'We have thousands of women pulled out of school at an early age, forced into marriages with older men, kept isolated from society, constantly impregnated, and often placed on public assistance with no financial means of their own. They are forgotten citizens facing abuse and fear. On top of it all, the victims are constantly taught that God is just pleased as punch about the whole deal. It has to stop'." ₁

'The key factor in controlling a polygamist cult is in brainwashing the young women to inculcate upon their impressionable minds that everything not condoned by the prophet is evil, that they cannot go to the celestial kingdom unless they live in a plural marriage, and that the gates of heaven will be closed to the disobedient'." ₁

Overview:

The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS) was founded in 1935 by two Mormons who had been excommunicated from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS), the main Mormon denomination. The main driving force for the FLDS founders was a desire to continue the policy of polygyny -- plural marriages involving one man and multiple wives. Polygny had formed an integral part of the original Mormon church founded by Joseph Smith.

About the ethics of the FLDS:

It is the policy of this website to simply explain the beliefs and practices of all faith groups without criticizing them. However, in rare instances, we see profoundly evil practices that must be condemned. So, we have deviated from our normal policy for the next two paragraphs.

We have watched many documentaries about the FLDS. However, none of them so far seem to address a fundamental demographical problem within the denomination:
1) Boys and girls are born into the FLDS at approximately equal rates.
2) Males in the FLDS are expected to have many wives.

In order to maintain polygyny as the normal family structure, the FLDS must have many women available for each man. This can only be accomplished by getting rid of most males. This is typically done wrenching male youths from their family origin with a few minutes warning, driving them to another city, and dumping them there without any means of emotional or financial support. They are often referred to as the "lost boys." In essence, the Church creates thousands of orphans as a matter of policy. If you feel that this is consistent with Bible teaching, please go to http://www.biblegateway.com/ and read what the Bible says about the treatment of orphans.

We now return you to our regular programming.

Topics covered in this section:

A book about escaping from the FLDS:

Author Carolyn Jessop was born into the FLDS and grew up in Colorado City, AZ. She successfully escaped from the group and lives elsewhere in Utah with her eight children. Her book discusses the abuse that she endured and her liberation from polygyny. Read reviews or order this book safely from Amazon.com online book store. The book is also available in paperback and audio formats.

Apologetics Index has a 40 minute video showing Jessop discussing her life & book, and answering questions from the audience. See: http://www.apologeticsindex.org/ Apologetics Index is an evangelical counter-cult Christian web site.

Reference used:

The following information source was used to prepare and update the above essay. The hyperlink is not necessarily still active today.

1. Suzan Mazur, "Seven brides for one brother: Plural marriage is rife in the western United States," Financial Times, 2000, at: http://www.childpro.org/

 

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Copyright © 2004 to 2012 by Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance
Originally written: 2004-JUL-25
Latest update: 2012-JUN-22
Author: B.A. Robinson

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