaking the situation is worse. The marriage institution as we practice it in western society prevents the human being from fully satisfying his/her basic sexual needs. Most Human males experience, by nature, unisexual attraction. By this I mean that they will feel sexually attracted toward members of the opposite sex OR members of his same sex, but not toward both: they will either be heterosexual or homosexual. Most Human females, on the other hand, are bisexual by nature. They will feel equally attracted toward members of both sexes. Both males and females, however, are promiscuous by nature. They will need more than one sexual partner to fully satisfy their sexual urges.
Obviously, the permanent [till death does us apart!] monogamous marriage between one man and one woman with obligatory faithfulness negates everything you have just read. Especially when that kind of marriage arrangement is the ONLY ONE sanctified and allowed by society.
This marriage arrangement will not work for the gay man [male homosexual] who will much rather marry another gay man like himself; it will neither work for the lesbian woman [female homosexual] who will much rather marry another lesbian like herself. But even worse it will certainly not work for a female bisexual [which is the case with most women], for, in her case, she will only be able to satisfy half of her sexual needs. Even the heterosexual male will be short changed; for by swearing faithfulness to only one woman he will be renouncing his natural promiscuity.
Under these pathetic circumstances marriage becomes a curse and a pain and whatever growth and happiness the married couple and their offspring may reach, they reach it in spite of the monogamous marriage, and certainly not because of it.
The solution to this pathetic situation is simple: The government should get out of the business of sanctifying marriages. Leave that to the churches. From a social point of view marriage is a social contract between human beings; let them set the terms of that arrangement as they see fit. If two women want to marry each other, let them set the terms of their domestic society, put them in writing, sign the resulting document, and may their lives be enriched by their mutual love. Likewise if two men what to marry each other, let them do likewise.
For most of us, however, the marriage bond ought to be between one male [heterosexual] and various females [bisexuals]. This kind of marriage will provide for the promiscuous needs of all involved. The male will satisfy his desire for more than one woman, while the females will satisfied their bisexual needs. All within a protected environment with committed, faithful relationships based on mutual love and respect.
No one under this arrangement will be forced to have sex against their will. The male will not be able to [even if he wanted to] impose his will over the females. Democratically speaking they will be the majority: and even if he were to resort to violence he will have at least two opponents to beat. On the other hand, the husband as the only male in the house will be able to assume a natural leadership role, coordinating and directing the family affairs.
Within this family arrangement, unfaithfulness will be greatly reduced for the basic desire that leads to it [promiscuity] will already be satisfied within the marriage institution itself. Marital fights will also be reduced. Most fights arise out of the polarization that results from two individuals being forced to live together sharing everything. Each one will try to find his/her complete fulfillment in the other. This unrealistic demand will create stress and anger resulting in unresolved rage. Eventually this rage may erupt in irrational ways leaving to quarreling and marital fights for seemingly trivial things.
With three [or more] adults living together the polarization will be greatly reduce. The husband will learn to accept the uniqueness of each wife, not demanding anything from any of them, for he knows that what one may lack or be unable/unwilling to offer, another one might. Likewise the wives will satisfy their feminine/bisexual needs [for sex, sharing, tenderness, etc. etc.] among themselves. They will not demand from the husband what he is not capable of giving, and yet will cherish him for what he does give.
Obviously, this kind of marital arrangement creates a positive, nurturing environment where each member will be accepted as he/she is, and will be encouraged to fully develop him/herself as a total human being. Polygamy, which is how this marital arrangement is called, will replace the present sex repressive, polarized unstable marriage with a sex affirmative, stable relationship based upon love and respect among all involved.
The children blessed with the opportunity to grow within such a family will learn that love [even marital love] is not a matter of selfishness and repressed lust but of friendship and true mutual support.
Obviously such a fundamental change in a fundamental social institution will benefit the entire society. Anyone raised within such a family will be sensitive to and predisposed against any kind of slavery or selfishness. The offspring of such a family will be true freedom fighters; for they will not be fighting to get something for themselves that they have never experienced, but will be fighting to share with others the same freedom that they as children experience and learned at home.
In our western society there are specific laws that prevent this from happening. Once again the monogamous marriage is the only marriage arrangement legally recognized. All others are illegal and at times heavily penalized. The legal system must change. Homosexual and Polygamous marriages must be recognized as equal in dignity as monogamous heterosexual marriages. All laws against homosexual and polygamous marriages must be repelled.
The ethical standards, however, should remain the same for all marriages. Faithfulness, truthfulness, mutual respect, mutual accountability, etc, etc.. No man, for example, who enters into a polygamous marriage, should take another wife without the prior approval of his previous wife or wives [in writing!]. Polygamy should not be seen as a plot to indulge in unrestricted, depraved sex. All sexual relationships must be based upon mutual love and respect.
A polygamous family will most likely have many children. The ethical conduct of the parents toward their children ought to be the same as we would expect of the monogamous parents.
If we can, within one or two generations, replace the present unstable monogamous marriage institution with a stable polygamous marriage institution; while at the same time accepting the sexual minorities as equal partners in society, allowing them to enter into legal marriages, gays with gays and lesbians with lesbians....; if we can start this difficult transition now and see it through to its logical conclusion; then our future generations will be free from many of the psychological ills that plague our present generation.
Once again... the vast majority of males feel sexually attracted toward females, while the vast majority of females feel sexually attracted toward both males and females. The vast majority of humans need more than one sexual partner at any given moment in their lives. Thus the marriage institution to be successful needs to accept these realities and satisfy them. A polygamous marriage between a heterosexual male and [at least] two bisexual females is such a marriage.
A small minority of humans, nevertheless, experience their sexuality in different and unique ways. They also should have the right to enter into stable marriage arrangements designed to fit their unique situations. All marriages however, must be based on mutual love, respect, cooperation and loyalty.
Hereby I challenged the sociologists, psychologists, anthropologists, and all professionals concerned to evaluate the validity, or lack thereof, of this thesis. But even more I challenged the Christian theologians to put aside their homophobia, sex negating morality and prejudices and evaluate this thesis against the original teachings of the Judeo-Christians Holy Writings.
Neither lesbianism nor homosexuality is condemned there. The six to eight biblical passages that seem to condemn them are actually condemning sexual abuse, rape and/or sexual orgies practiced as part of pagan worship. Polygamy, on the other hand, was the normal form of marriage originally practiced by mankind. Even Adam was polygamous.
The first direct commandment God gave him was to be "fruitful and multiply", [and the second was not to eat of certain fruit and the third was to take care of the garden, to work and till it]. There was no prohibition against copulating with more than one female. Thus, if the first commandment was to be "fruitful and multiply"; and in order to be fruitful and multiply he needed to copulate with human females, common sense tells me that he copulated with as many human females as he found. And as these females were in reality his daughters, then Adam, in order to fulfill the divine commandment must have had married many of his own daughters.
Likewise his sons married first their sisters and then theirs daughters. Eve conceives Cain, as her first son, then Abel, and then, a full 120 years after leaving the Garden of Eden, she conceived Seth. Meanwhile, being a healthy female, she must have had many sons and daughters. There were, according the Genesis Story, no other humans on earth, for Adam "... named his wife Eve, because she would become the mother of all the living [Genesis 3:20]" Thus, Adam and Eve sons' must have married their sisters and daughters and nieces and granddaughters. And in order to fulfill the commandment given to Adam, they must have married as many of them as they could.
As mankind multiplied God then regulated sexual relationships [Leviticus chapter 18 -22] in order to prevent sexual abuses within the family and society. God never, however, prohibited Polygamy; and as a matter of fact describes Himself as a Polygamous husband in his relationship with his chosen people [Ezekiel 16]. Even Yeshua [Jesus] describes Himself as a Polygamous man who will return to marry 10 virgins!! [Matthew 25:1-13] symbolism with this his return to join his millions of followers and ruled over the earth.
Thus, as during his reign many things will be restored as they were in the beginning, and as in the beginning lesbianism and homosexuality were not prohibited, Polygamy was the common form of marriage, and marriage itself was not a religious or state sponsored institution but a private agreement between the partners and their parents; we may expect that as the time of Yeshiva’s return approaches the Spirit of God will move among us to restore these and many others things: Just as they were in the beginning. Amen!
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