Religion · Lawrence, KS Metro · October 6, 2026
Theologian at University of Kansas Argues Polyamory Is Biblically Faithful
What Alinsky tactic is being used
3 of the thirteen rules are in play here — campaigns rarely run just one.
Rule 3
“Whenever possible, go outside the expertise of the enemy.”
The case for polyamory is delivered on ground where the ordinary church member has no footing: a Princeton Ph.D. in systematic theology, a Wheaton pedigree, a university lectureship at KU, a forthcoming Fordham University Press book, and an argument that turns on reading Paul's 'one flesh / great mystery' line in Ephesians 5:31-32 as implying plurality. The question quietly shifts from 'what does the text say' to 'who is credentialed to say what it says,' and a layperson who has not read the passage closely is left with nothing but conviction. Congdon's follow-up piece sharpens this by faulting his critics' exegesis rather than their conclusion.
Counter-Rule 3 · Preparation and Width
Prepare the unfamiliar ground before you are dragged onto it. "I don't know, I'll find out and come back" beats an improvised answer.
This month, read Genesis 2:24, Matthew 19:3-9 and Ephesians 5:22-33 straight through, alongside one commentary your church already owns, and write down in your own words what each passage claims about 'the two.' Read Congdon's Christian Century article and the Breakpoint reply yourself rather than a secondhand summary of either. When someone asks you a question about Greek or about Old Testament polygamy that you cannot answer, say 'I don't know — I'll find out and come back,' and then actually come back with the reference.
Rule 4
“Make the enemy live up to its own book of rules.”
The argument is pressed from inside the church's own book rather than against it: Paul's Christ-and-church analogy is enlisted for plural marriage, and the counter-headline Congdon chose — that there is no Christian case for *compulsory* monogamy — puts the burden of proof on the church's own standards and on the plainly polygamous patriarchs its people read about every year. The tactic bites exactly where a congregation has a written teaching on marriage that it does not actually teach, and a practice on divorce and remarriage that does not match the document in its own files.
Counter-Rule 4 · Radical Integrity
Close the gap between stated values and actual practice before anyone else finds it. This tactic only works where the gap is real.
Close the gap before anyone else finds it. Ask your pastor for the section of the church's statement of faith or membership covenant that governs marriage, its date of last revision and the vote that adopted it, and ask when it was last preached or taught. Ask plainly what the church teaches about Abraham, Jacob, David and Solomon, and whether the congregation's handling of divorce, remarriage and pornography matches what its covenant says. A church that can answer those four questions is not vulnerable to this move.
Rule 11
“If you push a negative hard and deep enough, it will break through into its counterside.”
Both sides of this exchange are tempted to push the negative past what the record supports. The claim that Obergefell (2015) produced today's polyamory push, and the line that Somerville, Portland and West Hollywood have 'extended legal recognition to multi-partner relationships,' will be heard by most readers as 'three cities have legalized plural marriage' — which is not what those ordinances do. One overstatement repeated in a Sunday school class is the only thing an opponent needs to discredit everything else said that hour.
Counter-Rule 11 · Proportional Truth
Refuse to overclaim, even where it would help. One exaggeration hands the other side the only weapon that works permanently.
Use the narrower, checkable words: Somerville passed a domestic-partnership registration ordinance (No. 2020-16) in 2020 and Cambridge's council followed on March 8, 2021 — registration for more than two partners, not marriage licenses. Say 'a handful of municipalities' and name them, rather than describing a nationwide trend. Verify details before repeating them: KU's own posted CV lists the forthcoming Fordham book as 'Unnatural Love: A Theology of Polyamory,' not the title circulating in press accounts.
Chapter 3 sets out the rules; Chapter 15 answers each of them in turn. This is that pairing applied to this story.
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