38 ICSA TODAY
as a reluctant polygamist who had to be coerced by an angel
into engaging in sexual relations with his plural wives. Such a
position misrepresents Smith’s zest for life and self-perception
as Heaven’s lawgiver, while imposing on him a particular brand
of morality that was foreign to him. ‘That which is wrong under
one circumstance, may be, and often is, right under another,’ he
taught (History of the church, 5:134). He also stated that there
were ‘many things in the Bible which do not, as they now stand,
accord with the revelation of the Holy Ghost to me’ (Words of
Joseph Smith, p. 211).”
“Second, for reasons not stated, the essays fail to mention,
even in endnotes, some of the most important scholarship
on Mormon polygamy. These omissions include, but are not
limited to: Martha Bradley and Mary Woodward’s Four Zinas:
A Story of Mothers and Daughters on the Mormon Frontier
(Signature Books, 2000), a groundbreaking study of women
and polygamy Lawrence Foster’s Religion and Sexuality
(University of Illinois Press, 1981), an early important work
by an eminent non-LDS historian George D. Smith’s Nauvoo
Polygamy (Signature Books, 2nd ed. 2011), a work especially
valuable for its statistical and genealogical data (apparently
cited in one endnote without reference) and D. Michael Quinn’s
truly groundbreaking discussion of post-1890 polygamy, ‘LDS
Church Authority and New Plural Marriages’ (Dialogue, Spring
1985). Granted that space in the church’s essays was limited, still
the failure to credit these, and other past researchers for their
contributions seems deliberate.”
And “Finally, the essays cite primary manuscript sources held
by the church that are not available to the general public to
consult. This makes it appear that access to the church’s vast
archival holdings is more open than is actually the case. These
documents include the diaries of George Q. Cannon, Francis
M. Lyman, Heber J. Grant, Matthias F. Cowley, and others.
Historians and other researchers can only hope that such
records may one day be as accessible as the essays imply.”
Bergera concludes that “There is much to recommend the
LDS Church’s new essays on Mormon polygamy. There is also
much still left to be done in narrating as fully and as accurately
as possible the tumultuous history of the church’s distinctive,
controversial practice.” (Salt Lake Tribune, 11/2–3/14)
Head of polygamist cult Ratzon sentenced to 30 years in
prison
Before his 2010 arrest and indictment in the Tel Aviv District
Court on many charges that include multiple counts of
rape, sodomy, molestation of minors, fraud, and spiritual
enslavement, cult leader Goel Ratzon had 21 wives and more
than 40 children from those wives who were part of his cult
over a period of about 30 years. In late October 2014, Ratzon
was sentenced to 30 years in prison on his convictions for sex
crimes and financial fraud.
The fraud charges against him described Ratzon as defrauding
his wives out of their money and manipulating them into
serving as his slaves. And although his conviction with the
25-plus years of jail time remaining means he, at 64, may not
emerge while still alive, some of his ex-wives were disturbed
that he was acquitted on the spiritual enslavement charge. (He
has been credited for the more than four years he has already
been in prison while the trial proceeded.) (Jerusalem Post,
10/28/2014)
Mysterious “tent city” springing up in FLDS towns
A massive “tent city” is springing up in the polygamous
border towns of Hildale, Utah and Colorado City, Arizona as
an apparent response to a threat of eviction by the court-
controlled United Effort Plan (UEP) Trust in a long-running land
war. A source gave FOX 13 a series of photographs that show
the construction of the giant white tents being built behind
a huge wall with “no trespassing” signs all around it. The tents
appear to be able to shelter hundreds. The source said no one is
living in the tents yet.
In 2005, a judge in Salt Lake City’s 3rd District Court took
control of the UEP amid allegations that FLDS leader Warren
Jeffs mismanaged it. Recently, the UEP began evicting people
for not paying a $100-a-month occupancy fee to stay in their
homes. Jeffrey L. Shields, the lawyer for the UEP’s court-
appointed fiduciary, said he believed the tents are the FLDS
leadership’s response.
Tonia Tewell, whose nonprofit group works with people in
need in the polygamous communities, called the situation
there a “humanitarian crisis.” Hundreds have left or been
excommunicated by Jeffs, leaving the church with nothing
(members consecrate most of their property to the FLDS
church). Jeffs still controls the church from his Texas prison cell,
where he is serving a life sentence for child sex assault related
to underage “marriages.”
If the courts start evicting people en masse, Tewell said it will
strain social service providers’ ability to help. The Utah Attorney
General’s Office said it was monitoring the situation and urged
people in need to contact social-service providers. (fox13now,
12/15/14)
Family settles polygamist towns’ lawsuit for $3M
A family that was awarded a $5.2 million judgment over a
denied water hookup by the two polygamous towns of Hildale,
Utah and Colorado City, Arizona because they’re not members
of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day
Saints has settled for less to avoid an appeal. Ronald and
Jinjer Cooke will get about $3 million from insurers and utility
companies representing the towns, according to a private
agreement obtained by The Salt Lake Tribune.
In addition to the $3 million, the settlement stipulated the cities
must provide water access to the Cookes. The cities already had
made electricity and sewer connections but refused to provide
water. Evidence from the case could be used in an ongoing
US Department of Justice lawsuit over housing discrimination
in Hildale and Colorado City, but the settlement bars the
Cookes from participating in that lawsuit. (ABC News, 12/12/14)
Polygamy group investigates abuse allegations
Estimated to be the second-largest organized polygamy group
in Utah, the Apostolic United Brethren (AUB) has said it is
investigating an allegation that its leader, Lynn A. Thompson,
molested one of his daughters, Rosemary Williams of TLC’s My
Five Wives. Williams wrote in a blog posted last November that
she was molested more than two decades ago by her father
when she was 12 years old. Thompson told The Associated Press
the allegations were not true, and state and local authorities in
Utah are unaware of any formal complaints against him. (ABC
News, 12/3/14)
36
as a reluctant polygamist who had to be coerced by an angel
into engaging in sexual relations with his plural wives. Such a
position misrepresents Smith’s zest for life and self-perception
as Heaven’s lawgiver, while imposing on him a particular brand
of morality that was foreign to him. ‘That which is wrong under
one circumstance, may be, and often is, right under another,’ he
taught (History of the church, 5:134). He also stated that there
were ‘many things in the Bible which do not, as they now stand,
accord with the revelation of the Holy Ghost to me’ (Words of
Joseph Smith, p. 211).”
“Second, for reasons not stated, the essays fail to mention,
even in endnotes, some of the most important scholarship
on Mormon polygamy. These omissions include, but are not
limited to: Martha Bradley and Mary Woodward’s Four Zinas:
A Story of Mothers and Daughters on the Mormon Frontier
(Signature Books, 2000), a groundbreaking study of women
and polygamy Lawrence Foster’s Religion and Sexuality
(University of Illinois Press, 1981), an early important work
by an eminent non-LDS historian George D. Smith’s Nauvoo
Polygamy (Signature Books, 2nd ed. 2011), a work especially
valuable for its statistical and genealogical data (apparently
cited in one endnote without reference) and D. Michael Quinn’s
truly groundbreaking discussion of post-1890 polygamy, ‘LDS
Church Authority and New Plural Marriages’ (Dialogue, Spring
1985). Granted that space in the church’s essays was limited, still
the failure to credit these, and other past researchers for their
contributions seems deliberate.”
And “Finally, the essays cite primary manuscript sources held
by the church that are not available to the general public to
consult. This makes it appear that access to the church’s vast
archival holdings is more open than is actually the case. These
documents include the diaries of George Q. Cannon, Francis
M. Lyman, Heber J. Grant, Matthias F. Cowley, and others.
Historians and other researchers can only hope that such
records may one day be as accessible as the essays imply.”
Bergera concludes that “There is much to recommend the
LDS Church’s new essays on Mormon polygamy. There is also
much still left to be done in narrating as fully and as accurately
as possible the tumultuous history of the church’s distinctive,
controversial practice.” (Salt Lake Tribune, 11/2–3/14)
Head of polygamist cult Ratzon sentenced to 30 years in
prison
Before his 2010 arrest and indictment in the Tel Aviv District
Court on many charges that include multiple counts of
rape, sodomy, molestation of minors, fraud, and spiritual
enslavement, cult leader Goel Ratzon had 21 wives and more
than 40 children from those wives who were part of his cult
over a period of about 30 years. In late October 2014, Ratzon
was sentenced to 30 years in prison on his convictions for sex
crimes and financial fraud.
The fraud charges against him described Ratzon as defrauding
his wives out of their money and manipulating them into
serving as his slaves. And although his conviction with the
25-plus years of jail time remaining means he, at 64, may not
emerge while still alive, some of his ex-wives were disturbed
that he was acquitted on the spiritual enslavement charge. (He
has been credited for the more than four years he has already
been in prison while the trial proceeded.) (Jerusalem Post,
10/28/2014)
Mysterious “tent city” springing up in FLDS towns
A massive “tent city” is springing up in the polygamous
border towns of Hildale, Utah and Colorado City, Arizona as
an apparent response to a threat of eviction by the court-
controlled United Effort Plan (UEP) Trust in a long-running land
war. A source gave FOX 13 a series of photographs that show
the construction of the giant white tents being built behind
a huge wall with “no trespassing” signs all around it. The tents
appear to be able to shelter hundreds. The source said no one is
living in the tents yet.
In 2005, a judge in Salt Lake City’s 3rd District Court took
control of the UEP amid allegations that FLDS leader Warren
Jeffs mismanaged it. Recently, the UEP began evicting people
for not paying a $100-a-month occupancy fee to stay in their
homes. Jeffrey L. Shields, the lawyer for the UEP’s court-
appointed fiduciary, said he believed the tents are the FLDS
leadership’s response.
Tonia Tewell, whose nonprofit group works with people in
need in the polygamous communities, called the situation
there a “humanitarian crisis.” Hundreds have left or been
excommunicated by Jeffs, leaving the church with nothing
(members consecrate most of their property to the FLDS
church). Jeffs still controls the church from his Texas prison cell,
where he is serving a life sentence for child sex assault related
to underage “marriages.”
If the courts start evicting people en masse, Tewell said it will
strain social service providers’ ability to help. The Utah Attorney
General’s Office said it was monitoring the situation and urged
people in need to contact social-service providers. (fox13now,
12/15/14)
Family settles polygamist towns’ lawsuit for $3M
A family that was awarded a $5.2 million judgment over a
denied water hookup by the two polygamous towns of Hildale,
Utah and Colorado City, Arizona because they’re not members
of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day
Saints has settled for less to avoid an appeal. Ronald and
Jinjer Cooke will get about $3 million from insurers and utility
companies representing the towns, according to a private
agreement obtained by The Salt Lake Tribune.
In addition to the $3 million, the settlement stipulated the cities
must provide water access to the Cookes. The cities already had
made electricity and sewer connections but refused to provide
water. Evidence from the case could be used in an ongoing
US Department of Justice lawsuit over housing discrimination
in Hildale and Colorado City, but the settlement bars the
Cookes from participating in that lawsuit. (ABC News, 12/12/14)
Polygamy group investigates abuse allegations
Estimated to be the second-largest organized polygamy group
in Utah, the Apostolic United Brethren (AUB) has said it is
investigating an allegation that its leader, Lynn A. Thompson,
molested one of his daughters, Rosemary Williams of TLC’s My
Five Wives. Williams wrote in a blog posted last November that
she was molested more than two decades ago by her father
when she was 12 years old. Thompson told The Associated Press
the allegations were not true, and state and local authorities in
Utah are unaware of any formal complaints against him. (ABC
News, 12/3/14)
36
