| Listen to FLDS cult leader Warren Jeffs discuss plural marriages | |
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Charisse Van Horn Cults Examiner Examiner.com | |
Though Warren Jeffs has been behind bars doesn’t mean that his hold over the FLDS cult has lessened. On July 25, 2011, investigative reporter Michael Watkiss spoke on HLN's Dr. Drew to discuss the stronghold that Jeffs has over his 10,000 plus community. Warren Jeffs has been accused of physical abuses, sexual abuse involving minors, arranging marriages between underage brides and older men and practicing bigamy. He is currently facing two counts of sexual abuse on a minor stemming from relationships he held with two child brides, one who was 12-years-old. He is currently facing trial in Texas stemming from the 2008 raid at the FLDS compound Yearning for Zion. Michael Watkiss explained why he believed Jeffs had previously denounced his role as prophet and leader of the cult. "I think Warren Jeffs has gone through his ups and downs while he's been behind bars, but make no mistake about it. He is very much the leader of this community that's at least 10,000 people strong. They continue to have ties to him, give him great amounts of money. They will follow him unquestioning. And, Mr. Jeffs is still the guy in the driver's seat of the FLDS community. "And it's a community whose long track record -- for someone like me who`s been covering this as long as I have, the frustration is the rest of the media starts taking note when we have a big even like this. But these guys have been marrying underage girls for generations. And, we've been trying to tell these stories. And it seems that only when we have an explosion of a raid -- this story did not start with the raid on the YFC ranch. It's not going to end with the prosecution of Warren Jeffs. Watkiss continued to explain the case against Jeffs, "The media, in some ways, just being stupid, has been complicit because they're not really calling him out. Thank goodness, the Texas prosecutors have built cases against 12 of these men including Warren Jeffs, but it really is high time to recognize that this has been going on for decades. And until we sort of understand, you were saying that why do the mothers do this? I think a lot of the activists who have been involved in this for many years think that prosecuting a handful of men is only -- it's a good first step, but it's only a first step." Watkiss brings up a valid point that has been the source of much debate. Some feel that FLDS mothers who allow their children to be married to older men should also face charges regarding their complicity. Watkiss continued, "And I know that many of the CPS workers who worked on this case, initially, think that the mothers are every bit as culpable. But because the media from Oprah Winfrey on down went on to that ranch after the raid, and basically, oh, you know, they`re nice women in their pastel dresses. "You know what? The parents are guilty of -- and I don't want to be crass about this, but pimping their children out to get brownie points with the prophet and brownie points in heaven. "It's good they're holding Mr. Jeffs accountable. They`ve already tried seven of these guys. Texas juries have not found these guys amusing at all. They've given them very significant prison sentences. Jury selection began today in what promises to be the most high profile of these trials, the trial of Mr. Jeffs. There seems to be very good evidence that he, himself, while on run from the law in Utah and Arizona, came down to his little shin dig over in El Dorado, Texas, that temple he built, to get away from the pressure in Utah and Arizona that activists and a few reporters have brought on him. He went down and took two underage brides at that location. He`s now on trial for that." You may view two important videos to the left. The first is Warren Jeffs instructing his followers on polygamy and celestial and plural marriage. The second is an older video from the 2008 raid upon the Yearning for Zion Ranch and is between Larry King and a group of mothers whose children were taken away from them. Do you agree with Watkiss? Are members of the FLDS cult essentially pimping out their young daughters in order to score points in heaven? Charisse Van Horn is a freelance writer who has served in ministry in the Tampa Bay community. She graduated Summa Cum Laude from Faith Theological Seminary and Christian College. It is her desire to help those who have been oppressed by the chains of religion, mind control and false leaders find true spiritual freedom, wholeness and well being. | |
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Examiner.com Originally published July 26, 2011 | |
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