Polygamy has been practiced by various religious groups in the United States since at least 1831, the year Joseph Smith received a revelation from God affirming the practice. Smith was martyred a few years later, but the Mormons survived and thrived under the guidance of Brigham Young. To escape further persecution, Young took his flock to the hinterland of Utah where churchmen continued to marry multiple wives until the early 1900s. Then, depending on who tells the story, Mormon leaders received a message from God, or government authorities, to end polygamy. In the event, the LDS church officially banned plural marriages after 1904.
This theological turnabout was viewed as heresy by some Mormons who desired to stick with the original teachings of Smith and Young. Disenchanted with the Mormon church in Salt Lake City, a small but significant cadre of LDS practitioners split off from the mainstream LDS church to form the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, or the FLDS. Settling along the still rough and isolated Utah/Arizona border, FLDS members continue to practice polygamy to this day.
Although polygamy is against the law in Utah and Arizona, those laws are rarely enforced. Several attempts to do so have been spectacular failures, the most memorable occurring in 1953. Republican Arizona Governor Howard Pyle, the son of a Baptist minister and deeply devout himself, determined to rid his state of polygamists once and for all. A raid by 120 heavily armed police resulted in the arrest of dozens of FLDS members, but the publicity surrounding the event quickly turned the Fundamentalist group into a pitied band of persecuted religious folk who just wanted to be left alone. Pyle lost his reelection bid in 1954, and lessons were learned on both sides. More than ever, the FLDS mistrusted all authority not their own, and politicians learned to leave the church alone.
Many factors combined to allow the FLDS’ to maintain an illegal lifestyle for generations. The border towns are closed communities; almost everyone in them, including law enforcement, is pro-polygamy. Outsiders are easily spotted and shunned. Religious freedom is an American core value few governmental authorities were eager to challenge. The ACLU in Utah supports polygamy. Perhaps most important, FLDS members from birth learn church doctrine, including the unquestioned authority of the church council or prophet. Years of indoctrination produce loyal FLDS members whose church fealty is mirrored by a resolute rejection of all non-church jurisdiction.
The ascension of Warren Jeffs to his self-proclaimed position of prophet of the FLDS has led directly to the recent raid on the remnant of his church. Jeffs became increasingly dictatorial, forming and disbanding families, choosing multiple mates for favored males while banishing others, and confiscating church member’s property at his whim. In just the last few years, increasing numbers of disaffected FLDSers have been willing to tell their stories to law enforcement personnel. Jeffs is now serving a 10-year-to-life sentence, having been convicted on two counts of being an accomplice to rape. What doomed Jeffs, and at the center of the current controversy, is not polygamy but underage marriage. Many FLDS girls are placed into arranged marriages while under the age of 18, some as young as 13.
Authorities may have stepped on another landmine by raiding the FLDS’ new digs and detaining hundreds of church members. Officials, stung by criticism for allowing various human rights abuses to go unchecked for decades, moved with lightning speed after receiving a telephone complaint by someone claiming to be a 16-year-old FLDS female who had been forced to marry against her will. Weeks after the raid, the caller has not been located, prompting some church members to suggest she was not abused, but merely a bitter ex-member of the church.
Eerily echoing the events of 1953, FLDS member complaints are gaining credence as local authorities struggle to determine the fate of 400+ children and hundreds of parents. “The state is accusing the sect of physically and sexually abusing the youngsters and wants to strip their parents of custody and place the children in foster care or put them up for adoption,” reported the Associated Press on April 15th. But, the sheer size of the case has overwhelmed local child-protective and legal infrastructure. “Quite frankly, I’m not sure what we’re going to do,” admitted Texas District Judge Barbara Walther after “a conference that included three or four dozen attorneys either representing or hoping to represent youngsters.”
Meanwhile, back on the ranch, FLDS members offer bitter accounts of enduring government intrusion into their private lives. Referring to the church’s past persecutions, Brenda, the mother of two, said, “It’s been all through history. We were just trying to live a peaceful, happy, sweet life. We don’t understand why we can’t do this freely.” Unless the involved governments get their acts together, additional generations of FLDS followers may do just that.
For an in-depth analysis of Warren Jeffs and the FLDS, may I recommend When Men Become Gods, by Stephen Singular, published by St. Martin’s Press. A real page-turner, the book is compelling, informative, and infuriating, providing a better understanding of all sides of the current turbulence surrounding the FLDS.
Posted by Jerry Pomeroy in Current Affairs, Religion