Criminal act or religious right?

Criminal act or religious right?

Charles Lewis, National Post

Published: Friday, August 10, 2007

To understand the moral and legal conundrum of polygamy in Canada, consider that when the Canadian Bar Association discusses the matter at its annual meeting next week, it will be part of a larger discussion about the "implications of family diversity."

The practice of having multiple spouses - illegal for more than a century - is being considered alongside serial monogamy, surrogacy arrangements and same-sex relationships as being among those societal changes "charting new legal territory for family relationships" being examined by a panel probing what it means when the law moves into the bedrooms of the nation.

Is polygamy a religious freedom that should be allowed in a pluralistic society or is it so morally repugnant that it should remain a criminal act?