Child welfare in Texas removes children from polygamist compound UPDATE #13

[Vela]

Shepgirl, you are ignorant and your remarks just paint you moreso. Are you a mormon? Have you ever been a mormon? If the answer is no, then you have NEVER been inside a mormon temple. Only those who belong to the church and have blessings and recomends from their bishops are allowed into the temples. You obviously do not belong to the mormon church and therefore do not know anything about what they do or don't do to help others. If you were a mormon you would already know how much they do for those in need. And actually I am not a mormon either but I find your remarks completely ignorant.

As far as the FLDS, there is a lot that people don't know or understand about it, and not everyone who practices polygamy falls under the same umbrella. Some offshoot groups do very strange and odd things, but not all of them who practice it beleive in those things so it's best not to use a broad brush to paint all people the same, even those who beleive some of the same teachings. I think that goes for all religions whether someone is a beleiver of them or not. Child abuse shoudl not be tolerated in any religion, but I also beleive they are going about this the wrong way.

[shepgirl]

Vela---I wasn't going to answer this but to set the record straight I do know about the mormon religion, know the beliefs, know how they pray and have been in a temple. I know exactly how the religion works. If you're wondering how I know let me educate you to the fact that I was a mormon and quit for a very good reason for another religion.

"Child abuse should not be tolerated in any religion"

Child abuse should not be tolerated period, religion or not.

As this is a pet forum, maybe religion and politics belong on a different forum.

[caseysmom]

Shepgirl, Honestly you are pretty new here to be saying how this forum should be run and coming on here insulting whole groups of people.

[Catty1]

shepgirl - this is the post from Karen, the moderator, when the Dog House forum was created. I know you are new, and this spells out why it is here. And yup, religion and politics are mentioned in it, among other things.

http://petoftheday.com/talk/showthread.php?t=23125

We have created a new forum for any post that is in some way controversial, upsetting, or just makes us go eeeew! In it are threads about the war, debates and arguments about religion, patriotism and politics, and the recipe for "poop cake."

Those posts have been "sent to The Dog House." If you are easily upset, The Dog House is not a place you want to go.

We do not mean any offense to dogs in naming it "The Dog House."

Pet Talk is designed to be a friendly place for people who know how special pets really are. It's not a suitable place for discussing the nature of war, which religion is "the true religion," or truly controversial subjects.

Many of our members, however, are compelled to discuss these issues. We have created "The Dog House" so that our members may share their thoughts in a friendly, caring considerate manner.

Don't be offended if your post is moved into The Dog House. If you are upset by a particular post in another forum, and think it needs to be sent to The Dog House, you can Private Message or email me or Paul. We know every pet is special, and every member of Pet Talk is special, too. We are just trying to make Pet Talk the friendliest place we can for all our members.

[shepgirl]

Thanks for posting this Catty. I actually think my post might be better in the "DOGHOUSE" part of the forum. I'm not trying to tell anyone how to run the forum as was mentioned but I myself prefer to discuss dogs I was only dicussing the topic because of what happened in Texas and the whole thing was so offensive. I get pretty rattled when kids get abused.

[Karen]

Thanks for posting this Catty. I actually think my post might be better in the "DOGHOUSE" part of the forum. I'm not trying to tell anyone how to run the forum as was mentioned but I myself prefer to discuss dogs I was only dicussing the topic because of what happened in Texas and the whole thing was so offensive. I get pretty rattled when kids get abused.

This whole thread IS in the "Dog House" forum.

[lizbud]

Well, back to the subject of this thread: This is an article about an
upcoming look inside the lives of the women & children.



FLDS polygamy sect gets a closer look - and it's chilling
With their long braids and old-fashioned dresses, the women of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints compound in Texas project an image of clean-scrubbed, prairie wholesomeness.

Given that these women and their children look like they’ve stepped out of etchings from “Little House on the Prairie," you have to wonder, could what went on at the FLDS’ Yearning for Zion compound really have been that bad?

The answer is yes, if several former FLDS women interviewed for a Tuesday documentary on WE are to be believed.


This week’s episode of the WE documentary series “The Secret Lives of Women,” which airs at 9 p.m. Tuesday on the cable channel, examines the world of the breakaway polygamist cult. And this documentary does make the case that the FLDS group is a cult, complete with a prophet who has made doom-laden pronouncements about the necessity of “blood sacrifice” by his followers.

The chaos created by Texas authorities, who recently stepped in and removed hundreds of children from the Yearning for Zion Ranch after an abuse complaint was called in to the state’s child protective services hotline, is unfortunate, but the documentary also makes the case that the children of this secretive, controlling sect especially the young girls, are and were at risk for many different kinds of abuse.

The hourlong film features in-depth interviews with Flora Jessop, who ran away from an FLDS settlement at age 16 and for decades has been an activist helping women and children leave the group. Her relative, Carolyn Jessop, is also interviewed; Carolyn is the author of the current bestseller “Escape,” which tells the story of how she just barely managed to leave a violent, loveless FLDS marriage with her eight children in tow.

This workmanlike documentary is marred by a terribly tinny, cheesy soundtrack and some sloppy, choppy editing (though what I viewed was an rough cut of the episode, so perhaps that’s been remedied). Still, what the Jessop women have to say is fascinating – and frightening.

Flora, Carolyn and others with knowledge of the group say that backbreaking labor is the norm at FLDS compounds (even for children), and physical violence is apparently routine. Carolyn says that her “sister-wives” frequently punished her for her transgressions by beating her children. Her husband, FLDS leader Merril Jessop, made her his fourth wife when she was 18, and throughout her eight pregnancies, she was denounced by other women when she experienced severe nausea and vomiting (this was a sign of her lack of faith, she was told).

Carolyn was blamed as a “sinful mother” when she gave birth to a baby with disabilities (she was encouraged to let the child die). Flora talks about her sister, who was brutally raped and then spirited away to a FLDS compound in Canada. Seven years later, the activist is still trying to find and save her sister.

Perhaps the saddest revelation is that mothers are encouraged to keep their many children at arms’ length – hugging and kissing and other signs of affection are strongly discouraged. No one can show more love for a family member than they can for the FLDS’ self-styled prophet, Warren Jeffs, who was convicted in 2007 of being an accomplice to rape. As for the many “excess” boys that the compound produces, according to this film and other news reports, they are routinely cast out so that a few male leaders can keep absolute control of the FLDS flock, which is permitted almost no contact with the outside world.

All in all, this is one case in which the facts may be even scarier and more dramatic than what’s been conveyed in the mainstream media coverage of the FLDS affair