In the February issue, National Geographic magazine takes a in-depth look at the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS), who still practice plural marriage. Pictured is the family of Joe Jessop, who has five wives, 46 children, and 239 grandchildren.
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(image credit: Stephanie Sinclair)
Members of the faith describe the life that the Jessops and other founding families have built as idyllic, one in which old-fashioned devotion and neighborly cooperation are emphasized and children are raised in a wholesome environment free of television and junk food and social pressures. Critics, on the other hand, see the FLDS as an isolated cult whose members, worn down by rigid social control, display a disturbing fealty to one man, the prophet Warren Jeffs—who has claimed to be God's mouthpiece on Earth.
To spend time in Hildale and Colorado City is to come away with a more nuanced view. That view is revealed gradually, however, due to the insular nature of the community. Many of the oversize homes are tucked behind high walls, both to give children a safe place to play and to shield families from gawking Gentiles, as non-Mormons are known. Most residents avoid contact with strangers. National Geographic was given access to the community only on the approval of the church leadership, in consultation with the imprisoned Warren Jeffs.
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(image credit: Stephanie Sinclair)
They inhabit a curious wasteland. Their homes are misshapen plywood monstrosities kept in a constant state of "construction" (for tax purposes, I believe?), and their people look like extras on the set of Little House on the Prairie.
Their way of life has substantial problems. A culture that views the accumulation of wives as a status symbol has a hard time coming up with enough women to satisfy the powerful men. Note the peculiar side effect: though the men appear to be calling all the shots, women are WAY more important for perpetuating the polygamy. Thus many boys are ejected from home and community at the advent of manhood because too many frustrated and unmarried men would have a destabilizing effect
To me, forcing a mother to shun her own flesh and blood just because the community's demographics require it is hellish. I have plenty of polygamists in my family tree and (to my knowledge) none of them were forced to that extremity by the patriarchy. The very thought is appalling. My ancestors' brand of the practice was decidedly different than the curious creation exhibited by these folks.
Also, the only reason these guys are able to accumulate so many wives is through systematic welfare fraud. There's no way the guy in the picture could support 46 kids on his own.
I'll state it as plainly as I can: polygamy is a MILLSTONE for these folks, all of them. A heavy weight of tradition and dogma that has contorted their relationships and souls, shrunk their households even as they multiplied their conquests, and forced them to exploit tax and welfare opportunities.
(And if any sort of welfare reforms cut these people off, I'm guessing they would stop accumulating wives tomorrow.)
That's because those young men have been thrown out onto the streets as "Lost Boys".
Seattle was full of these poor boys when i lived there. I'm sure it's the same with Denver and SLC.
Just goes to show that people will believe anything.
Be secluded, have a ton of wives, whatever. Just don't pretend that it's more than a bunch of horny nasty men wanting to screw numerous women (and girls).
1. The LDS Church did not spend "MILLIONS" of its own money. It asked its members to donate.
2. There is no "ANOTHER STATE". 750,000 LDS members live in California.
3. FLDS and LDS are different organizations anyway, so the point is irrelevant.
I live with my boyfriend (of 10 years) and girlfriend (of 7 years). We would love to be able to get married, but our state does not recognize gay or polygamous marriage.
FLDS (polygamists)are NOT Mormons--there is a huge difference. Mormons support marriage between one man and one woman. That's why they do not support gay marriage or polygamy.
Wow, 0 for 2.
I am glad you can live the way it pleases you to live without government interference, even if the government doesn't recognize your relationship.
Tertium Squid, who said they weren't human beings? Some of us just have deep reservations about what "they" do.
Your uneducated trolling ceases to amaze. You have internet access, so why don’t you try making some good use of it will ya? Unless I’ve confused your ignorance for defensiveness protecting the ideology of these people, then that would make perfect sense too.
http://www.childbrides.org/UEP_des_ex_members_now_serving_tax_notices.html
The 'One Cubic Foot' article in this issue of NG is actually why I bought it (& it's neatoramaworthy): http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2010/02/cubic-foot/wilson-text
I think it's the conventional wisdom, but perhaps my assumptions are not as valid as I thought.
http://www.rickross.com/reference/polygamy/polygamy1078.html
Anecdotally: I remember going to the grocery store in Hilldale ten years ago or so and seeing WIC instructions at the checkout, and the gal in front of me using food stamps or WIC something or other instead of cash.
The question is, do the multiple wives have any benefit from the government not recognizing their marriage? Even though they have husbands, they are accounted as single mothers, when they really don't fit the definition.