Was anyone aware of the polygamy crisis in America?

[Renew Deal]

I am watching Anderson Cooper. It's wall to wall polygamy. This Jeff's guy sounds like a bad dude, and he must be to make the FBI Top 10. Rape, statutory rape, polygamy, molestation, claiming to be a prophet of the master race, welfare fraud, abuse, and all kinds of other stuff.

When this story was announced, many DUers were pleased and expressed relief. It seemed like DUers from the southwest were familiar with this story. So I have a few questions.

How widespread is polygamy in this country? Is it regional? It it cultish like the Branch Dravidian's?
Is it in the news a lot out west? I am from NY and I never hear much.
Is polygamy illegal everywhere?
Are you a polygamist or do you know any?
Anything else we should know about the newfound polygamy crisis in America. :patriot:

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. I wasn't aware of the polygamy crisis.

None of my husbands have mentioned it, either. But I'm sure we'll all get together in front of the teevee to watch Anderson and Rita and Tucker tell us all about it.

[graywarrior]

2. .

:rofl:

:headbang:

[Renew Deal]

4. lol

Best response ever. :rofl:

[eccles12]

28. What Jeffs was doing gives polygamy a bad name.

Sex slavery is what he was carrying out. And no one in the public has the courage to call it what it is.

[librechik]

30. I was totally unaware of it until Democrats started moving up in the polls

go figure

[spindrifter]

3. If you want to find out more about this, read

Under the Banner of Heaven by Jon Krakauer. I would say that this is regional, extending from W. Canada to Mexico with a lot of these sect members in Idaho and Arizona. I don't see much of this in the news, but I don't live in the thick of their area. Polygamy is illegal in the U.S.

[theanarch]

5. gee, i didn't think it was...

...but maybe i should poll my eight wives:sarcasm:

[TalkingDog]

6. I think it's a crisis of envy....What Republican wouldn't want a bunch of

young, nubile virgins...say...14 or so? Oh, wait, that would make them terr'ist, wouldn't it?

Anyway, they would fall all over themselves for those ever younger, unformed, easily molded baby makers. Then when the old hags get knocked up a few times and jaded as to their husbands....shortcomings, as it were, the lucky hubby can get a new, "fresh" one.

I'm not a polygamist, tho' I've often fantasized about being a polyandrist. *sigh*


edited for clarity....


My favorite Future Famous Dead Artist: KarenParker

[Warpy]

7. Organized religiously based polygamy is most often

found in the west, southwest and some areas of the northwest. Cults generally tend to be polygamous for the leader, asexual for male followers. Jeffs was different, and shared the wealth of underage girls with senior male members of the cult.

Polygamy is illegal everywhere, and multiple wives are not legally married, although they have religius marriages within the cult.

The only polygamist I ever knew was back in Mass. His wives got together and kicked him out and went on living with each other.

That doeesn't happen in the FLDS cults, one of which Jeffs heads up. The brides are as young as 13 and are thoroughly indoctrinated. Boy children are kicked out of their homes on any silly pretext at all and have been found wandering along highways out west, abandoned. Often the infraction involves flirting with a girl, giving the old goats competition.

Jeffs is a bad guy and a lot of people out here thought this one had the potential to be another Waco if they didn't manage to catch him on the road between compounds.

[Renew Deal]

11. The wives lived together?

That's hot. ;)

[Warpy]

24. No, it was practical

Shared housework and childcare was a big plus.

[blondeatlast]

33. It's also part of a complicated welfare fraud scheme.

Let's see if Bleachers returns to hear about this--I doubt it.

Since many of the wives were children of other parents, they were claimed as dependents even though they were already married (since the state of AZ didn't recognize their marriages, they weren't really married, right?).

Millions upon millions of dollars going to a fairly wealthy community with it's own economy, and AZ's overburdened state funds taking a major hit.

The ignorance of the smartasses (not you, Warpy--the one you responded to) makes me bounce my head on my desk sometimes.

[distantearlywarning]

36. This is absolutely correct.

I worked as a social worker in Arizona, and my office served Colorado City. It was well known among my co-workers that those people were cheating the system in a major way. However, we were unable to do anything about it.

[DURHAM D]

8. The official position of the Mormon church is that it is no

longer allowed and "they condemn it". However, if you spend any time in the southern Idaho area you will be told that the official church position is that "they look the other way". For myself, I don't really know because I am not a former LDSer.

[Atman]

9. I asked my wives, and none of them had heard a thing about it!

:shrug:

[Radio_Lady]

57. LOL! By the way, what about polyandry? I'd like a couple of husbands

and would REALLY appreciate one who can COOK and who really likes to take out the garbage and clean the bathrooms. :sarcasm:

[niyad]

10. don't have the link handy, but I remember reading several months ago

that there are probably around 70,000 involved in "plural marriages", mostly in utah, arizona, and idaho. when I spent time in utah, you could almost always spot them--something about the look of the women. and when I worked in reno, one of our co-workers had two wives (and fit the stereotype of the less than aesthetically pleasing)

[Renew Deal]

13. Maybe that's how Arizona is so right wing.

I can't understand why a growing, multicultural place like AZ would vote for Republicans.

[Bobbieo]

14. I've know about the cult for years - in fact

My late husband, Jim Hart, was one of the journalists who made the trip to Short Creek, AZ in 1953 to rout out the polygamists. It turned out to be a political move by the then Gov. Howard Pyle and as a result he lost the election.

The polygamist men were given a slap on the hand. They eventually returned to Short Creek renamed Colorado City to reestablish the cult to what it has now become when Jeffers took over the role as the leader. He's a very bad boy and I'm glad they finally got him.

[DURHAM D]

12. There is nothing even remotely humorous about plural marriages.

It is an authoritarian male domination scheme. The women (and young boys) have no choice regarding their fate. How in the world is this funny?

[fudge stripe cookays]

15. There was a woman from Utah...

who called into Ed Schultz this afternoon (I hadn't heard about Malloy yet and hadn't checked in at DU all day).

She evidently lived right near Jeff's compound. It is definitely a cult, and they start these girls out as young as 10! The older guys keep the girls knocked up (she compared it to a zoo in the spring; they're all pregnant!). They leave school, so have no education, and are completely dependent on the older man to support them.

HOWEVER, she said that these assholes have learned how to milk the system completely. They register the first woman as an official wife, then only marry the others within the confines of their "church." Then, these women with their multiple kids can get welfare and AFDC.

She said that there are shelters where these girls can try to escape to, where they can try to help them finish school and break free, but most of them are born into the situation and grow up in it.

She said the young boys are often kicked out (because the old leches want all the girls for themselves). They call them "The Lost Boys." How screwed up is this? There are things involved that I had not considered before (i.e. the welfare, etc)

[blondeatlast]

18. She nailed it. If you want to read more, Google Jana Bommersbach

(I made doubly sure the spelling was correct so it can be copied and pasted) or of course,, "Under the Banner of Heaven."

It makes me ill to see how little understanding about the WARREN JEFFS issue (not polygamy as a whole) is so easily dismissed here.

[fudge stripe cookays]

20. Thanks for the tip.

I'll check it out. Made my first visit to Salt Lake City back in January. I was surprised, because I was expecting to hate it. It wasn't as bad as I prepared myself for, but I was just really uneasy the entire time I was there.

The fact that I found lots of genealogy goodies made it a worthwhile trip.

[DURHAM D]

27. I saw a tv program back in June that said that the shelters

the girls escape to are actually mental institutions and not really a good alternative for the girls/women. The show also implied that the "shelters" have ties to or are strongly influenced by the cult itself.

[tenshi816]

52. All the more reason to read Jana Bommersbach.

There are good people trying to help these girls, including some who escaped from the cult themselves. Here's a good place to start reading if you want to know more.

[Protagoras]

16. I thought it was Killer Bees or water flouridation

or um...ok fine it can be a polygamy crisis.

[Renew Deal]

22. Let's not even start with the flouridated water.

:spray:

[FormerOstrich]

17. I knew nothing about Utah or Mormons or Plural Marriage

then I accepted a job in Utah and moved there with having only been in the state once (on the interview) and not knowing a soul. Talk about culture shock! I toughed it out for five years and finally moved to Arizona (which seems almost liberal compared to Utah).

Yes, the Jeff's polygamists are a problem (as are other groups of them).

Here is a good article about them:

http://www.counterpunch.org/mazur03022005.html

Here is a picture of some of the unmarked graves in "babyland"

[Renew Deal]

26. I just realized something. Colorado City, AZ is just over the border

from Utah. Strange coincidence huh? http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=colorado+city,+az&ie=UTF8&z=7&ll=36.976227,-112.983398&spn=8.009935,17.314453&om=1

[distantearlywarning]

35. It's not a coincidence.

Colorado City has a sister city just over the border (Hilldale, UT), which is run by the same bunch of neo-LDS crazies, or a group just like them. Both of these towns are in an extremely remote part of their respective states. It's 5-6 hours through the desert from Colorado City/Hilldale to the nearest town of any size whatsoever because of the way the roads are laid out in that area of the southwest. It is very likely that Jeffs picked this area on purpose because it was so hard for the authorities to get to or pay attention to.

Something else that isn't widely talked about about these areas is the fact that they are becoming extremely inbred. Cousins regularly marry cousins and maybe worse. I worked as a social worker in Flagstaff, AZ for some time in the late 90s, and we served both Colorado City and Hilldale, UT. Many of our clients from that area had the same last name, even husbands and wives who both had the same last name before they were married. Also, many of our clients received services from us because of a genetically-based hearing disease. It is extremely unusual to have a genetic disorder like that show up in person after person from a single small area. It was never proven to me for sure, I but I strongly suspect that there is enough inbreeding in Colorado City/Hilldale after all these years that genetic defects are starting to show up in the general population, including this particular hearing disorder.

[Renew Deal]

43. That's amazing.

And disturbing. Why won't the government clamp down? Isn't incest illegal too? It would be another Waco I suppose.

[distantearlywarning]

45. I don't know why the govt. doesn't seem to care

All of us State employees who worked with these people knew that they were practicing incest, commiting welfare fraud, had multiple wives, etc., and I'm sure the head office in Phoenix had to know as well. They just didn't care.

And I've often wondered why the federal and state govts. in two red states, with their propensity to be excessively concerned with the bedroom activities of consenting adults, haven't been just a little more interested in the illegal and immoral bedroom activities of the male leaders of these towns and their non-consenting minor wives.

Frankly, it scares me that places like that are allowed to exist in America in 2006. Colorado City is essentially a little theocratic state unto itself, is defrauding and deliberately ignoring the laws of the larger state which surrounds it, and nobody cares. There are other towns like that in the Mountain West, full of extreme LDSers. I knew a man once who swore that he had moved to one in Idaho in the 1980s and had to leave with his family under the cover of night because the local social services was going to come take his children because he repeatedly refused over a period of months to convert. In those towns, the police and all the authorities are often part of the church, so his story was at least somewhat plausible to me. And the federal govt. refuses to do anything about it at all. Pretty damn scary, if you ask me.
:scared:

[tenshi816]

53. Isn't there another severe genetic disorder

within this same group? There was a documentary in the UK about it a couple of years ago and I could swear it was the Jeffs cult that was the focus, but the genetic abnormality went way beyond a hearing disorder.

Damn my inconsistent memory! If the subject of polygamy wasn't under discussion at all, the answer would probably come to me in a second when I least expected or needed it - but since I'm actively trying to remember it I'm having no luck at all.

Edited to add: I think I've answered my own question. I found this link: http://www.rickross.com/reference/polygamy/polygamy25.html at the Rick Ross website and I'm pretty sure this is the group I should have referred to, not Jeffs', but in any event I wouldn't be surprised to find that the same abnormalities exist in most inbred polygamist cults.

[Cerridwen]

56. Here's one link to a story about it...

http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/issues/2005-12-29/news/feature.html

[tenshi816]

58. Thank you!

This story is exactly the one I was thinking of. Thanks so much for the link.

[Cerridwen]

60. You're welcome.

I googled around after finding that story to see if I could find the medical study itself. Only found a journal abstract. I think it's a pay for the article kind of thing. Here's the link to the abstract if you need the actual report by Dr. Tarby.

[Cleita]

19. Maybe it is to *, Pickles and Condi.

Other than that are they trying to legitimize it? Not that I would mind among consenting adults.

I think we in America are serial polygamists. Our divorce laws allow it. We haven't gone as far as doing it concurrently in mainstream America.

Now, if it is outlawed, this is where the abuse comes in, the David Koresh stuff and the child wives. "It's illegal anyway, so why not?"

[TechBear_Seattle]

21. Marriage is ONE man and ONE woman, period

As a gay man fighting for my fundamental rights, and as someone who has been a direct target of conservative foaming at the mouth (but I'll get them; see the WA DOMA link in my sig) I can conclusively say: there is absolutely nothing more important to neo-cons than guaranteeing that marriage remains as a single man with a single woman. A man who claims multiple wives is almost as much a threat to the sanctity of marriage as I am. :hi:

[praeclarus]

23. polygamy is a homeland security issue...

"Jeffs was stopped about 10 kilometres north of Las Vegas by a Highway Patrol officer on Monday night for improperly displayed license plates on the sport utility vehicle he was in. The patrolman recognized Jeffs.

The officer called for backup from the Highway Patrol's homeland security team, and FBI agents also were summoned, George Togliatti, Nevada's director of public safety, told reporters in Las Vegas."

Le Linky: http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/polygamy-prophet-in-custody/2006/08/30/1156816945340.html

What's up with that eh?

[Renew Deal]

25. He was in the top 10.

I guess that's a big deal. I wouldn't want any part of anyone on that list.

[VelmaD]

29. I will be pedantic again...this is not polygamy...it's polygyny

Polygamy is having more than one spouse...gender irrelevant. The practic where ONLY men get to have multiple wives is polygyny. I'm all behind polygamy as long as everyone involved is able to freely consent. But a world-view that only allows for polygyny is misogynistic and wrong.

[TechBear_Seattle]

38. To be particularly pendantic

The issues with this guy isn't even really poly-whatever: it is that he is making "wives" of girls who are 11 and 12 years old, and that he is deliberately defrauding social welfare. I don't think that merits him being in the Top Ten, but he certainly does make the Hit Parade.

[kestrel91316]

59. This guy Jeffs is like Tom Green (of previous fame) times 100.

[lies and propaganda]

31. yeah, but I live in Arizona.

and sadly, not everyone here is near as educated as they should be. These people are predators, why we let them get away with it because its in religions name, is beyond me.

[blondeatlast]

32. Gives a whole different perspective, doesn't it?

Child molestation? Statutory rape? Welfare fraud? Tax fraud? Weapons stockpiling? Bribes to public officials? Jeffs has done it all.

We Zonies have had to take it on the chin from Warren Jeffs and his ilk far too long.

[lies and propaganda]

49. i couldnt have said it better.

Do you remember years ago when only New Times covered this, and now the whole national media is pretending they have been on the case since day one.

I once bought a bag of potatoes from Sunflower market and ended up freaking out & boycotting them because they were from Jessop farms in Colorado City, family of once childbride Flora Jessop who assists young women fleeing from their creepy assisted marriages.

[Tesha]

34. Here at the Tesha house, we're working double secret overtime...

Here at the Tesha house, we're working double secret overtime
to make sure that Mr. Tesha stays well unaware of the polygamy
crisis (that he might otherwise consider himself to be missing). ;)

Tesha

[aikoaiko]

37. here's what I know.

The crisis isn't really any worse than normal, but it is hitting the news again. It looks like we can get them for child rape and welfare fraud. Some people hate hearing about this story because it takes attention away from *'s war and they think the story is a Rovian plot :tinfoil:.

How widespread is polygamy in this country? Is it regional? It it cultish like the Branch Dravidian's?

The Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints is mostly in the arid west (four corner states), but they are spreading to avoid detection. FLDS are not the only polygamists in the US. Other religious sects and cults, and just men who wants lots of booty and/or families are polygamists too.

Is it in the news a lot out west? I am from NY and I never hear much.

yep, been news ever since the mormons arrived, the change to statehood, the horrible raid in the 1950s, and recent polygamists coming out of the closet.

Is polygamy illegal everywhere?

In the US, mostly, but you are allowed to have as many wives and families as you want as long as you do it serially.

Are you a polygamist or do you know any?

I'm not a polygamist, but I was fortunate enough to interview a woman who lived in Colorado City (aka Short Creek). Here is a synopsis.

My Interview w Jane.

When I was a student at Northern Arizona University and taking an advanced sociology class, the professor suggested I go interview a resident of Colorado City (a.k.a. Short Creek). I think it has just incorporated at Colorado City around 1988-89. Desperate to make a good grade on this project, I loaded up my motorcycle and took off from Flagstaff on Sunday morning. I was on a Sportster chopper and had to stop many times to fill up my tiny tank. Every time I stopped at a gas station, I would ask if I was heading in the right direction for Short Creek. As I got closer, the gas attendants would look at me with my motorcycle, black leather jacket, long hair, and earrings and ask incredulously why I was going there. My answer was always the same, “ I need to talk to someone who lives there”. Not one, but two different attendants told me to be careful if I saw anyone with a gun.

My plan was to go to a local café or diner and strike up a conversation with a local and then head back to Flag. I arrived in what seemed to be dusty little town on the border of AZ and UT. It was a nice ride. The first thing I noticed was all the big houses with blue tarps covered the portions that seemed to be under construction – as if an edition was being added. The second thing I noticed was that the local café was closed and not a single person was walking the streets. And then it dawned on me that it was Sunday and that everyone was in temple. So I scooted around on my bike and saw a temple with the biggest full parking lot in northern Arizona. I decided that I should not go inside. I just drove around looking for a gas station and a cold drink.

On one street I saw an older, gray-haired, stocky woman a tomato field with a few children. Here was my first person. I got off my bike and walked up to the fence – she walked toward me. Thinking my café plan might still work, I asked where I could get a bite to eat. She directed me to the highway and the next town 25 miles away (St. George). I realized my plan was hopeless. I looked at her and disclosed everything. I told her I was college student sent to Short Creek to interview a resident. She asked me why I wanted to interview someone, and in my naiveté I said, “Because you’re different”. She looked at me, then grinned and said, “Yep, we’re different”. She invited me into the tomato field and a 5 hour conversation started.

The story she told me was incredible. Her name was Jane and she was close to 60 years old. She was a mother to 16 children and one of 7 wives to her husband. As it turned out, she was the town rebel. This made sense because she was wearing jeans and not in temple on Sunday. This also explained why she was willing to talk to me about her community. If you saw the news piece on Colorado City, you saw how most residents react to outsiders with questions. She was adamant that her community was making a mistake by excluding outsiders and being secretive. She wanted “her people” to communicate much more with the outside world.

She told me how she believed that God was ok with polygamy. Only the first wife was legal and the others were just religious marriages. Not every man gets many wives – the church leaders had to give permission. Apparently the ability to support them without the help of welfare was not one of the conditions of polygamy. Originally, she was married to another husband who met an untimely demise. Another man took her in as a wife. While the father is father to all his children, the wives mostly marshal their own children or babysit other wives’ children. A wife has “powerful aunt” status to the children of other wives.

One of the worst parts her story was when government agents (she said FBI, but records show it was National Guard and AZ police) raided the town in the 1950s. She was a teenager and with a child. The people of Short Creek knew of the raid. The women and children were kept inside and the men were armed. She said they were prepared to fight, but no fighting occurred. She feared that every man in the town would be shot dead. Her husband was hauled away with all the other men for almost 2 years. Two years of feeling like their country betrayed them, two years of not knowing if her husband would ever be let out, two years of just barely surviving. Eventually, the men were returned and most AZ and UT people thought the raid was a stupid political stunt. Ever since, the states of AZ and UT looked the other way. Jane said it was like they had reservation status (like American Indians).

Another one of her tales was the treatment of her boys. As a self-professed trouble maker, she said the town leaders would take their frustrations with her out on her boys. It’s easy for a boy to be banished from Short Creek, but girls are kept around no matter what. She told me about one of her sons, Nate, was banished from Short Creek because he shot out a street light with a BB gun. He went to live with family outside of Short Creek. She said I reminded her of him - she wasn’t the only one. We returned to her house where she made dinner for her children and invited me to stay. As I was eating there was a knock on the door. Her husband and two other men (one with a lever action rifle) came to tell her that Nate had to leave town. She explained who I was and she was told that I had to leave town anyway. They walked away. I said my goodbyes and thanked her for everything she told me (more than I revealed here).

I left town without incident. It was a cold ride back to Flag. In the end, felt ambivalent about Jane and her town. She didn’t tell me about any forced marriages of children to old men, but she may have been one of them. In my research on polygamy, I learned that most of the world’s population is polygamous in one form or another and that monogamy was not as popular or normal as I had thought. The numbers are even worse if you consider all the men in monogamous cultures who have mistresses or father children with girlfriends or men who support multiple wives and children with a divorce in between marriages. In the end, I decided that Jane was like most women or men. She was kind of stuck with the culture into which she was born. She liked some things about it and didn’t others. She would defend “her people”, but still try to change them for the better. She didn't mention anything bout forced child marriages or exploiting welfare (big issues in the news today), but something may be too difficult to acknowledge to an outsider.

[Finder]

39. Polygamy is not the problem...

it is oppression, abuse, child molestation and welfare fraud that these groups engage in--in the name of religion. Non-religious polygamists(lifestyle)are very different. As others point out, these cults practice polygyny(multiple wives)only.

[Cerridwen]

40. Yes, widespread and goes all the way into Canada.

Here in the U.S. there are compounds in NV, AZ, UT, ID, SD and TX.

Businesses which support this particular are licensed and running in Las Vegas, NV and receive government contracts from the Las Vegas Valley Water District, the City of Las Vegas and Clark County. There are members in Searchlight, NV (birthplace of U.S. Senator Harry Reid) and Mesquite, NV which is a popular "local" tourist trap and of course, Las Vegas, NV.

One of the men with whom Jeffs conspired to commit rape of a young girl was a (deputy?) sheriff in Colorado City. AZ.

Critics of Jeffs have "disappeared".

"Authorities" in UT, AZ, and NV have kept silent or actively colluded with the members of this cult about welfare fraud, child abuse, domestic violence, rape and the advent of a disease which has occurred in Colorado City, AZ due to generations of inbreeding.

Here is a link to a previous post I made which provides links and sources.

There are 10,000 or more members of this "community" across the U.S. and into Canada, that we know of, and this is the first the U.S. public as a whole is hearing of it.

And as others have noted, this is not polygamy, nor of these people, would I even call it polygyny. This is slavery, plain and simple. Except the men who run things have never had to actually pay money to get any of their "wives" or children.



edit to correct word: should try to rush to post while dog is whining to go out.

[distantearlywarning]

44. Interesting post you linked to.

I had no idea about the fumarase disease thing. See my post above re: knowing that these people were becoming inbred because of the services they required from a Flagstaff, AZ social services office. In my office, we had many, many clients come in (most named Barlow, as in one of your links) who were going deaf at a very early age. This hearing loss was determined to be caused by a rare genetic problem, and we (the social workers) speculated that the high prevalence among these Colorado City/Hilldale people was due to inbreeding, but we had no definite proof. The article you linked to about the fumarase thing was really interesting to me in light of my own personal experiences.

[Cerridwen]

48. I had seen your post about social workers noticing that something

was not right with the health of these people's children.

Fortunately, I was able to find this yesterday when the information came into public awareness.

Isn't it amazing that the people in the "trenches" in this case the social workers, are the last to know. If you'll google the Dr.'s name listed in the post, you'll find an abstract about his study online. Perhaps you could get a copy and leave it about the workplace? Just a thought. Just a "wicked evil" thought from one whose background is also in social work, though not as a social worker. :D

It would appear that the AZ "authorities" are, at the very least, participating in a conspiracy of silence about this very damaging and controversial issue.

By the way, thank you for all you do as a social worker. I know it "ain't" easy and I know it's very rarely rewarded. Thank you. Pass the thanks around next time you're in the office, please. Some of us know what a tough job you all have.

:yourock:

[distantearlywarning]

50. Actually, I am no longer in AZ, and I went back to grad school

However, if I were still working in that office, I would have gone to work this morning with a copy of your article in hand and told everybody about it myself! It was a terrific place to work, full of very bright, liberal people who really cared about what went on in the world.

[Cerridwen]

51. Hey, congrats on grad school!

I'm sorry you're not "in the field" right now. This country needs all the good, liberal social workers it can get; especially AZ right now as I think Jeffs' arrest may result in some major problems for the FLDS communities here.

However, that being said, "too cool" you're in grad school. I hope you're enjoying it and learning "lots".

:hi:

[LeftHander]

41. No I haven't , let me ask my wives if they heard....nt

[boolean]

42. OMG!!!! ANOTHER CRISIS!!!!

Run for your lives! The polygamists are coming!

Typical media bullshit. This guy was not a polygamist. This guy was a cult leader and child rapist.

Fuck the media.

[alarimer]

46. The problem isn't really polygamy itself

I'd have less of a problem with that if these women (and often very young girls) were not treated like such chattel. It is not at all like the show "Big Love" as far as I can see.

Girls are raped and molested by these vile monsters, who claim to be doing "god's will." Blech.

Not to mention the young men who are expelled from their homes with no skills or education because all the old geezers want to keep all the women.

[izzybeans]

47. I guess Santorum was right; gay marriage is a slippery slope.

:sarcasm: A deliciously decadent slippery slope. Pretty soon the backwoods will be thumping with the good ol' sounds of "animal husbandry". I suspect good ol' Ricky knows a thing or three about it.

[DemonFighterLives]

54. I was looking for a thread on Jeffs yesterday

and couldn't find one. I ended up starting a new one.
:dem:

[mainer]

55. It's not a polygamy crisis. It's a child rape crisis.

That's what we should be calling it, because that's what it is. Old guys forcing 14-year-old girls to have sex with them and have their babies.