Human rights being violated
 
Opinion
Custer County Chronicle
 
After witnessing first hand this weekend the devastation of a mother and grandmother who was refused access to her daughter and grandchildren, we are more convinced than ever that there are human rights violations occurring regularly at the so-called FLDS compound near Pringle in Custer County.

Jane Blackmore of British Columbia, Canada, drove nearly 1,000 miles with some members of her family just to see her daughter, Susie, and two grandchildren she knows are at the compound in Pringle. Several years ago, Jane left the FLDS group, which means she also left behind some members of her immediate family. Jane tracked her daughter down by linking her husband, Ben Edward Johnson, with the compound in Pringle through a photo of Johnson. He is the person in charge of the Pringle group after taking over from Jerold Williams.

Jane was allowed to visit with her daughter once before when Ben took her to Rapid City. This time she also offered to visit with Susie in Rapid City or Custer, but she received no such confirmation from Ben. After repeated phone calls to him went unanswered, she and her family members decided to drive out to the Pringle compound and demand to see Susie and her four grandchildren. Family members also brought gifts for Susie.

They drove through an open gate at the compound and parked just inside. Jane got out and, accompanied by one of her sons, sought to see her daughter. Instead, she was told she was trespassing on private property and told repeatedly to leave. "I just want to see my daughter," she pleaded with the men in the compound. Eventually, a sheriff’s deputy arrived and told the family they had to leave because they were trespassing. Jane tearfully said she was not allowed to see her daughter because she was a "bad influence."

Her sons said Susie probably wasn’t even told her mother and family were there to see her. If she did, and her husband told her not to see them, she would have to obey him or face expulsion from the group. That, according to Mormon doctrine, would mean Susie could not obtain eternal salvation. She has to please her husband and do everything he says, or face eternal damnation. According to Mormon doctrine, she has to please her husband in order to be called up to his celestial planet after he dies.

FLDS women are indoctrinated to believe they must obey every wish of their husbands in order to be saved. Their husbands exercise complete physical and emotional control over them to include their thought processes. This runs contrary to the Christian belief that eternal salvation can only be obtained through Jesus Christ, who is Lord and God of us all. FLDS indoctrination leads women to be fearful of not pleasing their husbands. Thus, we can see why Susie would be reluctant to see any of her family members, no matter how much she missed them or desired to visit with them.

A cult seeks to keep its members in line by using control and limiting personal freedoms. What we are seeing at the Pringle compound is a prime example of this control. A fence surrounding the compound can be used to keep people inside as well as keep people out. The fence is a much more visible means of controlling the inside human inhabitants. A guard or observation tower on the property tends to make it appear to be more of a prison than a commune where people are free to come and go. This is not the case at the Pringle compound.

We believe human rights are being violated by the leaders of the compound and call for a welfare check of all its inhabitants, especially female. There has been something sinister about this situation from the beginning.
 
CusterCountyNews.com
Originally published August 30, 2007
 
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