Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

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The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints ( The Church of FLDS ) is one of the largest Mormon fundamentalist denominations and one of the largest organizations in the United States whose members practice polygamy. The FLDS church appeared in the early 20th century when the founding members left The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). The split occurred largely due to the suspension of polygamy practices by the LDS Church and its decision to isolate its members who would continue the practice.

Video Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

Location

FLDS Church Headquarters was originally located in what became known as Short Creek in Arizona, on the southern border of Utah. The settlement eventually expanded into Utah and became incorporated as the twin cities of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Arizona. The historic location of the church is in Hildale and the City of Colorado, but the church also has an old colony in Bountiful, British Columbia. In 2004, news reports suggested the possibility of a church headquarters shift to Eldorado, Texas, where a temple was built by members of the FLDS Church. Since the purchase of land located 6 miles (9.7 km) northeast of Eldorado, now called the Yearning for Zion Farm, there appears to be a shift in the church headquarters, along with the great exodus of the "most faithful" member church. Other new church settlements are 15 miles (24 km) southwest of Pringle, South Dakota and Mancos, Colorado with presence in Minot, North Dakota.

Maps Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

Membership

The exact number of members of the FLDS Church is unknown because of the relatively closed nature of the organization. However, the FLDS Church is estimated to have 6,000 to 10,000 members living in the twin cities of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Arizona; Eldorado, Texas; Westcliffe, Colorado; Mancos, Colorado; Creston and Bountiful, British Columbia; and Pringle, South Dakota. There is also a thriving community near BenjamÃÆ'n Hill, Sonora (south of Nogales in the state of Sonora); Ensenada, Baja California (south of Tijuana); and Boise City, Oklahoma. Members of the FLDS Church already have machine shops that have sold aircraft components to the United States government, and from 1998 to 2007, the receipt of these components amounted to more than $ 1.7 million.

src: c8.alamy.com

History

Origins

Residents in the Hildale and Colorado areas have a long history of plural marriage practices, which began in the mid-19th century. It was taught in the community that Brigham Young, President of the LDS Church, had visited the area by declaring, "This will one day be the head and not the tail of the church.This will be the saving of the saints.This land will yield enough grain to give eat people. "These twin cities used to be known as Short Creek, which was officially established in 1913 as a breeding community.

The FLDS traces its claim to spiritual authority to accounts, beginning with a statement published in 1912 by Lorin C. Woolley, of the divine revelation of 1886 recognized to LDS Church President John Taylor. They saw this 1886 revelation as an aversion to the validity of the 1890 Manifesto against a new plural marriage by church members, issued by Wilford Woodruff, who recognized the LDS Church as Taylor's successor. After the formal abandonment of plural marriages by the LDS Church, many members around Short Creek and elsewhere continue, and even united, plural marriages. In 1904, the LDS Church issued a Second Manifesto and eventually excommunicated those who continued to intercourse or enter into new plural marriages.

Short Creek soon became a gathering place for former members of the polygamous LDS Church. In 1935, the LDS Church excommunicated the Mormons from Short Creek who refused to sign an oath of polygamy. After this event, John Y. Barlow began leading a group of Mormon fundamentalists dedicated to preserving the practice of plural marriage. Locations on the Utah-Arizona border are considered ideal for the group as it allows them to avoid a state attack by moving across the state line.

Some prominent local men in Short Creek, after being ostracized by the LDS Church, later became leaders of the Mormon fundamentalist movement, including Lorin C. Woolley, J. Leslie Broadbent, John Y. Barlow, Charles Zitting, Joseph White Musser, LeGrand Wooley, and Louis A Kelsch. In 1932, these leaders created an organization known as the Council of Friends, a group of seven high priests who are said to be the priestly governing body on Earth. The Council of Friends became the ecclesial body governing the Mormon fundamentalists at Short Creek.

The early years of the movement were controversial and saw many different interpretations and opinions among leaders about how plural marriages should be practiced. This opposition ultimately leads to the next schism that created many of today's Mormon fundamentalist organizations, including the FLDS Church, the United Apostolic Brotherhood, and the Church of the Ends of Christ or the Kingston group. It is commonly believed by all these sects that the early leaders of the fundamentalist movement received a revelation from God commanding that plural marriage should not cease.

A researcher has suggested that the FLDS concept as a separate church entity did not fully emerge until the 1987 lawsuit, when the church's full name first appeared. According to this interpretation, the original authority given by Lorin C. Wooley was only for the purpose of embarking on plural marriage, not to establish a new church, and many early Short Creek polygynas continue to regard the LDS Church as authoritative but "out of order" on the issue of polygamy. The members hope that the LDS Church will someday return "into order" and rebuild the practice of polygamy.

FLDS splinter group

In 1984, divisions formed within the FLDS Church shortly before the death of Leroy S. Johnson. A small group of FLDS (known as the Centennial Park group) disputes the doctrine of a "one-man government" that changed the structure of church leadership and was fully implemented when Rulon Jeffs took his position as the sole leader of the organization. These followers live south of Colorado City, in Centennial Park, Arizona, calling themselves "The work of Jesus Christ," or "Work" for the short term.

Also in 2002, after Warren Jeffs took over the leadership, Winston Blackmore, who had served in Canada as Bishop of Bountiful for the FLDS Church, was ostracized by Jeffs in a power struggle. This led to a split within the community in Bountiful, British Columbia, with an estimated 700 FLDS members leaving the church to follow Blackmore.

Leader

The FLDS Church has been led by a succession of men who are considered prophets, who are believed to have been called by God to lead. The first leader of the FLDS Church was John Y. Barlow, who led the Short Creek community until his death on December 29, 1949. He was replaced by Joseph White Musser, who was a church leader during a government crackdown on polygamy known as Short Creek attack, in 1953, where all members of ShortDS FLDS Church were arrested, including 236 children.

Musser led the community until Rulon Allred's appointment to a high-ranking authority in 1951 infuriated some members of the Short Creek community. Musser has appointed Allred to be his successor, but Allred is not accepted as his successor by the Short Creek community. This leads to disunity, with many followers desperate and joining Allred; this branch is known as the United Apostolic Brotherhood. The core group in the Short Creek area followed Charles Zitting as its leader.

Zitting died in 1954 and Leroy S. Johnson was chosen to lead the church at Short Creek. Johnson led the FLDS Church until his death in 1986. He was replaced by Rulon Jeffs, who took the position of the prophet, a title whose predecessor refused to use. In recent years Jeffs, his poor health caused his son Warren Jeffs to serve as a church leader as his successor, and after Rulon's death in September 2002, Warren Jeffs became leader of the FLDS Church. However, shortly after Utah state convicted him as a rape handler, it was widely reported in the media that Warren Jeffs resigned from his leadership in the FLDS Church, although statements made by his lawyers only discuss Jeffs' resignation from his fiduciary. post as "Corporate President of the President of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Inc."

In early 2011, Jeffs reaffirmed his leadership in the church. Since no public statements were made by church officials showing Jeff's successor, it is not known who led the FLDS Church for a while, although it is possible that Warren Jeffs remained in church car during this period as well.

Previous head

• Leroy S. Johnson (died at age 98), 1954-1986
• Rulon T. Jeffs (died at the age of 93), 1986-2002

Head now

The following people hold (or claim) a high leadership position by the end of 2011.

• Warren Jeffs, as a living vessel (disputed), 2002 - c. 2007 ?; February 2011 - now (imprisoned in 2007) (with Lyle Jeffs as the designated successor, future) William E. Jessop, 2007-2010, claiming succession
• Merril Jessop, 2007-Feb 2011 (de facto leader)
• Wendell L. Nielsen, 2010-January 28, 2011 (President of corporate corporate entities)

Current Bishop

James Oler - Canada

Lyle Jeffs - United States

In January 2010, Wendell Loy Nielson became president of FLDS.

Legal issues and leadership struggles

Polygamy is illegal in all 50 states. Attempts to undo illegality based on the right to freedom of religion have been neglected due to the fact that the practice of FLDS church polygamy is harmful to women. In 2003, the church received increasing attention from the state of Utah when policeman Rodney Holm, a member of the church, was convicted of unlawful sexual behavior with a 16- or 17-year-old and a bigami count for his marriage with and impregnation of the plural wife Ruth Stubbs. That belief is the first legal action against members of the FLDS Church since the Short Creek attack.

In November 2003, church member David Allred bought "hunting ground" 1,371-acre (5.55 km ² ) Isaacs Ranch 4 miles (6.4 km) northeast of Eldorado, Texas, at Schleicher County Road 300 and sent 30 to 40 construction workers from Colorado City-Hildale to start work on the property. Immediate repairs include three 3-storey houses, 8,000 to 10,000 square feet each (930 m ² ), a concrete factory, and a hijacked field. After seeing the famous FLDS Church critic Flora Jessop on the ABC Primetime Live television program on March 4, 2004, the Eldorado residents contacted Jessop. He investigated, and on March 25, 2004, Jessop held a press conference at Eldorado confirming that his new neighbor was a follower of the FLDS Church. On May 18, 2004, Sheriff Schleicher County David Doran and His Deputy Head visited the City of Colorado, and the FLDS Church officially acknowledged that the County Schleicher property would become a new base for the church. It has been reported in the media that the church has built a temple at YFZ Ranch, supported by evidence, including aerial photograph of a large stone structure (about 88 feet (27 m) wide in a relatively finished state.A local paper, Eldorado Success , reported that the temple foundation was dedicated January 1, 2005 by Warren Jeffs.

On January 10, 2004, Dan Barlow (mayor of Colorado City) and about 20 others were ostracized from the church and deprived of their wives and children (to be transferred to other men), and the right to live in the city. On the same day two teenage girls were reported to have fled from the cities with the help of activist Flora Jessop, who advocated the escaping of wives of polygamy. The two girls, Fawn Broadbent and Fawn Holm, soon found themselves in a highly publicized dispute about their freedom and custody. After allegations against their parents proved wrong, Flora helped them escape from state custody together on February 15, and they ended up in Salt Lake City at the home of Fawn Holm's brother, Carl.

In October 2004, Flora Jessop reported that David Allred purchased a 60-acre (240,000 m ² ) plot of land near Mancos, Colorado, (between Cortez and Durango) at the same time he bought the Schleicher Property County. Allred told authorities that the package would be used as a hunting ground.

In July 2005, eight men in the church were charged with sexual contact with minors. All of them surrendered to the police in Kingman, Arizona, within a few days.

On July 29, 2005, Brent W. Jeffs filed a lawsuit accusing his three uncles, including Warren Jeffs, of sexually assaulting him when he was a child. The lawsuit also named the FLDS Church as a defendant. On August 10, former member of FLDS Church Shem Fischer, Dan Fischer's brother, added the church and Warren Jeffs as defendants over a 2002 lawsuit claiming that he was illegally dismissed because he no longer professed religion. Fischer, who is a salesman for the woodworking cabinet business in Hildale, claims the church official is interfering with his employer and blacklisting it. The district court gave a conclusion in favor of the company and found that Fischer was not fired from his job, but quit instead. The district court ruling was reversed in part because Fischer was discriminated against on religious grounds when he was reinstated for his position and denied work because he left the FLDS church. The parties finally settle the case for the amount of damage agreed to Shem Fischer.

In July 2005, six young adults "Lost Boys" who claimed they were expelled from their home on the Utah-Arizona border to reduce competition for wives, filed suit against the FLDS Church. "The [boys] have been ostracized by that policy and practice and have been cut off from family, friends, benefits, business and employment relationships, and purportedly condemned for eternal punishment", their lawsuit said. "They have become 'lost boys' in the world outside the FLDS community."

On May 7, 2006, the FBI named Warren Jeffs to the list of 10 Most Wanted Fugitives on charges of unlawful aviation to avoid prosecution.

On August 28, 2006, Warren Jeffs was arrested on Interstate 15 to the north of Las Vegas, Nevada, after a routine traffic stop. Jeffs is judged in St. George, Utah, and a jury found him guilty of two charges as a rapist.

The mayor of Colorado City, Terrill C. Johnson, was arrested on May 26, 2006, for eight counts of fraudulent vehicle registration for registering his vehicle in a different country from which he lived, which is a major crime. He was booked into the Purgatory Correctional Facility in Hurricane, Utah, and released after paying the $ 5,000 bail.

From 2007 to 2011, the leadership of the FLDS Church was not clear. On November 20, 2007, after the then leader's confidence Warren Jeffs, Jeffs' attorney released the following statement: "Mr. Jeffs resigned as President of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Inc." This statement does not mention its position as a prophet of the church, but only withdraws from the fiduciary office as president of a company incorporated in the FLDS Church. According to a transcript of the Salt Lake Tribune phone, there is evidence that, when imprisoned, Warren Jeffs made a naming statement of William E. Jessop, the former first counselor, as his successor or, alternatively, that Jeffs had told Jessop on January 24, 2007 that he (Jeffs) has never been a legitimate leader of FLDS. Many press accounts have suggested that Merril Jessop, who has led the Eldorado complex, is the de facto leader of the church. In addition, on January 9, 2010 the document was filed under the name of the Utah Trade Department, Wendell L. Nielsen as president of the sect. The FLDS incorporation charter does not require the church president to be his prophet. However, traditionally the President of the FLDS church is also the head of religion. The FLDS leader has refused to clarify who is considered a prophet of the FLDS church. To add additional confusion to succession issues, a 2012 CNN documentary confirms that Jeffs still leads the church from prison.

Prior to November 20, 2007, the church was led by Jeffs, who succeeded his father, Rulon Jeffs, in 2002. For nearly two years, Warren Jeffs was wanted for alleged sexual crimes. From May 2006 until his arrest in August 2006, he was included in the Ten Most Wanted List of the FBI. On September 25, 2007, Jeffs was found guilty of two counts as a rape accomplice and sentenced to ten years in prison for life. This belief was later canceled. On January 28, 2011, Jeffs again asserted his leadership in the denomination. Warren Jeffs has since been sentenced to life in prison plus 20 years along with a $ 10,000 fine after his belief in aggravated sexual assault and allegations of sexual assault.

Short Creek raid

On the morning of July 26, 1953, 102 Arizona state police officers and National Guard troops stormed the fundamental Mormon community of Short Creek, Arizona. They captured the entire population, including 236 children. Of the 236 children, 150 were not allowed to return to their parents for more than two years. Other parents never get custody of their children.

The Short Creek raid is the largest polygamic mass arrest in American history, and received a lot of press coverage. After the attack, polygamy continued to live there; in 1960, Short Creek was renamed to Colorado City.

Attack April 2008

In April 2008, acting on suspicion of alleged victims of physical and sexual abuse at the FLDS complex in Schleicher County, Texas, Texas Child Protective Services and the Department of Public Safety officers entered the complex to serve search and arrest commands and execute court orders designed to protect children. Over the course of several days, from April 3 to April 10, Texas CPS moved 439 children under the age of 18 from YFZ Ranch in the church, while law enforcement officials, including the Texas Rangers, executed their search warrants and their detention at the venue. The April 2008 incident at YFZ Ranch resulted in intense press coverage in the US, particularly in the Southwest, and also received international attention.

On April 18, 2008, after a two-day trial, Judge Barbara Walther of the 51st Judicial District Court ordered all FLDS children to remain in detention while Child Protection Services. Judge Walther's ruling was later canceled by the 3rd Court of Appeals in Austin, Texas in a ruling that the Texas CPS was not justified in getting every child out of the ranch. The 3rd Court of Appeal provides mandamus assistance and instructs the court to vacate part of its order providing temporary CPS for FLDS children. The CPS petitioned the Texas Supreme Court to request that a third Court of Appeal decision be revoked, but the Texas Supreme Court, in a written opinion issued May 29, 2008, refused to cancel the 3rd Appeal Court decision.

The hotline harassment call that encouraged the attack is now believed to have been done by Rozita Swinton, a non-FLDS woman with no known connection to the FLDS community in Texas. However, a search warrant executed at the YFZ compound has been determined by the court to be issued and executed lawfully, and the seized evidence can not be excluded on the grounds that the initial protest may be a lie.

In November 2008, 12 FLDS men were charged with allegedly under-age marriage violations committed over the years since the sect built the YFZ Ranch. In June 2010, six members of the FLDS were convicted of a criminal offense and received sentences ranging from seven to 75 years.

Prosecution in Texas

On November 5, 2009, a Schleicher County, Texas judge found Raymond Merril Jessop, 38, guilty of child molestation. According to the evidence received at the trial, Raymond Merril Jessop sexually assaulted a 16-year-old girl to whom she had "spiritually married" when the girl was 15 years old. The same jury sentenced Raymond Jessop to 10 years in prison and was awarded a $ 8,000 fine.

On December 18, 2009, a Schleicher County judge, Texas found Allan Keate guilty of sexual violence against a child. Allan Keate became the father of a 15-year-old girl. According to documents received at the trial, Keate has also given three of his own daughters in a "spiritual" or "celestial" marriage, two of them aged 15 and one at the age of 14, to older men. The youngest of the three went to Warren Jeffs. He was sentenced to 33 years in prison. Confidence and punishment were then upheld on appeal.

On January 22, 2010, Michael George Emack claimed there was no contest for sexual assault charges and was sentenced to seven years in prison. She married a 16-year-old girl at YFZ Ranch on August 5, 2004. She gave birth to a son less than a year later.

On March 17, 2010, a member of Tom Green County, a Texas jury found that Merril Leroy Jessop was guilty of sexual abuse of a child after only one hour of negotiating. The evidence received at a criminal trial proves beyond a doubt that the 35-year-old Merril Leroy Jessop sexually assaulted a 15-year-old girl while living at FLDS Ranch in Schleicher County, Texas. The jury sentenced Jessop to 75 years in prison and was awarded a $ 10,000 fine.

Assault April 2010

On April 6, 2010, Arizona officials executed a search warrant at the city government offices of Colorado City, Arizona and Hildale, Utah. According to one report, a warrant involving misuse of funds and causing Hildale Public Safety Department to close. According to another report, city personnel and volunteers were ordered out of the building while a search was underway, prompting protests from Colorado City Fire Chief Jake Barlow. Despite these protests, public security appears to be unaffected, as the state law enforcement agencies involved call diverted for emergency services through regional offices. The search warrant was also executed at Jake Barlow's residence.

A search warrant for a written statement stated that the District Prosecutor Mohave County searched for records relating to personal allegations on credit card agents from the Colorado City Fire Department under an open record law. Chief Barlow indicated that there was no personal fee, therefore there was no record to disclose. Records obtained by subpoenas from involved banks indicate a series of purchases made by questionable Barlow and Darger Chiefs, including diapers, children's clothing, and food, even though firefighters were not fed by the department. No fees have been submitted.

After the raid

In November 2012, the Texas Attorney General's Office instituted legal proceedings to seize the FLDS livestock property in Eldorado, Texas. The basis for foreclosures and foreclosures cited is referred to as the use of FLDS properties as "... rural locations where the systemic sexual violence of children will be tolerated without interference from law enforcement authorities", therefore, property is contraband and subject to seizures. On April 17, 2014, Texas officials took possession of physical property.

In June 2014, the Arizona Prosecutor's Office filed a motion in US District Court attempting to disperse local police forces and "the dissolution of the City of Colorado, Arizona/Hildale, Utah Marshal's Office and the appointment of federal monitors over city government functions and services." law, the Arizona Attorney General stated that "[t] he dissolution of the Office of Colorado City/Hildale Marshal is necessary and appropriate because the police department has been in operation for decades, and continues to operate, as de facto arm of the FLDS Church law enforcement."

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Different doctrines

plural marriage and wedding placements

The FLDS Church teaches the doctrine of plural marriage, which states that a man has many ordained wives and orders by God; doctrine requires that a man receive the highest form of salvation. It is generally believed in the church that a man should have at least three wives to fulfill this requirement. Connected with this doctrine is a patriarchal doctrine, the belief that wives are required to be subordinates to their husbands.

The church is currently practicing a placement marriage, where a young woman of a married age is given a husband by a revelation from God to a church leader, who is considered a prophet. The Prophet chose to take and give wife to and from men according to their entitlement. This is also called placement law.

Dress

In general, women do not cut their hair short or wear makeup, trousers, or skirts above the knee. Men wear ordinary clothes, usually a long-sleeve collared shirt and full pants. Men and women are prohibited from having tattoos or body piercings. Women and girls usually wear pastel-colored pasture gowns, with hems between the ankles and mid-calves, along with long stockings or trousers underneath, which usually keep their hair braided.

Brooke Adams of The Salt Lake Tribune said: "Photos from the 1953 attack on Short Creek, now twin cities of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz., Show men, women and children dressed like everyone else from that era. "The FLDS dress for members evolves as time passes. Early Short Creek community leaders teach that members should wear the "priest" long clothing style worn by the mainstream LDS until the 1920s. In the latter part of the twentieth century, this more conservative style of politeness became increasingly the norm, through custom and finally through the official fatwa by denominational leadership.

Property ownership

The lands and houses occupied by the FLDS Church on the Utah/Arizona border are owned by the United Effort Plan (UEP), which was formerly a church organization of children. UEP also owns most of the properties of businesses controlled by members of the FLDS Church in the area. The Church views this "United Order" as a means to practice the Latter-day Saint's traditional doctrine of "the Law of Dedication". Attorney General Utah filed a lawsuit and confiscated UEP ownership for residents of the city of Colorado and Hildale at this time. The Attorney General sought to distribute UEP assets to members of the FLDS Church and former members who contributed to UEP. In 2005, a court order froze UEP pending the settlement of the lawsuit. At the time of the court order, UEP was worth $ 100 million.

Home schooling

In 2000, the Colorado City Unified School District had more than 1200 students. When FLDS Prophet Warren Jeffs ordered that members of the FLDS Church pull their children out of public schools, the number decreased to about 250.

Temple worship

The FLDS Church is the seventh Latter-day Saints denomination who has built a temple.

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Criticism

Plural marriage

At the time of his death, church leader Rulon Jeffs has been confirmed to marry 22 women and father over 60 children. Current estimates state that Warren Jeffs may have more than 60 wives. Because the type of polygamy practiced is polygamy, these lifestyle critics claim that his practice inevitably leads to brides shortages and possible child marriages, incest, and child abuse.

Critics insist that church members violate the law when they participate in polygamy. Critics claim that incest and child sexual abuse are common among church members.

In 2015, the estranged wife of Lyle Jeffs, Charlene Jeffs, claims in custody dispute that the group is currently imposing a doctrine that allows sex with women only by men from groups designated as "seed carriers", defined as the "chosen" person of "proper blood". a line chosen by the Priesthood to impregnate a woman.Under this doctrine, men are no longer allowed to have children with their wives.Chelene Jeffs writes in his detention petition: "It is the responsibility of the husband to hold the hand of their wife while the bearer of the seed '. "In layman's terms, the husband is asked to sit in the room while the chosen seed carrier, or some of them, rapes his wife or wife." He also describes "Sarah's Law," in which FLDS women take sex to each other for preparing for a sexual encounter with a man in the FLDS leadership. Lorin Holm, who claimed to have been part of Jeffs' inner circle before he was excommunicated from the group in 2011, later described the practice of "Sarah's Law" in the Jeffs community as being similar to lesbian sex performances with Jeffs participating and preaching. Holm also said that unwilling mothers were sent to "redeem themselves," and their children were given to other women. This "Sarah's Law" interpretation is different from the description given in the 1843 polygamic revelation of Joseph Smith, which refers to him only as a basis for the consent of a wife for polygamous marriage.

Forced marriage

The Church has been suspected of trafficking under-age women across the country, as well as crossing the US-Canada and US-Mexico borders, for the purpose of occasional plural marriage and sexual harassment. FLDS was allegedly by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police for trading over 30 underage girls from Canada to the United States between the late 1990s and 2006 for inclusion in polygamous marriages. RCMP spokesman Dan Moskaluk said about FLDS activities: "Basically, it is human trafficking in connection with forbidden sexual activity." According to Vancouver Sun, it is not clear whether Canada's anti-human trafficking legislation can be effectively implemented against pre-2005 FLDS activities, since the law may not be retroactively applicable. Investigations three years earlier by local authorities in British Columbia into allegations of sexual harassment, trafficking and forced marriage by FLDS resulted in no cost, but resulted in legislative changes.

Welfare receipt

Church leaders have encouraged their flocks to take advantage of government assistance in the form of welfare and WIC programs (female-baby-child). Since the government only recognizes one woman as the legal wife of a man, the rest of his wife is considered a single mother and is eligible to receive government assistance. The more wives and children they have, the more welfare checks and food stamps a person can accept. In 2003, for example, more than $ 6 million of public funds were distributed to the Colorado City community of Arizona. In his book Under Banner of Heaven (p. 15, 15), Jon Krakauer writes that, "Fundamentalists call fooling the 'bloodless' government and consider it a virtuous act." Carolyn Campbell ("Inside Polygamy in the 90s,", 102) adds, "The attitude of some polygamists is" the government is unreliable and corrupt, and I am on it, but it gives me food coupons and free medical care. '"

Missing boy

It has been reported by former members that the FLDS Church has isolated more than 400 boys for offenses such as dating or listening to rock music. Some former members claim that the real reason for this excommunication is that there is not enough women for every man to receive three or more wives. Six men, aged 18 to 22, filed a conspiracy suit against Jeffs and Sam Barlow, former deputy sheriff of Mohave County and close associate Jeffs, for "systematic excommunication" of youth to reduce competition for wives.

Racism

In the 2005 Spring Intelligence Report, the Center for Southern Poverty Law added the FLDS Church to its list of hate groups because of the church's racist doctrine, which includes harsh criticism of racial relations. Warren Jeffs says, "The black race is the people through whom the devil can always bring evil to the earth."

Blood atonement

Former member of the FLDS Church, Robert Richter, reports to the Phoenix New Times that Warren Jeffs has repeatedly alluded to the nineteenth-century doctrine of "redemption" in church sermons. Under the doctrine of redemption, certain serious sins, such as murder, can only be redeemed by the sinner's death. There is a concern that one of the sins in need of redemption is apostasy.

Birth defects

The Colorado City/Hildale region has the highest incidence of fumarase in the world, a very rare genetic condition. Geneticists attribute this to the prevalence of cousin marriage among the descendants of the city's two founders, Joseph Smith Jessop and John Yeates Barlow. It causes encephalopathy, severe intellectual disability, unusual facial features, brain malformation, and epileptic seizures.

Allegations of violation of child labor

On April 20, 2015, the US Department of Labor assessed a fine of $ 1.96 million against a group of FLDS church members, including Lyle Jeffs, brother of controversial church leader Warren Jeffs for alleged breach of child labor during church harvest in 2012. in a garden near Hurricane, Utah.

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In popular culture

Popular media, including books and television programs, has focused on the FLDS Church.

• In 2013, the TV channel TLC plans to air two reality television series entitled Breaking the Faith and Escaping the Prophet. Both centers on FLDS members leave the group and adjust to the outside world.
• On June 28, 2014, Lifetime aired a new movie titled Outlaw Prophet: Warren Jeffs starring Tony Goldwyn as Warren Jeffs. Lifetime has also created original FLDS-inspired movies called Escape from Polygamy (2013).
• In 2011, the history of the FLDS Church is featured in Escaping Evil: My Life in a Cult in Crime & amp; Network cable network Investigation.

src: c8.alamy.com

See also

src: www.mcclatchydc.com

Note

src: c8.alamy.com

Further reading

src: www.danmorris.com

External links

Official site

• Archive the Official FLDS website on the Wayback Machine (archived September 28, 2008)

Journalism

• "Polygamy and Me: Seven months have passed since the onslaught of polygamy in Eldorado, but for one mainstream Mormon, the effect persists," by Jesse Hyde's Dallas Observer's
• Polygamy Blog, by Lindsay Whitehurst, The Salt Lake Tribune

Legal

• In the Trust Question of the Unified Business Plan: Information about the Utah Prosecution's lawsuit against the United Effort Plan

More

• Banking in Heaven (2006) - A documentary film allegation against FLDS, by Over the Moon Productions.
• Damned to Heaven (2007) - A documentary about Colorado City and FLDS Church, by Fresh Produce Media.
• Lifting the Veil of Polygamy (2007) - A documentary critical to the history and modern expression of Mormon polygamy, including many testimonials, by Brigham City's Main Street Church./li>

Source of the article : Wikipedia