What if any are the secular arguments against polyamorous marriage?

Scourgio de Scourgico: What if any are the secular arguments against polyamorous marriage?
One of the predicted outcomes in the slippery slope argument against gay marriage is that it will lead to multiple-partner marriages. I don’t want to debate the logic of the slippery slope, as that has been hashed and rehashed. I am curious as to the secular benefits or drawbacks that would follow from allowing groups of more than 2 people to be counted as one marriage.

Answers and Views:

Answer by lisa
I think that is a false rumor

Answer by Dopethrone
The worst case scenario is tricky legal proceedings in divorces, custody or estate cases.

Answer by Rev. Shistain Brown
marriage is just a dumb ritual. even if twelve or more people got married, i wouldn’t care. it does not affect me. i will still have a good marriage regardless.

Answer by Pirate AM™
There aren’t any, even the Christian religion has none except for tradition.

Answer by GambitGrrl
In principle, I can’t say that there is anything wrong with it. I wouldn’t want to be in a polyamorous marriage, but if 3 or more consenting adults wish to be, who am I to say no?

The only thing I can think of that would cause issues, are legal ones.

If two people want to split up, then it’s just two people that have to figure out who gets what, and so on. Throw in a third person, that can make the whole thing worse!

How would that be handled? What if only one person wants out? What provisions under the law would be provided for that person to come out with?

I think just for the problems that plural marriage would pose for the legal system, is the one reason I can say I wouldn’t want to see it legalized.

Answer by The Autodidact Jedi
One thing I can tell you, the “smooth” rich guys would have all the girls, and dopes like me would be left high and dry.

Polygamy is really more for societies that are at war all the time, and have a significantly higher female vs. male population.

Answer by topink
When I think of polygamy, I think of 2 types: the fundamentalist LDS type marriages where young girls are groomed to marry some older man they don’t really even love, and they don’t have real freedom to choose. I don’ tlike those kind since girls are often pushed into it and harassed if they refuse. These kind also often turn into big baby breeding factories where lots of kids are born and they end up on welfare.
Then I think about another kind of new-age or hip style polyamorous relationships that aren’t just limited to the man having multiple wives. Maybe there would be two men and a woman or three men and two women. Those types of relations are more acceptable to me because they’re wholly consentual. As long as no one is forced into it, I see no problem with it. The only thing is if companies offer benefits to one spouse, a person might have to choose who is the primary spouse. Then writing a will could be slightly complicated, but it could be done.
As for the “slippery slope” theory, those are for black and white thinkers. As long as relationships are between consenting adults, they should be legal. I’m not saying any churches would be required to perform marriages they disapprove of, but legally everyone should be able to say who is their ”next of kin”, even if you’re not really married.

Answer by Kuve
Plural marriage has been, and is, being practiced successfully in cultures all over the world throughout history. There are no rational objections, only religious and cultural taboos against it.