Ashley, Erik and Nate are polyamorous, which falls under the umbrella of consensual non-monogamy (CNM)—the agreement to pursue one or more sexual or romantic partners. CNM also encompasses purely sexual liaisons without the love and commitment of polyamory, such as swinging and open relationships. One in 20 partnered people is in a CNM relationship while one in five has engaged in CNM at some point, according to surveys by Amy Moors of Chapman University and her colleagues. Gay people are much more likely to do so than straight ones. Congress’s codification of same-sex marriage, stipulating that such unions must be between two people, “completely erases a lot of queer history”, says Ms Moors…

…Still, marriage confers tax, health-care and immigration benefits that polyamorous people would like to claim too. States and cities are granting slivers of legal recognition. In September a judge in New York City allowed the third partner of a deceased man to argue that he should inherit their rent-stabilised lease. A dozen states allow triple-parent custody of children.

Polyamory is getting slivers of legal recognition in America

That’s from The Economist not The New York Times. Which is why Andrew Bunt is completely correct when he says,

Now is the time that Christians need to be thinking about polyamory. If we’re honest, many of us might find we’re currently quite like our secular neighbours: We instinctively sense that polyamory and consensual non-monogamy are wrong. We can probably take the extra step of saying ‘Because the Bible says so’. (Although could we then defend that claim well? And what do we do with the practice of polygamy in the Old Testament?). But many are likely to get stuck at that point.

Because of this, many Christians will be susceptible to being swayed to acceptance (just as we’ve seen with same-sex sexuality), and many will be ill-prepared to communicate God’s good plan to the world around us.

And in case you thought this wasn’t a matter of some urgency consider this final paragraph from The Economist article:

Views are changing: in 2020 a fifth of Americans told Gallup that polygamy was morally acceptable, up fourfold since 2006. That reflects more media visibility and growing acceptance of non-traditional families. Millennials are most inclined towards non-monogamy: two in five prefer it, perhaps because the alternative does not pan out so well. In anonymised surveys, a fifth of people in monogamous relationships admit to cheating.

Twenty percent of Americans already say it is morally acceptable and nearly 40% of millenials think so. There is a future which says Christians are weird for only marrying one person. Reading Andrew’s article is a good place to start.