Arizona revokes badges of 2 FLDS town marshals

"Arizona authorities have revoked the badges of two police officers from the polygamous border towns of Hildale, Utah and Colorado City, Ariz.

At a meeting in Phoenix on Wednesday, the Arizona Peace Officer Standards and Training Board voted unanimously to revoke the certifications of Colorado City Town Marshal Fred Barlow and one of his deputies, Preston Barlow.

"This was about peace officers not doing their job," said Tom Hammarstrom, the director of Arizona POST."

Full story

Technorati Tags: FLDS, Mormons, plural marriage, polygamy, Utah, Warren Jeffs, town marshals

Should People Be Free To Be Enslaved?: Polygamy, Prostitution, and the "Consenting Adults" Argument

"As the spiritual leader or "prophet" of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints ("FLDS"), Jeffs has allegedly been involved in facilitating many more marriages involving underage women, including plural marriages, than the charges against him reflect. As FindLaw columnist Marci Hamilton suggested in her persuasive essay on the subject, Jeffs's arrest could signal a new willingness on the part of our public institutions to prioritize children's rights over absolute religious prerogative. It could also, I would suggest, highlight a dark side to polygamy - one that belies the claims of those who defend it as a "private" matter between consenting adults."

Full Opinion Can be Read, in all it's Glory, here

Technorati Tags: FLDS, Mormons, plural marriage, polygamy, Utah, Warren Jeffs

Defense rests in Jeffs case; closing arguments slated for Friday

"ST. GEORGE - After calling just 10 of its 70 listed witnesses, the defense has rested in the trial of Warren S. Jeffs, the polygamous sect leader accused of being an accomplice to rape.

The prosecution planned to call one, unidentified rebuttal witness. After that, 5th District Judge James Shumate said, jurors will go home, take Thursday off while jury instructions are being drafted, and then return Friday to hear closing arguments and begin deliberations."

Full Story

Technorati Tags: FLDS, Mormons, plural marriage, polygamy, Utah, Warren Jeffs

The Softer Side of the FLDS

"ST. GEORGE - Faithful followers of polygamous sect leader Warren S. Jeffs gave jurors another view of their religion Tuesday, saying it is based on love and kindness, makes women partners in marriage and gives them ultimate say in sexual matters.

Women are taught to be obedient to a husband only as long as he lives righteously, the nine witnesses said."

Full Story

Technorati Tags: FLDS, Mormons, plural marriage, polygamy, Utah, Warren Jeffs, sltrib

Uncle Fred arranged marriage, sister says at Jeffs trial

"ST. GEORGE — Fred Jessop, the stepfather of the woman accusing polygamist leader Warren Jeffs of rape as an accomplice, insisted his daughter marry a cousin she despised, an older sister testified in 5th
District Court on Monday.

"Fred put the marriage together, but Warren could have stopped it," Rebecca Musser testified during cross-examination by defense counsel Wally Bugden. "Fred insisted and Warren upheld it."

Full Story

Technorati Tags: FLDS, Mormons, plural marriage, polygamy, Utah, Warren Jeffs, Fred Jessop

Jeffs prosecutors rest case after playing recorded sermon

"ST. GEORGE, Utah — Prosecutors played a 30-minute sermon Tuesday and then rested their case against a polygamous-sect leader charged with sex crimes in the arranged marriage of a 14-year-old girl and her
older cousin.

Speaking to the faithful in 2002, Warren Jeffs said the sect's principles were under attack by Utah and Arizona authorities, a reference to increased scrutiny of ceremonial marriages involving minors.

But the tape was mostly a speech by Sam Barlow, a member of Jeffs' church and former marshal in Colorado City, Ariz., a small community on the Utah-Arizona border dominated by members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, which has a large complex in the West Texas town of Eldorado, about 40 miles south of San Angelo."

Full Story

Technorati Tags: FLDS, Mormons, plural marriage, polygamy, Utah, Warren Jeffs

Teen bride describes her wedding day

"ST. GEORGE, Utah -- A former follower of
a polygamous-sect leader sobbed on the witness stand Friday as she
described the terror and despair she felt on the eve of her wedding at
age 14, and said she became intensely depressed after having sex. "I
kept thinking I felt like I was getting ready for death," she testified
on the second day of the trial of Warren Jeffs, leader of the
Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints."

Full Story

Technorati Tags: FLDS, Mormons, plural marriage, polygamy, Utah, Warren Jeffs

Powered by ScribeFire.

Defense Grills Jeffs Accuser on Day 3

"ST. GEORGE, Utah -- A defense attorney picked over the testimony of a key witness in the trial of a polygamous sect leader Monday, looking for discrepancies in her story about being under overwhelming pressure to marry an older cousin when she was 14."

Full Story

Technorati Tags: FLDS, Mormons, plural marriage, polygamy, Utah, Warren Jeffs, Washington Post

Update: Warren Jeffs’ Trial…Wait Until You See What The Complainant Says Her Mother Said About The Marriage

"Read the text highlighted in red….does this mean that the complainant’s Mother is likewise an accessory to rape? Warren Jeffs is charged as an accessory for rape for allegedly enticing the complainant to marry ….and go forth and multiply (in Jeffs’ words.)"

Full Story

Technorati Tags: FLDS, Mormons, plural marriage, polygamy, Utah, Warren Jeffs

Teen bride describes her wedding day

"ST. GEORGE, Utah -- A former follower of
a polygamous-sect leader sobbed on the witness stand Friday as she
described the terror and despair she felt on the eve of her wedding at
age 14, and said she became intensely depressed after having sex. "I
kept thinking I felt like I was getting ready for death," she testified
on the second day of the trial of Warren Jeffs, leader of the
Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints."

Full Story

Technorati Tags: FLDS, Mormons, plural marriage, polygamy, Utah, Warren Jeffs, Star-Telegram.com

Powered by ScribeFire.

Polygamy leader told rape victim to repent

"ST. GEORGE, Utah (Reuters) - A young woman told a Utah court on Friday she wanted to die after being forced into sex at age 14 in a marriage arranged by one of the biggest U.S. polygamous sects.

But the self-styled prophet of the breakaway Mormon clan told her she was disobedient and needed to repent and submit to her new husband, the woman testified."

Full Story

Technorati Tags: FLDS, Mormons, plural marriage, polygamy, Utah, Warren Jeffs, Reuters, rape, repent

Powered by ScribeFire.

‘Jane Doe’ Testifies at Warren Jeffs Trial

"ST. GEORGE, Utah, Sept. 13 — The prosecution’s star witness in the trial of the fundamentalist Mormon polygamist
leader Warren S. Jeffs testified on Thursday that she was taught to
either obey church leaders without question or face dire consequences."

Full story


Technorati Tags: FLDS, Mormons, plural marriage, polygamy, Utah, Warren Jeffs, NY Times

Powered by ScribeFire.

Warren Steed Jeffs and His Numerous Marriages

"What You Can Learn From the Polygamous Marriages of Warren Steed Jeffs: Warren
Steed Jeffs, the polygamist leader of the Fundamentalist Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints that has 10,000 followers, has
numerous wives and nearly 60 children. These relationships can teach
about the dangers of allowing a person such as Jeffs to have so much
control over others' lives, especially the lives of young girls."

Visit the Site

Technorati Tags: FLDS, Mormons, plural marriage, polygamy, Utah, Warren Jeffs, about.com

Powered by ScribeFire.

POLYGAMY DIARIES

"In one of the most remote corners of America's Southwest desert sits the little dusty town of Colorado City, Ariz., home to the largest concentration of polygamists in North America."

Interesting site...take a look

Technorati Tags: FLDS, Mormons, plural marriage, polygamy, Utah, Warren Jeffs, azfamily.com

Powered by ScribeFire.

Polygamy on NPR

Talk of the Nation, September 12, 2007 ·
Warren Jeffs, the polygamous leader of The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, faces two counts of rape as an accomplice in the arranged marriage of a 14-year-old girl. Guests discuss Jeffs' controversial sect, freedom of religion, polygamy and fundamentalism.

Full Tale Begins Here

Powered by ScribeFire.

Technorati Tags: Audio, FLDS, Mormons, morning edition, NPR, plural marriage, polygamy, Utah, Warren Jeffs

Let's Think For a Moment

A Quick thought on the Warren Jeffs trial:

It seems as though many people may find it absolutely "shocking" that an individual can claim to have received "revelation" or direction directly from God. Truthfully, I find this notion much more shocking, when you consider that somewhere between 70-80 % of the population here in the US (depending on which source you use) claim to be "Christians", and adhere to at least some small degree to the "Christian" faith. If I am not mistaken, Christianity is a religion that has been chock full of individuals who have received direct "revelation" from God. Saul of Tarsus for example.

I wonder how many of these so called "christians" actually believe (are convicted) in the authority of their own scriptures, are able and willing to follow God's Word completely, and how many of them are simply apostates in disguise. I would say roughly 70-80%.


Technorati Tags: Warren Jeffs, FLDS, Mormons, Utah, Polygamy, Plural Marriage

Powered by ScribeFire.

Prosecutors in Warren Jeffs trial want to use recorded "revelation"

"ST. GEORGE — Prosecutors in the Warren Jeffs trial want to use a recorded "revelation" uttered by Jeffs that warns followers of a "conspiracy" facing the polygamous sect.

The statements, made by Jeffs in 2003 to a group of men, were recorded and transcribed, according to a motion filed in 5th District Court on Wednesday."

Full Story

Technorati Tags: Warren Jeffs, FLDS, Mormons, Utah, Polygamy, Plural Marriage

Powered by ScribeFire.

Choosing Sides in the Warren Jeffs Polygamy Trial

ST. GEORGE, Utah (Reuters) - The trial of the leader of the largest
polygamist sect in the United States is forcing people in Utah, where
polygamy has a long history, to confront a practice that many would
prefer stay hidden.

Full Story

Technorati Tags: Warren Jeffs, FLDS, Mormons, Utah, Polygamy, Plural Marriage

Powered by ScribeFire.

In Polygamy Country, Old Divisions Are Fading

ST. GEORGE, Utah, Sept. 7 — For generations of rural religious polygamists like those Warren S. Jeffs once led, this was the big town and the citadel of sin all in one.

St. George, founded on the southern route to California in wagon train days, was the place to buy groceries or spend an occasional night out. But it was also the local fortress of mainstream Mormonism, which is vehement in its opposition to polygamy.

The polygamists, in turn, looked down on Mormons as apostates who lost their way more than 100 years ago by denouncing polygamy, and thus the teachings of the church’s founder, Joseph Smith, in a political compromise to achieve statehood for Utah.

Full Story.

Technorati Tags: polygamy, plural marriage, Warren Jeffs Utah, Mormons, mainstream Mormonsism, polygamists, Joshuah's House

Powered by ScribeFire.

Jeffs trial puts spotlight on practices of polygamist sects

"Perhaps as a result of the prosecution of Fundamentalist LDS Church leader Warren Jeffs, other polygamist sects in Utah are no longer performing child-bride marriages.

If, as some church members contend, they ever performed them at all.

"We've had polygamous sects say, 'We will not do child-bride marriages,"' Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff told the Deseret Morning News."

Read Full Story Here

Technorati Tags: Polygamy, FLDS, LDS, Warren Jeffs, child brides

Powered by ScribeFire.