"A Humanist Looks at Polyamory"

The Humanist

Here's a warm, intelligent summation of why a lot of us identify as poly, by longtime activist Valerie White. It's a good piece to show friends and family — if, that is, they're not religious enough to have a problem with atheism and humanism.

To polyfolk, loving more than one partner comes as naturally as loving more than one child: you don't stop loving your firstborn when your next child comes along. In fact, you may feel that your first love is given new dimension when a new love enriches your life.

But a life of this kind requires honesty, openness, respect, self-confidence, trust, and, above all, communication. It's hard work. It can be painful. But I find it worthwhile....

...In 1983 a study by Philip Blumstein and Pepper Schwartz reported that 15 to 28 percent of married couples in the sample group had "an understanding that allows nonmonogamy" but weren't aware that other people were doing the same thing. It took the invention of the Internet to create the current explosive growth of the poly movement, as people who knew they wanted multiple relationships could finally find each other.

Read the whole article.