《經濟學家》讀譯蓡考：一夫多妻者理直氣壯(1)

Back in fashion

　　Nov 30th 2006 | WASHINGTON, DC
　　From The Economist print edition

　　IN 2001, Warren Jeffs officiated[1] while a 14-year-old girl married her 19-year-old cousin. It was the first marriage for the bride and meant to be the first of many for the groom. Mr Jeffs is the leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints （FLDS）. With perhaps 10,000 members, it is the largest of the polygamous[2] sects that spun off[3] from Mormonism[4] more than 100 years ago. On November 21st prosecutors in Utah argued that Mr Jeffs should be charged with two counts of rape as an accomplice.

　　The case has brought renewed attention to polygamists in America. The practice is illegal, and widely reviled. A Gallup poll[5] in May 2006 found that 93% of Americans consider it immoral. The threats of prosecution and persecution have usually been enough to keep polygamists subdued. But lately they are becoming emboldened. For one thing, the scorn is often mutual."It would be easier to lie, cheat, and steal like you guys do," one polygamous husband told a television reporter."I have a certain amount of disgust for monogamy." Besides, the debate over gay marriage has led to a wide national dialogue over traditional morality. Earlier this year, the television network HBO aired a series about a polygamous family."Big Love", which got respectable ratings, portrays plural marriage as more demanding than deviant.

　　Mormon fundamentalists argue that anti-polygamy laws infringe[6] religious liberty. The American Civil Liberties Union of Utah agrees, saying there is no reason to criminalise"private, consensual[7], adult relationships that are motivated by sincerely-held religious beliefs".

　　The idea that the government has no business meddling in relationships between consenting adults is, of course, a pillar of the gay-marriage movement. Opponents of gay marriage have always argued that opening the institution to homosexuals would put America on a slippery slope[8] to polygamy, incest and worse. But Mormon fundamentalists do not want to get into bed with[9] sinners like homosexuals. And gay-rights advocates have distanced themselves from polygamists. They argue that sexuality is intrinsic, while polygamy is a choice with grievous social consequences.

　　So far, the public response to polygamy has been practical, not philosophical. In Utah and Arizona, which are home to sizeable Mormon fundamentalist enclaves, the official policy is to ignore plural marriages unless they are associated with incest[10], fraud or abuse. The Canadian Department of Justice took a similar line earlier this year, when it recommended decriminalising the practice.

　　As the Jeffs case shows, polygamy-rights activists have an uphill public-relations battle. Abuse and coercion are only the most obvious dangers of polygamy. Last year the Phoenix New Times reported that inbreeding[11] among the FLDS"is producing a caste of severely retarded and deformed children." The FLDS has also cast out [12] more than 400 young men. These"lost boys" were supposedly excommunicated[13] because of moral lapses like wanting to go to public schools. They also presented unwelcome competition for wives.

　　Another stumbling-block for polygamists is that numbers are not on their side. Millions of Americans are gay, and many millions more have gay friends or relatives. Polygamists are hard to come by, despite the order to be fruitful and multiply. Principle Voices, a pro-polygamy group, reckons that there are only about 37,000 Mormon fundamentalists in America.

　　[NOTES]（LONGMAN）

　　1. officiate vi. 主持（宗教儀式）
　　2. polygamous adj. 一夫多妻的;一妻多夫的
　　3. spin off 分割出來，分支出來
　　4. Mormonism n. 摩門教（即耶穌基督後期聖徒教會）
　　5. Gallup poll 蓋洛普民意測騐 美國民意調查機搆——美國輿論研究所進行的調查項目之一。因1935年由G.蓋洛普創辦該所而得名。縂部設在普林斯頓。民意測騐每年擧行20～25次，縂統大選年略多。調查內容包括政治、經濟、社會等。採用抽樣調查方法，在全國各州按比例選擇測騐對象，派調查員麪訪，然後統計調查結果，分析竝作出說明，提供給用戶。
　　6. infringe v. 侵犯，侵害
　　7. consensual adj. [律]在雙方同意下成立的
　　8. slippery slope 急劇下滑
　　9. get into bed with 與……發生性關系
　　10. incest n. 近親相*,亂倫
　　11. inbreed v. 使同系繁殖;使在內部生成
　　12. cast out 逐出
　　13. excommunicate v. 把……逐出教會;開