August 19th is the official date of Polygamy Day ®, a U.S. registered trademark of the non-profit Polygamy Day, Inc. The first Polygamy Day ® occurred on August 19, 2001. Every year since then, committed activists of polygamy rights for consenting-adults have celebrated this special annual date. As the original celebration occurred in “Year 1” of the new millennium, it was identified as "Polygamy Day 1." Going forward, each subsequent "Polygamy Day" was then identified in the same numerical manner, right on up to the current "Polygamy Day 8" on August 19, 2008.
Polygamy Day ® emerged from a motivational get-together in Old Orchard Beach, Maine, among consenting-adult polygamy rights activists from around the country. Those original activists had no connection with any derivative of Mormon polygamy whatsoever. With each subsequent year, the special anniversary eventually blossomed into a nationwide religiously-neutral celebration by individuals all around the country, for all forms of consenting-adult pro-polygamists.
Christian polygamists, secular polygamists, Jewish polygamists, Muslim polygamists, and even any Mormon polygamists who oppose underage marriage, all can celebrate this one specific day each year wherever they live.
In the year leading up to "Polygamy Day 8," many news events had significant impact.
Criminalities from one rogue, isolated Mormon polygamy sect - the FLDS - dominated the year's news. In September, 2007, the FLDS' criminal leader, Warren Jeffs, was convicted for arranging the non-polygamous marriage of a 14 year old girl with her 19 year old cousin. In April, 2008, the State of Texas raided an FLDS community on more allegations of underage marriage. In July, Senator Harry Reid - a "mainstream" Mormon himself - conducted a Congressional "hearing" exclusively about the Mormon-based FLDS as "organized crime." Parroting "mainstream" Mormonism's cult mind control tactic that "no Mormon polygamists are Mormon," Reid’s FLDS-only "hearing" dropped the word "Mormon" to indiscriminately target all "polygamists" everywhere. Nationwide, though, most consenting-adult pro-polygamists are neither Mormon polygamists nor live in isolated sect communities. Moreover, even some consenting-adult Mormon polygamists oppose the FLDS too.
Throughout all this news, the National Polygamy Advocate, Mark Henkel, was out explaining the real facts to the media. His organization, TruthBearer.org, spent thousands of dollars - including issuing press releases with massive distribution. Henkel appeared many times on CourtTV (now called TruTV), was reported by the Associated Press, and was extensively featured in a John Stossel special report about consenting-adult non-Mormon polygamy on ABC-TV's "20/20." Henkel routinely explained: Jeffs' case did not involve polygamy, and the national polygamy rights movement for consenting adults always opposed Jeffs, the FLDS, and underage marriage.
In other news, big government marriage controllers were blind-sided in May, 2008, by a California State Supreme Court where six of the seven justices were Republicans. The Court determined that the right to marry is an individual right. While legalizing the biological impossibility of “same sex marriage,” the Decision claimed it would not affect anti-polygamy laws. But it clearly will have such an impact one day - precisely because the right for consenting-adults to marry is an individual right.
Marriage controllers still self-combustively react as "democrats," promoting anti-republican referendum "democracy" in order to infringe individual rights. But they are finding that that very same use of majoritarian "democracy" can and will backfire against them. Mobocratic majorities can just as easily vote against current big government marriage definitions.
Worse - as happened in Maine in June, 2008 - marriage controllers trying to get an anti-homosexual referendum on the ballot are even having to give up. They could not even get enough signatures to get the proposal onto the ballot. That battle is being lost.
Herewith, the polygamy rights WIN-WIN solution obtained momentum to end all marriage politics for all sides. By prohibiting big government from defining marriage either way or another, neither side’s "democrat" majority can ever again infringe consenting-adults' individual right to marry.
Yes, the false association of the FLDS - with alleged underage crimes - posed very real set-backs for consenting-adult polygamists this year. However, the successes of the National Polygamy Advocate to get the truth out about normal pro-polygamists, and the increasing political losses of the big government marriage control "democrats," both show that the WIN-WIN solution of the national polygamy rights movement for consenting adults - to end all marriage politics - can overcome such setbacks and eventually obtain true freedom for all.
With such reason for hope of genuine freedom one day, consenting-adult pro-polygamists throughout America definitely have great cause to celebrate on this August 19, 2008 - "Polygamy Day 8."
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Bibliographic URLs:
Polygamy Day, Inc.
http://www.PolygamyDay.com
Warren Jeffs / FLDS news - Opposed by National Polygamy Rights Movement
http://www.prweb.com/releases/2007/9/prweb552208.htm
http://www.prweb.com/releases/2008/04/prweb874544.htm
Sen. Harry Reid’s FLDS-only “hearing” about “all polygamists”
http://judiciary.senate.gov/hearing.cfm?id=3489
http://gosanangelo.com/news/2008/jul/24/live-from-the-senate-flds-coverage/
National Polygamy Advocate, Mark Henkel
http://www.nationalpolygamyadvocate.com
http://www.truthbearer.org/media/mark-henkel-interview-example/
CourtTV – with National Polygamy Advocate
http://www.truthbearer.org/media/court-tv/
http://www.courttv.com/chat/transcripts/2007/0924jeffs-henkel.html
Associated Press – with National Polygamy Advocate
http://www.truthbearer.org/media/ap/2007-11-21-polygamists-glad-warren-jeffs-going-to-prison/
http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/law/11/21/child.bride.ap/
ABC-TV “20/20” John Stossel – with National Polygamy Advocate
http://www.truthbearer.org/media/abc-20-20/
http://abcnews.go.com/2020/Stossel/story?id=5396768&page=1
California Supreme Court Decision, May 2008
http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/opinions/documents/S147999.PDF
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/05/15/BA3G10N325.DTL
Big Government Marriage Control “democrats”
http://www.frc.org/get.cfm?i=PR08E02
http://www.protectmarriage.com/article//jerry-brown-s-meddling
http://www.washingtonblade.com/2008/8-15/news/national/13101.cfm
Big Government Marriage Controllers losing battle
http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/story.php?id=195007
The Polygamy Rights WIN-WIN Solution
http://www.pro-polygamy.com/articles.php?news=0057
http://www.pro-polygamy.com/articles.php?news=0042
[Reviewed for publication - Pro-Polygamy.com Review Board.]
