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Boulderbabe,
I have to respectfully disagree with your view of FLDS. I have distant relatives who are FLDS. My mom, my dad, and my Grandma spent time with Roy Johnson, former prophet of FLDS, on his death bed along with some of his wives. He gave several books to my Grandma hoping to "convert" her to their church. So I know from the insider view how sick and twisted their beleif system is. It is set up to abuse women and children. The beleifs have changed drastically from anything resembling LDS theology. Its a very strange belief system based on hell and ****ation if you don't follow absolutely. Fear is huge. My Grandma ended up burning the books but not before she read them.
They beleive in blood sacrifice (its okay to kill somebody if they go against their covenants), they beleive in child brides as a way to help young girls who begin to be interested in boys, they are taught to lie, they are taught to hate the government, they are brainwashed in the true sense. I'm not talking a normal Christian, Catholic, LDS, whatever your religion/culture/values, this is different. They do not have exposure to anything but what FLDS feeds to them.
I am LDS and I too grew up in rural areas out west where there were a few polygamist sects (not FLDS) I had a close friend in college who left one of the sects and I knew a woman who had left the LDS church to become a third wife. My friend was disowned by her family and told me some very distirbing stories. I will agree the adult woman that I knew led a more normal life. So I can see if you are an adult, then I guess if it floats your boat so be it. I think she was sick of being alone..anyway its different for my young friend. She was supposed to be married to an old man. She left...she was so messed up. She truly felt she was going to hell because she didn't follow what she was supposed to do which was marry an old man and have his babies.
There may be more ordinary folkds out there who practice this without abuse but my feeling is that those in a closed compound who are openly marrying off their 13, 14, 15, and 16 year olds to ADULT men, that is nothing short of rape/molestation. Warren Jeffs the current FLDS "prophet" (in jail but from what I understand he is still calling the shots) removed entire families from men who disagreed with him and reasigned them to other men. And these women followed absoultely. If they were told to jump off a cliff they would do that. Thats not normal "brainwashing" like you are asserting. This is dangerous mind control absolute brainwashing. He is accused of molesting children not only arranging child marriages. And that whole thing about the bed in the temple is sick and twisted. I dont understand how you could know pollygamist families and not get that the brainwashing is more then a cultural impression or asserting their values. Its if you dont do this you are going directly to hell, you have no choice but to follow the men in charge (whoever they may be), and the mothers allow all of this to go on.
I don't have sympathy for the adults. I do feel the adults have an inckling this is wrong, they know its illegal, they are taught to lie about it. So if they wanted to stay with their way of life why are they breaking the law? why are they letting their daughters be raped? I dont' know about you but at 13,14or 15 I was never once interested in a 50 year old man. Nor one the age of my father, I could maybe understand if they were arranging marriages between two 14 year olds...that is still wrong in my opinion, but what they are doing is molestation.
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