Polygamy is Disgraceful: Why Yul Edochie is not example of correctness!, Felix Nyerhovwo Jakire

Reno Omokri is very misleading in his interpretation of the  scriptural position of polygamy.  For someone who goes by the title, “Christian pastor,” his glib, shallow interpretation of scriptures is rather troubling.

Monogamy is never a Western construct. Yes, the Western societies legalised monogamy through the influence of Christianity. But we must never ignore the fact throughout history, monogamy had largely remained a question of wealth and power in every human society.

Kings, without question, throughout the ages had the capacity in terms of wealth and power to marry as many wives as they lusted after. Other men who had wealth, but not necessarily power, could also be polygamous, following the examples of kings. So polygamy was largely a function of affordability and capability. Whereas  the  rest of human society was consigned to monogamy for the sake of sanity and safety.

A poor man who married more than one wife would be courting trouble and bitter acrimony for lacking the financial means to appropriately settle the women when the need arose. Even a poor man who married a beautiful woman was a risky proposition as the woman might be snatched away from him by a stronger man. The poor man might even count himself lucky if he still had his head on top of his neck to mourn at the end of the day the loss of his wife to a stronger, wealthy man.
That’s why you had a situation where the public act of marriage between a poor man and his woman acted as a safeguard against the violation of the vows of the marriage. A community could then even decide to ostracize, expel or declare a war against any individual who violently snatched the wife of the poor man.

The story of Helen of Troy come to mind here, though in different circumstances. Renowned for being  the “most beautiful woman in the world,” Helen was married to King Menelaus of Sparta.
Menelaus had emerged victorious in a competition whereby Helen’s suitors sought her hand in marriage. All the suitors were required to make an oath pledging to provide military assistance to the winning suitor if Helen was stolen from him at any time.  So when she was carried off to Troy at the seduction of handsome Paris, the Trojan War broke out as a result. The war never ceased until she was reunited with her husband, Menelaus. Indeed, Paris was killed in action.

When it came to the Bible, Uriah the Hittite, a trusted general in Israel’s army, had a monogamous relationship with his wife, the unusually beautiful Bathsheba. He was a strong man of means, being a general, but he was not powerful. So when King David espied her taking a bath from the roof of his palace, he could not resist the temptation of having sexual intimacy with her. David got her pregnant but he went for a cover-up. Because the exposure of this secret liaison was politically and strategically dicey for David. Uriah was  recalled from battle, wined and dined by David, and ordered to go to his house for the night and comfort his wife. The general naively refused on the excuse that Israelite soldiers were fighting and dying hard in battle so he was disinclined to sleep on the bosom of his wife! We all know how the story fatally ended for Uriah as he was killed because his commanding officer, Joab at the behest of King David sent Uriah into the most perilous part of the battle.

If you learned of the consequences of David’s sexual liaison with Bathsheba, there’s no way a sane mind would advocate polygamy. Incest was introduced into David’s household as a result. His favourite son, Absalom, conspired against David, overthrew him,  drove him from the palace, and publicly disgraced him by openly raping David’s wives. In the battle to reclaim his throne, his son was killed, and he was thrown into mourning.
If you ever learned how Solomon’s unprecedented polygamy led his heart to be turned away from God – leading eventually to Israel’s SECESSION from Judah after Solomon’s death, there’s no way you can support polygamy.

If anyone carefully read Deuteronomy 17: 14-17 with humility, they’d understand God actually giving a warning that polygamy signalled GREED, LACK OF CONTENTMENT and LACK OF DISCIPLINE.

King David had power but he lacked  discipline.
King Solomon had wisdom, wealth and  power but he never realised the significance of these things. Because his lack of discipline and contentment drove him into bosoms of strange women.

It’s erroneous for Reno to uphold Abraham, David and Solomon as examples of why polygamy is not a sin. The Bible never regarded Abraham, David and Solomon as the models of godliness and perfection. It’s ridiculous for anyone to think otherwise.

It’s instructive that the New Testament commanded that the bishops and deacons must be “husband of ONE WIFE.” You are being disingenuous to think what is prescribed for CHRISTIAN LEADERSHIP should not apply to the followership. If “husband of one wife” for Christian Leadership is not worthy of emulation, why is it prescribed? Because it’s right and proper.
Whereas polygamy for christian leadership is WRONG and IMPROPER. Now if you know the basic principles of leadership, you won’t need to scratch your head over whether polygamy is sin or not!

Overall, let me conclude by saying that what God is looking for in any spousal relationship is SEXUAL PURITY and SEXUAL FIDELITY.

These two elements, sexual purity and sexual fidelity are absent in polygamy, same-sex marriage, adultery and fornication.
And lastly African leaders are too obsessed with sex, having plenty wives and chains of girlfriends. They lack the capacity for rigorous thinking as a result. That’s why their societies are falling to pieces, and enslavement by China and other imperial powers is imminent danger.

For Yul Edochie who aspires to become governor of Anambra, taking a second wife is a disgrace. People like this should be kept away from power because they would turn the state treasury into their personal property – given the chance.

 

Felix Nyerhovwo Jarikre, an Accountant and a cleric, lives in Lagos