Warren Jeffs has decided to start off the new year for his followers on an interesting note. And, by interesting, I mean that — if you doubted that the FLDS are a danger to themselves and others — Jeffs has decided to remove all doubt. At first, it looked like he was threatening to command ...
Ever since the FLDS raid in 2006, and the media calling the FLDS “fundamentalist Mormons” (a term the Church itself came up with in the 1940s to describe the offshoot), the Church has been eager to monopolize the term “Mormon.” It has asserted that, in the interests of resolving public confusion, the media should only ...
The Salt Lake Tribune has posted some of the audio recordings of Warren Jeffs instructing women on how they are supposed to have sex with him. I’d say “enjoy” but, well, that just seems inappropriate. Views: 701 ...
If it weren’t for the Internet, I probably wouldn’t have remembered that July 24th is Pioneer Day, commemorating the day Brigham Young uttered those famous words “This is the place” (or something like that). BiV asks what the holiday means to Mormons outside of Utah (growing up on the East coast and mid-west, I only ...
Jeffs, after staying quiet during his trial, opened up to the courtroom yesterday on the matter of his having raped a 12-year-old and impregnating a 15-year old. He blathered for almost an hour, like he was sermonizing. He said, You are now touching that which is sacred. This must cease. If we do not live ...
A recent post on a Mormon-themed group blog asked the question What are some of the common themes that emerge in patriarchal societies? It then compared these societies with Mormonism. There were a number of parallels. To me, the most interesting aspect of this article was what it didn’t mention. Here are the salient items ...
A lot of people — upon leaving the CoJCoL-dS — are amazed to discover how fascinating LDS church history really is. It’s not just that the whitewashed history in Sunday School is incomplete and inaccurate. It’s that you’re force-fed this watery-porridge version of church history that inoculates many people from even wanting to study more ...
The juiciest news this week was TLC’s new reality show “Sister Wives” portraying the lives of ordinary polygamists in Utah! As usual, the members of the CoJCoL-dS are concerned about how this affects their image. Some are also concerned about the sex aspect, but fortunately the polygamist ladies reassure us that they each sleep with ...
The court determines that Sam Echols is not a proper person to raise a child, owing to his opinions. My great-great-grandfather determines that his zeal for the (Mormon) faith will be his best revenge. ...
Wherever people talk about Mormonism, you always hear about the fundamentalist Mormons: the polygamists. On the LDS-interest Internet there’s tons of discussion of modern-day polygamy – usually in a hand-wringing “what should be done about them” kind of way. Naturally, I was glad when I finally got the opportunity to meet some real-life fundamentalist Mormons, ...
My book club recently read Under the Banner of Heaven by John Krakauer. Despite my interest in all things mormon, I did not recommend this book to my group. I had read it before, and found it frightening. The Lafferty murders were especially heinous (to my mind) and disturbing on many levels. Other book club ...
Everybody‘s talking about the big news items this week: Secularism is rising dramatically in the U.S., and HBO is showing the Mormon temple ceremony! Let’s have a look: Views: 1628 ...
I’m not sure why, but an idea has been floating around in my mind the last couple of weeks. I’m not usually in the mood to help a religious group survive, but I figured this thought was worth putting into the public domain for criticism at the very least. The FLDS have a pretty serious ...
As a child, I admired Brother B. He was a member of our ward. Back then Brother B. must have been in his fifties. He was naturally self-confident and projected authority in an understated sort of way. Late in life, Brother B. had switched careers to become a natural healer. My mother who had been ...
It’s kind of a strange family history claim to fame: My great-great-great-great aunt, Nancy Winchester, was one of Joseph Smith’s youngest teen brides. She was fourteen or fifteen years old in 1842(3?) when she married the prophet; he was in his late thirties and was killed a year or so later. I’ve wanted to write ...