John Stossel of “The New York Sun” asks an interesting question, “How many wives is too many?”
He also has a new book out, Myths, Lies, and Downright Stupidity. I haven’t read it, but it looks interesting.
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Merrywives' Blog 
A simple answer to the question “How many wives is too many?” is – it depends. For some people one wife is too many. For others, they have a greater capacity to love and so they don’t need artificial constraints (i.e. unconstitutional laws)put on them.
No matter what the answer to the question, “How many wives is too many?”…., it should be up to the husband and the ladies involved. …… not the government, not secular society, and not public opinion.
In other words, the answer to that question is between individuals and is none of anyone’s, that is not directly involved, business.
Well, Brigham Young had quite a few wives, but one of them (at least) divorced him. I doubt she did that because he had to many. Rather, I think Brigham showed how he could make many wives pretty happy, but some will not be pleased, even with a Brigham Young.
Put another way, it takes two (at least) to make a relationship. Some husbands are childish and act out when angry or frustrated. Sometimes that leads to physical violence. Some women are childish and act out when angry or frustrated. Maybe they choose verbal abuse or withholding their love. I often wonder what kind of woman would have been happy with JC as her husband? I’m sure many women would have felt small, and unworthy in His presence, and would not have enjoyed being His wife(s). But other women would have reveled in it, and washed His feet with their tears when they sensed that He was about to leave them.
I think polygyny is hard to live. There would be times when it would feel great, but along would come times when faith, virtue and grit would be needed to stay together. It is God’s way of teaching His righteous children to grow into more godlike beings, male and female. Not easy, but worth it.
The more appropriate question is why does knowing some live in polygynous marriages so upset so many? Is there some emotional sore spot people have, or is it just Satan working in them?