Bountiful women to host Summit on Polygamy
 
By Mike Weland
Kootenai Valley Press
 
About 100 members of the Bountiful Women’s Society, both from the community of Bountiful and from Boundary County, are organizing a "Summit on Polygamy" April 19 in an attempt to explain their views and way of life and help ease fears and concerns that have risen over the Fundamental Latter Day Saints (FLDS).

The event was announced on Monday, and already the response they’ve received has been overwhelming.

"It’s only been a couple of days, and it’s already half full," said Winston Blackmore, a life-long member of the FLDS and one of the speakers slated to appear. "We thought we’d get maybe 50 people, but over 200 have already signed up. What surprises me is why anyone would be interested in us ... we’re just what we always have been."

Blackmore said he has personally invited the attorneys general of four states and one province to attend, including Idaho Attorney General Lawrence Wasden, and said that Utah’s attorney general has already accepted the invitation. He also said he’s fielded numerous calls from the media, including a call from a German television station, interested in learning more about the group.

Attention to the group, both from the government and the media, has intensified since the ascension of Warren Jeffs to the status of "prophet" following his father Rulon Jeffs death a little over 2 ½ years ago. Since assuming the top spot in the church hierarchy, Jeffs has allegedly ex-communicated many of those who formerly held leadership positions in the church, including Blackmore.

Jeffs, now wanted in Utah on charges of sexually abusing an underage nephew, has been accused of adopting a much more radical form of church leadership than his predecessors, allegedly usurping control of not only the church, but the United Effort Plan, a church trust fund to which all members contribute and from which they are provided everything from housing to food. According to those who’ve been cast out of the church, Jeffs has turned the fund into his own personal treasury, ignoring the most basic needs of his followers.

In addition, he’s accused of ripping apart the polygamous families of those who’ve been ousted, arbitrarily reassigning their wives to other men deemed “faithful,” often sending the women, allegedly as young as 13, between several FLDS communities in Mexico, Texas, Utah, Arizona and Bountiful. In addition, he is accused of excommunicating many of the young men of the FLDS on little or no grounds, casting them into surrounding communities with nothing but the teachings they’ve been born with and with their education provided solely by the church.

According to Blackmore, the stigma attracted by Jeffs has consistently wrought an undeserved connection to him and the group that chose to follow him rather than continue under Jeffs leadership.

"Whenever people talk of Warren Jeffs, they always link it to Winston Blackmore and ‘The Bishop of Bountiful,’" he said. "It’s been 2 ½ years since they distanced ourselves from us, and there is no connection. We have friends, family and loved ones affiliated with Jeffs, who is getting more difficult to believe in with each passing day."

The summit takes place at 7 p.m. Tuesday, April 9, at the Creston Rec Center, Creston, British Columbia. Cost is $20 Canadian. To register , call (250) 428-5789.
 
kvpress.com
Originally published April 6, 2005
 
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