Tue Jan 25/05
Fun with headlines

From the Post, this morning: "One in five would accept polygamy, survey discloses." From me, this morning: "Bull roar!" The esteemed Dr Reginald Bibby, author of the study in question, was kind enough to clarify, and the "truth" lies somewhere in between the two positions. (Here is the Future Families Project report from the Vanier Institute of the Family (the survey in question), which does not include the detailed polygamy-related data. Here is today's press release from said Institute, which does.)

2,093 Canadians were asked the following question: "What is your view of people being allowed to have more than one marital partner at a time?" Four percent responded that they would both "approve of" and "accept" it; 16 percent responded that they would "disapprove of" it but "accept" it nevertheless. Add them together and you do indeed get one in five who would "accept" such a development — a surprisingly high number, to my mind, but I accept its plausibility. The survey itself seems to be free of the sort of loaded questions and obvious bias that pervade so much research on these types of issues.

I will say this, though: "acceptance" is a nebulous term. What would not accepting involve for the people surveyed? Quiet sulking? Civil disobedience? Renouncement of citizenship? Strategically delivered anthrax spores? It's tough to know. The other way to look at it all is that 96 percent of Canadians "disapprove" of polygamy. Hey… that feels better!

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