Charles Synyard (@CharlesSynyard)

Making converts every day: or, a onetime GOP candidate’s embrace of polygyny advocacy makes for a tempest in a teapot. “Teapot” is perhaps too expansive. This drama could probably fit into a teacup with room for the lemon wedge. But I find it an inspiring piece of news. David Buboltz, a National Guardsman, entrepreneur, and father of three White children who ran for North Carolina State Senate in 2022, had been involved in the “abolitionist” (abortion abolition) movement for years now. You can see a pic of his lovely family, and a brief statement of his views, on pages archived from his State Senate run. Along with criminalizing abortion as his priority, he ran on permitless concealed carry of firearms and ending the then-COVID regime. He got 36.5% of the primary vote, to the 52.8% the incumbent received, or 4,495 to 6,511, in a district where victory would likely have been tantamount to election. https://archive.ph/yAx56 https://archive.ph/L89e7 https://archive.ph/AvCQL But what happened when this stalwart in an uphill struggle, professed that he now affirms polygyny as biblical and Godly? Abolish Abortion North Carolina, a group which in its own words has “co-labored with him in the trenches on behalf of the preborn,” and recognized Buboltz “has consistently stood tall in the face of one attack after another from the pro-death as well as [mainstream] pro-life communities,” officially announced on Facebook “our formal administrative separation in ministry from our friend”. They gave him the boot! Why? ”[H]is beliefs undermine what we believe and teach.” Time for a chuckle? This is a single-issue concern if there ever was one, and Buboltz agreed with the single issue, but belief that polygyny is right, that was going too far! Amusingly, it noted, “To our knowledge he is not in such a relationship. But, in his words, ‘if the Lord is seeking to bless him [with additional wives] he would not deny a blessing from the Lord.’” Amen to that! Being willing to marry an additional woman is disqualifying even if you don’t act on it, and this group is seeking male members? The group promises, ”In the coming months, we plan to take time to publicly address and biblically refute the ideology that underlies polygyny.“ All I can say is, bring it, we welcome it! Most people, and certainly most Christians, have never really thought the issue through. We have much to gain from public debates, as there are many candid observers who will notice how weak the monogamists’ case is. The group goes on, ”Here, our aim is simply to state plainly that we reject polygyny and to emphasize that we do not want the cause of the preborn to be hindered or overshadowed by a secondary and controversial issue.” In a way, polygyny is the opposite of utopian “abolitionism”. The latter movement is so uncompromising it overlooks every possible intermediate gain, while plural marriage is a solution for right now. Even if we never win the overarching struggle for state power, it is something families can do right now to make them more resilient, and to further the spouses’ happiness and fulfillment in this life. It’s pertinent to note her that while I am anti-abortion, I am not an “abolitionist”. Firstly due to the cringeworthy name, which tries to wrap what is essentially a radical Rightist and familialist position in the moniker of what was an ideology of the far Left, some of whose leaders were even against preferential concern for one’s own children over those of strangers. One “abolitionist” vlogger I was arguing with actually had the book Bonhoeffer on her background shelf. You can’t beat the enemy by idolizing their heroes. As far as the movement’s actual beliefs, there is much to be said for demanding complete abortion criminalization, rather than seeking incremental change. They present an imposing challenge to the culture of death, and reject many of the pro-life movement’s frequent feminist cop-outs, such as when it casts mothers who procure their children’s murder as “victims”. It is an expressly Christian movement, and demonstrates the kind of uncompromising moral leadership that moves unbelievers to see that there might be something to the Christian faith. I would probably vote for an “abolitionist”, and support bills they would introduce into the legislature. Yet, “abolitionists” refuse to support bills which are imperfect but an improvement on the laws now, or to support politicians who favor a better but still compromising vision. In particular, they made a big stink about not backing Trump in 2024; you will recall he had distanced himself from the pro-life movement a few times. Had more Christian voters done as they desired last year, the US would be in very different, and I mean much worse shape. Secondly, so many Americans are irreligious that “abolitionism” has a limited constituency. It is doubtful the Right can pursue any of its intersectional goals, on abortion or immigration or what have you, if we don’t think of the big tent and maintaining a broad coalition. “Abolitionism” in that way resembles the “NS” subculture that Hunter Wallace has written so much about recently, which seems most interested in preventing any real-world action on behalf of impossible to meet standards. But all the same, it is thrilling that individuals from so many walks of life are discovering the beauty of plural marriage, which is such that we should witness to it even if it costs us. In that regards, it is perfect for an idealist like Buboltz, and to that end I hope other fervent Christians follow his example, until the anti-abortion movements, pro-life and ”abolitionist”, can’t afford to let us go any longer. #DavidBuboltz #AbolishAbortionNorthCarolina #NorthCarolina #NC #abolitionism #antiabortion #prolife #GOP #Republican #Christian #pluralmarriage #polygyny #polygamy