I agree, Dan. Here's the problem: Do *not* promise to be monogamous, either through marriage vows or otherwise, if you are not going to be. If you change your mind later, be honest with your partner. Pretty simple, really. But it requires integrity, which is something most people obviously lack.
It isn't that they are wrong, just confused: most people don't prefer to be in monogamous relationships, what they prefer that _their partners_ be in monogamous relationships. Call it what you want, (control, a problem with our society in general, whatever,) but most people want other people to behave to their standards, even though they don't always follow them themselves.
The real story here, (or not, since it isn't exactly news,) is that most people are hypocrites...
Ridiculous. Saying that monogamy in unnatural is as silly as saying homosexuality is unnatural. But it is natural; just like any form of sexuality, it's not for everyone. I'm sick to death of monogamists and non-monogamists alike getting on their moral high horses and accusing anyone who disagrees as being uneducated or unrealistic. Monogamy works for me. It doesn't work for some of my friends. It works for my parents. It doesn't work for my ex. People are all different...anyone who states unequivically that their opinion or preference is the "natural" one is veering dangerously close to fascism. Get with it, people--just because I prefer being monogamous does not mean I am some self-denying, oppressed victim of patriarchal heterosexism....likewise my friend is not automatically a careless slut if he's in an open relationship. This whole debate smacks of self-righteousness and self-satisfaction...a lot like the religious fanatics with whom you can never have a real discussion because they know they are always right....
The real story here, (or not, since it isn't exactly news,) is that most people are hypocrites...