Moral Norms Haven't Lost Their Constituency

Here’s a moral quandary for our times: If a wife gets cloned, are she, her clone and the husband automatically polygamists? It makes one’s head ache even to think about it, which no doubt explains why most Americans oppose cloning and polygamy. In an annual Gallup poll on Americans’ views of what’s “morally acceptable,” just 9 percent said human cloning makes the grade. Even fewer (6 percent) said polygamy is acceptable.

If you want to live on the edge without inviting general disapprobation, put on a fur coat and get divorced at a casino—or at an execution.