LDS members: Don't confuse us with FLDS
 The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (FLDS) is not to be confused with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS), commonly referred to as Mormons, said local members of the LDS. The LDS abandoned polygamy in 1890 when the federal government outlawed the practice.
 
By Norma Najacht
Custer County Chronicle
 
"We do not practice, nor do we condone in any way, the practice of polygamy," said Frank Carroll, local member of the LDS church. "We know that polygamy leads to a high incidence of abuse, especially of children and women. A current Hollywood HBO series called "Big Love" is alarming to us as it falsely portrays polygamy as a happy normal lifestyle. We reject that assertion and believe that the practice of polygamy leads to great unhappiness and rampant abuse, not to mention being illegal in this country.

"Any church member adopting the practice (of polygamy) today is excommunicated. Groups that continue the practice in Utah and elsewhere have no association whatsoever with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints," Carroll said.

Gordon B. Hinckley, president of the LDS, objects even to the term FLDS and its association with the LDS. "There is no such thing as a 'Mormon Fundamentalist,'" said Hinckley. "It is a contradiction to use the two words together."

"The fundamentalists broke away from the rest of the Mormons, but it's not just a minor aspect of the FLDS's religion," said Jon Krakauer, author of "Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith," a book about Mormon Fundamentalism, said.

"It's the most important principle according to Joseph Smith. It's the truest of their beliefs. It's the cornerstone of their religion. Every man has to have at least three wives."

Recently, a Mohave County, Ariz., grand jury indicted eight of FLDS prophet Warren Jeffs' followers for sexual conduct with a minor and conspiracy, including one man who was convicted two years ago of marrying a 16-year-old as his third wife.

Another follower was indicted for sex assault.

"Some people - including your sheriff - don't really understand why Warren presents a threat to society and needs to be brought to justice," Krakauer said. "This misguided attitude will probably only become even more prevalent now that the new TV show about polygamy and Mormon Fundamentalists, "Big Love," is being broadcast on HBO."

In the real world, polygamous existence doesn't bear much resemblance to "Big Love," Krakauer said. "The daily lives of actual polygamists tend to be characterized by misery, cruelty and despair."

Krakauer said he's studied dozens of polygamist communities and interviewed hundreds of polygamists over the past six years. "Among them, I've encountered a handful whose families seem to be no more dysfunctional than your typical monogamous American family," he said. "Such families are extremely rare among polygamists, however. More often I've encountered incest, appalling sexual abuse, a virulent hatred of blacks, and - thanks to generations of inbreeding - an epidemic of inherited maladies such as Fumarase Deficiency, which results in severe mental retardation, physical paralysis, horrific seizures and early death."

Krakauer said until recently, there were only 13 documented cases of Fumarase Deficiency on the entire planet. An Arizona physician has identified nearly twice that many cases in a single polygamist neighborhood.

Carroll says it will be regrettable if HBO, by making polygamy the subject of entertainment, minimizes the seriousness of that problem and adds to the suffering of abuse victims.

As for Jeffs, he has ruined the lives of thousands of people and stolen millions of dollars from followers and from the government, Krakauer said.

"He is a sexual predator," he emphasized. "He has raped three of his own nephews and many young girls. It's his religion, but it's more than that. It's organized crime. The FLDS is far more secretive than the Mafia."

Many of his followers are good people and it is unfortunate that they have put their trust in Jeffs, said Krakauer, as in service to Jeffs, they will commit violence.

"He rules by fear," he said. "He will take your home. He will take your wives and your children. That very day they will be married to another man and in their bed."

When a leader in the FLDS wants a woman who is married to another man, that man is excommunicated, leaving the wife and children available for the taking. Young boys are often abandoned to fend for themselves in order to avoid competition for the older men in the lives of the young girls. Krakauer has adopted one of these "Lost Boys."

"The folks in the Custer County compound are among the most devoted of Jeffs' followers," Krakauer said. "They will obey him before they obey any judge. To them, 'lying for the Lord' is a righteous thing.

"FLDS prophet Warren Jeffs, the leader of the nation's largest polygamist sect, instructs his 10,000 devoted followers that the laws of God (as revealed to Jeffs) trump the laws of man," Krakauer said. "To his followers, Warren Jeffs IS the law. The consequences of disobeying him are severe. When commanded by Jeffs, his followers have no compunction about breaking any and all laws. His followers would sacrifice their own lives, and the lives of others, if so commanded by him.

"Warren is on the FBI's Most Wanted List for good reason. He and his top lieutenants (one of whom is Jerold N. Williams, the man who controls the Farmer Road FLDS compound for Warren) have defrauded federal, state and local governments of millions of dollars. They have defrauded their own followers of an even greater amount," Krakauer said.

"Warren has raped and sodomized dozens of children as young as 5 years old, including at least three of his own nephews," he said. "Warren has ruined hundreds of families and destroyed the lives of thousands of individuals.

"Yes, the FLDS is a religion," Krakauer said. "But it would be more accurate to describe it as a vast organized crime network specializing in sexual abuse and financial fraud, with tentacles that extend throughout the West - including South Dakota, we now know."
 
custercountynews.com
Originally published March 30, 2006
 
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