Real People's Stories are

[paterfamilias]

I'm curious about 2 things.

1) What first interested you in this lifestyle?

2) What inspires you to remain interested? If your answer is the Bible, please list some specific passages.

I'll start in the comments....

I was a precocious reader and ended up reading adult science fiction around 7-8. One of my favorite authors was Robert Heinlein who occasionally has various forms of plural marriage in the backdrop of his various stories. I reread them all several times and was reexposed to the concepts as I got older. The older I got, the more critical of his notions of a group marriage or a line marriage I became and the more it seemed like lumpheaded nonsense when compared to tried and true polygyny.
There were not a lot of resources around for me to explore these ideas but luckily I lived somewhat near a west Texas plig community (not Warren Jeffs)snd when I asked my grandfather about this odd neighborhood with a fist full of huuuuge houses in the middle of nowhere scrubby desert of west Texas, all he would say is "that is the polygamists.
As a teen I met a girl and more importantly I met her best friend. They both liked me and it was suggested that they could both date me and hit me with the proposition. Imagine a high testosterone 17 year old saying no. Well it did not last long with one and the other is glutton for punishment to the extent that she is 6ft from me and helping our son with reading.
She had read the same stories it turns out and to be frank, she has at least three standard deviations over the mean in IQ, so she is more likely to think things through rather than knee jerk to whatever the culture has inculcated into her.

Later we met the second woman I would come to marry. She is also exceptionally intelligent and via exposure to fiction and reality shows about plig life which also apparently got the noggin joggin.


We stay interested even though my second marriage broke up at more or less the national average timeline. Not to my mind because of the polygamy. The end result is that having lived it for several years, it became obvious that it was simply natural. The additional internal support and larger base of adult resources whether in earning potential, care for children or one and other or simply having a much larger and more encompassing safety net.

Oh, and because I now had direct personal experience proving my thesis about loving a second woman not changing the love for a se one wife beyond enhancing it.

 

[The Revolting Man]

I was a precocious reader and ended up reading adult science fiction around 7-8. One of my favorite authors was Robert Heinlein who occasionally has various forms of plural marriage in the backdrop of his various stories. I reread them all several times and was reexposed to the concepts as I got older. The older I got, the more critical of his notions of a group marriage or a line marriage I became and the more it seemed like lumpheaded nonsense when compared to tried and true polygyny.
There were not a lot of resources around for me to explore these ideas but luckily I lived somewhat near a west Texas plig community (not Warren Jeffs)snd when I asked my grandfather about this odd neighborhood with a fist full of huuuuge houses in the middle of nowhere scrubby desert of west Texas, all he would say is "that is the polygamists.
As a teen I met a girl and more importantly I met her best friend. They both liked me and it was suggested that they could both date me and hit me with the proposition. Imagine a high testosterone 17 year old saying no. Well it did not last long with one and the other is glutton for punishment to the extent that she is 6ft from me and helping our son with reading.
She had read the same stories it turns out and to be frank, she has at least three standard deviations over the mean in IQ, so she is more likely to think things through rather than knee jerk to whatever the culture has inculcated into her.

Later we met the second woman I would come to marry. She is also exceptionally intelligent and via exposure to fiction and reality shows about plig life which also apparently got the noggin joggin.


We stay interested even though my second marriage broke up at more or less the national average timeline. Not to my mind because of the polygamy. The end result is that having lived it for several years, it became obvious that it was simply natural. The additional internal support and larger base of adult resources whether in earning potential, care for children or one and other or simply having a much larger and more encompassing safety net.

Oh, and because I now had direct personal experience proving my thesis about loving a second woman not changing the love for a se one wife beyond enhancing it.

Heinlein had all sorts of things in his books that a seven year old shouldn’t be exposed to. I’m relieved that good came out of it for you.

 

[paterfamilias]

Heinlein had all sorts of things in his books that a seven year old shouldn’t be exposed to. I’m relieved that good came out of it for you.

Fortunately at that age you don't have the context for a tonne of the adult topics much less the subtext that was used to imply more that will have been edited out at the time.

Did get a lot of good life lessons though. In many ways he was like a surrogate father. Then again dozens of authors functioned in that role

 

[theleastofthese]

Honestly, the show Sister Wives piqued my interest when it first aired, while everyone else in my household was shocked and appalled I found their family beautiful even amid the chaos. Then I began looking into religious polygamy documentaries, once again while everyone in the comments were calling the women "brainwashed" and men "piggish cult leaders" I saw Godly men leading women in a loving way, I saw men wanting the best for all of their wives and encouraging them to have individual personalities then taking those qualities and applying them to enhance the family structure. I saw ladies not being ashamed of putting the needs of their families first. Once I began studying scripture more myself I noticed that many men in the Bible had multiple wives.

 

[frederick]

Once I began studying scripture more myself I noticed that many men in the Bible had multiple wives.

Yes indeed. And through those very men the Father sent the Son to be our Saviour.

 

[Joleneakamama]

I feel like I've typed this a hundred times over the years. Lol

I wasn't raised with an aversion to the idea. My dad asked two ladies to marry him after my mom, but the declined. I remember my mom sewing for a poly wedding back about 1980. Then too I grew up playing with kids from plural families my folks were friends with....but we didn't know until later they were polygynous.
The idea came up for us about 5 years after we were married. My hubby had asked a long time friend to marry him a few weeks before we met. She said no, but had regrets. Then after we had berm married those years her live in bf of three years decided he was too old for her and dumped her. She was kind of asking us for advice....and I thought that maybe God had a bigger plan. I knew had he married her I'd have had no chance to be his, BUT I didn't mind the idea of her having a second chance and him marrying her too.

At first my husband couldn't wrap his mind around that. He would never share me....so he had to study it out in the Bible and be sure it was moral before he could really consider it. We helped her out for a while. She thought about it, but ended up deciding that life was nit for her. I found that I really liked the idea, and the empathy that I had for her shifted to the possible other lady that might love the man I was married to. It was a long wait but there was such a gal.....and she was worth waiting for too!

Our children were raised with the idea. Even our daughter in law has accepted my sw and her son...and now her adorable little daughter.

Some family aren't speaking to us (his side) my crazy extended family welcomed them with hugs last year.....and her son looked forward to playing with the cousins this year.

There was a fair bit of adjusting for me. After 25 years as an only wife, trusting someone who shares this much life with me took some getting used to. I liked her from the start, and just love her more as time goes on. I would never want to go back! Her son is a wonderful boy and gets along very well with our other children. I know she wouldn't be here had she not had him....and I am very glad they are here! Seeing her choices and the way she valued him, let us see her sweet heart. Now she's a mama again. I don't feel a difference in the love for each of them. Her little daughter is so precious. She belongs to two people very dear to me. I love seeing her sweet mama in a healthy relationship....and I think she and hubby look very good together. I like seeing the love they have for each other.....the sweet looks. The hand holding.
I also never tire of her company. She is a wonderful friend and encourages me.

What seemed an impossible dream....is real now. And that puts a song in my heart.
I am very thankful for ALL of my family.

That's the short version. Lol

 

[Bina]

I feel like I've typed this a hundred times over the years. Lol

I wasn't raised with an aversion to the idea. My dad asked two ladies to marry him after my mom, but the declined. I remember my mom sewing for a poly wedding back about 1980. Then too I grew up playing with kids from plural families my folks were friends with....but we didn't know until later they were polygynous.
The idea came up for us about 5 years after we were married. My hubby had asked a long time friend to marry him a few weeks before we met. She said no, but had regrets. Then after we had berm married those years her live in bf of three years decided he was too old for her and dumped her. She was kind of asking us for advice....and I thought that maybe God had a bigger plan. I knew had he married her I'd have had no chance to be his, BUT I didn't mind the idea of her having a second chance and him marrying her too.

At first my husband couldn't wrap his mind around that. He would never share me....so he had to study it out in the Bible and be sure it was moral before he could really consider it. We helped her out for a while. She thought about it, but ended up deciding that life was nit for her. I found that I really liked the idea, and the empathy that I had for her shifted to the possible other lady that might love the man I was married to. It was a long wait but there was such a gal.....and she was worth waiting for too!

Our children were raised with the idea. Even our daughter in law has accepted my sw and her son...and now her adorable little daughter.

Some family aren't speaking to us (his side) my crazy extended family welcomed them with hugs last year.....and her son looked forward to playing with the cousins this year.

There was a fair bit of adjusting for me. After 25 years as an only wife, trusting someone who shares this much life with me took some getting used to. I liked her from the start, and just love her more as time goes on. I would never want to go back! Her son is a wonderful boy and gets along very well with our other children. I know she wouldn't be here had she not had him....and I am very glad they are here! Seeing her choices and the way she valued him, let us see her sweet heart. Now she's a mama again. I don't feel a difference in the love for each of them. Her little daughter is so precious. She belongs to two people very dear to me. I love seeing her sweet mama in a healthy relationship....and I think she and hubby look very good together. I like seeing the love they have for each other.....the sweet looks. The hand holding.
I also never tire of her company. She is a wonderful friend and encourages me.

What seemed an impossible dream....is real now. And that puts a song in my heart.
I am very thankful for ALL of my family.

That's the short version. Lol

what a wonderful heart you have