Rich Tidwell the so-called “pastor” of Ormond Church in Missouri, has announced he has taken a second wife, who will bear his eighth child.
“We’re thrilled for what the Lord has done for our family,” Tidwell wrote on Instagram, grinning alongside his children, his wife of 14 years, and his pregnant “second wife.”
Polygamy is still illegal in the United States – one of the last remaining laws regulating sexual degeneracy. Thus, Tidwell’s newly-acquired partner is not his wife, either in the sight of God or the law … but his actions are no less vile.
Indeed, Tidwell’s actions, and the voices of his defenders, rely on flimsy biblical “evidence” to justify what is a tired, worldly line of defense, namely, that as long as “adults consent” in a sexual relationship, the children harmed by the action are collateral damage at best.
Indeed, polygamy’s proponents claim that taking multiple wives is a permissible – even necessary – step in order to have as many children as possible. Having children is a wonderful thing, but there’s a point in the vicious cycle of sexual degeneracy where the rights and dignities of children fall victim.
Katy Faust, founder of Them Before Us, explained this succinctly in an X post back in February predicting just this sort of behavior among professed “Christians”:
Elon has 13 children [with] 4 women.
Jacob in the OT had 13 children with 4 women.
Neither arrangement is characterized by equity or harmony. Both result in jealousy and inequality among wives and children.
Polygamy/amory, ‘open’ relationships, serial monogamy suck for children.
True, many Christians would openly condemn such sexually degenerate behavior as advocated by Tidwell. Yet at the same time, they fail to recognize that this same tragic cycle of harm toward children is also perpetrated through in vitro fertilization (IVF) and surrogacy, especially when either practice is carried out to assuage a same-sex’s couple futile desire to mimic a heterosexual couple’s capacity to bear biological children.
In IVF, babies are formed in petri dishes for the satisfaction of two men who can never give a child what a mother must; meanwhile, hundreds and thousands of these IVF babies are discarded in the process. And as uncomfortable as it is to discuss, an infertile couple’s very noble desire to have children also trumps the dignity of the child when they use this same method.
When it comes to the issue of surrogacy, many forget that the baby is deprived of the natural bond between mother and baby just moments after birth, following nine months where he learned her heartbeat, her voice, and relied on her body for his life.
The biblical story of Ishmael illustrates how destructive the misplaced desire for offspring – outside God’s perfect timing and providence – can be. Abraham, to whom God promised that he would have a child by his wife Sarah, grows impatient and impregnates – with his own wife’s consent – the handmaiden Hagar. She bore Ishmael, and poverty and destitution follow for both Hagar and Ishmael. While Ishmael still enjoyed divine protection, his path in life, thanks to his father’s sin, is not easy. Yet consider: by the arguments of polygamy’s “Christian” proponents, Abraham did nothing wrong. He didn’t even commit this sin without his wife’s consent – it was her idea! Yes, his hope for a son was a godly desire. But his methods were evil, and innocent children suffered.
Those tempted to embrace polygamy as some sort of antidote to the anti-child and anti-fertility bent of the world would do well to heed Ismael’s story. It is no less sinful for Tidwell to take a “second wife” than it is for a gay couple to stage a photo-op in the hospital bed where their baby’s mother suffered the pangs of labor.
Sarah Wilder is a writer and commentator on culture and the family. Formerly a reporter at the Daily Caller, her work has been published in Chronicles Magazine, The Federalist, and The American Mind.
This culture article was made possible by The Fred & Rheta Skelton Center for Cultural Renewal, a project of 1819 News. To comment on this article, please email [email protected]. The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the policy or position of 1819 News.
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