Lisa Sandberg or Goebbels?

email sent to:
lsandberg@express-news.net

I just finished reading your last article "Few willing to break away", and I am rather sorry that I talked to you today before reading it.

What you wrote in that article borders on Nazi Propaganda in my mind. I hope you are more fair in the future.

For one, Elissa Wall did not leave her husband Allen until she was excommunicated for having sex with my cousin Lamont Barlow. She would come back to her and Allen's home even after her Vegas escapades with Lamont. She was as forced to marry as you are forced to write for the Chronicle.

Sam Brower is a P I hired by Dan Fischer to find ways to destroy the FLDS church, and he does not know what he is talking about. Many people have left the church and the community. Just because they don't check in with him doesnt mean they are afraid of anything. He is completely full of it when it comes to his allegations of the parents hauling off with the children, and the fact that you perpetuate the myth is reckless, unfair, and callous.

And Steven "King" Singular? Give me a break.Taking as "evidence" the stories of bitter ex wives as the basis of a book, does not make him any more an expert than Nancy Grace.

"There was enormous pressure put on women"
The only pressure put on anyone is from those who are trying to destroy the church. The women in the FLDS, if you are too dim witted to not already have noticed, are not there for any other reason than they want to be. The only pressure they feel is from bitter ex members, authorities, and news reporters trying to force them to stop believing in their religion. The reason they wouldn't want to testify against the men is because they believe the men to be innocent, and for no other reason. Period.

As far as going underground, I only wonder if you would go underground if your people were persecuted as much as mine are. Just think of Germany...

The victims are the FLDS people, and they are victimized by libelous, one sided articles like that one.

Again, I am not afraid of speaking the truth to anyone who will tell it fairly. But if you are planning on using me to write stories like that one, prepare for another "clam up".
I was going to write to tell you that there is more than one "William Jessop" and some other details, but I think I may be sorry for communicating with you at all, or with Susan for that matter.

Apologies if I have jumped to conclusions,
Al Holm

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To the Editor of the Houston Chronicle:

Hello, I am a former member of the FLDS church. Recently a reporter named Lisa Sandberg contacted me about a story she was writing concerning the FLDS leadership. I had not read her previous stories before the interview, and the person who gave her my telephone number was someone I had thought I could trust with it. So I spoke openly to Ms Sandberg.

Unfortunately after reading her other spiel I regret to having told her anything as I believe she has a destructive agenda in her articles concerning the FLDS people. Especially the most recent rant titled "Sect chief's daughter seeks order against FLDS official" which is sheer propaganda unmatched since Hitler's right hand man Joseph Goebbles. This witch hunt against an innocent people needs to stop. And the Houston Chronicle needs to stop being an outlet for one sided slander and accusations against that church.

Although I have not read her article about me, I believe that she wants to portray me as angry or confused about the leadership of the FLDS church. Which is not true. I do not know who the current leader is, but it is not something I am worried about in the slightest bit. I told her that I had a difficult time reaching the leaders because some of them are underground due to the extreme amount of persecution against them. It has nothing to do with me being unable to rejoin the church. That is my own fault. Also she will likely portray that I think Warren Jeffs was off his rocker in prison interviews or in photo's that have appeared on the internet. While I believe he did have a nervous breakdown due to his solitary confinement, and I do not approve of girls getting married under the legal age in the state they reside, I have no dispute with that man whom I have had only a wonderful relationship with my entire life. He is the most humble man I have ever met who is still alive, and I know without a shadow of a doubt that he would never have willfully mistreated anyone, least of all young girls. Regardless of what bitter, vendetta driven ex members say. [Edit HERE is her article]

As one who was born and raised in the FLDS I have witnessed many weddings and marriages in that church, including my own. Lisa asked me about how many were to underage girls that I saw, and I replied very few, one in twenty at the very most. In fact much much less than one in twenty. Due to the fact that the marriages are arranged after the ladies request, and all contact with the opposite sex is not allowed outside of marriage, the marriage vow is merely the beginning of courtship. Most marriages are not consummated for months if not years after the original ceremony. This I know from personal experience as well as careful study of our church history. The exceptions are very rare.

Thank you for allowing me to write in your editorial section. You may contact me at my email address: pligchild@gmail.com or view my blog at FLDSView.blogspot.com