I've seen adds on Craigslist there by women.
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FH is far more diplomatic than I am. I would say that the phrasing "differ somewhat from what most of us would consider appropriate" is an extreme understatement.
Welcome sir. We can always use a little non-conformist feather ruffling around here. We can get complacent at times.
Welcome back DealChief. And yes, we do have a forum - have had one for years (you posted on it way back in 2008, see http://www.biblicalfamilies.org/forum/threads/southern-california.8732/ ), but it's just had a major upgrade and is even more functional now. I must point out that your approach to marriage does differ somewhat from that most of us would consider appropriate, see RevGill's response on that old thread. Good to have you around though, so welcome back.
I would like to apologize for the fairly reactive and emotional tone of my response. I would simply change it but it *has* been read so that would be unfair. The content is accurate, however I had some poor word choices, specifically the "occasional brain cell" comment. That was me reacting to the implication that philosophical differences weren't patently obvious, and was uncalled for. My overall tone could certainly have been less combative, while still conveying strong disagreement.
-Seeking to or causing discord above the scope of normal and healthy debate: 3 It is to one’s honor to avoid strife, but every fool is quick to quarrel.
Your approach primarily differs from ours in that you present a long string of women you have had relationships with (two girlfriends in California in your original post, a brief "flirtation" in Mexico, a divorcee in Thailand, a current Californian woman you call a "wife"), none of which really sound like marriages. Scripture is clear that marriage is intended to be for life, and divorce is heavily restricted and intended to be very rare (e.g. Matthew 19:3-9). What you describe, in contrast, sounds like the string of casual relationships considered to be normal in modern Western secular culture, which you are justifying by labeling them "marriages".I really don't see how my "approach" differs from any other polygamist who is looking for wives. Perhaps you could enlighten me about what specifically people here might be uncomfortable with? This is a serious question.
To answer your original question:
Your approach primarily differs from ours in that you present a long string of women you have had relationships with (two girlfriends in California in your original post, a brief "flirtation" in Mexico, a divorcee in Thailand, a current Californian woman you call a "wife"), none of which really sound like marriages.
Scripture is clear that marriage is intended to be for life, and divorce is heavily restricted and intended to be very rare (e.g. Matthew 19:3-9). What you describe, in contrast, sounds like the string of casual relationships considered to be normal in modern Western secular culture, which you are justifying by labeling them "marriages".
You dismiss objections to your lifestyle by assuming that people only object because you don't follow "modern American cultural norms", and that's ok because you follow God's law instead. I find this hard to follow, because what the life you have described agrees exactly with "modern American cultural norms". The accepted secular culture promoted in American media is to have relationship after relationship, both monogamous and "plural" in a "player" sense, and that everyone else has to just accept this is ok. That's exactly what you're doing, just with different terminology.
You state that divorce is allowable "if they get bitter". Matthew 19:3-9 as cited above is very clear that divorce is limited only to adultery. Although there is some reasonable debate around the precise line to draw here, I have never heard a sound scriptural argument that divorce is allowable simply for bitterness. So what scriptural grounds do you have for this statement?
You also appear to see marriage as being simply about sex and babies ("And knocking boots and making babies, in a committed relationship, is what marriage IS. Period."). This is not what YHWH created Eve for. He stated "I will make him a helper comparable to him" (Genesis 2:18). Women were designed to help and support men in many different ways - and men were given the responsibility of protecting and caring for them. For instance, in Ephesians 5:22-33 we see that just as Christ shepherds and nourishes the Church, husbands are to to the same for their wives. Sex and babies occur within marriage, but are not what marriage is. Sex is just one of many aspects of marriage. In a true marriage a man takes true responsibility for his wives, far more than just having sex with them occasionally.
In summary, here we have a very solid and serious view of marriage. This view of marriage disagrees very strongly with current Western cultural norms, of casual relationships and easy divorce. The life you describe is basically a secular lifestyle labeled with scriptural terminology.
Our focus is on supporting people to ensure their few marriages are successful - we focus on marriage guidance, not matchmaking. Your focus appears to be on accepting divorce as ok and just looking for woman after woman to try in the hope of finding some that will stick around - you focus on different ways of meeting women. These two approaches could not be more different. This forum exists to support marriages, not to help men to find lots of women.
The life you describe is basically a secular lifestyle labeled with scriptural terminology.
Our focus is on supporting people to ensure their few marriages are successful - we focus on marriage guidance, not matchmaking. Your focus appears to be on accepting divorce as ok and just looking for woman after woman to try in the hope of finding some that will stick around - you focus on different ways of meeting women. These two approaches could not be more different. This forum exists to support marriages, not to help men to find lots of women.