Under The Banner Of Heaven
"Smile for the Camera"The recent raids in west Texas at the FLDS (Fundamentalists Latter Day Saints) compound known as "Yearning For Zion" ranch reveal more than just an isolated incident of some obscure cult gone wrong. The FLDS has been in existence since at least the early 1900's after they abandoned the Mormon Church over the controversial decision to ban polygamy in the late 1800's. The Mormon Church's reason for banning the practice of polygamy had more to do with gaining statehood (The U.S. said "No Way" until Utah disavowed polygamy) than with any divine revelation, but it was sold in a divine way to their followers, which eventually resulted in the split by the FLDS. They (the soon to be formed FLDS) weren't buying it.
The FLDS eventually set up shop in Hilldale, Utah and the cross border town of Colorado City, Arizona (at the time known as Short Creek).
There they flourished, arranging "marriages" between barely teen-age girls and men as old as 60, as they have continued doing so for more than 75 years, and no one has been be able to stop them.
Hilldale and Colorado City also happen to have the world's highest incidences of fumarase deficiency, an extremely rare genetic condition which causes severe mental retardation . This is a result of the blood relative arranged marriages that conflict with nature's requirement for diversity in the gene pool.
In 1953, the Arizona State Police tried to shut down the FLDS with a raid at Short Creek, Az.
The aftermath proved to be such a public relations nightmare that it eventually caused officials to back off, and allowed the church to continue unabated.
I have been to Hilldale, Utah and it is one strange place to visit. There are no markets or gas stations along the highway, as if the town just wants you to keep moving, as if to say "nothing to see here". And yet, there is so much to see, even if you don't catch it at first glance. The homes in the foothills are enormous and mobile trailers housing additional wives and their offspring dot the properties. You would probably, like I did, see no one on the streets, as if some silent alarm warned the residents of your arrival, causing them to shutter themselves inside their over sized homes and nearby trailers. It's pretty eerie.
Revelations coming out from the recent raid in Texas sadly tell of a generation of kids raised to believe that outsiders were evil, and the only safe place was within the compound, in the "sanctity" of the whims of much older men.
How a group like this can not only survive but flourish in the U.S. of the 21st century is hard to understand.
There is so much more to this story than is possible to make in a single post. It is an incredible tale, an epic journey through American history, how a contained, distant, and past way of life manages to find a way to thrive in a relatively enlightened future.
My heading, "Under The Banner Of Heaven", comes from an excellent book of the same title, by Jon Krakauer, that
details the history of this church, the Mormon Church, and how it all went incredibly wrong.
Posted by Unknown @ 4/17/2008 10:23:00 PM
14 Comments:
must be fumarese deficiency that explains how the women/ mothers talk. Like zombies who make Katie Holmes and the Scientologists sound animated and free-thinking.
Which would be one thing for the adults but what Choice at a future do the kids have? There's no choice, is the issue. Worse than Creationists applying to MIT.
It's digusting. They are just a bunch of dirty old men preying on inocent young children. They ought to be treated as rapist and child preditors. They certainly learned the technique of mind control. Religion my foot. They are in the same class as the Crusaders!
And the Mormon fundamentalist communities also have the highest welfare rate of any place in the USA. It's a lifestyle choice for them.
They send groups of young men out with one leader in charge to work construction projects around Ariz and Utah.
Working around these guys is creepy like working around real suspicious zombies.
Joe, excellent article. I hope you will continue to delve into the history of this misogynistic group of psychos with more articles on same.
Creepy group of people and these old perverts cull out the young boys when they reach near adulthood and cast them out on the street without much education or street smarts, many become homeless and drug or alchohol abusers, all because the old child molesters don't want any competition from these young men when the girls become of age.
Become of age? Yuck! 13 year old girls losing their virginity to these old perverts!
Maybe the founder of the Mormon Church ought to be called Bringem Young instead of Brigham Young.
The founder of the Mormon Church was Joseph Smith. Bringham Young was the second President and "Prophet."
Great little article Joe. Sounds really weird. Keep digging! Too bad some ignoramous has to group all things that are not "conventional" in with this group that uses distortions of religious beliefs to twist the minds of the young into agreement that what they are doing is valid. Its a shame that such encampments exist. Its another shame that intellect is not used by some people like that posting to differentiate between groups like that and celebrities and their beliefs- even when it is clear that they have done nothing wrong.
Abusing children in the name of religion is evil whether it's these guys, Catholic priests molesting kids or the ritual female circumsions in Africa to name a few.
However I don't understand why polygamy is illegal. If a group of people who are over 18 want to get married to one another who cares? As long as they abide by all other laws just like anyone else. I realize they can't legally get married to more than one person, but they should be able to cohabitate as man and four wives or woman and four husbands, etc. Its not something I could ever handle, but let them do it.
One of the original reasons for polygamy in the Mormon church was that there were way more women than men as many of the men were killed in the civil war, etc. and these wives needed someone to care for them. But from there it went koo koo and a place for pedophiles to hide.
Another "revelation" the Mormon church had after intense government pressure was that all of a sudden it was okay for Blacks to assume the Priesthood in the church. That was like back in the 70s.
I can always depend on my good friend the Mayor for the libertarian take!
My concern lies in the lifelong indoctrination these kids go through.
They "marry" young and once they are adults, the vast majority allow these concepts to be passed on to their own kids. Being sheltered and prevented from interacting with the outside world, they never realize that they are part of an ever repeating cycle of practicing pedophilia. Equally as disturbing is how the legal community is so quick to jump to their defense as
they are now doing in Texas, and as they did in 1953 after the raids in Short Creek.
I have no complaint with grown ups being allowed to do as they please however, the 2nd, 3rd wives, et al are allowed to go on welfare as "single" mothers. If you're going to have that many wives and kids, it's YOUR job to support them; not mine and other taxpayers!
I will never in a million years believe that a teenage girl has the presence of mind and forethought to "want" to marry a many even 20 years older than herself. The boys are taught to be predators and the girls are taught to be victims. That is a mortal sin in my book
Okay-- call me crazy (it wouldn't be the first time) but I'm starting to think that "Mormon Maven" look is HOT. Ya got yer calico prairie dress w/ the high collar and leg-o-mutton sleeves; ya got yer long braid, the frontal pompadour, the eyebrows..... I wanna try it! (Except w/ more make-up and no chastity belt!) Then there's the fornication sheets w/ the HOLE in the middle. Just wait till those broads spill the beans on THAT raunchy ritual at the ranch. "The Church of the Hotter Play Saints?" Could be! Woo-hoo!!
The Mormon Church is trying hard to be more mainstream and that is why some elder in the Mormon Church back in the 70's had a personal conversation with God who said it was now OK for black people to be "Saints" and colonize their own outer space planet with their own wives, (or something like that!)
Also one of the premier genealogical centers is from the LDS headquarters in Salt Lake where Mormons are hard at work "Baptizing" (post mortem of course) millions of dead people for future space planet colonization by Mormons.
This got the LDS Church in hot water a while back with the Jewish Community who didn't think that practice was Kosher.
By the way, Thanks Petrafried!
Ain't religion Kool?
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