Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS)

Introduction

Polygamy was lived openly until 1890 by members of the LDS (Mormon) church in Utah. The church officially abandoned the practice in order to get statehood but until the second manifesto about 20 years later the church took no official action against practicing polygamists. The LDS church now takes a harsh stance against polygamy (or at least anyone who publicly admits that they practice it). When the church abandoned plural marriage with the second manifesto, existing polygamists were granted amnesty by the government, and were allowed by the church and the state to continue living polygamy until they died. Apparently the last church-sanctioned polygamist died in 1976, but this says nothing of the thousands who continue to practice it today.

Brief History

The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS) is a separatist group of Mormon fundamentalists and may be America's largest polygamous group. The church is not officially affiliated with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, from which it broke off early in the 20th century although it actually uses the same Scriptures that the LDs do.  The FLDS are located in Bountiful, Canada and make up virtually the entire population of Colorado City, AZ (aka Hildale, UT), led by FLDS “prophet” Warren Jeffs who is on the FBI’s ten most wanted list.  The FLDS headquarters have been, for nearly the last century, in Hildale, Utah, which is a sister city with Colorado City, AZ.  The cities were once known as Short Creek, founded in 1913 as a ranch. Short Creek’s location straddling the state border helped the group could avoid legal action by moving across one state line to the other. The area is also geographically isolated by the Grand Canyon. In 1953, Arizona police authorities organized what became known as the "Short Creek Raid", in which numerous leaders were arrested. However, public outcry came when newsreels showed children being taken from their mothers and fathers being thrown in jail. This doomed the political career of Governor John Howard Pyle. In 2003 the church received increased attention from the State of Utah when police officer Rodney Holm, a member of the church, was convicted of unlawful sexual conduct with a 16- or 17-year-old and one count of bigamy for his marriage to and impregnation of plural wife Ruth Stubbs. The conviction was the first legal action against a member of the church since the Short Creek Raid. Various controversies as well as objections to the growing practice of arranged marriages to underage women in Short Creek, led to a split between what is now the Apostolic United Brethren and the FLDS. The FLDS headquarters has apparently been moved to Eldorado, TX, where a temple has been built and a large movement of FLDS church members has begun. Since 2002 Warren Jeffs has led the church, succeeding his father, Rulon Jeffs. The number of members of the church is estimated to be between 6,000 and 10,000 in America.

Issues of Abuse

This community is known for its older men taking “child brides” as young as thirteen, for driving boys out of the community for competing with older men for wives. The plural wives, not being recognized as such by the law, receive welfare  as single mothers (a practice known as “bleeding the beast”). FLDS members are afraid to disobey the "prophet" out of fear for their eternal salvation. Although the group teaches that the purpose of sexual intimacy is for procreation only, rape and incest are common. FLDS "Prophet" Warren Jeffs is wanted by the FBI for two counts of sexual assault on a minor. Allegations of welfare fraud, tax fraud, incest, statutory rape, physical, emotional and psychological abuse--hidden by a veil of secrecy, isolation, and deprivation--in the FLDS dominated communities have been widely reported in 2004 throughout United States media. At the time of his death, former Leader and Prophet Rulon T Jeffs was confirmed to have married 22 women and fathered more than 60 children. Warren Jeffs may have 60 wives. Critics of this lifestyle say that its practice leads unavoidably to bride shortages and likely to child marriages, incest, and other forms of child abuse.

Doctrine and Practices

Dress and Behavior

Both men and women must abide by a strict dress code. Women are generally forbidden to wear makeup, wear pants or any skirt above the knees, or cut their hair. Men are usually seen wearing plain clothing, usually a collar shirt and pants, and do not wear any tattoos or body piercings. In Colorado City, Arizona, women and girls usually wear homemade dresses and long stockings in addition to the Mormon holy underwear.

Ownership of Property

The FLDS Church also commonly prevents its members from owning property, instead being entirely held by the church itself. Within their doctrine, the Church views this as a form of the "Law of Consecration" or "United Order". This is most notable in the United Effort Plan (UEP) which held all FLDS church member's property, homes, and most businesses and therefore most jobs in the Colorado City and Hildale areas. There is an ongoing lawsuit brought by the Utah Attorney General's Office to protect the UEP for the current residents of Colorado City and Hildale, reassigning all assets of the UEP and its trustees, ultimately removing Warren Jeffs and the FLDS Church from control of this multi-million dollar asset. The FLDS Church did not defend this trust when seized by the Utah Attorney General's Office.

Racism

Also following original Mormon teaching, the FLDS teaches racism. "Prophet" Warren Jeffs teaches that  "the black race is the people through which the devil has always been able to bring evil unto the earth." This follows from early Mormon beliefs such as that held by LDS Prophet Brigham Young who said that no person having the least particle of Negro blood can hold the priesthood. This attitude is based on Joseph Smith’s own beliefs that negroes (and American Indians) are descendants of the Lamanites who were cursed with dark skin by God (see 1 Nephi 11-13; 3 Nephi 2:15; or Mormon 5:15 for examples of this teaching).

Polygamy

Clearly the biggest issue on most people’s minds when hearing of the FLDS is that of polygamy. The FLDS church technically teaches polygyny ( marriage of more than one woman to one man), but I will use the more popular term “polygamy”. The FLDS church does not allow polyandry, where women take more than one husband. In the church's teachings on the plurality of wives, women are required to be subordinate to their husbands as a general requirement for the highest eternal salvation of men (i.e. godhood). The man will repopulate his own planet with the wives he wakes up at the resurrection. Thus, both spouses require one another for godhood (entrance into the celestial kingdom). It is believed by the FLDS that a man should have at least three wives to fulfill this requirement. The church currently practices "The Law of Placing" under which all marriages are assigned by the prophet of the church. Under the Law of Placing, the prophet elects to give or take wives to or from men according to their worthiness. As with many of the above practices, the FLDS are really just taking official LDS doctrine seriously instead of abrogating it as culture shifts and certain beliefs become burdensome. LDS Scriptures state quite clearly that polygamy is not only appropriate but commanded as an everlasting practice. Nowhere is this made clearer than Doctrine and Covenants 132 which is quoted below (headings added). This teaching contradicts the Book of Mormon which states "Behold, David and Solomon truly had many wives and concubines, which thing was abominable before me, saith the Lord. " (Jac. 2:24). But LDS leadership is always able to bend the rules when needed. D&C 132 authorized plural marriage but the "keys" to this practice are held by the prophet. Since the prophet revoked the law they can say it is no longer ion force (one wonders, tough, what Joseph  Smith meant by "everlasting" . . .). For a biblical response to polygamy see Polygamy.

A Larger Issue

The biggest problem with the FLDS is not necessarily polygamy, which is more of an effect than a cause. The basic structure of the cult is that of sexually aberrant, authoritarian men who “brainwash” their followers into thinking that multiple marriage is the only route to eternal salvation. Abuses continue unabated because the cult has this religious control. Even if cult members risk Hell to escape, the police chief and the mayor are FLDS too (at least in Co. City). Those escaping the cult may be marked for death (“blood atonement” – another vestige of early Mormon practice) by more extreme members. There is simply nowhere to turn within the cult for help.

Excerpts from D&C 132: a revelation given through Joseph Smith on July 12, 1843.
(full text here)

Polygamy (132:1-5)

1 Verily, thus saith the Lord unto you my servant Joseph, that inasmuch as you have inquired of my hand to know and understand wherein I, the Lord, justified my servants Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as also Moses, David and Solomon, my servants, as touching the principle and doctrine of their having many wives and concubines. 2 "Behold, and lo, I am the Lord thy God, and will answer thee as touching this matter. 3 Therefore, prepare thy heart to receive and obey the instructions which I am about to give unto you; for all those who have this law revealed unto them must obey the same. 4 For behold, I reveal unto you a new and an everlasting covenant; and if ye abide not that covenant, then are ye damned; for no one can reject this covenant and be permitted to enter into my glory. 5 For all who will have a blessing at my hands shall abide the law which was appointed for that blessing, and the conditions thereof, as were instituted from before the foundation of the world. 6 And as pertaining to the new and everlasting covenant, it was instituted for the fulness of my glory; and he that receiveth a fulness thereof must and shall abide the law, or he shall be damned, saith the Lord God. . . .

Becoming Gods (132:19-21)

19 And again, verily I say unto you, if a man marry a wife by my word, which is my law, and by the new and everlasting covenant, and it is sealed unto them by the Holy Spirit of promise, by him who is anointed, unto whom I have appointed this power and the keys of this priesthood; and it shall be said unto them 'Ye shall come forth in the first resurrection; and if it be after the first resurrection, in the next resurrection; and shall inherit thrones, kingdoms, principalities, and powers, dominions, all heights and depths' then shall it be written in the Lamb's Book of Life, that he shall commit no murder whereby to shed innocent blood, and if ye abide in my covenant, and commit no murder whereby to shed innocent blood, it shall be done unto them in all things whatsoever my servant hath put upon them, in time, and through all eternity; and shall be of full force when they are out of the world; and they shall pass by the angels, and the gods, which are set there, to their exaltation and glory in all things, as hath been sealed upon their heads, which glory shall be a fulness and a continuation of the seeds forever and ever. 20 Then shall they be gods, because they have no end; therefore shall they be from everlasting to everlasting, because they continue; then shall they be above all, because all things are subject unto them. Then shall they be gods, because they have all power, and the angels are subject unto them. 21 Verily, verily, I say unto you, except ye abide my law ye cannot attain to this glory. . . .

Adultery (132:41-44)

41 And as ye have asked concerning adultery, verily, verily, I say unto you, if a man receiveth a wife in the new and everlasting covenant, and if she be with another man, and I have not appointed unto her by the holy anointing, she hath committed adultery and shall be destroyed. 42 If she be not in the new and everlasting covenant, and she be with another man, she has committed adultery. 43 And if her husband be with another woman, and he was under a vow, he hath broken his vow and hath committed adultery. 44 And if she hath not committed adultery, but is innocent and hath not broken her vow, and she knoweth it, and I reveal it unto you, my servant Joseph, then shall you have power, by the power of my Holy Priesthood, to take her and give her unto him that hath not committed adultery but hath been faithful; for he shall be made ruler over many.

Joseph Smith's Wife (132:52-54)

52 And let mine handmaid, Emma Smith, receive all those that have been given unto my servant Joseph, and who are virtuous and pure before me; and those who are not pure, and have said they were pure, shall be destroyed, saith the Lord God. 53 For I am the Lord thy God, and ye shall obey my voice; and I give unto my servant Joseph that he shall be made ruler over many things; for he hath been faithful over a few things, and from henceforth I will strengthen him. 54 And I command mine handmaid, Emma Smith, to abide and cleave unto my servant Joseph, and to none else. But if she will not abide this commandment she shall be destroyed, saith the Lord; for I am the Lord thy God, and will destroy her if she abide not in my law.

Wife's Obedience (132:61-66)

61 And again, as pertaining to the law of the priesthood "if any man espouse a virgin, and desire to espouse another, and the first give her consent, and if he espouse the second, and they are virgins, and have vowed to no other man, then is he justified; he cannot commit adultery for they are given unto him; for he cannot commit adultery with that that belongeth unto him and to no one else. 62 And if he have ten virgins given unto him by this law, he cannot commit adultery, for they belong to him, and they are given unto him; therefore is he justified. 63 But if one or either of the ten virgins, after she is espoused, shall be with another man, she has committed adultery, and shall be destroyed; for they are given unto him to multiply and replenish the earth, according to my commandment, and to fulfil the promise which was given by my Father before the foundation of the world, and for their exaltation in the eternal worlds, that they may bear the souls of men; for herein is the work of my Father continued, that he may be glorified. 64 And again, verily, verily, I say unto you, if any man have a wife, who holds the keys of this power, and he teaches unto her the law of my priesthood, as pertaining to these things, then shall she believe and administer unto him, or she shall be destroyed, saith the Lord your God; for I will destroy her; for I will magnify my name upon all those who receive and abide in my law. 65 Therefore, it shall be lawful in me, if she receive not this law, for him to receive all things whatsoever I, the Lord his God, will give unto him, because she did not believe and administer unto him according to my word; and she then becomes the transgressor; and he is exempt from the law of Sarah, who administered unto Abraham according to the law when I commanded Abraham to take Hagar to wife. 66 And now, as pertaining to this law, verily, verily, I say unto you, I will reveal more unto you, hereafter; therefore, let this suffice for the present. Behold, I am Alpha and Omega. Amen.