Polygamy is not legal in the Netherlands, but the idea that it is became an urban myth of sorts in 2005 after a man and two women signed a private "cohabitation contract" while wearing wedding garb. Consensual incest between adults is no longer prosecuted in the Netherlands, but close relatives are not allowed to wed.
But that's not what Hak-Shing William Tam of San Francisco read. On the Internet. He believes that incest and polygamy are legal there , and he came to that conclusion after reading an Internet article that claimed incest and polygamy were legal in the Netherlands, where same-same marriages became legal in 2001. Is this a big deal? There are plenty of people roaming around our planet believing that gang members drive without their headlights on, and shoot anyone who flashes their lights at them. Or cell phones cause explosions at gas stations. Maybe they believe that Alabama has redefined the value of pi to bring it in line with Biblical precepts. How about scientists in Siberia are trying to drill through the earth's crust to reach Hell? What about the ones who believe that Coca Cola used to contain cocaine?
Actually, that last one is true, but now it's just corn syrup. The problem with Mister Hak-Shing believing what he reads on the Internet is, pardon the expression, gospel is this: He was one of five individuals who signed on as official proponents of the ban and whose names appeared alongside ballot arguments for Proposition 8.
And if you don't belive this, remember where you read it.
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1 comment:
Myth is more powerful than fact. Just this morning I heard newsjerks confirming the fact that Obama is not our president because he signed his oath in private, behind closed doors, with no cameras. But didn't we actually see that on the news?
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