Jeffstown

More on the FLDS in Eldorado, Texas...

The FLDS public relations blitz has begun! Frankly, I am surprised it didn’t happen sooner.

One thing to remember about the FLDS is that they have a ton of money and lawyers. The land alone in their trust (the United Effort Plan) is estimated to be worth over $100 million.

In addition to granting reporters interviews and access to the YFZ compound in Eldorado, Texas, the FLDS has established a website aiming to garner public sympathy for their situation as well as gather monetary donations for their legal battle.

While browsing through their site, I noticed a video titled "Happy children at the ranch". In this video, you see numerous photos of the same little FLDS girl who strongly resembles Warren Jeffs. (Example below.)

Little FLDS girl (Mini-Jeffs?) / Warren Jeffs (Baby-daddy?)

As reported by the media, Warren Jeffs, FLDS prophet (currently serving two consecutive sentences of 5 years to life in a Utah prison and awaiting charges in Arizona) built the YFZ compound to house the chosen people from the larger FLDS community in Hildale, UT and Colorado City, AZ. Would his family* be included in this chosen group? My guess is YES! Where better to leave your family when you are on the run from the Feds courtesy of the FBI's most wanted list or in prison?

*It is estimated that Warren Jeffs has between 40 and 70 “wives” (approximately 12 of these women were married to his father, Rulon Jeffs – say it with me folks… YUUUUUCK!) and around 56 children. Source = about.com.

So my question is: Does the state of Texas have any of Warren Jeffs’ 56 children in custody? I think it’s quite likely and if so I am shocked that the media hasn’t grabbed onto that story like a rabid pitbull on a rump roast. Maybe no one is sure yet because of all of the DNA testing they still need to run to confirm family relationships.

The shit hits the fan in Texas

As you may know, I have very strong feelings about polygamy in general and specifically about polygamy and the FLDS (Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints). I am sure some of you are surprised that I didn’t post earlier about last week’s raids in Eldorado, Texas.

In general, I support a person's right to choose how they want to live their lives, as long as they aren't hurting anyone. I also feel very strongly that the government should butt-out of our personal lives and just let people be.

The reason I am so opposed to the way that sects like the FLDS practice polygamy is because of the widespread involvement of children.

The most recent news is that 416 children have been removed from an FLDS compound in Eldorado, Texas and put into state custody because it was deemed that they faced an imminent threat of physical and/or sexual abuse. 140 women left with them by choice.

The FLDS children are not educated to a level where they have the option of leaving the compound. If they do, they have nowhere to go, no skills for “the outside world”, and are far behind in their education. Add to this the total culture shock of different styles of dress, manners and behavior and the thought of leaving a compound is daunting to say the least.

The young girls are married off to much older husbands at puberty and systematically raped. Whether they say no or not, they are being raped because they are not old enough to legally consent to sex. Many of the husbands are old enough to be their grandfathers and in extreme cases, their great-grandfathers. But do they have any other choice? I don’t think so.

Think of how hard it would be to leave not only your family, but literally everyone and everything you have ever known. To know that you will never be able to come home or have contact with them as long as they are still a part of the FLDS. How hard would it be to leave the only way of life you have ever known and enter the “outsider’s world” where no one looks like you and everything is different and unfamiliar. People who you love and trust have told you horrible things about the outside world and with no knowledge of your own; it would be so easy to believe them. I consider myself to be a strong and independent person and I am not sure that I would be able to leave under such circumstances.

Adolescent boys are either groomed to take on many wives or are excommunicated from the compounds so that they don’t compete for wives with the old men in positions of authority. If a husband acts out against the leadership, he is excommunicated, evicted from his home and his wives and children are reassigned to another man.

This has all been happening right under our noses for decades (since the Short Creek raid in 1953) and until last week the government has done nothing about it. I hope that this triggers raids in the twin towns of Colorado City, Arizona and Hildale, Utah.

This is the first and probably the only time I will ever say "Way to go Texas!"

Recommended reading:

Under the Banner of Heaven, A Story of Violent Faith
Jon Krakauer

Shattered Dreams: My Life as a Polygamist's Wife
Irene Spencer

Escape (I haven't read this one yet, but I ordered it)
Carolyn Jessop and Laura Palmer

Texas Polygamy blog
A blog with posts and comments written by polygamists, non-polygamists and ex-polygamists. I found this blog to be fascinating. If you do visit the blog, please be respectful and do not leave rude or degrading comments.

The Hope Organization
The HOPE Organization is a non-profit group dedicated to assisting survivors of abuse within polygamous relationships on their courageous journey to personal freedom.

My previous posts can be found here.

The FLDS - Your tax dollars at work

This makes me really, really mad. Not only have members of the FLDS taken massive amounts of our tax dollars in the form of welfare, but they also use government contracts to fill their bank accounts!

---

Excerpt from CNN.com...

A company founded and run by members of the [FLDS] church received more than $1.1 million in government contracts between 2003-2007, a federal online database shows. Most of that money was spent by the Department of Defense on aircraft wheel and brake parts.

NewEra Manufacturing's president and CEO is John Wayman, a sect member who runs the Las Vegas, Nevada, business. NewEra was previously known as Western Precision Inc. and based in Hildale, Utah, where thousands of church members live.

In a 2005 affidavit filed with a Utah lawsuit, former church member and Western Precision worker John Nielsen said workers were underpaid or not paid at all for work they did because they were told their time and earnings were being donated to the church.

Source.

---

Previous posts on polygamy.

Dear Warren Jeffs,

Does your whole family look like a bunch of child molesters or what? Oh, that's right, you are! You are also a hateful, racist, con artist.


Rulon Jeffs with 2 of his wives (left) & Warren Jeffs (right)

Hey, guess what Warren? The FBI is finally coming after you! Yay FBI! It's about time!

Everyone knows what the FLDS is all about. We all know that for the past four years you have been repeatedly molesting children; just like we knew that your father was molesting children for at least 15 years before that. With the exception of the one previous raid on your compound, our government has allowed this to go on for over two decades. That raid didn't really do anything. All they did was arrest the men. What they need to do this time is take the children too. Otherwise the men get out of jail, come home and keep up the same routine of excommunicating the adolescent boys so that the young girls are available to the old, sick, perverted men like you.

The other thing the government needs to do is find a way to educate those children. Even if a child decides they want to leave your compound, where are they going to go and what are they going to do with a sixth or eighth grade education? You have done an excellent job of trapping over 10,000 people and making them think that they are staying on their own. I think most educated people would agree that a prophet who has never been correct in any of his predictions is not a prophet at all; you are just a con artist.

I believe that three things have forced the government's action on this.

1. The book Under the Banner of Heaven, A Story of Violent Faith by Jon Krakauer. See previous post about this book.
2. The same-sex marriage civil rights fight. The original law states that a marriage is a union between one man and one woman. Because we are taking away the man/woman part, shouldn't we also take away the one/one part? I support same sex marriages and I might also support polygamy if it didn't involve children. Just because I don't agree with marrying multiple people doesn't give me the right to say that way of life should be illegal.
3. The HBO show Big Love. Now I think this was the straw that broke the camel's back. I am not sure if they modeled the show after your family and compound or if it is just a shocking coincidence. Lets take a look at some of the similarities and differences:

• Villain Name:
  Real Life: Rulon Jeffs & Warren Jeffs
  Big Love: Roman Grant
• Church Trust Name:
  Real Life: United Effort Plan (UEP)
  Big Love: United Effort Brotherhood (UEB)
• Compound Name:
  Real Life: Colorado City, AZ
  Big Love: Juniper Creek, UT
• Estimated number of wives:
  Real Life: Rulon Jeffs (50-75) & Warren Jeffs (100 +)
  Big Love: Roman Grant (14)

Did you ever wonder why the FBI cracked down so hard on the Mob and just let your United Effort Plan flourish for the past two decades? When your assets were finally seized, the UEP was estimated to be worth over 100 MILLION dollars!

Your communities of Colorado City and Hildale have a welfare rate that is many times the national average. The government is supporting your sect! That's right, my hard earned tax dollars are paying for the many "unwed mothers" that actually live in a nice 15,000 square foot, 25 bedroom house with no mortgage at all because your UEP owns everything. They have a "husband" who takes care of them and their children, but because that "marriage" is not legally recognized, they can take and take and take from funds like welfare. I bet you aren't really up to date on your taxes are you?

I think this thing is going to go down like another Waco. I don't think that you will be taken alive because I am sure you know how they treat child molesters in prison and I think that would be an informal death sentence for you. So go for it Warren, do us all a favor, save us the cost of putting you through a lengthy trial, as soon as you see the SWAT team roll in just grab your gun and wave it around in the air!

Sincerely,
Ash, Concerned Citizen and Angry American

Related posts:
Warren Jeffs: It sucks to be you! - 8/29/06
Snake Bite Key ("Another Book" section) - 2/19/06

More information:
Wikipedia: Warren Jeffs
Wikipedia: FLDS
NPR: Warren Jeffs and the FLDS

Warren Jeffs: It sucks to be you!

From the Seattle PI: Fugitive polygamist leader Jeffs caught

I was so happy when I heard this morning that Warren Jeffs of the FLDS had been arrested by the FBI. The world will be a slightly better place because of it. I am a little surprised that it went down so smoothly; I had predicted a Branch Davidian like blow out. Now the big challenge is to keep Warren Jeffs locked up and disband his support system so that this disgusting cycle of child abuse and molestation can stop for good. Hopefully this is the time and we don't have to try for another 20 or 30 years.

Related Posts:
Dear Warren Jeffs, - 5/12/06
Snake Bite Key ("Another Book" section) - 2/19/06

Snake Bite Key

A while back I read a book by Jimmy Buffett of all people. It is called Tales From Margaritville. It is a great collection of short stories and a perfect summer read. I fell in love with this place in the book called Snake Bite Key. It is a wonderful little island off the gulf coast that is full of fun, adventure, relaxation and a colorful cast of characters. I wish I lived there. It seems like the perfect place for me. So if you read the book and think "Hey that sounds like Thistown, USA" let me know!

Another Book
I also read Under the Banner of Heaven, A Story of Violent Faith by Jon Krakauer. I think that a lot of people hate this guy and I can't remember why, but I found the book to be very interesting. It is like a portal into a world (the FLDS) that many of us don't even know exists, and certainly will never see. I still have this book so if I know you in real life and you want to borrow it, let me know.

Related Posts:
Warren Jeffs: It sucks to be you! - 8/29/06
Dear Warren Jeffs, - 5/12/06