In Maine, supporter argues for polygamy - Interview with Mark Henkel from TruthBearer

http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/news/local/061215polygamist.html

OLD ORCHARD BEACH - With a home office and an Internet connection, Mark Henkel of Old Orchard Beach maintains that he is laying the groundwork for what will be the nation's next big civil rights debate.

Henkel is an evangelical Christian and the creator of TruthBearer.org, a polygamy-rights advocacy group that finds biblical support for the practice of marrying more than one woman.

Polygamy is illegal in Maine and every other state in the country. It has been outlawed in the United States since Colonial days. Of those who defend the practice, most have traditionally been residents of Western states with connections to Mormonism, which has a history of polygamy dating back to the early teachings of the church.

It may seem surprising, then, that one of the most prominent voices in the small but noticeable national conversation about polygamy belongs to a Christian on the coast of Maine.

Henkel estimates there are fewer than 50,000 people in the United States who are in polygamous relationships.

With a new HBO television series that depicts a polygamous family in a favorable light, the subculture is receiving more attention than ever before. Frequently, those reports include comment from Henkel.

Henkel, who invites reporters to contact him through his Web site, has shared his views with numerous newspapers and television programs around the country within the last year, though he remains extremely private about the details of his own life.

"Polygamy rights is the next civil rights battle," he said. "That's how significant this thing is."

Henkel maintains there is nothing in the Bible that prohibits polygamy. He cites numerous examples, from Abraham to Moses, to support it.
Much of his Web site, with chapters such as "Breaking Past the One Wife Barrier," is devoted to a detailed parsing of Scripture to show that it does not conflict with polygamy.

Many Christians might agree with Michael Heath of the Christian Civic League of Maine, who offered a different reading of the Bible.
Heath said Henkel's position amounts to "arguing for sin."

Henkel said he is more than willing to engage in a biblical debate, but prefers the wider societal discussion of how to define marriage.
On that front, Henkel takes a stand that some academics and gay-rights advocates also find defensible.
He argues that government should have no role in sanctioning marriage between consenting adults.
"The only legal role of government in marriage is a municipal role as a repository of records," he said.

Henkel's views would seem to open the door to same-sex marriage, an unusual position for an evangelical Christian. He said same-sex marriage is a "biological impossibility" and runs counter to his personal religious beliefs, but he still believes the state has no authority to prohibit it.

Another participant in the marriage debate, who comes from a very different perspective, said she agrees with some of Henkel's basic positions.
"The guy has a point. There is a strong tradition for polygamy in the Judeo-Christian tradition," said Cheshire Calhoun, a philosophy professor at Colby College who has written extensively on feminist philosophy and lesbian and gay studies. "It's not the state's business to require us to live according to one set of moral values."

Henkel is registered to vote in Old Orchard Beach and said he moved to Maine in 1982. He said the legal issues surrounding polygamy make it too risky for him to disclose personal information. He said he is happily married but he would provide no details.
Henkel said polygamy requires a higher level of emotional maturity in the man and the women than a two-person marriage requires. "The dynamics are not just multiplied. They are geometrified," he said.

Henkel says the debate over polygamy rights is fraught with misunderstandings, with many people associating polygamy with coercion of women and men taking underage brides. He said it is essential to differentiate those crimes from polygamy, which he defines as a loving relationship between a man and multiple women.

TruthBearer.Org, Henkel's Web site, released a statement applauding the recent arrest of Warren Jeffs, the leader of a Utah-based polygamist sect who is accused of rape.

Normally, Henkel said, a polygamous relationship will grow out of a typical marriage, with a man who has been married to one woman for some time bringing another wife into the household. Henkel said polygamy is not for everyone and is best suited for certain men who posses an exceptional ability to provide for the physical and emotional needs of multiple women.
He said he believes polygamy creates a system of "laissez-faire marriage economics" that creates more incentive for men to be mature and attract a woman.

If a man fails to grow up, he said, a woman would always have the option of marrying someone else who has already proven himself as a husband.
"The phrase that all the good men are taken should no longer apply," he said.
Contact Staff Writer Seth Harkness at 282-8225 or at: