Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 3, Nos. 2 &3, 2004, Page 112
Legislature Has Not Responded to Old Concerns
The British Columbia legislature learned about the ―increasingly serious‖ situation at the
Bountiful settlement of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day
Saints as long ago as the early 1990s but did not act on any of the recommendations of a
report compiled by former members of the community. The report said the sect was
growing more insulated from the outside world and that abuse was becoming more
entrenched because there was no recourse to [public] social services.
The previously secret report questioned whether children raised in the group ―are ever
capable of exercising any freedom of choice ...particularly poignant when it involves a
teenage girl who has known nothing beyond life in the group (and is) placed in marriage
with a man several decades her senior who already has a number of wives and children.‖
(Mike D‘Amur, Calgary Sun, Internet, 8/1/04)
Help Lost Boys
Jon Krakauer and Dan Fischer, leaders of Diversity, a group established by former members
of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, are asking public
assistance for more than 400 teenage boys and young men who have been thrown out of
the church by parents under the influence of leader Warren Jeffs. Banished for such offenses
as ―associating‖ with non-church members, watching three movies, or wanting to attend
public school, some now live out of cars or behind dumpsters.
―The major issue here is the treatment of children,‖ said Fischer, who adds that the church
defends its actions as expressions of religious freedom even as it destroys families.
Krakauer, author of Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith, says the main
reason for the banishments is that, since a polygamist in the community needs multiple
wives to gain God‘s approval, he has to get rid of boys, who would compete with him for the
limited number of available females. The boys who are thrown out cannot function well in
the world outside the 10,000-member community, so they end up on the streets,
sometimes turning to drugs and prostitution. They cannot break away, Krakauer says,
because they are taught from an early age that evil will befall them if they leave. ―It is
drummed into their heads they don‘t stand a chance out there. These kids are programmed
to fail.‖ (Patty Henetz, AP in Deseret Morning News, 7/31/04 Stephen Speckman, Deseret
Morning News, Internet, 8/1/04)
Will Cooperate with Investigation
Winston Blackmore, head of the Bountiful, British Columbia, breakaway branch of the
Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, says he welcomes a
recently-announced investigation into alleged acts of sexual exploitation, forced marriages,
and child abuse in his group. British Columbia attorney general Geoff Plant says: ―All of
these are crimes that need to be investigated that don‘t relate to polygamy.‖ Blackmore
declares he wants to act on the charges, if they are true, and to rehabilitate the
perpetrators. (Mike D‘Amour, Calgary Sun, Internet, 7/27/04)
Hiding Behind Religion
The reason why Arizona law has not stopped the ―perversion of faith and family‖ that allows
destructive polygamous practices of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter Day Saints was a ―botched effort‖ to do so fifty years ago. A raid at that time led to
such bad publicity that the police have been [according to the editorialist] ―cowed ever
since. The problem was that the victims, who were dragged away from their homes in tears,
refused to cooperate with their rescuers.
Legislature Has Not Responded to Old Concerns
The British Columbia legislature learned about the ―increasingly serious‖ situation at the
Bountiful settlement of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day
Saints as long ago as the early 1990s but did not act on any of the recommendations of a
report compiled by former members of the community. The report said the sect was
growing more insulated from the outside world and that abuse was becoming more
entrenched because there was no recourse to [public] social services.
The previously secret report questioned whether children raised in the group ―are ever
capable of exercising any freedom of choice ...particularly poignant when it involves a
teenage girl who has known nothing beyond life in the group (and is) placed in marriage
with a man several decades her senior who already has a number of wives and children.‖
(Mike D‘Amur, Calgary Sun, Internet, 8/1/04)
Help Lost Boys
Jon Krakauer and Dan Fischer, leaders of Diversity, a group established by former members
of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, are asking public
assistance for more than 400 teenage boys and young men who have been thrown out of
the church by parents under the influence of leader Warren Jeffs. Banished for such offenses
as ―associating‖ with non-church members, watching three movies, or wanting to attend
public school, some now live out of cars or behind dumpsters.
―The major issue here is the treatment of children,‖ said Fischer, who adds that the church
defends its actions as expressions of religious freedom even as it destroys families.
Krakauer, author of Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith, says the main
reason for the banishments is that, since a polygamist in the community needs multiple
wives to gain God‘s approval, he has to get rid of boys, who would compete with him for the
limited number of available females. The boys who are thrown out cannot function well in
the world outside the 10,000-member community, so they end up on the streets,
sometimes turning to drugs and prostitution. They cannot break away, Krakauer says,
because they are taught from an early age that evil will befall them if they leave. ―It is
drummed into their heads they don‘t stand a chance out there. These kids are programmed
to fail.‖ (Patty Henetz, AP in Deseret Morning News, 7/31/04 Stephen Speckman, Deseret
Morning News, Internet, 8/1/04)
Will Cooperate with Investigation
Winston Blackmore, head of the Bountiful, British Columbia, breakaway branch of the
Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, says he welcomes a
recently-announced investigation into alleged acts of sexual exploitation, forced marriages,
and child abuse in his group. British Columbia attorney general Geoff Plant says: ―All of
these are crimes that need to be investigated that don‘t relate to polygamy.‖ Blackmore
declares he wants to act on the charges, if they are true, and to rehabilitate the
perpetrators. (Mike D‘Amour, Calgary Sun, Internet, 7/27/04)
Hiding Behind Religion
The reason why Arizona law has not stopped the ―perversion of faith and family‖ that allows
destructive polygamous practices of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter Day Saints was a ―botched effort‖ to do so fifty years ago. A raid at that time led to
such bad publicity that the police have been [according to the editorialist] ―cowed ever
since. The problem was that the victims, who were dragged away from their homes in tears,
refused to cooperate with their rescuers.
