"The Latter-day Saints have always been a people to recognize and uphold religious liberty
without restraint from opposing sects; and the manifestations of their acts and labors prove beyond controversy, that they extend freedom to all, with intolerance for none. Shortly after the Church, was organized in 1830, when the Prophet Joseph Smith was asked to give an epitomized statement of the "Mormon Faith," as it is commonly called, among other declarations of the religious convictions of the Latter- day Saints, he made the following assertion, which has ever been kept sacred and inviolate by this much despised people: "We claim the privilege of worshipping God Almighty according to the dictates of our conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may."
"This declaration breathes of the same spirit as that which actuated the noble defenders of '76. Hear those sturdy, bold, faithful patriots in Congress assembled — stirred by the promptings of justice — filled with a spirit of love for their country, and freedom for its sires, affirm that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press." Happy for the country, blest would be the Union, if that same spirit of freedom, and the same acknowledgments of religious liberty had descended to after years, that the people of the present day might enjoy its glorious privileges. Need we say that the country is full of religious intolerants today! Have we not seen these Pharasaical zealots, blinded in their own ignorance and bigotry, mantled in the flaring robe of usurped authority, placing daggers in the hands of the reckless and unthinking rabble, with which to ply upon the righteous and God-fearing, because they cannot force or persuade them to follow in their wake? Simply because we do not see alike, or believe as our Christian friends do, should this give them a license to abuse and persecute us? No! verily no! We accord to every man the privilege of worshipping and believing as his conscience may direct, and we look for a reciprocation of such treatment, especially from those who profess to be followers of the Lord Jesus.
"It is often argued by our opponents, that the Mormon people are seeking to gain power and authority in civil affairs to the exclusion of all others not of their faith. This is not true — the power they seek for, is the power of Almighty God, and the liberty they crave, is freedom to worship Him according to the dictates of their own conscience. The first President of the Church of Jesus Christ in these last days — that faithful martyr who sealed his testimony with his life's blood that his testament may be of force to this generation, said: "The Saints can testify whether I am willing to lay down my life for my brethren. It has been demonstrated that I have been willing to die for a 'Mormon.' I am bold to declare before heaven that I am just as ready to die in defending a Presbyterian, a Baptist, or a good man of any other denomination: for the same principle which would trample upon the rights of a Latter-day Saint would trample upon the rights of a Roman Catholic, or any other denomination who may be unpopular and too weak to defend themselves." by the spirit of its leaders, one can very readily come to know and understand the motives of their adherents. This being true, certainly the leaders of "Mormonisrn" have been (judging from the above declarations and assertions) men who were broad-minded, liberal, patriotic, and willing to grant unto others the blessed privilege of believing and worshipping as they thought best. We have no moral right to suppress, or control others in their religious views; for it is a God-given legacy and agency bestowed upon man, that each shall choose for themselves the goal they would obtain. Then let us not be so contracted with hide-bound bigotry as to endeavor to choke others out of existence simply because "they don't believe as we." Remember the Lord God is the Judge, and He will reward every man according to his works."
Latter Day Saints Southern Star Vol.2 Page 196
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
The most important part of the body
I recieved a text from my son that said:
"I love you, I want to be a shoulder of our prophet"
And later, a good friend sent me this:
My mother used to ask me what the most important part of the
body is. Through the years I would take a guess at what I thought was the
correct Answer.When I was younger, I thought sound was very important to us
as humans, so I said, 'My ears, Mommy.'She said, 'No. Many people are deaf. But you keep thinking about it and I will ask you again soon.'
Several years passed before she asked me again. Since making my first
attempt, I had contemplated the correct answer. So this time I told her, 'Mommy, sight is very important to everybody, so it must be our eyes.'She looked at me and told me, 'You are learning fast, but the answer is not correct because there are many people who are blind.'Stumped again, I continued my quest for knowledge and over the
years, Mother asked me a couple more times and always her answer was,
'No. But you are getting smarter every year, my child.'Then one year, my grandfather died. Everybody was hurt.
Everybody was crying. Even my father cried. I remember that especially because
it was only the second time I saw him cry.My Mom looked at me when it was our turn to say our final
good-bye to my Grandfather. She asked me, 'Do you know the most important body part yet, my dear?' I was shocked when she asked me this now. I always thought this was a game between her and me. She saw the confusion on my face and told me, 'This question is very important. It shows that you have really lived in your life. For every body part you gave me in the past, I have told you were wrong and I have given you an example why.But today is the day you need to learn this important lesson.'
She looked down at me as only a mother can. I saw her eyes well up with tears.
She said, 'My dear, the most important body part is your shoulder.'I asked, 'Is it because it holds up my head?'She replied, 'No, it is because it can hold the head of a friend
or a loved one when they cry. Everybody needs a shoulder to cry on sometime in
life, my dear. I only hope that you have enough love and friends that you will
always have a shoulder to cry on when you need it.'
Then and there I knew the most important body part is not a selfish one. It is made for others and not for yourself. It is sympathetic to the pain of others.
People will forget what you said. People will forget what you did .But people will NEVER forget how you made them feel.
Good friends are like stars...You don't always see them, but
you always know they are there.
The Crime of Marriage
Paradigm shifting time! This is indeed the Orwellian era, that is the only way a betrothal,which is an eternal contract of mutual benefit,; and sometimes the eventual sacred procreation, can be twisted into “sexual assault of a child”.
Crime
We all know that coercion is wrong. Forcing someone to do what is wrong should never be tolerated. But what is force, and who decides what is or is not wrong? And who decides who should tolerate what? Countless hours of lawyer-ing and politic-ing have stretched and diluted the definition of “force”, all in attempts to mitigate personal responsibility. Let me save us all some time. Force is physical, or the threat of physical, coercion.
Now stop this “spiritual threat” nonsense!! This is central to the first amendment! This is like saying a man who threatens his wife that she will magically turn into a frog, is responsible for what she does because of it. The only way to prove a “damnation” threat as real, you must prove that the religion is true! Now all you lawyers and judges go write on the chalkboard fifty times: ”Damnation threats are not legitimate unless the church that makes the threat is established as the true church by the state” Although irrelevant to FLDS marriages, as there is never any type of threat over when to marry or a particular match, it is true just the same.
It is in fact a crime to force (as defined above) anyone to do anything against their will after they reach the age of accountability, unless to protect others or themselves from harm. It is not a crime to teach or persuade someone to accept your definition of right and wrong, or else every lawyer who speaks to a jury is a criminal. In fact, the prosecution in the Warren Jeffs case actually convinced the jury that it was RIGHT to believe a lie about the FLDS doctrine.
The police state gives responsibility for the actions of a “child” differently than that of an adult, and also attempts to protect children from adults. In the FLDS age has little relevance to responsibility or protection. All ages are responsible, and all are protected. In secular society “crime” is punished by monetary fines and incarceration via guns. In the FLDS crime is punished by disassociation, “the silent treatment”, or enforced “escape”. Once upon a time in this country, marriages were merely registered with the government for census purposes. But now, civil marriage is a government controlled welfare state function. No wonder it is rare! Religious FLDS eternal marriage is in many instances a “civil crime”. And I could be used as evidence.
A Dult Hood
Adulthood, to most people, is defined as the age to vote, or to buy alcohol, but that is not truly when you enter the dult (neighbor)hood.
The age of accountability is when people have more personal responsibility for what they do than their parents do. In Secular society [The police state] the age of accountability is either the age at which one can civilly [licensed by government] be married, or charged as an adult with a crime, or emancipated from their parents, or turn 18 years old, or 21 years old. In the FLDS, the age of accountability starts at the age of baptism. To the Secular (whiners) society, the age of 18 is when you enter adulthood, if you are not already civilly married or emancipated by a judge, in just about every state, and at age 21 you are officially an adult, and lose most all protection from authority. Most teenagers decide for themselves when they are adults, but it is not “legal” unless the police state says so. If a young man is not yet “legal” but feels he doesn’t need a judge, or his parents, to be responsible for him, he is a “Lost Boy” and needs to get welfare and mental help from Dan Fischer’s Diversity (freeloaders) Foundation. The phenomenon is not exclusively "associated with polygamy".
Fear
Obviously sexual activity is the most fiercely contested topic since The Garden of Eden. Through it humanity begins, and next to murder, rape is the worst possible crime. It is the ultimate oxy-moron. So-called “liberals” (libertines) believe that sexual activity is an act of freedom and has no relevance to law, unless it involves pedophilia (with varying definitions). Marriage, on the other hand is to be pondered and studied for years (sex, no big deal, marriage, noo!) And they are afraid of babies. So-called “conservatives” (hypocrites) believe that sexual activity is sin if outside of civil marriage, and age of civil marriage law should be strictly adhered to, and civil marriage is a religious act that makes it legitimate. And yet they forgive themselves and thier family but others should toe the line. For both liberal Republicans and conservative Democrats, marriage is worse (as in much more feared) than sexual activity is. Go look in the mirror, most people are to some degree hypocritical libertines. I have a mirror too.
In reality, intimacy is for babies, naturally. Marriage is a lot more than that, but is the only way in which babies and mothers can truly thrive. Women are “victims” (mothers) of “crimes” (babies), and should be protected “from” (in) that “abuse” (joy). Among other benefits, pregnancy is a Cancer fighter, especially under the age of 20.
In the FLDS, Marriage means commitment through eternity, and creates a haven for mothers and babies; while among libertines and hypocrites, marriage merely legitimizes sexual activity and has tax benefits. Marriage in the FLDS vs Marriage in Secular society is the difference between “the nest and the hive” vs “the birds and the bees”
Coercion
Real men never pressure their wife in any way, the womb is hers and she is master. Even though a natural trait of angelic femininity is submissiveness, a good man will wait for her. Weak men, who are not married, should be punished when they coerce any obviously brainwashed woman into sexual activity. That punishment should be civil marriage. How bout that for polygamy! How bout that for “underage” marriage! If there is anything women and girls should “escape”, it is whoredom. A true women’s rights movement would march on Washington demanding to pass a law giving them the right to be civilly married at consummation, and have the right to half of their husbands estate.
Fear of Marriage
When most women think of their own marriage, they are filled with happiness and life. But they are also afraid of the commitment. A sister of mine (who just so happened to be 21) said, "I don't want a man, I want a baby!" Most men are much more afraid of the commitment than women are, but they do enjoy marriage to gain the commitment of their bride.
Natural law shows that men are responsible for their wives, but women are not responsible for their husbands. The fact that marriage is more feared in society today than sexual activity is blatantly obvious. Out of wedlock pregnancies are very common, teenage mothers and adult fathers are much more common than not, and a majority of children born today are unplanned. Not even to mention the murders of the unborn that occur.
Joy of Slavery
When most people think of polygyny they think of the subjugation of women, and this confuses me. It confuses me because it only proves that most people DO think that women are “less than”, whether they admit it or not; EVEN WOMEN. Marriage has absolutely nothing to do with personal freedom, and the basic human right to decide for yourself what you want to do. Marriage and family is no more slavery when there are two women than it is when there is one, in fact it is LESS so. I feel sorry for those who are married and feel that marriage is ever slavery. Perhaps they should understand the gospel better. Divorce, like Marriage, is not fully defined in the Bible, for women can separate from their husband if he is cruel or otherwise not living his religion; but a man can never put away his wife unless she commits adultery. He is responsible for her salvation, but she is not responsible for his.
Age Difference
A sixty year old man marries an eighteen year old girl. Is that a crime? Is that immoral? Is that slavery? If you cringe at the thought, you need to get your mind out of the gutter, and realize that marriage is not anything but a nest, a psychological home to go to. Outside of marriage, sexual activity is immoral and should be decried, yet practically all women seek a man who will be responsible for her, to marry her, whom is a rock for her to lean on. And all great men seek to be a loving father figure to his wives, no matter what his or her age is.
Multiple Love
Polygynous families are not “normal” in today’s society, but perpetual monogamist families are. Obviously in my experience, polygny is much more beneficial to children than monogamy, let alone the very common "visitation rights with step girlfriends". A woman can love her father, her husband, her sons, and her brothers all at the same time. Love, you must remember, is a verb. A man can love more than one wife just as easy as he can love his own two arms and two legs, and any two children. Love is not divided among them, it is complete for each. As my grandfather said “I love you, I love you, from the bottom of my heart, and a few other ladies occupy the upper part” There is not amore perfect dynamic in a home than one with a Magnanimous father, and sweet and independent mothers for each and all of the children. I grew up with over thirty siblings, and my mothers each went to college when they wanted to, and each earned their own money. And yet I (except when I purposefully snuck away) never was without supervision, love, and a nurturing home. I often think of the “Duggar Family”, just multiplied by two.
Raising Children
How many children can one woman handle for hours upon hours of the day? Ask a teacher. I went to the Salt Lake City Unified School district from kindergarten to sixth grade, going to Hawthorne and Lincoln elementary schools. I was never in a class with less than 25 students and one teacher, with aids once in a while. After sixth grade I went to the FLDS private school, and although the classes were smaller, they were similar. Yet at home the children varied much more in age, and the older ones were much more responsible and helpful than any of my classmates were at school. Good heavens! Who would not want my childhood? What wonderful memories! I wouldn’t trade it for all the gold in China (which makes Fort Knox look like a piggy bank) You feel sorry for me? I feel sorry for YOU!
Crime
We all know that coercion is wrong. Forcing someone to do what is wrong should never be tolerated. But what is force, and who decides what is or is not wrong? And who decides who should tolerate what? Countless hours of lawyer-ing and politic-ing have stretched and diluted the definition of “force”, all in attempts to mitigate personal responsibility. Let me save us all some time. Force is physical, or the threat of physical, coercion.
Now stop this “spiritual threat” nonsense!! This is central to the first amendment! This is like saying a man who threatens his wife that she will magically turn into a frog, is responsible for what she does because of it. The only way to prove a “damnation” threat as real, you must prove that the religion is true! Now all you lawyers and judges go write on the chalkboard fifty times: ”Damnation threats are not legitimate unless the church that makes the threat is established as the true church by the state” Although irrelevant to FLDS marriages, as there is never any type of threat over when to marry or a particular match, it is true just the same.
It is in fact a crime to force (as defined above) anyone to do anything against their will after they reach the age of accountability, unless to protect others or themselves from harm. It is not a crime to teach or persuade someone to accept your definition of right and wrong, or else every lawyer who speaks to a jury is a criminal. In fact, the prosecution in the Warren Jeffs case actually convinced the jury that it was RIGHT to believe a lie about the FLDS doctrine.
The police state gives responsibility for the actions of a “child” differently than that of an adult, and also attempts to protect children from adults. In the FLDS age has little relevance to responsibility or protection. All ages are responsible, and all are protected. In secular society “crime” is punished by monetary fines and incarceration via guns. In the FLDS crime is punished by disassociation, “the silent treatment”, or enforced “escape”. Once upon a time in this country, marriages were merely registered with the government for census purposes. But now, civil marriage is a government controlled welfare state function. No wonder it is rare! Religious FLDS eternal marriage is in many instances a “civil crime”. And I could be used as evidence.
A Dult Hood
Adulthood, to most people, is defined as the age to vote, or to buy alcohol, but that is not truly when you enter the dult (neighbor)hood.
The age of accountability is when people have more personal responsibility for what they do than their parents do. In Secular society [The police state] the age of accountability is either the age at which one can civilly [licensed by government] be married, or charged as an adult with a crime, or emancipated from their parents, or turn 18 years old, or 21 years old. In the FLDS, the age of accountability starts at the age of baptism. To the Secular (whiners) society, the age of 18 is when you enter adulthood, if you are not already civilly married or emancipated by a judge, in just about every state, and at age 21 you are officially an adult, and lose most all protection from authority. Most teenagers decide for themselves when they are adults, but it is not “legal” unless the police state says so. If a young man is not yet “legal” but feels he doesn’t need a judge, or his parents, to be responsible for him, he is a “Lost Boy” and needs to get welfare and mental help from Dan Fischer’s Diversity (freeloaders) Foundation. The phenomenon is not exclusively "associated with polygamy".
Fear
Obviously sexual activity is the most fiercely contested topic since The Garden of Eden. Through it humanity begins, and next to murder, rape is the worst possible crime. It is the ultimate oxy-moron. So-called “liberals” (libertines) believe that sexual activity is an act of freedom and has no relevance to law, unless it involves pedophilia (with varying definitions). Marriage, on the other hand is to be pondered and studied for years (sex, no big deal, marriage, noo!) And they are afraid of babies. So-called “conservatives” (hypocrites) believe that sexual activity is sin if outside of civil marriage, and age of civil marriage law should be strictly adhered to, and civil marriage is a religious act that makes it legitimate. And yet they forgive themselves and thier family but others should toe the line. For both liberal Republicans and conservative Democrats, marriage is worse (as in much more feared) than sexual activity is. Go look in the mirror, most people are to some degree hypocritical libertines. I have a mirror too.
In reality, intimacy is for babies, naturally. Marriage is a lot more than that, but is the only way in which babies and mothers can truly thrive. Women are “victims” (mothers) of “crimes” (babies), and should be protected “from” (in) that “abuse” (joy). Among other benefits, pregnancy is a Cancer fighter, especially under the age of 20.
In the FLDS, Marriage means commitment through eternity, and creates a haven for mothers and babies; while among libertines and hypocrites, marriage merely legitimizes sexual activity and has tax benefits. Marriage in the FLDS vs Marriage in Secular society is the difference between “the nest and the hive” vs “the birds and the bees”
Coercion
Real men never pressure their wife in any way, the womb is hers and she is master. Even though a natural trait of angelic femininity is submissiveness, a good man will wait for her. Weak men, who are not married, should be punished when they coerce any obviously brainwashed woman into sexual activity. That punishment should be civil marriage. How bout that for polygamy! How bout that for “underage” marriage! If there is anything women and girls should “escape”, it is whoredom. A true women’s rights movement would march on Washington demanding to pass a law giving them the right to be civilly married at consummation, and have the right to half of their husbands estate.
Fear of Marriage
When most women think of their own marriage, they are filled with happiness and life. But they are also afraid of the commitment. A sister of mine (who just so happened to be 21) said, "I don't want a man, I want a baby!" Most men are much more afraid of the commitment than women are, but they do enjoy marriage to gain the commitment of their bride.
Natural law shows that men are responsible for their wives, but women are not responsible for their husbands. The fact that marriage is more feared in society today than sexual activity is blatantly obvious. Out of wedlock pregnancies are very common, teenage mothers and adult fathers are much more common than not, and a majority of children born today are unplanned. Not even to mention the murders of the unborn that occur.
Joy of Slavery
When most people think of polygyny they think of the subjugation of women, and this confuses me. It confuses me because it only proves that most people DO think that women are “less than”, whether they admit it or not; EVEN WOMEN. Marriage has absolutely nothing to do with personal freedom, and the basic human right to decide for yourself what you want to do. Marriage and family is no more slavery when there are two women than it is when there is one, in fact it is LESS so. I feel sorry for those who are married and feel that marriage is ever slavery. Perhaps they should understand the gospel better. Divorce, like Marriage, is not fully defined in the Bible, for women can separate from their husband if he is cruel or otherwise not living his religion; but a man can never put away his wife unless she commits adultery. He is responsible for her salvation, but she is not responsible for his.
Age Difference
A sixty year old man marries an eighteen year old girl. Is that a crime? Is that immoral? Is that slavery? If you cringe at the thought, you need to get your mind out of the gutter, and realize that marriage is not anything but a nest, a psychological home to go to. Outside of marriage, sexual activity is immoral and should be decried, yet practically all women seek a man who will be responsible for her, to marry her, whom is a rock for her to lean on. And all great men seek to be a loving father figure to his wives, no matter what his or her age is.
Multiple Love
Polygynous families are not “normal” in today’s society, but perpetual monogamist families are. Obviously in my experience, polygny is much more beneficial to children than monogamy, let alone the very common "visitation rights with step girlfriends". A woman can love her father, her husband, her sons, and her brothers all at the same time. Love, you must remember, is a verb. A man can love more than one wife just as easy as he can love his own two arms and two legs, and any two children. Love is not divided among them, it is complete for each. As my grandfather said “I love you, I love you, from the bottom of my heart, and a few other ladies occupy the upper part” There is not amore perfect dynamic in a home than one with a Magnanimous father, and sweet and independent mothers for each and all of the children. I grew up with over thirty siblings, and my mothers each went to college when they wanted to, and each earned their own money. And yet I (except when I purposefully snuck away) never was without supervision, love, and a nurturing home. I often think of the “Duggar Family”, just multiplied by two.
Raising Children
How many children can one woman handle for hours upon hours of the day? Ask a teacher. I went to the Salt Lake City Unified School district from kindergarten to sixth grade, going to Hawthorne and Lincoln elementary schools. I was never in a class with less than 25 students and one teacher, with aids once in a while. After sixth grade I went to the FLDS private school, and although the classes were smaller, they were similar. Yet at home the children varied much more in age, and the older ones were much more responsible and helpful than any of my classmates were at school. Good heavens! Who would not want my childhood? What wonderful memories! I wouldn’t trade it for all the gold in China (which makes Fort Knox look like a piggy bank) You feel sorry for me? I feel sorry for YOU!
Friday, July 25, 2008
Life Is God
We all know that life is good. We all know that God is good. The word good actually comes from the word god. But do we ever wonder if God is life? If we find life, do we find God? I believe so. Whether you believe in a particular religion or no religion at all, you know that goodness and life are synonymous. Life really is not life unless it is good. Good is not really good without life.
Can you gain more life? Can you gain goodness? You gain life as you gain goodness, and as you gain goodness you are not just enhancing life, I honestly believe that you are gaining life. I believe that life is a permeating force in the universe, something that exists within matter that has not been discovered yet. Call it “the force” if you wish, Yoda. I believe life is what dictates matter in all cases. I believe that life has substance, just invisible.
I promise you, life exists!
There are three invisible substances that are more important to us than the first visible substance. You cannot see water in a glass, only what is in water. You cannot see air, only what is in the air. You cannot see life, only what has life. Science teaches us about the first two because they have been discovered, and their properties defined. But you and I know that life exists. Life is more important than air, and air is more important than water, and water is more important than food.
“O come now” you may say, “take any of those other things away and life does not exist”. But I tell you life exists without air, without water, and without food. Take a body that has air, and water, and food and tell me it cannot die. There are also countless of examples of those who went without air, or water, or even food for extended lengths of time who regained life. Life is the power in the universe, the greatest energy. Life can also be defined as a degree of happiness. Take away happiness and you have less life, no matter how much food, water, and air you have.
Many believe that life is an accident, that humans are nothing more than fish out of water, or primates who climbed out of the trees. Evolution is a process of adaptation to environment, (progress through change) but it has never been shown to create a new species, or change one species into another. Accidental improvement is preposterous, let alone accidental creation, effort is required for any improvement; discovery and creation come from effort. Life grows on purpose, and thus purpose is life.
There is a school of science called Quantum Physics that says that time travel is possible, and things move and exist outside of known physics. Einstein’s theory of relativity (E=mc²) explains that energy can be changed into matter, and matter can be changed into energy if you can get it moving fast enough. That is how this world was created. Life is the greatest energy; energy that can not be seen but we all use it every day. Life is intelligence, take away intelligence and life loses value. Every living thing can be defined by how intelligent it is.
We find in religion the terms “spirit”, and “Ghost”. The Holy Ghost is the power in the universe that is good. In the Bible it is God, the third part of the One Godhead. I say it is the power that God uses to run the universe. God is God because of His ability to dictate and control this power. We are His children and He wants us to gain and to use this power also. That is why we are here.
This physical life is a testing ground for us to gain life power. It is akin to going to school, with the final exam coming after we get out of this physical sphere. If we have life growth (spiritual and character growth) we organized individuals who pass the exam that we are each given, we continue on with God forever, and the ability to gain life forever.
God is good, and we become like God as we gain goodness. We become godly. Of course the opposite is also true, for as our goodness decreases, so does our life. Some people exist physically, but the life in them is all but non existent. Analyzing them actually decreases life in us, so they are not useful in the study of life.
Life is power, it is happiness, it is purpose and intelligence, and it is good. So… get a life!
Can you gain more life? Can you gain goodness? You gain life as you gain goodness, and as you gain goodness you are not just enhancing life, I honestly believe that you are gaining life. I believe that life is a permeating force in the universe, something that exists within matter that has not been discovered yet. Call it “the force” if you wish, Yoda. I believe life is what dictates matter in all cases. I believe that life has substance, just invisible.
I promise you, life exists!
There are three invisible substances that are more important to us than the first visible substance. You cannot see water in a glass, only what is in water. You cannot see air, only what is in the air. You cannot see life, only what has life. Science teaches us about the first two because they have been discovered, and their properties defined. But you and I know that life exists. Life is more important than air, and air is more important than water, and water is more important than food.
“O come now” you may say, “take any of those other things away and life does not exist”. But I tell you life exists without air, without water, and without food. Take a body that has air, and water, and food and tell me it cannot die. There are also countless of examples of those who went without air, or water, or even food for extended lengths of time who regained life. Life is the power in the universe, the greatest energy. Life can also be defined as a degree of happiness. Take away happiness and you have less life, no matter how much food, water, and air you have.
Many believe that life is an accident, that humans are nothing more than fish out of water, or primates who climbed out of the trees. Evolution is a process of adaptation to environment, (progress through change) but it has never been shown to create a new species, or change one species into another. Accidental improvement is preposterous, let alone accidental creation, effort is required for any improvement; discovery and creation come from effort. Life grows on purpose, and thus purpose is life.
There is a school of science called Quantum Physics that says that time travel is possible, and things move and exist outside of known physics. Einstein’s theory of relativity (E=mc²) explains that energy can be changed into matter, and matter can be changed into energy if you can get it moving fast enough. That is how this world was created. Life is the greatest energy; energy that can not be seen but we all use it every day. Life is intelligence, take away intelligence and life loses value. Every living thing can be defined by how intelligent it is.
We find in religion the terms “spirit”, and “Ghost”. The Holy Ghost is the power in the universe that is good. In the Bible it is God, the third part of the One Godhead. I say it is the power that God uses to run the universe. God is God because of His ability to dictate and control this power. We are His children and He wants us to gain and to use this power also. That is why we are here.
This physical life is a testing ground for us to gain life power. It is akin to going to school, with the final exam coming after we get out of this physical sphere. If we have life growth (spiritual and character growth) we organized individuals who pass the exam that we are each given, we continue on with God forever, and the ability to gain life forever.
God is good, and we become like God as we gain goodness. We become godly. Of course the opposite is also true, for as our goodness decreases, so does our life. Some people exist physically, but the life in them is all but non existent. Analyzing them actually decreases life in us, so they are not useful in the study of life.
Life is power, it is happiness, it is purpose and intelligence, and it is good. So… get a life!
Escape stupidity
I went to a library to check out “Escape” by Carolyn Blackmore, and the waiting list for the book was 52 people long. Amazing. So I went to Barnes and Noble and asked the clerk if they had the book “Escape” and she didn’t hesitate but brought me right to it; in hardback for 25 bucks. Nope, I’d rather flush $100, so I gave $20 to a homeless lady instead. But I did sit down and read the first few pages and found it interesting how such a exaggerated and bitter story could be so intriguing to people. Had she not been a plural wife her story would not even been worthy of more than a blog post, but fear and hatred of the FLDS religion is so cult-ivated that even an obviously ridiculous sensationalized story of what is commonplace in most divorce courts has become a best seller. Women “escape” their marriages every day, and most of them have exaggerated the “awfulness” of their life with their ex-husband. But not every day do they leave the FLDS, in fact it said right on the cover that no wife had “escaped” in 20 years. She couldn’t even get that right.
What I can’t figure out is why people even want to believe her. Are people really that gullible?
How come the women who freely leave the FLDS are the only ones who were forced to stay?
Why are the ones who plead stupidity and say they were once “brainwashed” considered the only smart ones?
Why is several adults sharing the responsibilities of a home considered prison to “escape” from, when a single mother with the entire burden is considered freed?
Is marriage really as awful as rape to most people?
Why are more believable if you say something bad about someone than if you say something good about them?
What I can’t figure out is why people even want to believe her. Are people really that gullible?
How come the women who freely leave the FLDS are the only ones who were forced to stay?
Why are the ones who plead stupidity and say they were once “brainwashed” considered the only smart ones?
Why is several adults sharing the responsibilities of a home considered prison to “escape” from, when a single mother with the entire burden is considered freed?
Is marriage really as awful as rape to most people?
Why are more believable if you say something bad about someone than if you say something good about them?
Thursday, July 24, 2008
I agree with Carolyn Jessop
Yes indeed, there is one thing in which I agree with her. One thing.
It is hard to leave the FLDS.
But it is not because she couldn't take her children (well she did have to lie to them to "free" them in the middle of the day). It is not because she was abused, or her children were abused (her daughter chose her father the day she turned 18). It is not because she had no money (more than what she earned) . It is not because she didn't get educated (College degree, teachers certificate). No, it was not because anyone else physically stopped her in any way.
But I know it was hard for her to leave the FLDS. VERY HARD
She had to decide that what she was doing was RIGHT.
After living in the FLDS, with the sweetest people on the planet. With hard working men, and sweet women, and many, many good neighbors.
THAT is a hard thing to leave.
It is hard to leave the FLDS.
But it is not because she couldn't take her children (well she did have to lie to them to "free" them in the middle of the day). It is not because she was abused, or her children were abused (her daughter chose her father the day she turned 18). It is not because she had no money (more than what she earned) . It is not because she didn't get educated (College degree, teachers certificate). No, it was not because anyone else physically stopped her in any way.
But I know it was hard for her to leave the FLDS. VERY HARD
She had to decide that what she was doing was RIGHT.
After living in the FLDS, with the sweetest people on the planet. With hard working men, and sweet women, and many, many good neighbors.
THAT is a hard thing to leave.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Who am I?
I have published this blog to tell you my side of the story. The true one.
Who am I? A Victim?
I had an adorable wife, gorgeous little children, brothers, sisters, parents, load’s of extended family, almost innumerable amount of friends, a cozy home, and a job I loved. But in a matter of ten seconds, I lost them all.
All of them.
Everything.
With the calmest and quietest of voices, a great man said to me “You have no Priesthood”; which I already knew. To describe the experience closest is to calmly walk up, have a cannon pointed at your chest, and fired. My ability to walk, and speak, stayed with me long enough to load some of my belongings in my little van, and drive away, ...barely.
Am I a victim? Of a crime? Only if you call justice a crime; only if you call all choices that are painful, bad ones. I don’t, because I deserved it. I earned it. The loss that I feel, the absolute death of soul that I have felt, the pain that hurt me the very most, is the loss of the confidence of my best friend, Warren Steed Jeffs.
Anyone who has lost the greatest job they ever had, I know how they feel.
Anyone who has lost their own home, I know how they feel.
Anyone who has had close friends and family avoid you, I know how they feel.
Anyone who has lost their entire family of cousins, nieces, nephews, aunts and uncles, brothers, sisters, parents, and grandparents all in an instant, like watching them climb into a bus and watch the bus drive over a cliff, and be left alone on the dirt road wondering why, knowing it was you who pulled the brake line. I know how they feel.
Anyone who has left their adorable, loving wife sobbing on the couch, gathered with her little ones, and to never see or hear from her again, I know how they feel.
Anyone who has had a child hold on to their neck, tightly, and then lost that child, I know how they feel.
Anyone who has stood looking at the empty spot where their van containing everything they owned was parked only an hour before, three days after losing everything else, I know how they feel.
Anyone who loves their parents desperately, but dreads the visit because it will only be another agonizing goodbye, I know how they feel.
Anyone who has had hurt so bad in their heart that they prayed to God to let them die, somehow, to release the pain, I know how they feel.
The pain, the longing for the grave, the fierce hell that I felt, and still feel at times, is because I love those who I am not worthy of.
I know what it is like to lose your soul.
But here is the truth that no one else will tell you. IT WAS MY OWN FAULT. I know it, God knows it, Warren Jeffs knew it, and now YOU know it. The blame is on no one but myself. I must answer for what I have done. I am the reason I am not home in the FLDS Church with my family, and no one else is. I did what I knew would take me out of what I know is heaven on earth.
I was a member of the FLDS Church, a group of people of which to me there is no comparison. The unity, the love, and the effort of purity of that people are the greatest in the world. I have met a lot of people, I travel all over the country, some do come close, but there are none who compare. Ladies who are angels in every sense of the word, dignified men who would work day and night on your home for nothing and ask only to do more; a people who desire God’s will and nothing else, and a determined goal unlike any other in the world, and that is to become Zion, the pure in heart, here and now; a group of pure fathers, with pure mothers, and pure children; under the direction of one prophet; striving to become a community where the angels in heaven, and Jesus Christ Himself would want to live.
I was in their way; and others were in their way.
Some people who leave the FLDS called it tyranny to obey. They feel they have "escaped". I guess to those raised in heaven, the requirement to do good when you don’t want to is a tremendous burden. But are they victims? When the only thing they seek to escape is heaven and their testimony of it?
Some people who were asked to leave call it torture to not be allowed to stay and interfere with the effort. They want you to think they were cast out for no good reason, which is a lie, are they victims? I am not a victim of anything but my own actions. And neither are they.
I believe in God, the Omnipotent Creator of the Universe, and I believe that He was born into this world and died on the cross for our sins, to give us the resurrection and the power to repent. I believe in His justice, and His mercy, that He is the judge of us all, and anytime we blame anyone for what we experience, we blame Him. He loves us, each individually, and He has a reward for us according to our ability to overcome our sins, a reward far beyond our imaginations.
Keeping Sweet is just that, it is a smile in our trial. It is the effort of prayer, forgiveness, repentance, humility, hope, obedience, and pure love; to never let an outside influence adjust our trust in God; and to trust Him, completely, absolutely, and without exception; to look to Him, and He alone, for solace and courage. Then we will learn to be worthy to be lifted up at the last day, even you, and even me; Saint, Jew, Gentile, Negro, and Oriental; Atheist, Buddhist, Muslim, Catholic, Protestant, and Mormon. God loves us without exception, but He will reward us not only by His love for us, but by our ability to love Him enough to be just like Him, and obey Him all the time, no matter what, no matter who wants to stop us, no matter what we live through.
I feel very compelled to tell you the very difficult time I have in writing this blog. I have a difficult time because I love those who hate Warren Jeffs. I have no desire to put them down in any way. I wish nothing for them that I do not want for myself. I only write things against them to stop them from hurting the innocent and keep those who want to believe the truth from believing their lies.
When I think of those who have become filled with apostasy, whose rage is blinding and whose greatest fear is the whole truth, I think of an angry child with matches, who catch themselves on fire. They may light things on fire and hurt the innocent they hate, but it is they who are covered in gasoline. I forgive and feel sorry for them.
I may be a fool, I may be a coward, but let it never be said of me that he did not forgive all!
I have said things on this blog that I didn’t want to. I have written things in emails, on blogs, and even in this post that I probably shouldn’t have. Sometimes I fee like Peter who made a great error with his sword when the soldiers came, and then soon made the opposite error standing at the fire. I have shown my weakness, and shown it to all.
But to all who read this, I sincerely plead, that with your hearts, your desires, your anxiety to do something. Do not give me advice on how to treat my best friend, or my best friend advice on how to treat me! Forgive us. Turn all of your feelings to love, and do something to BUILD UP OTHERS!
Thank You FATHER!
Who am I? A Victim?
I had an adorable wife, gorgeous little children, brothers, sisters, parents, load’s of extended family, almost innumerable amount of friends, a cozy home, and a job I loved. But in a matter of ten seconds, I lost them all.
All of them.
Everything.
With the calmest and quietest of voices, a great man said to me “You have no Priesthood”; which I already knew. To describe the experience closest is to calmly walk up, have a cannon pointed at your chest, and fired. My ability to walk, and speak, stayed with me long enough to load some of my belongings in my little van, and drive away, ...barely.
Am I a victim? Of a crime? Only if you call justice a crime; only if you call all choices that are painful, bad ones. I don’t, because I deserved it. I earned it. The loss that I feel, the absolute death of soul that I have felt, the pain that hurt me the very most, is the loss of the confidence of my best friend, Warren Steed Jeffs.
Anyone who has lost the greatest job they ever had, I know how they feel.
Anyone who has lost their own home, I know how they feel.
Anyone who has had close friends and family avoid you, I know how they feel.
Anyone who has lost their entire family of cousins, nieces, nephews, aunts and uncles, brothers, sisters, parents, and grandparents all in an instant, like watching them climb into a bus and watch the bus drive over a cliff, and be left alone on the dirt road wondering why, knowing it was you who pulled the brake line. I know how they feel.
Anyone who has left their adorable, loving wife sobbing on the couch, gathered with her little ones, and to never see or hear from her again, I know how they feel.
Anyone who has had a child hold on to their neck, tightly, and then lost that child, I know how they feel.
Anyone who has stood looking at the empty spot where their van containing everything they owned was parked only an hour before, three days after losing everything else, I know how they feel.
Anyone who loves their parents desperately, but dreads the visit because it will only be another agonizing goodbye, I know how they feel.
Anyone who has had hurt so bad in their heart that they prayed to God to let them die, somehow, to release the pain, I know how they feel.
The pain, the longing for the grave, the fierce hell that I felt, and still feel at times, is because I love those who I am not worthy of.
I know what it is like to lose your soul.
But here is the truth that no one else will tell you. IT WAS MY OWN FAULT. I know it, God knows it, Warren Jeffs knew it, and now YOU know it. The blame is on no one but myself. I must answer for what I have done. I am the reason I am not home in the FLDS Church with my family, and no one else is. I did what I knew would take me out of what I know is heaven on earth.
I was a member of the FLDS Church, a group of people of which to me there is no comparison. The unity, the love, and the effort of purity of that people are the greatest in the world. I have met a lot of people, I travel all over the country, some do come close, but there are none who compare. Ladies who are angels in every sense of the word, dignified men who would work day and night on your home for nothing and ask only to do more; a people who desire God’s will and nothing else, and a determined goal unlike any other in the world, and that is to become Zion, the pure in heart, here and now; a group of pure fathers, with pure mothers, and pure children; under the direction of one prophet; striving to become a community where the angels in heaven, and Jesus Christ Himself would want to live.
I was in their way; and others were in their way.
Some people who leave the FLDS called it tyranny to obey. They feel they have "escaped". I guess to those raised in heaven, the requirement to do good when you don’t want to is a tremendous burden. But are they victims? When the only thing they seek to escape is heaven and their testimony of it?
Some people who were asked to leave call it torture to not be allowed to stay and interfere with the effort. They want you to think they were cast out for no good reason, which is a lie, are they victims? I am not a victim of anything but my own actions. And neither are they.
I believe in God, the Omnipotent Creator of the Universe, and I believe that He was born into this world and died on the cross for our sins, to give us the resurrection and the power to repent. I believe in His justice, and His mercy, that He is the judge of us all, and anytime we blame anyone for what we experience, we blame Him. He loves us, each individually, and He has a reward for us according to our ability to overcome our sins, a reward far beyond our imaginations.
Keeping Sweet is just that, it is a smile in our trial. It is the effort of prayer, forgiveness, repentance, humility, hope, obedience, and pure love; to never let an outside influence adjust our trust in God; and to trust Him, completely, absolutely, and without exception; to look to Him, and He alone, for solace and courage. Then we will learn to be worthy to be lifted up at the last day, even you, and even me; Saint, Jew, Gentile, Negro, and Oriental; Atheist, Buddhist, Muslim, Catholic, Protestant, and Mormon. God loves us without exception, but He will reward us not only by His love for us, but by our ability to love Him enough to be just like Him, and obey Him all the time, no matter what, no matter who wants to stop us, no matter what we live through.
I feel very compelled to tell you the very difficult time I have in writing this blog. I have a difficult time because I love those who hate Warren Jeffs. I have no desire to put them down in any way. I wish nothing for them that I do not want for myself. I only write things against them to stop them from hurting the innocent and keep those who want to believe the truth from believing their lies.
When I think of those who have become filled with apostasy, whose rage is blinding and whose greatest fear is the whole truth, I think of an angry child with matches, who catch themselves on fire. They may light things on fire and hurt the innocent they hate, but it is they who are covered in gasoline. I forgive and feel sorry for them.
I may be a fool, I may be a coward, but let it never be said of me that he did not forgive all!
I have said things on this blog that I didn’t want to. I have written things in emails, on blogs, and even in this post that I probably shouldn’t have. Sometimes I fee like Peter who made a great error with his sword when the soldiers came, and then soon made the opposite error standing at the fire. I have shown my weakness, and shown it to all.
But to all who read this, I sincerely plead, that with your hearts, your desires, your anxiety to do something. Do not give me advice on how to treat my best friend, or my best friend advice on how to treat me! Forgive us. Turn all of your feelings to love, and do something to BUILD UP OTHERS!
Thank You FATHER!
Monday, July 21, 2008
F L D S Petition
I invite all Americans to read and sign this petition:
http://voicesforthechildren.org/viewpetition.php?id=3
Only those who support a police state can read it and not agree:
My comments that I sent:
"Dear Senator,
"I feel it is important that you understand the magnitude of the persecution against the FLDS people. The religion is very unpopular and that is why people in the press will publish apostate bitterness that rarely has much substance, but clearly sells newspapers.
"I am a former member of the FLDS church as are many of the others whose names I see on the petition, we are defending our heritage and former Church in this way because we know that our voices, and the voices of others, and the voices of the FLDS people themselves has been muted.
"I sent Harry Reid an email offering to testify in this hearing, and I send this offer to you as well. I seek no notoriety, I seek no publicity, I have no motive other than the truth and justice.
"Religious freedom in this great country has forced this community and church into hiding many times, it is time to end the prejudice and open our minds to the reality that these people are following their religion, and should be understood from their prospective, not anyone else's, before they are judged."
I also want to give out the following one click comment forms for all of the Senators on the Committee, let us fill thier inbox's before the 24th so they will know that we still believe in EQUAL protection under the law!
Senate Judiciary Committee Email list:
A direct email is only possible through the Chairman and signing the petition does send an email to him, the rest must you use forms on thier site that must be completed with Name, Complete Address, Email address, and phone number Highlight-copy (CNTRL+C) –paste[CNTRL+V] the words of the petition and/or write your own. Also their phone numbers are listed so you can CALL them as well.
Chairman
Sen. Patrick Leahy (D) VT Phone: (202) 224-4242
Email address without using a form: senator_leahy@leahy.senate.gov
Senior Member
Sen. Arlen Specter (R) PA Phone: (202) 224-4254
http://specter.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Contact.ContactForm
Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) Phone: (202) 224-5251
http://hatch.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Offices.Contact
Sen. John Cornyn (R) TX Phone: 202-224-2934
http://cornyn.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Contact.ContactForm
Sen. Jon Kyl (R) AZ Phone: Phone: (202) 224-4521
http://kyl.senate.gov/contact.cfm
Sen. Joseph Biden (D) DE Phone: (202) 224-5042
http://biden.senate.gov/services/contact/
Sen. Samuel Brownback (R) KS Phone: (202) 224-6521
http://brownback.senate.gov/CMEmailMe.cfm
Sen. Benjamin Cardin (D) MD Phone: 202-224-4524
http://cardin.senate.gov/contact/
Sen. Thomas Coburn (R) OK Phone: 202-224-5754
http://coburn.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=ContactSenatorCoburn.Home
Sen. Richard Durbin [D-IL]; Phone: (202) 224-2152
http://durbin.senate.gov/contact.cfm#contact
Sen. Russell Feingold [D-WI]; Phone: (202) 224-5323
http://feingold.senate.gov/contact_opinion.html
Sen. Dianne Feinstein [D-CA]; Phone: (202) 224-3841http://feinstein.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=ContactUs.EmailMe
Sen. Lindsey Graham [R-SC]; Phone: (202) 224-5972http://lgraham.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Contact.EmailSenatorGraham
Sen. Charles Grassley [R-IA]; Phone: 202.224.3744
http://grassley.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Contact.Home
Sen. Edward Kennedy [D-MA]; Phone: (202) 224-4543
http://kennedy.senate.gov/senator/contact.cfm
Sen. Herbert Kohl [D-WI]; Phone: (202) 224-5653
http://kohl.senate.gov/gen_contact.html
Sen. Charles Schumer [D-NY]; Phone: 202-224-6542
http://schumer.senate.gov/SchumerWebsite/contact/webform.cfm
Sen. Jefferson Sessions [R-AL); Phone: (202) 224-4124http://sessions.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=ConstituentServices.Conta
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R; Phone: 202-224-2921
http://whitehouse.senate.gov/contact.cfm
http://voicesforthechildren.org/viewpetition.php?id=3
Only those who support a police state can read it and not agree:
My comments that I sent:
"Dear Senator,
"I feel it is important that you understand the magnitude of the persecution against the FLDS people. The religion is very unpopular and that is why people in the press will publish apostate bitterness that rarely has much substance, but clearly sells newspapers.
"I am a former member of the FLDS church as are many of the others whose names I see on the petition, we are defending our heritage and former Church in this way because we know that our voices, and the voices of others, and the voices of the FLDS people themselves has been muted.
"I sent Harry Reid an email offering to testify in this hearing, and I send this offer to you as well. I seek no notoriety, I seek no publicity, I have no motive other than the truth and justice.
"Religious freedom in this great country has forced this community and church into hiding many times, it is time to end the prejudice and open our minds to the reality that these people are following their religion, and should be understood from their prospective, not anyone else's, before they are judged."
I also want to give out the following one click comment forms for all of the Senators on the Committee, let us fill thier inbox's before the 24th so they will know that we still believe in EQUAL protection under the law!
Senate Judiciary Committee Email list:
A direct email is only possible through the Chairman and signing the petition does send an email to him, the rest must you use forms on thier site that must be completed with Name, Complete Address, Email address, and phone number Highlight-copy (CNTRL+C) –paste[CNTRL+V] the words of the petition and/or write your own. Also their phone numbers are listed so you can CALL them as well.
Chairman
Sen. Patrick Leahy (D) VT Phone: (202) 224-4242
Email address without using a form: senator_leahy@leahy.senate.gov
Senior Member
Sen. Arlen Specter (R) PA Phone: (202) 224-4254
http://specter.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Contact.ContactForm
Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) Phone: (202) 224-5251
http://hatch.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Offices.Contact
Sen. John Cornyn (R) TX Phone: 202-224-2934
http://cornyn.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Contact.ContactForm
Sen. Jon Kyl (R) AZ Phone: Phone: (202) 224-4521
http://kyl.senate.gov/contact.cfm
Sen. Joseph Biden (D) DE Phone: (202) 224-5042
http://biden.senate.gov/services/contact/
Sen. Samuel Brownback (R) KS Phone: (202) 224-6521
http://brownback.senate.gov/CMEmailMe.cfm
Sen. Benjamin Cardin (D) MD Phone: 202-224-4524
http://cardin.senate.gov/contact/
Sen. Thomas Coburn (R) OK Phone: 202-224-5754
http://coburn.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=ContactSenatorCoburn.Home
Sen. Richard Durbin [D-IL]; Phone: (202) 224-2152
http://durbin.senate.gov/contact.cfm#contact
Sen. Russell Feingold [D-WI]; Phone: (202) 224-5323
http://feingold.senate.gov/contact_opinion.html
Sen. Dianne Feinstein [D-CA]; Phone: (202) 224-3841http://feinstein.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=ContactUs.EmailMe
Sen. Lindsey Graham [R-SC]; Phone: (202) 224-5972http://lgraham.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Contact.EmailSenatorGraham
Sen. Charles Grassley [R-IA]; Phone: 202.224.3744
http://grassley.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Contact.Home
Sen. Edward Kennedy [D-MA]; Phone: (202) 224-4543
http://kennedy.senate.gov/senator/contact.cfm
Sen. Herbert Kohl [D-WI]; Phone: (202) 224-5653
http://kohl.senate.gov/gen_contact.html
Sen. Charles Schumer [D-NY]; Phone: 202-224-6542
http://schumer.senate.gov/SchumerWebsite/contact/webform.cfm
Sen. Jefferson Sessions [R-AL); Phone: (202) 224-4124http://sessions.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=ConstituentServices.Conta
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R; Phone: 202-224-2921
http://whitehouse.senate.gov/contact.cfm
Friday, July 18, 2008
Can't Watch This
If you are FLDS, you are not allowed to watch this, it will make the spirit leak out of your bodies.
Saturday, July 12, 2008
I Am Not A Crime
I have been writing this blog for a few months now, and I still get similar questions and comments that I did when I started. Some ask me how I could defend that cult-ture or the FLDS sect-ual abuse. Some people expect me to be on the defensive when I write to them. It is as if they think that I am trying to justify something that is wrong.
I am not.
Only three decades ago a teenager became pregnant with a baby. The father of that child was married to another woman, and was more than ten years older than the young girl. And I couldn't care less if the entire world, all of the governments, and all of the churches put together, and even if you, your own wonderful pious self, condemn what happened at that time.
I was born, and I was not a mistake, let alone evidence of a crime.
I was the greatest thing to happen in the life of a girl, I was the most cherished thing on the planet to one particular mother, I was brought into this world to the greatest woman on Earth, and one of the greatest men, and if anyone does not like that, too bad. If you do not like the fact that I was born when I was born to who I was born to, you might as well go read the Anti-FLDS sites, because you cannot be helped here.
I was born into a Covenant, and that Covenant was ordained by God, the Creator of this world and of this Universe. I was born to a couple who were sealed for time and All Eternity in the one true Church on earth, by the only man on earth who Almighty God gave that authority to. I was a large part of the reason my mother not only willingly, but very anxiously entered into that Covenant. I was not only wanted, but those two people, my wonderful parents, were sealed together for the very purpose of bringing me into this world. My heritage and birth is the greatest honor and privilege that God has ever given to me. And if you don't like it, I have no way to help you. I am alive, and I will not go away for you.
Putting my father in jail would have accomplished nothing good. Putting my mother in jail, or in a shelter, would have done absolutely nothing good. Kidnapping me from my mother, which would have been like killing me (which some people might endorse), would have accomplished absolutely nothing but to serve the devil. And if you would have liked any of this to happen, you are serving the devil yourself, willingly or not.
If you are praying for me to see the light, praying that I would condemn my own birth, my own father, and my own religious procreation, then I know that the god that you pray to is not the God of heaven, but is the god of hell, and all your prayers for me are much, much less than a waste of time.
If that is your prayer, please pray for someone else besides me. I have had enough problems with Lucifer and seek no more of his “help”
The people who say that the raid on the YFZ ranch happened the way it did to avoid another Waco are very confused, and some very willingly. That is as opposite of truth as there ever has been in history. The reason the raid happened at all was because they WANTED another Waco; they were expecting another Branch Davidian fight. And those who yet to this day endorse that awful State-sponsored terrorist act, are either rotten bigots, dark-hearted apostates, or among the masses of the grossly and willingly misinformed.
The most horrid of people, those who yet say that the temple doors were broken down, and that sacred building was desecrated by the wicked sheriff and his monsters for even the slightest hint of a good reason, are serving the master of mayhem, Beelzebub himself. That sacred and holy temple had been anxiously awaited for over a hundred years by the greatest of people, and only the devil himself and his willing followers could have ever desired to make it the worthless shell it has now become. And only the darkest imaginations and vilest hearts could have ever desired to invade and invalidate the sacredness of such a place.
May they repent and ask forgiveness, is my only desire for them. Until then, they are my enemies. I forgive my enemies already, and will seek to do only good toward them, but that does not change the fact that they remain my enemies, and the enemies of my people.
I am not.
Only three decades ago a teenager became pregnant with a baby. The father of that child was married to another woman, and was more than ten years older than the young girl. And I couldn't care less if the entire world, all of the governments, and all of the churches put together, and even if you, your own wonderful pious self, condemn what happened at that time.
I was born, and I was not a mistake, let alone evidence of a crime.
I was the greatest thing to happen in the life of a girl, I was the most cherished thing on the planet to one particular mother, I was brought into this world to the greatest woman on Earth, and one of the greatest men, and if anyone does not like that, too bad. If you do not like the fact that I was born when I was born to who I was born to, you might as well go read the Anti-FLDS sites, because you cannot be helped here.
I was born into a Covenant, and that Covenant was ordained by God, the Creator of this world and of this Universe. I was born to a couple who were sealed for time and All Eternity in the one true Church on earth, by the only man on earth who Almighty God gave that authority to. I was a large part of the reason my mother not only willingly, but very anxiously entered into that Covenant. I was not only wanted, but those two people, my wonderful parents, were sealed together for the very purpose of bringing me into this world. My heritage and birth is the greatest honor and privilege that God has ever given to me. And if you don't like it, I have no way to help you. I am alive, and I will not go away for you.
Putting my father in jail would have accomplished nothing good. Putting my mother in jail, or in a shelter, would have done absolutely nothing good. Kidnapping me from my mother, which would have been like killing me (which some people might endorse), would have accomplished absolutely nothing but to serve the devil. And if you would have liked any of this to happen, you are serving the devil yourself, willingly or not.
If you are praying for me to see the light, praying that I would condemn my own birth, my own father, and my own religious procreation, then I know that the god that you pray to is not the God of heaven, but is the god of hell, and all your prayers for me are much, much less than a waste of time.
If that is your prayer, please pray for someone else besides me. I have had enough problems with Lucifer and seek no more of his “help”
The people who say that the raid on the YFZ ranch happened the way it did to avoid another Waco are very confused, and some very willingly. That is as opposite of truth as there ever has been in history. The reason the raid happened at all was because they WANTED another Waco; they were expecting another Branch Davidian fight. And those who yet to this day endorse that awful State-sponsored terrorist act, are either rotten bigots, dark-hearted apostates, or among the masses of the grossly and willingly misinformed.
The most horrid of people, those who yet say that the temple doors were broken down, and that sacred building was desecrated by the wicked sheriff and his monsters for even the slightest hint of a good reason, are serving the master of mayhem, Beelzebub himself. That sacred and holy temple had been anxiously awaited for over a hundred years by the greatest of people, and only the devil himself and his willing followers could have ever desired to make it the worthless shell it has now become. And only the darkest imaginations and vilest hearts could have ever desired to invade and invalidate the sacredness of such a place.
May they repent and ask forgiveness, is my only desire for them. Until then, they are my enemies. I forgive my enemies already, and will seek to do only good toward them, but that does not change the fact that they remain my enemies, and the enemies of my people.
Friday, July 11, 2008
True Religion
“The great Jehovah contemplated the whole of the events connected with earth, pertaining to the plan of salvation, before it rolled into existence…He knew of the fall of Adam, the iniquities of the antediluvians, of the depth of iniquity that would be connected with the human family, their weakness, and strength,… their righteousness and iniquity; He comprehended the fall of man, and his redemption… He knows the situation of both the living and the dead, and has made ample provision for their redemption, according to their several circumstances, and the laws of the kingdom of God, whether in this world, or in the world to come.” (TPJS pg 220)
“The plans of Jehovah are not so unjust, the statements of holy writ so visionary, nor the plan of salvation for the human family so incompatible with common sense; at such proceedings God would frown with indignance, angels would hide their heads in shame, and every virtuous, intelligent man would recoil.
"If human laws award to each man his deserts, and punish all delinquents according to their several crimes, surely the Lord will not be more cruel than man, for He is a wise legislator, and His laws are more equitable, His enactments more just, and His decisions more perfect than those of man; and as man judges his fellow man by law, so does God of heaven judge “according to the deeds done in the body.”
"To say that the heathens would be damned because they did not believe the Gospel would be preposterous, and to say that the Jews would all be damned that do not believe in Jesus would be equally absurd; for “how can they believe on him of whom they have not heard, and how can they hear without a preacher, and how can he preach except he be sent;” consequently neither Jew nor heathen can be culpable for rejecting the conflicting opinions of sectarianism, nor for rejecting any testimony but that which is sent of God [To them] for as the preacher cannot preach except he be sent, so the hearer cannot believe without the he hear a “sent” preacher, and cannot be condemned for what he has not heard, and being without law, will have to be judged without law.” (TPJS pg 221)
You will be judged by what God sends you here to do, not by what He sends ME or anyone else to do. We are all brothers and sisters, HIS children, whom He loves equally. Our bodies are given life by Him. That precious thing, called “LIFE”, is the Spirit of God. Everything that is alive has it to a certain degree, but in us, being His children, he also gave us the opportunity to become like Him, to CHOOSE to do the RIGHT that we were born knowing. The more we do right, the more we will gain that Spirit, and the more we will learn better what is right or wrong, and the happier we will be when we do it.
When you willingly do wrong, (Not MY WRONG, YOUR WRONG) you lose portions of that Spirit. You lose the ability to realize the difference between right and wrong, and eventually you tend to assume that those who are trying to do right are the ones who are doing wrong. You are miserable in your religion, or you become athiest.
I do not condemn atheism, I believe that it is actually a mercy from God, to preserve at least some of His Spirit in them, called happiness. Everyone thinks THEIR happiness is the best, and you know, THEY are right!
Even the devil was sent by God to do the work he is doing. The devil is here to prove us before our God. So those who seek Warren Jeffs life, those who want to destroy the work of life in the FLDS church, who want to stop the religion that Joseph Smith brought forth, that was continued on by John Taylor, John and Lorin Woolley, John Y Barlow, Leroy S Johnson, and Rulon Jeffs. They cannot help but be doing the work of the devil, who is doing the work that God is allowing him to do.
They cannot accomplish their desire to make this religion false.
And I pray, forgive them Father, for they do not know what true happiness is.
Matthew 5:
"8 Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
9 Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.
10 Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you."
“The plans of Jehovah are not so unjust, the statements of holy writ so visionary, nor the plan of salvation for the human family so incompatible with common sense; at such proceedings God would frown with indignance, angels would hide their heads in shame, and every virtuous, intelligent man would recoil.
"If human laws award to each man his deserts, and punish all delinquents according to their several crimes, surely the Lord will not be more cruel than man, for He is a wise legislator, and His laws are more equitable, His enactments more just, and His decisions more perfect than those of man; and as man judges his fellow man by law, so does God of heaven judge “according to the deeds done in the body.”
"To say that the heathens would be damned because they did not believe the Gospel would be preposterous, and to say that the Jews would all be damned that do not believe in Jesus would be equally absurd; for “how can they believe on him of whom they have not heard, and how can they hear without a preacher, and how can he preach except he be sent;” consequently neither Jew nor heathen can be culpable for rejecting the conflicting opinions of sectarianism, nor for rejecting any testimony but that which is sent of God [To them] for as the preacher cannot preach except he be sent, so the hearer cannot believe without the he hear a “sent” preacher, and cannot be condemned for what he has not heard, and being without law, will have to be judged without law.” (TPJS pg 221)
You will be judged by what God sends you here to do, not by what He sends ME or anyone else to do. We are all brothers and sisters, HIS children, whom He loves equally. Our bodies are given life by Him. That precious thing, called “LIFE”, is the Spirit of God. Everything that is alive has it to a certain degree, but in us, being His children, he also gave us the opportunity to become like Him, to CHOOSE to do the RIGHT that we were born knowing. The more we do right, the more we will gain that Spirit, and the more we will learn better what is right or wrong, and the happier we will be when we do it.
When you willingly do wrong, (Not MY WRONG, YOUR WRONG) you lose portions of that Spirit. You lose the ability to realize the difference between right and wrong, and eventually you tend to assume that those who are trying to do right are the ones who are doing wrong. You are miserable in your religion, or you become athiest.
I do not condemn atheism, I believe that it is actually a mercy from God, to preserve at least some of His Spirit in them, called happiness. Everyone thinks THEIR happiness is the best, and you know, THEY are right!
Even the devil was sent by God to do the work he is doing. The devil is here to prove us before our God. So those who seek Warren Jeffs life, those who want to destroy the work of life in the FLDS church, who want to stop the religion that Joseph Smith brought forth, that was continued on by John Taylor, John and Lorin Woolley, John Y Barlow, Leroy S Johnson, and Rulon Jeffs. They cannot help but be doing the work of the devil, who is doing the work that God is allowing him to do.
They cannot accomplish their desire to make this religion false.
And I pray, forgive them Father, for they do not know what true happiness is.
Matthew 5:
"8 Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
9 Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.
10 Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you."
Top Ten Signs You Are A Victim of Religious Persecution
10. When people talk about where THEY live it is a four-plex, apartment building or ranch. When they talk about the four-plex, apartment or ranch YOU live at, it is a compound.
9. Your religion is constantly referred to as a cult, or a sect.
8. The state decides how your children are to worship by taking away their religious documents and scriptures.
7. When you move to a state, laws are changed specifically to target your religion.
6. The only adults in your state NOT allowed to MARRY at 14 or 16 years old are the members of your congregation.
5. Based on looks given to someone in a courtroom, you are now religious fanatics and are prone to violence.
4. The state accepts birth certificates as proof of age for everyone, except those practicing your religion.
3. You can't have your children back unless you denounce your religion, and take classes learning how to think like them.
2. Your leader is put on the top ten most wanted list, and hunted like a terrrorist; for performing a wedding ceremony.
1. The children of your religion are hauled away in buses displaying the name of another church.
9. Your religion is constantly referred to as a cult, or a sect.
8. The state decides how your children are to worship by taking away their religious documents and scriptures.
7. When you move to a state, laws are changed specifically to target your religion.
6. The only adults in your state NOT allowed to MARRY at 14 or 16 years old are the members of your congregation.
5. Based on looks given to someone in a courtroom, you are now religious fanatics and are prone to violence.
4. The state accepts birth certificates as proof of age for everyone, except those practicing your religion.
3. You can't have your children back unless you denounce your religion, and take classes learning how to think like them.
2. Your leader is put on the top ten most wanted list, and hunted like a terrrorist; for performing a wedding ceremony.
1. The children of your religion are hauled away in buses displaying the name of another church.
Thursday, July 10, 2008
The Holy Spirit
“The Purest, most refined and subtle of all substances, and the one least understood, or even recognized, by most of mankind, is that substance called the Holy Spirit.
"This substance, like all others, is one of the elements of material or physical existence, and therefore subject to the necessary laws which govern all matter.Like all other elements its whole is composed of individual particles, like them, each particle occupies space, possesses the power of motion, requires time to move from one part of space to another, and can in no wise occupy two spaces at once. In all these respects it differs nothing from all other matter. This substance is widely diffused among the elements of space.
"This Holy Spirit, under the control of the Great Elohiem, is the grand moving cause of all intelligences and by which they act.This is the great, positive, controlling element of all other elements. It is omnipresent by reason of the infinitude of its particles, and it comprehends all things.It is the controlling agent or executive, which organizes and puts in motion all worlds, and which, by the mandate of the Almighty, or any of His commissioned agents, performs all the mighty wonders, signs, and miracles ever manifested in the name of the Lord, the turning of the earth backward on its axis, the dividing of the sea, the removing of a mountain, the raising of the dead, or the healing of the sick.
"It penetrates the pores of the most solid substances, pierces the human system to its most inward recesses, and discerns the thoughts and intents of the heart. It has power to move through space with inconceivable velocity, far exceeding the tardy motions of electricity, or of physical light. It comprehends the past, present, and future, in all their fullness. Its inherent properties embrace all the attributes of intelligence and affection. It is endowed with knowledge, wisdom, truth, love, charity, justice, and mercy, in all their ramification. In short, it is the attributes of the eternal Power and Godhead. Those beings who receive of its fullness are called sons of God, because they are perfected in all its attributes and powers, and being in communion with it, can, by its use, perform all things. Those beings, who receive not a fullness, but a measure of it, can know and perform some things, but not all.
"This is the true light, which in some measure illuminates all men. It is, in its less refined particles, the physical light which reflects from the sun, moon, and stars, and other substances; and by reflection on the eye, makes visible the truths of the outward world.
"It is also, in its higher degrees, the intellectual light of our inward, and spiritual organs, by which we reason, discern, judge, compare, comprehend, and remember the subjects within our reach.Its inspiration constitutes instinct in animal life, reason in man, vision in the prophets, and is continually flowing from the Godhead throughout all His creatures. Such is the Godhead, as manifested in His words, and in His works. He dwells in His own eternal palaces of precious stones and gold, in the Royal City of the heavenly Jerusalem.He sits enthroned in the midst of His creations, and is filled and encircled with light unapproachable by those of the lower spheres.
"He associates with myriads of His own begotten sons and daughters who, by the Resurrection, have triumphed over death.His ministers are sent forth from His presence to all parts of His dominions. His Holy Spirit centers in His presence, and communicates with and extends to the utmost verge of His dominions, comprehending and controlling all things under the immediate direction of His own will, and the will of all those in communication with Him, in worlds without end!” (Key to Theology pg 39-42)
“Let a person look back in his past life, carefully review and examine the days of his innocent childhood, his first approaches to temptation, immorality, or crime. Does he not remember to have felt a disagreeable burning in his bosom, a disgust, a trembling of nerve and muscles, a hesitation, in short, a something disapproving of the act he was about to commit? And if he still persisted, did not this burning and uneasy feeling increase almost to a fever. Well, reader, this was your monitor – the Spirit of God within you. Had you headed it, it would have kept you from every temptation and crime.
"On the other hand, do you not remember, many times, in the course of your life, a fire, a warm glow of joy, a pleasing burning or sensation of pure light and pleasure in your bosom, approving of a good act, or prompting you to do the same? In short, a feeling of pure good will, kind sympathy, and boundless love to all good intelligences, and to man? – A purifying of heart and sentiment, as if you would wish to do good continually, and never sin? They were the promptings of the spark of divinity within you. They were the teachings, inspirations, and whisperings of that light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.
"IT is sweeter than honey; more harmonious than music; more pure than the drops of dew on the roses of paradise; more tender than the apple of thine eye; and more valuable than the gold of Australia. Blessed are they who cultivate and nourish it in their bosom, and carry it out in their lives; for it is an emanation from the fountain of eternal life; and those who follow up from whence it came, will arrive at that fountain, as surely as a sunbeam leads up to the center of light.” (Millennial Star 14:484)
“…the Father and the Son possessing the same mind, the same wisdom, glory, power, and fullness-- filling all in all; the Son being filled with the fullness of the mind, glory, and power, or, in other words, the spirit, glory, and power of the Father, possessing all knowledge and glory, and the same kingdom, sitting at the right hand of power, in the express image and likeness of the Father, mediator for man, being filled with the fullness of the mind of the Father, or, in other words, the spirit of the Father; which spirit is shed forth upon all of who believe on his name and keep his commandments; and all those who keep his commandments shall grow up from grace to grace, and become heirs of the heavenly kingdom, and joint heirs of Jesus Christ, possessing the same mind, being transformed into the same image, or likeness, even the express image of him who fills all in all; being filled with the fullness of his glory, and become one in him, even as the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are one.
"From the foregoing account of the Godhead, which is given in his revelations, the saints have a sure foundation laid for the exercise of faith unto life and salvation, thru the atonement and mediation of Jesus Christ; by whose blood they have a forgiveness of sins, and also a sure reward laid up for them in heaven, even that of partaking of the fullness of the Father and the Son through the Spirit. As the Son partakes of the fullness of the Father through the Spirit, so the saints are, by the same Spirit, to be partakers of the same fullness, to enjoy the same glory; for as the Father and the Son are one, so in like manner the saints are to be one in them. Through the love of the Father, the mediation of Jesus Christ, and the gift of the Holy Spirit, they are to be heirs of God, and joint heirs with Jesus Christ.” Lectures on Faith 5:2-3)
"This substance, like all others, is one of the elements of material or physical existence, and therefore subject to the necessary laws which govern all matter.Like all other elements its whole is composed of individual particles, like them, each particle occupies space, possesses the power of motion, requires time to move from one part of space to another, and can in no wise occupy two spaces at once. In all these respects it differs nothing from all other matter. This substance is widely diffused among the elements of space.
"This Holy Spirit, under the control of the Great Elohiem, is the grand moving cause of all intelligences and by which they act.This is the great, positive, controlling element of all other elements. It is omnipresent by reason of the infinitude of its particles, and it comprehends all things.It is the controlling agent or executive, which organizes and puts in motion all worlds, and which, by the mandate of the Almighty, or any of His commissioned agents, performs all the mighty wonders, signs, and miracles ever manifested in the name of the Lord, the turning of the earth backward on its axis, the dividing of the sea, the removing of a mountain, the raising of the dead, or the healing of the sick.
"It penetrates the pores of the most solid substances, pierces the human system to its most inward recesses, and discerns the thoughts and intents of the heart. It has power to move through space with inconceivable velocity, far exceeding the tardy motions of electricity, or of physical light. It comprehends the past, present, and future, in all their fullness. Its inherent properties embrace all the attributes of intelligence and affection. It is endowed with knowledge, wisdom, truth, love, charity, justice, and mercy, in all their ramification. In short, it is the attributes of the eternal Power and Godhead. Those beings who receive of its fullness are called sons of God, because they are perfected in all its attributes and powers, and being in communion with it, can, by its use, perform all things. Those beings, who receive not a fullness, but a measure of it, can know and perform some things, but not all.
"This is the true light, which in some measure illuminates all men. It is, in its less refined particles, the physical light which reflects from the sun, moon, and stars, and other substances; and by reflection on the eye, makes visible the truths of the outward world.
"It is also, in its higher degrees, the intellectual light of our inward, and spiritual organs, by which we reason, discern, judge, compare, comprehend, and remember the subjects within our reach.Its inspiration constitutes instinct in animal life, reason in man, vision in the prophets, and is continually flowing from the Godhead throughout all His creatures. Such is the Godhead, as manifested in His words, and in His works. He dwells in His own eternal palaces of precious stones and gold, in the Royal City of the heavenly Jerusalem.He sits enthroned in the midst of His creations, and is filled and encircled with light unapproachable by those of the lower spheres.
"He associates with myriads of His own begotten sons and daughters who, by the Resurrection, have triumphed over death.His ministers are sent forth from His presence to all parts of His dominions. His Holy Spirit centers in His presence, and communicates with and extends to the utmost verge of His dominions, comprehending and controlling all things under the immediate direction of His own will, and the will of all those in communication with Him, in worlds without end!” (Key to Theology pg 39-42)
“Let a person look back in his past life, carefully review and examine the days of his innocent childhood, his first approaches to temptation, immorality, or crime. Does he not remember to have felt a disagreeable burning in his bosom, a disgust, a trembling of nerve and muscles, a hesitation, in short, a something disapproving of the act he was about to commit? And if he still persisted, did not this burning and uneasy feeling increase almost to a fever. Well, reader, this was your monitor – the Spirit of God within you. Had you headed it, it would have kept you from every temptation and crime.
"On the other hand, do you not remember, many times, in the course of your life, a fire, a warm glow of joy, a pleasing burning or sensation of pure light and pleasure in your bosom, approving of a good act, or prompting you to do the same? In short, a feeling of pure good will, kind sympathy, and boundless love to all good intelligences, and to man? – A purifying of heart and sentiment, as if you would wish to do good continually, and never sin? They were the promptings of the spark of divinity within you. They were the teachings, inspirations, and whisperings of that light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.
"IT is sweeter than honey; more harmonious than music; more pure than the drops of dew on the roses of paradise; more tender than the apple of thine eye; and more valuable than the gold of Australia. Blessed are they who cultivate and nourish it in their bosom, and carry it out in their lives; for it is an emanation from the fountain of eternal life; and those who follow up from whence it came, will arrive at that fountain, as surely as a sunbeam leads up to the center of light.” (Millennial Star 14:484)
“…the Father and the Son possessing the same mind, the same wisdom, glory, power, and fullness-- filling all in all; the Son being filled with the fullness of the mind, glory, and power, or, in other words, the spirit, glory, and power of the Father, possessing all knowledge and glory, and the same kingdom, sitting at the right hand of power, in the express image and likeness of the Father, mediator for man, being filled with the fullness of the mind of the Father, or, in other words, the spirit of the Father; which spirit is shed forth upon all of who believe on his name and keep his commandments; and all those who keep his commandments shall grow up from grace to grace, and become heirs of the heavenly kingdom, and joint heirs of Jesus Christ, possessing the same mind, being transformed into the same image, or likeness, even the express image of him who fills all in all; being filled with the fullness of his glory, and become one in him, even as the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are one.
"From the foregoing account of the Godhead, which is given in his revelations, the saints have a sure foundation laid for the exercise of faith unto life and salvation, thru the atonement and mediation of Jesus Christ; by whose blood they have a forgiveness of sins, and also a sure reward laid up for them in heaven, even that of partaking of the fullness of the Father and the Son through the Spirit. As the Son partakes of the fullness of the Father through the Spirit, so the saints are, by the same Spirit, to be partakers of the same fullness, to enjoy the same glory; for as the Father and the Son are one, so in like manner the saints are to be one in them. Through the love of the Father, the mediation of Jesus Christ, and the gift of the Holy Spirit, they are to be heirs of God, and joint heirs with Jesus Christ.” Lectures on Faith 5:2-3)
Monday, July 7, 2008
Flora Jessop
The Troubled Woman Who Cost Texas $14 Million, and Hundreds of Innocent People Their Peace and Safety
July 1 2008
By Author Gary D. Naler
Flora Jessop, the outspoken media favorite and determined critic of the Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints (FLDS), has had the advantage and luxury of accruing audiences who want to believe her or are understandably uninformed about Flora’s real life and the FLDS church itself. Therefore, she has been able to say what she wants; and since people are often hearing what they want to hear, she has gotten off scot-free without any accountability or recourse whatsoever for what we now know are an endless string of vicious lies.
But Flora’s days of unaccountability have come to an end. She has now been instrumental in causing the state of Texas to carry out an illegal invasion on an entire community at a cost to the state that carries a running tally of $14 million, and has hurt so many innocent people that these silent ones who know her well, have loved and cared for her, and endured her continual destructive behavior, are finally speaking out.
Martha Jessop, wife of the late Fred M. Jessop—beloved Bishop of the Colorado City/Hildale FLDS community for fifty years—has written a most revealing account regarding Flora’s life (“The Truth About Flora Jessop,” at truthwillprevail.org). From Flora’s birth, until she was sixteen years old, Martha was very closely associated with her. She is an Advanced Practice Registered Nurse and Certified Nurse Midwife. Because of this formal training, the state of Utah appointed her as Flora’s legal guardian at the age of fourteen when it was revealed that her father had molested her. Flora was under Martha’s direct care and supervision, living in their home, until she left at the age of sixteen.
In representation of the sentiments of others, Martha writes: “After listening to and hearing of the stories and lies that Flora has been telling and putting out to the world through the media—lies about how she was ‘abused’ and ‘escaped’ from her childhood home and religion, I feel compelled to tell the true story of Flora.” With Martha’s help and the help of many others who have never been interviewed about these matters or spoken out, as well as previous news accounts, interviews, and information, we will now tell the true story about Flora Jessop. And let it be noted that the account by Martha is corroborated by Flora’s mother, Patricia, who upon reading it stated, “That’s the whole truth and nothing but the truth.”
Flora’s Growing-Up Years
Flora was born to Joseph and Patricia (Pat) Jessop in the little FLDS town of Colorado City, Arizona. “Flora was a beautiful child, well loved and enjoyable,” Martha recalls. But she noticed “a tendency in her to exaggerate and embellish little incidents. She enjoyed being in the spotlight and the center of attention.” Martha recalls chiding her to “tell the truth and not make it bigger than it is,” a quality Flora never learned.
As Flora got older, she became “restless and wild, with unpredictable mood swings, sometimes seeming impulsive and aggressive, then swinging back to the happy and free-spirited Flora we knew and loved.” As early as the age of eleven, she began going out at night, prowling around, “looking for fun.” “She seemed to be dissatisfied with the family outings and social times with her friends and siblings,” Martha recalled.
Her mother and others tried to deal with Flora’s troubling behavior; but as her mood swings became more extreme, she soon developed a whole new set of “friends,” often coming home intoxicated and violent, and it was highly suspected that she was using drugs. Today, Flora often points a limp finger at the FLDS, and regarding her drug and alcohol use and loose living states: “The pain got so bad in heaven that I was willing to damn myself to hell to escape it.” But the fact is, Flora had already brought her own hell to heaven long before she left the FLDS. As is the case with many alcoholics and drug addicts or otherwise-troubled people, for Flora it has always been easier to point the finger and assign fallacious blame than to be honest and take personal responsibility.
By the early age of thirteen, Flora was completely out of control. On one occasion she was out all night and found with a fifteen-year-old boy having sex. “Such behavior went against everything Flora had been taught,” relates Martha. Even so, they did not give up on her.
• Quote: “I went to school with Flora.… It's true Flora had a very abusive upbringing, sex abuse, etc., but she was a wild child, loved to sneak out and go to parties.… In my opinion, she is clinging to the only thing she really knows—slamming her upbringing. Think about it—it pays their bills doesn’t it?… How would Flora like the world to know she was the easiest lay in town? The point is, I left there in 1986 and haven’t looked back. My life is great. Flora should do the same!!!!” (Laddie Dockstader, former FLDS classmate and friend)
When Flora was fourteen, Martha was talking with her about the impact of loose morals, when she blurted out, “Well, my father has raped me!” “It struck me like a thunderbolt,” related Martha. “That was terrible! I was sickened at the thought. I thought maybe she had made it up, but she insisted it was true.”
In Martha’s words, in their society “child molestation or abuse of any kind is unthinkable and unacceptable.” Flora’s father was turned over to legal authorities and subsequently excommunicated from the church. Despite this decisive correction that she is well aware of, when asked if incest was permitted in FLDS, she replied, “Incest is not only permitted, it is accepted.” Evidenced here and throughout her life, Flora’s habitual lies have been twisted ill-intended distortions of events.
• Quote: “She is a liar.… [Lying is] Flora’s life history.… She is not credible.… I do not see how any reasonable person can believe what she says.” (Benjamin Bistline, author of “The Polygamists – A History of Colorado City, Arizona,” who personally knew Flora as a child and is an FLDS critic)
One of the things I learned after examining the FLDS, from both the inside as well as the outside, is that they have a near-zero-tolerance policy for young men, fathers, and husbands when it comes to moral impropriety, evidenced by the action taken against Flora’s father. This high standard would certainly be one reason why there are fewer men than women in the FLDS. One man I communicated with extensively throughout the many days and hours of this careful examination was disfellowshipped for mistreating his wife. He said she and his two children could have gone with him, but decided not to, and that the present separation was best for both of them. What was his guilt? He had been looking at pornography. How many homes would be left in America today if the same standard the FLDS follow was practiced by the rest of society that so misguidedly judges them?
After Flora’s father was reported to legal authorities, she was taken from his home and placed into Martha’s care as the court-appointed legal guardian. In a joint interview I had with Flora on June 1, 2008, I mentioned to her that Martha had raised her after she had been taken away from her father, to which she replied, “Martha was just one of the other wives in the household.” I find it both shameful and remarkably untruthful that the woman who had reached out to her so much and was in fact her legal guardian assigned by the court, was regarded with so little respect or gratitude.
Martha, Fred, and others began trying to help Flora through the healing process. To limit destructive influences, she and her court-appointed counselor thought it best that Flora be homeschooled, which she was. For a while they thought she was healing, but once again she became restless and began to return to her prior ways. “Any little thing would make her fly into a rage,” recounts Martha. On one occasion she attacked Martha, scratching herself as she flailed away at her. Then, exhibiting a characteristic that would endure to this day, she called the counselor and accused Martha of beating her.
Finally, one night she left, just disappeared, and stayed gone for two weeks. When she did call, she was in Las Vegas, crying and wanting to come home. Fred drove 160 miles to get her, finding her scantily clad in bikini-type clothing.
But still they didn’t stop loving her. Because of their concern about her influence on the other girls, they made her a little room at the end of a wide hall, putting curtains across it. They tried to make it cozy and cute for her, said Martha. But consistent with her slanderous lies and total lack of appreciation, Flora would later repeatedly tell her enraptured and blindly sympathetic listeners that she had been locked up at the end of a hall, imprisoned behind a wall for “three years in solitary confinement.” “With curtains? Oh my!” replies Martha. “I spent three years in this room with them trying to beat Satan out of me for daring to stand up against God’s commandments,” Flora lavishly tells others. The little girl still cannot stop exaggerating and embellishing, taking it to unthinkable pathological levels.
Once back, her involvement in drugs, alcohol, sex, and unaccounted absences only continued. “Her behavior was quite oppressive,” relates Martha. “I felt like such a failure.” She continues, “One night she was out all night with a boy—a cousin. He came the next morning and told Grandpa [Fred] that they had had sex. So Grandpa asked him if he wanted to marry her. He said he did. Then Grandpa asked Flora if she wanted to marry the boy. She said she did. So he helped them get legally married. Flora was sixteen. The newlyweds left town to settle elsewhere, but I learned later that she left him several weeks after their marriage.”
The August, 2004, issue of “The Los Angeles Times Magazine” reported: “In May 1986, she [Flora] entered into an arranged marriage with a 19-year-old cousin, Philip Jessop.” “Arranged marriage”? The only thing arranged about it was that Flora and Philip arranged to be out all night and were caught having sex.
Phillip’s Sympathetic Marriage
Though the Times article was supposed to be favorable to Flora, it astutely noted, “Over the years, she has told conflicting stories about how [her ‘getaway’] happened.” One thing that she is consistent about is her repeated and convincing claim that she “escaped” from the FLDS, that she was a victim held in solitary confinement. Was she indeed a victim? This is evidently the case, insomuch that she lived in an abusive situation with her father. But beyond that, she in fact created her own world of difficulties, and the reality of an escape is framed solely within the walls of her own mind.
Many people undoubtedly reached out to Flora and tried to help her. Were their efforts sufficient? Evidenced by her life, clearly not; but at some point people have to take responsibility for their own actions. One of those who sought to be her “savior” was Phillip. I talked with him by phone several times. No one before had ever contacted him so as to verify Flora’s statements. I was the first. In fact, Flora has never been questioned regarding her life accounts. Up to now, what she has said has been blindly accepted carte blanche. The name that Phillip goes by is Phil, and here is his account.
Phil was eighteen years old when he married Flora. He said that for two years they had been “sneaking out” together. Martha was right in that they were caught one night in a sexual affair, by a night watchman; but Phil did not immediately go to Fred. He related that he was first confronted by his older brother about the incident. He admitted to it, and his brother, for whom he worked, was prepared to carry out retribution for his actions. Once again we see that the idea propagated by FLDS critics that irresponsible behavior, such as Phil’s out-of-wedlock sexual relationship, is accepted is unfounded. As evidenced here and in other instances, the FLDS take swift remedial action.
Phil said that two weeks afterwards, his stepfather, Bill Shapley, came over and left a note for Phil to contact him. Two days later Phil met with him. Bill asked him if he wanted to marry Flora. At the age of eighteen, Phil said he had a “savior complex” regarding Flora—he wanted to “draw her out of the negative @#*! she was in.” Bill even tried to talk him out of marrying her. In Phil’s words, Flora “had a rebel streak in her that was a mile long.” But he made a commitment to be a friend to her and to always be there. Obviously Flora felt this as well, for she later related, "He was my friend and he helped me leave."
The next day, Phil and Flora met with Fred in his office. As Martha has noted, they both wanted the marriage. So on May 3, 1986, Phil, Flora, Fred, Phil’s mother and stepfather, and Flora’s father and stepmother, rode in a limousine to Las Vegas and the two were married.
After the wedding, they were taken to a motel in St. George, followed by moving in with his brother. The marriage lasted only ten days. Phil said Flora became very cold—their marriage was “like sleeping with an iceberg.” He no longer wanted to be married to her and asked her what she wanted. He said she was confused and wanted to be young. Phil made arrangements for Flora to stay at his friend’s house in St. George, where she remained for two to four weeks. From there, he said she went to Las Vegas, and from there to Kansas City. The next time he saw her was about six months later in Phoenix, where she was with another man, supposedly a TWA executive.
“[Flora] learned how to work people,” Phil relates. “She was a topless dancer and worked for an escort service.” Ten years later she finally filed for a divorce. He never remarried.Phil maintains a great deal of compassion for Flora, and retains his commitment to be her friend. “The sad part,” he said, “is that her motives are for the hurting who have experienced pain and betrayal. But she has a tainted perspective, and her methods are destructive from her pain and anger.” When explaining why he married Flora, he said, “She has told a lot of lies and did manipulative stuff, but she needed someone to believe in her.” Phil gave Flora that chance.
• Quote: “Flora Jessop was possibly abused as a child either by her brother or her father, both of whom were excommunicated from the FLDS church and lost their families. She moved in with Uncle Fred, whom her mother married.… She was never mistreated by Fred Jessop; he only wanted to help her. Flora left in 1986. I do not blame her one bit for being angry for what happened to her as a child, but she found identity and notoriety by blaming the church for her pain. I don’t blame her, but she is wrong.” (Allen Holm, former FLDS member and older brother of Fawn Holm who was a part of a huge media spectacle generated by Flora in 2004)
Martha Continues
Flora tells her eager listeners that she was not prepared for life on the “outside,” that she was “naive to the point of being socially retarded.” Hardly! From the young age of eleven, to the age of sixteen when she married Phil, she was entirely experienced in the aberrant lifestyle outside of the FLDS community’s high standards. She had already brought her hell into this heaven, and now she was ready to drink its cup fully.
In the years that followed, Flora freely fed her tragic lusts with drugs, alcohol, sex, prostitution, and stripping—with one brief interruption. Within a year after leaving, once again she called Fred. “She said she wanted to repent and come home,” wrote Martha in her account. And once again this kind and caring man who loved her and gave her every chance to do good, took her back. He got her a room in Cedar City and paid for it. Yet today Flora shamefully accuses him of imprisoning her. He also paid several thousand dollars for dental work for her, and visited and encouraged her. Everyone was kind to her, said Martha. Phil said he came to see her a couple of times as well. But then one day, once again, she just disappeared, leaving without saying a word and giving no indication as to where she had gone.
On Court TV Flora stated in an obvious pathological prevarication, “I was married as a child bride to my cousin. Stayed with him for about three weeks, then ran like crazy. They chased me for five years after I left. I had no support, I lived on the street, I know what it's like to try and get out of this cult and to have no one there for you. That is why I now try to help those who want to escape.“Yes. They chased me for five years, and I just hitchhiked back and forth across the U.S. for those five years. I did get pregnant towards the end of those five years, with my daughter, and she is the reason that I stopped running from them. I realized that I could not continue to run and protect my baby, so I stood up and told them if they wanted me, to come and get me, because I was not running anymore. At that point, I realized that the men from this cult are like schoolyard bullies. They only like to pick on people who are weaker than they are, and that power comes from the fear that they have instilled in the people.”
It is increasingly obvious that Flora’s lies are without depth or breadth, and this is recognized by all who know her. No one ever chased her. In fact, she freely returned to seek their help. In closer examination, her bizarre account serves to describe herself—always running from the truth, pressing her own distorted and corrupted agenda, and instilling false fear in others regarding the FLDS. For years Flora sold her body to destructive vices and prostitution—today she does no less with the truth.
• Quote: “I was very much a part of what Flora was doing before she ever left.… She was not forced to stay there. She could have gone anytime, just like you and I could.… She was not forced to stay in this community.… She could have gone at anytime.” (Reply of James Zitting, right-hand man to Fred M. Jessop, when questioned by his brother, Les, concerning Flora)
“For many years now I have kept quiet about what I knew,” relates Martha, “thinking Flora was just hurting herself. But now, since her lies and influence with authorities is affecting the lives of many innocent people, I think the truth should be told. The stories she tells have no credence and are fabricated. Her lies about being ‘locked up’ and being ‘used’ by men in our religious group are outrageous! She was never locked up in our community. When she chose to leave home, she walked out without difficulty—of her own free will and choice. Flora has not been a part of our religion or community for over twenty years. We have never hunted her or tried in any way to interfere in the life she chose to live. We have only helped her when she asked for help and did it without any thanks on her part.“I forgive her,” continues Martha, “but her lies and deceit should not be allowed to continue on as fact.”
“Ruby is a Hostage” [AKA "Where's Ruby Jessop?]
Let’s now move forward to 2001 when Flora began to dramatically enhance her public slander of the FLDS, becoming its chief persecutor. Like the written account from Martha and the interview with Phil, what you are about to read is the first ever account of actual events that unfolded regarding Flora’s oft-touted sister, Ruby, whom she alleged was brutally raped at the age of fourteen. This first-hand information comes from my personal phone conversations with Ruby and her husband, Haven; with Martha; and email correspondence with Ruby’s mother, Pat. For the first time, the veil of silence, misunderstanding, and false information will be lifted.
Back in Colorado City, Flora’s younger sister, Ruby, made some decisions that would bring her life into an unwelcomed examination and falsely-reported public spectacle, all because of the painful intrusion of her activist sister. On the day that Flora was married, leaving the FLDS, Ruby was born. “Ruby gave me my freedom,” Flora later said. “She was born the day I left Hildale. May 3, 1986.” Flora certainly did not find freedom when she left Hildale, but rather an even greater bondage to the ever-increasing lusts that controlled her life. In reality, the freedom Flora needs from Ruby and others is her freedom from living a life of continual lies and of inciting wrongful harm.
On April 23, 2001, Haven and Ruby had a church wedding ceremony in Caliente, Nevada. But she was being torn at the time as to whether this was what she truly wanted. “I needed time just to find myself,” she said. Her two older brothers had already left the FLDS, and three weeks after the wedding she went to be with them. But she was there for only one week and was already regretting leaving. Joseph, a friend of hers, contacted her and offered the opportunity to return. She gladly accepted and stayed in the home of the always-benevolent Fred Jessop. “I was never so glad to be home,” she rejoiced!
But what about Flora? When Ruby left her two brothers, they called Flora and told her that Ruby had gone back home. This infuriated Flora and she sprang into action to try to force Ruby to leave, uninvitedly intruding into her life. Her plan? She stirred up others and called Child Protective Services (CPS), and in her characteristic style told them an aggrandized lie. Does she believe her own agenda-driven lies? Undoubtedly so. But when CPS interviewed Ruby and her mother, they found no credibility whatsoever in Flora’s accusations. “[Ruby] was wonderful—gave no information of any concern, for anything,” stated CPS director Gene Ashdown to Flora, “and that really, I guess, isn't a surprise.” In our phone conversation, Ruby told me, “CPS wanted to have Flora there at my questioning, and I said no. I did not want to have anything to do with her.”
Upon her return, Ruby turned to the same home and security that Flora herself had often fled to for help in her own times of trouble, the home Flora later fallaciously described as imprisonment for three years in solitary confinement. But now Flora sought to accomplish the same disparaging accusations relative to Ruby. With ever-mounting evidence, Flora’s reports of events are more than exaggerations, but have all indications of being pathological lies.
• Quote: I don’t know what information you’ve got, but [Ruby’s] been around [since she came back]. And I know one thing, and that is that I was there personally the day after she came back. She was sittin’ there with her family and she was in tears and she says, “You guys don’t know how glad I am to be back.” That’s what she said, and I listened to it. So people that say that she’s there against her will—not true, not at all.… I know for a fact that, yes, there was a time there where she thought that maybe she wanted to leave; but after she was gone for how ever many days she was, SHE WAS MIGHTY GLAD TO BE BACK. She says, “I found out that that isn’t what I want.” (James Zitting, right-hand man to Fred M. Jessop, June 17, 2001)
• Quote: Since [Ruby] went back to Fred’s, you’ve seen her around?… Have you seen her around in the last two weeks?… Well that’s weird. Somebody’s lying to us.” (Les Zitting, James’s older brother who is anti-FLDS and asked him about Ruby, June 17, 2001)
Always an opportunist, in classic Flora fashion all of this made great fodder for falsely and wrongly inciting others against the FLDS, garnering great media attention and financial support. Flora’s efforts, as well as the efforts of other avid FLDS critics, are agenda-driven, media-driven, predominated by flagrant wrongful exaggerations and lies, have included fraudulent Attorney General documents (re., 2002 Napolitano investigations), and serve only to hurt the innocent. In 2004, Flora’s media-grandstanding and intrusive actions regarding Fawn Holm and Fawn Broadbent not only devastated families, but also infuriated other anti-FLDS crusaders, and even resulted in a court ordering her to stay away from the two girls. In 2006, Flora wildly alleged that there was an FLDS baby graveyard with 200 baby graves that were dug in one month and that “night burials” were being practiced, claims that were all proven to be totally false. Even so, she has continued to tell these lies to this day. Continually, she has proven herself to be the proverbial woman who cries “wolf.”
Repeatedly, Flora appealed to her willing listeners, “This is about every Ruby that's in there that wants to be free." But the freedom Ruby needs is to be free from the threats of her obsessed sister and those like her who make their lives more difficult and threatened, to be free to raise her family, and for Flora to be free from her own torturous bondage. The revealing fact is, none of Flora’s eleven sisters, or even her own mother, will have anything to do with her. “The reason I dislike seeing Flora is because it is too stressful for me to see and hear what she is doing with her life,” laments Pat.
But with standard purposes of attracting attention, Flora went so far as to file a missing person report on her mother and make it a media issue. In an interview, when asked in typical demonizing questioning if her family suffers retribution among the FLDS members for her public attacks, she stated, “I‘ve been given messages that my mother is paying the price for everything I do.” She is, Flora, but not by virtue of the supportive and caring FLDS members. Rather, she pays the price of a mother’s broken heart for a recalcitrant wayward daughter.
Beginning in 2001, and as recent as this year, Flora has boldly claimed that on the night of Haven and Ruby’s wedding, at the age of fourteen, Ruby “was raped so brutally [by Haven] that she almost died from the hemorrhaging,” and that her mother, only “a couple of doors down,” was not allowed to intervene. Yet Flora is never obligated to tell her source of these repeated outrageous lies. I asked Haven and Ruby specifically about these stunning accusations; and even knowing all that I know about Flora, I was not prepared for their answer. Frankly, based on what I had read and heard, in my own mind I had formed more gracious possibilities, though still surrounding these purported accusations. But I was totally taken aback that the facts were not anywhere near what Flora has viciously spread.
Did Haven brutally rape Ruby and did she almost hemorrhaged to death? When I asked them if this was true, Ruby quickly answered, “Absolutely not! I was never raped.” Haven added, “I absolutely wouldn’t do that. I’d give my life to protect her.” Even before hearing this, two men who personally know Haven assured me that there was no way he would have done that. It was totally contrary to his nature, his character, and his upbringing.
When I wrote Pat about this accusation, she confirmed: “Yes, I was there at the ceremony. Haven would not do these kinds of actions, let alone hurt anyone, and there is no truth in Flora's claims of any brutality.” The fact is, Haven and Ruby had no sexual relations whatsoever that evening, or even in the days to come, and not even in the months that followed.
Following the ceremony of April 23 and a brief honeymoon in Phoenix, Ruby was not settled with either herself or with marriage. As she stated, she needed time to find herself. She related, “I wanted to wait a little more time and see what I wanted.” “It was something Ruby needed,” responded Haven, “a little more time; and we gave it to her.”
Over the next six months, the two of them communicated very little. When Ruby was more comfortable and sure of what she wanted, their relationship began to progress. One year later, on May 5, 2002, they were married before a judge in St. George, Utah. Ruby was sixteen years of age, and Haven was twenty-one. Only after this marriage did they ever have conjugal relations.
Despite Flora’s repeated lies and accusations that marriages are forced in the FLDS and that men abuse the women, clearly this is far from true. Ruby was in fact given all the time and freedom she needed in order to make her own choice, one she was comfortable with. And consistent with the FLDS lifestyle, there was no abuse whatsoever.
However, during this time when the community was showing patience and care, a dark storm brewed outside. In stark contrast to this peaceful people who prefer the sanctity of silence, the brutally vicious lies of Flora and others flew like hot embers from troubling firebrands. In addition to the rape allegations, other wild claims were made, including that Ruby was being brainwashed, re-educated, even whisked off in secrecy to Canada or Idaho. But by and large, Ruby stayed right there in Hildale. She said she and her mother did take a little vacation and went to visit some friends.
Today, Haven and Ruby remain happily married. And despite the unwelcomed willful intrusion of Flora and others like her, they are living the life they have chosen. Looking back at the struggles she went through in 2001, today Ruby is now able to say with gratefulness, “This is my life, and I would never go back to the world.”
Frankly, I was stunned at their account. It was not at all like what I had read and heard, and I could not grasp how Flora could contrive something so profoundly different. Puzzled, I asked them, “Where could Flora get such a story?” “Where she gets all her other stories,” replied Ruby, “from her head.”
Does the FLDS have flaws? Of course they do. Do they have difficulties within community life. Certainly they do. Would there be conflicts and hard feelings on the part of some individuals? That is inevitable, especially when dealing with teens when they hit those infamous distressing and troubling years. But what I have seen in all my examinations is that, even so, they are a people who strive to do what is right, and who excel immeasurably better in wholesome and right living than society that exists outside of their lives. And most certainly, I have found that the accusations made against them by anti-FLDS critics hold no weight. In fact, the best characterization of these acrid critics is that their accusations are as worthy to be trusted as the testimonies of rebellious troubled teenagers who rant about their parents.
There are many who have left the FLDS who we never hear from, those who could provide a much more realistic assessment of FLDS life without the embittered accusations. But the problem is that no one, especially the feeding-frenzy media, wants to hear from them. They are much closer to reality, even with some of their criticisms. But this is a lynching mob, and the voice of the reasonable is drowned out.
One twenty-three-year-old young man who was raised in the FLDS and had been away for three years wrote on a blog regarding his experience: “I had a very happy childhood free from television, drugs, and abuse.… 95% of the men I knew were honorable and trustworthy.… I personally know every man on that [YFZ] Ranch in Texas. Search the world over, you will not find men more dedicated, more committed, and more focused on living in Peace and living their religion than within that group.” He continued, “half [a figure that is probably closer to twenty to thirty percent] of the children raised within the FLDS end up leaving [of] their own free will and choice,” and “95% of them you will never hear from again.” But, he noted, “5% seem to spread rumor[s] and false accusations everywhere they turn, either because they are lonely and need someone or something to blame, or because they really were hurt or abused and somehow think it's the church's fault.”
A common mantra of both FLDS critics and CPS is that the men are “perpetrators” of sexual crimes. But as we just read and saw regarding Haven and Ruby, nothing could be further from the truth. My experience in talking with FLDS men confirms this. One man had waited six months before he even had sexual relations with his wife, another several months as well. The latter man stated, “You have to wait until you are comfortable with one another. You love one another. You respect one another. It is very important that it is the lady’s idea and she is comfortable with it. It is not our place and is repulsive to force ourselves on women. It goes against our moral fabric and goes against everything we have been taught. That is how every FLDS man that I know has been raised. Something of this magnitude in your life is important and comes from love and not lust.”
Despite this reality regarding these peaceable and moral people, Flora sought to incite others with the oft-repeated claim, “Ruby is a hostage.” But Ruby was not and has never been a hostage. Rather, she is the happily-married mother of four young children, two boys and two girls, who love her very much and whose lives are threatened by people like their venomous aunt. Ruby is not the hostage. But rather, it is Flora who is the hostage—hostage to her own blinding hatred and willful pursuit to gainfully destroy those who tried to help her so many times.
If there is anyone who was born and raised in Colorado City who needs to be set free from a “compound,” it is Flora Jessop, the little girl who was “a beautiful child, well loved and enjoyable,” who is held captive by her own walls of bitterness and self-gratifying destructive pursuits. Flora lived a lifestyle that was self-destructive, and now she seeks to destroy those who, even now, still love her. In all my contacts and interviews with FLDS members, I have yet to find a single person who is bitter towards her; they all want only the best for her.
I asked Haven and Ruby one last question: If you knew Flora was telling these vicious lies about you, then why didn’t you say something? Why didn’t you speak up and refute them? “In our culture,” answered Haven, “we’re not out to find problems, or to find fault with other people. We try to mind our own business, and others can live their own lives. If some say something bad about you, you forgive them, turn the other cheek, and move on with your life. Flora really does have family here that love her…,” then Ruby interjected, “but we don’t appreciate what she is doing…,” and in a seamless sentence between the two of them, Haven continued, “and she needs to come out and be honest.”
Somehow Flora missed this instruction about forgiving and moving on with your life, the very thing she desperately needs to do. She is in fact in every way the antithesis of the culture she was raised in, a paradox of all the good and virtue they seek to practice. And instead of adopting their pacifism, she has taken advantage of this quality evidenced in her people as a freedom to tell all her lies undisputed. As a result, she has hurt too many and caused far too much trouble. “Ruby and I were both betrayed,” wrote Flora. No, Ruby survived the insidious attacks of her bitter sister, and Flora betrays herself, her people and loving family, truth, and justice.
The Yearning For Zion Raid
It’s one thing to stand under a high-wire and try to catch those who might fall, and quite another to climb the pole and cut the wire.If Flora’s purpose is to help those who want to leave the FLDS, and some indeed leave and have the freedom to do so at their own will, then why is it that she seeks to enforce a destructive control for which she herself accuses them? But if her purpose is to grandstand, to lead the uninformed into deception, and to foment unjust actions so as to destroy peaceful innocent lives, then it is she who needs to be called into question and disregarded.
• Quote: Flora is a publicity-hungry "fanatic" whose "demands to have control over someone else's children are becoming eerily similar to the dictatorial attitude of her sworn nemesis, Warren Jeffs." She is "misguided and devious." (“The Phoenix New Times”)
When the state of Texas and CPS invaded the YFZ Ranch with substantial militant force, removing all of the innocent children, they did so illegally. This has been the ruling of both a Texas Appellate Court and the Texas Supreme Court. So what was it that prompted Texas and CPS to take this highly extreme and costly action that has now blown up in their faces?
In March of 2004, Flora traveled to Eldorado, Texas, where she met with local law enforcement officials and held a press conference. Here she found a very receptive ear in Schleicher County Sheriff David Doran. “Flora has provided us with a lot of information and I find her to be very credible,” said Doran. This relationship continued over the next four years, leading up to the YFZ raid. In fact, after the raid Doran confidently stated, "I have had a good informant who has given me good information over the past four years. This person has been assisting us as we've gone forward on this operation." A court affidavit unsealed on April 9, 2008, stated that "on more than 20 occasions" Doran's informant had provided him with supposed details about life at the ranch. He has also stated that the informant was a former member and was "instrumental in teaching me the group's ways."
Putting all the facts together, it is quite obvious that Sheriff Doran’s trusted informant was none other than inflammatory Flora Jessop. She is the only former-FLDS person who had been with him for four years. Later he said that there was more than one informant. Indeed, subsequently there were other anti-FLDS former members who provided biased information, but Flora was the first and foremost.
Flora had stated prior to these events, “One day [the FLDS] will go to war with law enforcement and the streets will run red with the blood of the enemy. We were taught that from the time we could walk.” She said the “compounds” aren't like homes in that they are fortified, built with thick walls. “They are very much armed. They have many, many weapons," she warned, and even went so far as to say that Warren Jeffs is “David Koresh, Jim Jones, and 9-11 all wrapped up in one nice little package. These guys are very dangerous." How then would this kind of information affect Sheriff Doran?
It is now evident who is the more dangerous—Flora. These views of Doran’s trusted informant explain why he called in such a dramatic show of law enforcement with extensive firepower and militant might. With SWAT-team methods they crashed through doors and entered into homes with machine guns raised in an invasion so large and with so much might that it cost Texas $5.3 million to carry out. But what kind of resistance did they encounter? Was it Flora’s forewarned apocalyptic bloodbath? No, they encountered nothing more than shocked adults and scared crying children. Where were all of Flora’s promised weapons? Once again we see why Flora Jessop cannot be believed. Truth is as elusive in her life as were the purported weapons—they did not exist whatsoever.
At the October 13, 2006, Exmormon Foundation annual conference, Flora related her own purported personal experience with these gun-slingin’ FLDS men. “The way these guys work, they’re not gonna come after me, although they do. I’ve had many fun instances where we’ve dealt with bullets flying and things like that; but, hmm, I just think they need to get a better target to shoot at.” Her account is nauseating. This blatantly outlandish statement reinforces the reality of Flora’s rampant fantasy for violence, and her willingness to propagate it. And this infection of misinformation has not been limited to Sheriff Doran. The Utah Attorney General, Mark Shurtleff, ranted in an interview, “Here’s a man [Warren Jeffs} who had a whole army supporting him, who thumbed his nose at the law for years, who ran from us, who had people surrounding him with guns, threatening to go down with him.” Really? And where have we heard this before? And when Jeffs was arrested, where were all those guns as well? And who, once again, was telling Shurtleff this false information? And as a state official, why was he one of these eager gullible listeners?
And remember those wildly false accusations Flora made about the baby graveyard? What then could also have been expected during the raid, compliments of this same source? Reported in a press conference on June 2, 2008, by FLDS spokesman Willie Jessop, “They brought in cadaver dogs and raided all the flower gardens to try to find babies and carcasses. It’s how sick their information has been.” The source of that information is clearly evident. Of course, once again, they found no babies.
In a letter of June 17, 2008, to Utah officials, including [Attorney General] Mark Shurtleff, FLDS attorney Rod Parker noted, “Moreover, as investigations proceed, Texas authorities are acknowledging that in conducting this raid they reacted to erroneous intelligence.” He chided Utah officials for repeatedly providing Texas authorities irresponsible information “from unreliable sources,” characterizing these as “hate groups who wish to see the FLDS destroyed.” As a remedy to these false insular ideas that have brought about so many unjust and excessive actions, Parker urged them, “It would take very little investigation on the part of your office to realize that your sources are unreliable.” Unreliable indeed.
• Quote: “I have a begrudging respect for [Flora].… She does more harm than good, is an unpredictable bad source, and not credit worthy.… She talks a good ball game, but when you look at her…. She rules over anybody who gets in her way, including me.” (Bob Curran, founder of the anti-polygamist organization, Help the Child Brides, and who personally worked with Flora)
So much more could be said about this raid. As a much-touted public figure, how is it that Flora’s lies could have incited Rosita Swinton, the bogus caller who sparked the raid? Rosita had made similar calls prior to this, going back to June, 2005, but never relative to the FLDS. So where did she get all of her information? And what inspired her to create stories in the identical pattern of Flora’s stories? Many questions arise concerning this that beg to be answered.
Furthermore, one must also ask where the responsibility lies with the media. What grave part did they play in this drama as well? Why were they also so irresponsible in too eagerly and repeatedly parading a pathological witness before this nation without validating her authenticity?
When Sheriff Doran was asked about his part in the raid on YFZ, he replied: “I did not bring this on them. The call came in to assist Child Protective Services. We always assist. We pulled in the law enforcement due to the size of the operation. We pulled in the law enforcement that was necessary to carry out the operation.”
Given the track record of CPS, it is likely that this is true. But given the source of Doran’s information that he was operating on—Flora—we can see why he used so much militant might, and why CPS’s actions were so extreme. But one has to also ask how much Doran, with his errantly skewed position, even influenced CPS’s initiation of the raid? Undoubtedly, in all realms, Flora Jessop was the major influence for this despicable, erroneous, and illegal YFZ invasion.
There is no question that Flora stirred the pot and brought this entire matter to the fevered destructive lawless frenzy that it became, including Rosita Swinton’s part. As she has done for most of her life, Flora pressured, cajoled, and lied until her fomenting stories became perceived reality. And one must ask in conclusion: If what Flora has repeatedly stated—that these girls are indeed entrapped abused prisoners who desperately want out—then why was it that not a single one of them fled to her once they were separated from there? Why was it that there was not a single defection, but rather a unanimous yearning to return to Zion?
After hearing Flora’s tragic story—and as you would suspect, we have not nearly addressed the host of all her lies and inflammatory actions—some might be inclined to feel sorry for her and dismiss her perpetually vile and destructive behavior. This is what the FLDS community did for many years. But Martha’s reply is a fitting answer to this, as she has concluded: “I forgive her, but her lies and deceit should not be allowed to continue on as fact.” For too many years Flora has had free reign to lie, and this has been done to the unjust harm and detriment of the innocent lives of others, particularly of late. That time has come to an end.
• Quote: Flora has been swept up in “the TV interviews, the fame, and the glory. … She loves the attention. She's craved it her whole life.… Nobody wants anything to do with Flora.” “Flora's been getting away with these [false] stories for a long time now, and it’s time to shut her down.” (Pennie Petersen, anti-polygamy activist who grew up with Flora in FLDS)
----------------------------------------------------------------
July 1 2008
By Author Gary D. Naler
Flora Jessop, the outspoken media favorite and determined critic of the Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints (FLDS), has had the advantage and luxury of accruing audiences who want to believe her or are understandably uninformed about Flora’s real life and the FLDS church itself. Therefore, she has been able to say what she wants; and since people are often hearing what they want to hear, she has gotten off scot-free without any accountability or recourse whatsoever for what we now know are an endless string of vicious lies.
But Flora’s days of unaccountability have come to an end. She has now been instrumental in causing the state of Texas to carry out an illegal invasion on an entire community at a cost to the state that carries a running tally of $14 million, and has hurt so many innocent people that these silent ones who know her well, have loved and cared for her, and endured her continual destructive behavior, are finally speaking out.
Martha Jessop, wife of the late Fred M. Jessop—beloved Bishop of the Colorado City/Hildale FLDS community for fifty years—has written a most revealing account regarding Flora’s life (“The Truth About Flora Jessop,” at truthwillprevail.org). From Flora’s birth, until she was sixteen years old, Martha was very closely associated with her. She is an Advanced Practice Registered Nurse and Certified Nurse Midwife. Because of this formal training, the state of Utah appointed her as Flora’s legal guardian at the age of fourteen when it was revealed that her father had molested her. Flora was under Martha’s direct care and supervision, living in their home, until she left at the age of sixteen.
In representation of the sentiments of others, Martha writes: “After listening to and hearing of the stories and lies that Flora has been telling and putting out to the world through the media—lies about how she was ‘abused’ and ‘escaped’ from her childhood home and religion, I feel compelled to tell the true story of Flora.” With Martha’s help and the help of many others who have never been interviewed about these matters or spoken out, as well as previous news accounts, interviews, and information, we will now tell the true story about Flora Jessop. And let it be noted that the account by Martha is corroborated by Flora’s mother, Patricia, who upon reading it stated, “That’s the whole truth and nothing but the truth.”
Flora’s Growing-Up Years
Flora was born to Joseph and Patricia (Pat) Jessop in the little FLDS town of Colorado City, Arizona. “Flora was a beautiful child, well loved and enjoyable,” Martha recalls. But she noticed “a tendency in her to exaggerate and embellish little incidents. She enjoyed being in the spotlight and the center of attention.” Martha recalls chiding her to “tell the truth and not make it bigger than it is,” a quality Flora never learned.
As Flora got older, she became “restless and wild, with unpredictable mood swings, sometimes seeming impulsive and aggressive, then swinging back to the happy and free-spirited Flora we knew and loved.” As early as the age of eleven, she began going out at night, prowling around, “looking for fun.” “She seemed to be dissatisfied with the family outings and social times with her friends and siblings,” Martha recalled.
Her mother and others tried to deal with Flora’s troubling behavior; but as her mood swings became more extreme, she soon developed a whole new set of “friends,” often coming home intoxicated and violent, and it was highly suspected that she was using drugs. Today, Flora often points a limp finger at the FLDS, and regarding her drug and alcohol use and loose living states: “The pain got so bad in heaven that I was willing to damn myself to hell to escape it.” But the fact is, Flora had already brought her own hell to heaven long before she left the FLDS. As is the case with many alcoholics and drug addicts or otherwise-troubled people, for Flora it has always been easier to point the finger and assign fallacious blame than to be honest and take personal responsibility.
By the early age of thirteen, Flora was completely out of control. On one occasion she was out all night and found with a fifteen-year-old boy having sex. “Such behavior went against everything Flora had been taught,” relates Martha. Even so, they did not give up on her.
• Quote: “I went to school with Flora.… It's true Flora had a very abusive upbringing, sex abuse, etc., but she was a wild child, loved to sneak out and go to parties.… In my opinion, she is clinging to the only thing she really knows—slamming her upbringing. Think about it—it pays their bills doesn’t it?… How would Flora like the world to know she was the easiest lay in town? The point is, I left there in 1986 and haven’t looked back. My life is great. Flora should do the same!!!!” (Laddie Dockstader, former FLDS classmate and friend)
When Flora was fourteen, Martha was talking with her about the impact of loose morals, when she blurted out, “Well, my father has raped me!” “It struck me like a thunderbolt,” related Martha. “That was terrible! I was sickened at the thought. I thought maybe she had made it up, but she insisted it was true.”
In Martha’s words, in their society “child molestation or abuse of any kind is unthinkable and unacceptable.” Flora’s father was turned over to legal authorities and subsequently excommunicated from the church. Despite this decisive correction that she is well aware of, when asked if incest was permitted in FLDS, she replied, “Incest is not only permitted, it is accepted.” Evidenced here and throughout her life, Flora’s habitual lies have been twisted ill-intended distortions of events.
• Quote: “She is a liar.… [Lying is] Flora’s life history.… She is not credible.… I do not see how any reasonable person can believe what she says.” (Benjamin Bistline, author of “The Polygamists – A History of Colorado City, Arizona,” who personally knew Flora as a child and is an FLDS critic)
One of the things I learned after examining the FLDS, from both the inside as well as the outside, is that they have a near-zero-tolerance policy for young men, fathers, and husbands when it comes to moral impropriety, evidenced by the action taken against Flora’s father. This high standard would certainly be one reason why there are fewer men than women in the FLDS. One man I communicated with extensively throughout the many days and hours of this careful examination was disfellowshipped for mistreating his wife. He said she and his two children could have gone with him, but decided not to, and that the present separation was best for both of them. What was his guilt? He had been looking at pornography. How many homes would be left in America today if the same standard the FLDS follow was practiced by the rest of society that so misguidedly judges them?
After Flora’s father was reported to legal authorities, she was taken from his home and placed into Martha’s care as the court-appointed legal guardian. In a joint interview I had with Flora on June 1, 2008, I mentioned to her that Martha had raised her after she had been taken away from her father, to which she replied, “Martha was just one of the other wives in the household.” I find it both shameful and remarkably untruthful that the woman who had reached out to her so much and was in fact her legal guardian assigned by the court, was regarded with so little respect or gratitude.
Martha, Fred, and others began trying to help Flora through the healing process. To limit destructive influences, she and her court-appointed counselor thought it best that Flora be homeschooled, which she was. For a while they thought she was healing, but once again she became restless and began to return to her prior ways. “Any little thing would make her fly into a rage,” recounts Martha. On one occasion she attacked Martha, scratching herself as she flailed away at her. Then, exhibiting a characteristic that would endure to this day, she called the counselor and accused Martha of beating her.
Finally, one night she left, just disappeared, and stayed gone for two weeks. When she did call, she was in Las Vegas, crying and wanting to come home. Fred drove 160 miles to get her, finding her scantily clad in bikini-type clothing.
But still they didn’t stop loving her. Because of their concern about her influence on the other girls, they made her a little room at the end of a wide hall, putting curtains across it. They tried to make it cozy and cute for her, said Martha. But consistent with her slanderous lies and total lack of appreciation, Flora would later repeatedly tell her enraptured and blindly sympathetic listeners that she had been locked up at the end of a hall, imprisoned behind a wall for “three years in solitary confinement.” “With curtains? Oh my!” replies Martha. “I spent three years in this room with them trying to beat Satan out of me for daring to stand up against God’s commandments,” Flora lavishly tells others. The little girl still cannot stop exaggerating and embellishing, taking it to unthinkable pathological levels.
Once back, her involvement in drugs, alcohol, sex, and unaccounted absences only continued. “Her behavior was quite oppressive,” relates Martha. “I felt like such a failure.” She continues, “One night she was out all night with a boy—a cousin. He came the next morning and told Grandpa [Fred] that they had had sex. So Grandpa asked him if he wanted to marry her. He said he did. Then Grandpa asked Flora if she wanted to marry the boy. She said she did. So he helped them get legally married. Flora was sixteen. The newlyweds left town to settle elsewhere, but I learned later that she left him several weeks after their marriage.”
The August, 2004, issue of “The Los Angeles Times Magazine” reported: “In May 1986, she [Flora] entered into an arranged marriage with a 19-year-old cousin, Philip Jessop.” “Arranged marriage”? The only thing arranged about it was that Flora and Philip arranged to be out all night and were caught having sex.
Phillip’s Sympathetic Marriage
Though the Times article was supposed to be favorable to Flora, it astutely noted, “Over the years, she has told conflicting stories about how [her ‘getaway’] happened.” One thing that she is consistent about is her repeated and convincing claim that she “escaped” from the FLDS, that she was a victim held in solitary confinement. Was she indeed a victim? This is evidently the case, insomuch that she lived in an abusive situation with her father. But beyond that, she in fact created her own world of difficulties, and the reality of an escape is framed solely within the walls of her own mind.
Many people undoubtedly reached out to Flora and tried to help her. Were their efforts sufficient? Evidenced by her life, clearly not; but at some point people have to take responsibility for their own actions. One of those who sought to be her “savior” was Phillip. I talked with him by phone several times. No one before had ever contacted him so as to verify Flora’s statements. I was the first. In fact, Flora has never been questioned regarding her life accounts. Up to now, what she has said has been blindly accepted carte blanche. The name that Phillip goes by is Phil, and here is his account.
Phil was eighteen years old when he married Flora. He said that for two years they had been “sneaking out” together. Martha was right in that they were caught one night in a sexual affair, by a night watchman; but Phil did not immediately go to Fred. He related that he was first confronted by his older brother about the incident. He admitted to it, and his brother, for whom he worked, was prepared to carry out retribution for his actions. Once again we see that the idea propagated by FLDS critics that irresponsible behavior, such as Phil’s out-of-wedlock sexual relationship, is accepted is unfounded. As evidenced here and in other instances, the FLDS take swift remedial action.
Phil said that two weeks afterwards, his stepfather, Bill Shapley, came over and left a note for Phil to contact him. Two days later Phil met with him. Bill asked him if he wanted to marry Flora. At the age of eighteen, Phil said he had a “savior complex” regarding Flora—he wanted to “draw her out of the negative @#*! she was in.” Bill even tried to talk him out of marrying her. In Phil’s words, Flora “had a rebel streak in her that was a mile long.” But he made a commitment to be a friend to her and to always be there. Obviously Flora felt this as well, for she later related, "He was my friend and he helped me leave."
The next day, Phil and Flora met with Fred in his office. As Martha has noted, they both wanted the marriage. So on May 3, 1986, Phil, Flora, Fred, Phil’s mother and stepfather, and Flora’s father and stepmother, rode in a limousine to Las Vegas and the two were married.
After the wedding, they were taken to a motel in St. George, followed by moving in with his brother. The marriage lasted only ten days. Phil said Flora became very cold—their marriage was “like sleeping with an iceberg.” He no longer wanted to be married to her and asked her what she wanted. He said she was confused and wanted to be young. Phil made arrangements for Flora to stay at his friend’s house in St. George, where she remained for two to four weeks. From there, he said she went to Las Vegas, and from there to Kansas City. The next time he saw her was about six months later in Phoenix, where she was with another man, supposedly a TWA executive.
“[Flora] learned how to work people,” Phil relates. “She was a topless dancer and worked for an escort service.” Ten years later she finally filed for a divorce. He never remarried.Phil maintains a great deal of compassion for Flora, and retains his commitment to be her friend. “The sad part,” he said, “is that her motives are for the hurting who have experienced pain and betrayal. But she has a tainted perspective, and her methods are destructive from her pain and anger.” When explaining why he married Flora, he said, “She has told a lot of lies and did manipulative stuff, but she needed someone to believe in her.” Phil gave Flora that chance.
• Quote: “Flora Jessop was possibly abused as a child either by her brother or her father, both of whom were excommunicated from the FLDS church and lost their families. She moved in with Uncle Fred, whom her mother married.… She was never mistreated by Fred Jessop; he only wanted to help her. Flora left in 1986. I do not blame her one bit for being angry for what happened to her as a child, but she found identity and notoriety by blaming the church for her pain. I don’t blame her, but she is wrong.” (Allen Holm, former FLDS member and older brother of Fawn Holm who was a part of a huge media spectacle generated by Flora in 2004)
Martha Continues
Flora tells her eager listeners that she was not prepared for life on the “outside,” that she was “naive to the point of being socially retarded.” Hardly! From the young age of eleven, to the age of sixteen when she married Phil, she was entirely experienced in the aberrant lifestyle outside of the FLDS community’s high standards. She had already brought her hell into this heaven, and now she was ready to drink its cup fully.
In the years that followed, Flora freely fed her tragic lusts with drugs, alcohol, sex, prostitution, and stripping—with one brief interruption. Within a year after leaving, once again she called Fred. “She said she wanted to repent and come home,” wrote Martha in her account. And once again this kind and caring man who loved her and gave her every chance to do good, took her back. He got her a room in Cedar City and paid for it. Yet today Flora shamefully accuses him of imprisoning her. He also paid several thousand dollars for dental work for her, and visited and encouraged her. Everyone was kind to her, said Martha. Phil said he came to see her a couple of times as well. But then one day, once again, she just disappeared, leaving without saying a word and giving no indication as to where she had gone.
On Court TV Flora stated in an obvious pathological prevarication, “I was married as a child bride to my cousin. Stayed with him for about three weeks, then ran like crazy. They chased me for five years after I left. I had no support, I lived on the street, I know what it's like to try and get out of this cult and to have no one there for you. That is why I now try to help those who want to escape.“Yes. They chased me for five years, and I just hitchhiked back and forth across the U.S. for those five years. I did get pregnant towards the end of those five years, with my daughter, and she is the reason that I stopped running from them. I realized that I could not continue to run and protect my baby, so I stood up and told them if they wanted me, to come and get me, because I was not running anymore. At that point, I realized that the men from this cult are like schoolyard bullies. They only like to pick on people who are weaker than they are, and that power comes from the fear that they have instilled in the people.”
It is increasingly obvious that Flora’s lies are without depth or breadth, and this is recognized by all who know her. No one ever chased her. In fact, she freely returned to seek their help. In closer examination, her bizarre account serves to describe herself—always running from the truth, pressing her own distorted and corrupted agenda, and instilling false fear in others regarding the FLDS. For years Flora sold her body to destructive vices and prostitution—today she does no less with the truth.
• Quote: “I was very much a part of what Flora was doing before she ever left.… She was not forced to stay there. She could have gone anytime, just like you and I could.… She was not forced to stay in this community.… She could have gone at anytime.” (Reply of James Zitting, right-hand man to Fred M. Jessop, when questioned by his brother, Les, concerning Flora)
“For many years now I have kept quiet about what I knew,” relates Martha, “thinking Flora was just hurting herself. But now, since her lies and influence with authorities is affecting the lives of many innocent people, I think the truth should be told. The stories she tells have no credence and are fabricated. Her lies about being ‘locked up’ and being ‘used’ by men in our religious group are outrageous! She was never locked up in our community. When she chose to leave home, she walked out without difficulty—of her own free will and choice. Flora has not been a part of our religion or community for over twenty years. We have never hunted her or tried in any way to interfere in the life she chose to live. We have only helped her when she asked for help and did it without any thanks on her part.“I forgive her,” continues Martha, “but her lies and deceit should not be allowed to continue on as fact.”
“Ruby is a Hostage” [AKA "Where's Ruby Jessop?]
Let’s now move forward to 2001 when Flora began to dramatically enhance her public slander of the FLDS, becoming its chief persecutor. Like the written account from Martha and the interview with Phil, what you are about to read is the first ever account of actual events that unfolded regarding Flora’s oft-touted sister, Ruby, whom she alleged was brutally raped at the age of fourteen. This first-hand information comes from my personal phone conversations with Ruby and her husband, Haven; with Martha; and email correspondence with Ruby’s mother, Pat. For the first time, the veil of silence, misunderstanding, and false information will be lifted.
Back in Colorado City, Flora’s younger sister, Ruby, made some decisions that would bring her life into an unwelcomed examination and falsely-reported public spectacle, all because of the painful intrusion of her activist sister. On the day that Flora was married, leaving the FLDS, Ruby was born. “Ruby gave me my freedom,” Flora later said. “She was born the day I left Hildale. May 3, 1986.” Flora certainly did not find freedom when she left Hildale, but rather an even greater bondage to the ever-increasing lusts that controlled her life. In reality, the freedom Flora needs from Ruby and others is her freedom from living a life of continual lies and of inciting wrongful harm.
On April 23, 2001, Haven and Ruby had a church wedding ceremony in Caliente, Nevada. But she was being torn at the time as to whether this was what she truly wanted. “I needed time just to find myself,” she said. Her two older brothers had already left the FLDS, and three weeks after the wedding she went to be with them. But she was there for only one week and was already regretting leaving. Joseph, a friend of hers, contacted her and offered the opportunity to return. She gladly accepted and stayed in the home of the always-benevolent Fred Jessop. “I was never so glad to be home,” she rejoiced!
But what about Flora? When Ruby left her two brothers, they called Flora and told her that Ruby had gone back home. This infuriated Flora and she sprang into action to try to force Ruby to leave, uninvitedly intruding into her life. Her plan? She stirred up others and called Child Protective Services (CPS), and in her characteristic style told them an aggrandized lie. Does she believe her own agenda-driven lies? Undoubtedly so. But when CPS interviewed Ruby and her mother, they found no credibility whatsoever in Flora’s accusations. “[Ruby] was wonderful—gave no information of any concern, for anything,” stated CPS director Gene Ashdown to Flora, “and that really, I guess, isn't a surprise.” In our phone conversation, Ruby told me, “CPS wanted to have Flora there at my questioning, and I said no. I did not want to have anything to do with her.”
Upon her return, Ruby turned to the same home and security that Flora herself had often fled to for help in her own times of trouble, the home Flora later fallaciously described as imprisonment for three years in solitary confinement. But now Flora sought to accomplish the same disparaging accusations relative to Ruby. With ever-mounting evidence, Flora’s reports of events are more than exaggerations, but have all indications of being pathological lies.
• Quote: I don’t know what information you’ve got, but [Ruby’s] been around [since she came back]. And I know one thing, and that is that I was there personally the day after she came back. She was sittin’ there with her family and she was in tears and she says, “You guys don’t know how glad I am to be back.” That’s what she said, and I listened to it. So people that say that she’s there against her will—not true, not at all.… I know for a fact that, yes, there was a time there where she thought that maybe she wanted to leave; but after she was gone for how ever many days she was, SHE WAS MIGHTY GLAD TO BE BACK. She says, “I found out that that isn’t what I want.” (James Zitting, right-hand man to Fred M. Jessop, June 17, 2001)
• Quote: Since [Ruby] went back to Fred’s, you’ve seen her around?… Have you seen her around in the last two weeks?… Well that’s weird. Somebody’s lying to us.” (Les Zitting, James’s older brother who is anti-FLDS and asked him about Ruby, June 17, 2001)
Always an opportunist, in classic Flora fashion all of this made great fodder for falsely and wrongly inciting others against the FLDS, garnering great media attention and financial support. Flora’s efforts, as well as the efforts of other avid FLDS critics, are agenda-driven, media-driven, predominated by flagrant wrongful exaggerations and lies, have included fraudulent Attorney General documents (re., 2002 Napolitano investigations), and serve only to hurt the innocent. In 2004, Flora’s media-grandstanding and intrusive actions regarding Fawn Holm and Fawn Broadbent not only devastated families, but also infuriated other anti-FLDS crusaders, and even resulted in a court ordering her to stay away from the two girls. In 2006, Flora wildly alleged that there was an FLDS baby graveyard with 200 baby graves that were dug in one month and that “night burials” were being practiced, claims that were all proven to be totally false. Even so, she has continued to tell these lies to this day. Continually, she has proven herself to be the proverbial woman who cries “wolf.”
Repeatedly, Flora appealed to her willing listeners, “This is about every Ruby that's in there that wants to be free." But the freedom Ruby needs is to be free from the threats of her obsessed sister and those like her who make their lives more difficult and threatened, to be free to raise her family, and for Flora to be free from her own torturous bondage. The revealing fact is, none of Flora’s eleven sisters, or even her own mother, will have anything to do with her. “The reason I dislike seeing Flora is because it is too stressful for me to see and hear what she is doing with her life,” laments Pat.
But with standard purposes of attracting attention, Flora went so far as to file a missing person report on her mother and make it a media issue. In an interview, when asked in typical demonizing questioning if her family suffers retribution among the FLDS members for her public attacks, she stated, “I‘ve been given messages that my mother is paying the price for everything I do.” She is, Flora, but not by virtue of the supportive and caring FLDS members. Rather, she pays the price of a mother’s broken heart for a recalcitrant wayward daughter.
Beginning in 2001, and as recent as this year, Flora has boldly claimed that on the night of Haven and Ruby’s wedding, at the age of fourteen, Ruby “was raped so brutally [by Haven] that she almost died from the hemorrhaging,” and that her mother, only “a couple of doors down,” was not allowed to intervene. Yet Flora is never obligated to tell her source of these repeated outrageous lies. I asked Haven and Ruby specifically about these stunning accusations; and even knowing all that I know about Flora, I was not prepared for their answer. Frankly, based on what I had read and heard, in my own mind I had formed more gracious possibilities, though still surrounding these purported accusations. But I was totally taken aback that the facts were not anywhere near what Flora has viciously spread.
Did Haven brutally rape Ruby and did she almost hemorrhaged to death? When I asked them if this was true, Ruby quickly answered, “Absolutely not! I was never raped.” Haven added, “I absolutely wouldn’t do that. I’d give my life to protect her.” Even before hearing this, two men who personally know Haven assured me that there was no way he would have done that. It was totally contrary to his nature, his character, and his upbringing.
When I wrote Pat about this accusation, she confirmed: “Yes, I was there at the ceremony. Haven would not do these kinds of actions, let alone hurt anyone, and there is no truth in Flora's claims of any brutality.” The fact is, Haven and Ruby had no sexual relations whatsoever that evening, or even in the days to come, and not even in the months that followed.
Following the ceremony of April 23 and a brief honeymoon in Phoenix, Ruby was not settled with either herself or with marriage. As she stated, she needed time to find herself. She related, “I wanted to wait a little more time and see what I wanted.” “It was something Ruby needed,” responded Haven, “a little more time; and we gave it to her.”
Over the next six months, the two of them communicated very little. When Ruby was more comfortable and sure of what she wanted, their relationship began to progress. One year later, on May 5, 2002, they were married before a judge in St. George, Utah. Ruby was sixteen years of age, and Haven was twenty-one. Only after this marriage did they ever have conjugal relations.
Despite Flora’s repeated lies and accusations that marriages are forced in the FLDS and that men abuse the women, clearly this is far from true. Ruby was in fact given all the time and freedom she needed in order to make her own choice, one she was comfortable with. And consistent with the FLDS lifestyle, there was no abuse whatsoever.
However, during this time when the community was showing patience and care, a dark storm brewed outside. In stark contrast to this peaceful people who prefer the sanctity of silence, the brutally vicious lies of Flora and others flew like hot embers from troubling firebrands. In addition to the rape allegations, other wild claims were made, including that Ruby was being brainwashed, re-educated, even whisked off in secrecy to Canada or Idaho. But by and large, Ruby stayed right there in Hildale. She said she and her mother did take a little vacation and went to visit some friends.
Today, Haven and Ruby remain happily married. And despite the unwelcomed willful intrusion of Flora and others like her, they are living the life they have chosen. Looking back at the struggles she went through in 2001, today Ruby is now able to say with gratefulness, “This is my life, and I would never go back to the world.”
Frankly, I was stunned at their account. It was not at all like what I had read and heard, and I could not grasp how Flora could contrive something so profoundly different. Puzzled, I asked them, “Where could Flora get such a story?” “Where she gets all her other stories,” replied Ruby, “from her head.”
Does the FLDS have flaws? Of course they do. Do they have difficulties within community life. Certainly they do. Would there be conflicts and hard feelings on the part of some individuals? That is inevitable, especially when dealing with teens when they hit those infamous distressing and troubling years. But what I have seen in all my examinations is that, even so, they are a people who strive to do what is right, and who excel immeasurably better in wholesome and right living than society that exists outside of their lives. And most certainly, I have found that the accusations made against them by anti-FLDS critics hold no weight. In fact, the best characterization of these acrid critics is that their accusations are as worthy to be trusted as the testimonies of rebellious troubled teenagers who rant about their parents.
There are many who have left the FLDS who we never hear from, those who could provide a much more realistic assessment of FLDS life without the embittered accusations. But the problem is that no one, especially the feeding-frenzy media, wants to hear from them. They are much closer to reality, even with some of their criticisms. But this is a lynching mob, and the voice of the reasonable is drowned out.
One twenty-three-year-old young man who was raised in the FLDS and had been away for three years wrote on a blog regarding his experience: “I had a very happy childhood free from television, drugs, and abuse.… 95% of the men I knew were honorable and trustworthy.… I personally know every man on that [YFZ] Ranch in Texas. Search the world over, you will not find men more dedicated, more committed, and more focused on living in Peace and living their religion than within that group.” He continued, “half [a figure that is probably closer to twenty to thirty percent] of the children raised within the FLDS end up leaving [of] their own free will and choice,” and “95% of them you will never hear from again.” But, he noted, “5% seem to spread rumor[s] and false accusations everywhere they turn, either because they are lonely and need someone or something to blame, or because they really were hurt or abused and somehow think it's the church's fault.”
A common mantra of both FLDS critics and CPS is that the men are “perpetrators” of sexual crimes. But as we just read and saw regarding Haven and Ruby, nothing could be further from the truth. My experience in talking with FLDS men confirms this. One man had waited six months before he even had sexual relations with his wife, another several months as well. The latter man stated, “You have to wait until you are comfortable with one another. You love one another. You respect one another. It is very important that it is the lady’s idea and she is comfortable with it. It is not our place and is repulsive to force ourselves on women. It goes against our moral fabric and goes against everything we have been taught. That is how every FLDS man that I know has been raised. Something of this magnitude in your life is important and comes from love and not lust.”
Despite this reality regarding these peaceable and moral people, Flora sought to incite others with the oft-repeated claim, “Ruby is a hostage.” But Ruby was not and has never been a hostage. Rather, she is the happily-married mother of four young children, two boys and two girls, who love her very much and whose lives are threatened by people like their venomous aunt. Ruby is not the hostage. But rather, it is Flora who is the hostage—hostage to her own blinding hatred and willful pursuit to gainfully destroy those who tried to help her so many times.
If there is anyone who was born and raised in Colorado City who needs to be set free from a “compound,” it is Flora Jessop, the little girl who was “a beautiful child, well loved and enjoyable,” who is held captive by her own walls of bitterness and self-gratifying destructive pursuits. Flora lived a lifestyle that was self-destructive, and now she seeks to destroy those who, even now, still love her. In all my contacts and interviews with FLDS members, I have yet to find a single person who is bitter towards her; they all want only the best for her.
I asked Haven and Ruby one last question: If you knew Flora was telling these vicious lies about you, then why didn’t you say something? Why didn’t you speak up and refute them? “In our culture,” answered Haven, “we’re not out to find problems, or to find fault with other people. We try to mind our own business, and others can live their own lives. If some say something bad about you, you forgive them, turn the other cheek, and move on with your life. Flora really does have family here that love her…,” then Ruby interjected, “but we don’t appreciate what she is doing…,” and in a seamless sentence between the two of them, Haven continued, “and she needs to come out and be honest.”
Somehow Flora missed this instruction about forgiving and moving on with your life, the very thing she desperately needs to do. She is in fact in every way the antithesis of the culture she was raised in, a paradox of all the good and virtue they seek to practice. And instead of adopting their pacifism, she has taken advantage of this quality evidenced in her people as a freedom to tell all her lies undisputed. As a result, she has hurt too many and caused far too much trouble. “Ruby and I were both betrayed,” wrote Flora. No, Ruby survived the insidious attacks of her bitter sister, and Flora betrays herself, her people and loving family, truth, and justice.
The Yearning For Zion Raid
It’s one thing to stand under a high-wire and try to catch those who might fall, and quite another to climb the pole and cut the wire.If Flora’s purpose is to help those who want to leave the FLDS, and some indeed leave and have the freedom to do so at their own will, then why is it that she seeks to enforce a destructive control for which she herself accuses them? But if her purpose is to grandstand, to lead the uninformed into deception, and to foment unjust actions so as to destroy peaceful innocent lives, then it is she who needs to be called into question and disregarded.
• Quote: Flora is a publicity-hungry "fanatic" whose "demands to have control over someone else's children are becoming eerily similar to the dictatorial attitude of her sworn nemesis, Warren Jeffs." She is "misguided and devious." (“The Phoenix New Times”)
When the state of Texas and CPS invaded the YFZ Ranch with substantial militant force, removing all of the innocent children, they did so illegally. This has been the ruling of both a Texas Appellate Court and the Texas Supreme Court. So what was it that prompted Texas and CPS to take this highly extreme and costly action that has now blown up in their faces?
In March of 2004, Flora traveled to Eldorado, Texas, where she met with local law enforcement officials and held a press conference. Here she found a very receptive ear in Schleicher County Sheriff David Doran. “Flora has provided us with a lot of information and I find her to be very credible,” said Doran. This relationship continued over the next four years, leading up to the YFZ raid. In fact, after the raid Doran confidently stated, "I have had a good informant who has given me good information over the past four years. This person has been assisting us as we've gone forward on this operation." A court affidavit unsealed on April 9, 2008, stated that "on more than 20 occasions" Doran's informant had provided him with supposed details about life at the ranch. He has also stated that the informant was a former member and was "instrumental in teaching me the group's ways."
Putting all the facts together, it is quite obvious that Sheriff Doran’s trusted informant was none other than inflammatory Flora Jessop. She is the only former-FLDS person who had been with him for four years. Later he said that there was more than one informant. Indeed, subsequently there were other anti-FLDS former members who provided biased information, but Flora was the first and foremost.
Flora had stated prior to these events, “One day [the FLDS] will go to war with law enforcement and the streets will run red with the blood of the enemy. We were taught that from the time we could walk.” She said the “compounds” aren't like homes in that they are fortified, built with thick walls. “They are very much armed. They have many, many weapons," she warned, and even went so far as to say that Warren Jeffs is “David Koresh, Jim Jones, and 9-11 all wrapped up in one nice little package. These guys are very dangerous." How then would this kind of information affect Sheriff Doran?
It is now evident who is the more dangerous—Flora. These views of Doran’s trusted informant explain why he called in such a dramatic show of law enforcement with extensive firepower and militant might. With SWAT-team methods they crashed through doors and entered into homes with machine guns raised in an invasion so large and with so much might that it cost Texas $5.3 million to carry out. But what kind of resistance did they encounter? Was it Flora’s forewarned apocalyptic bloodbath? No, they encountered nothing more than shocked adults and scared crying children. Where were all of Flora’s promised weapons? Once again we see why Flora Jessop cannot be believed. Truth is as elusive in her life as were the purported weapons—they did not exist whatsoever.
At the October 13, 2006, Exmormon Foundation annual conference, Flora related her own purported personal experience with these gun-slingin’ FLDS men. “The way these guys work, they’re not gonna come after me, although they do. I’ve had many fun instances where we’ve dealt with bullets flying and things like that; but, hmm, I just think they need to get a better target to shoot at.” Her account is nauseating. This blatantly outlandish statement reinforces the reality of Flora’s rampant fantasy for violence, and her willingness to propagate it. And this infection of misinformation has not been limited to Sheriff Doran. The Utah Attorney General, Mark Shurtleff, ranted in an interview, “Here’s a man [Warren Jeffs} who had a whole army supporting him, who thumbed his nose at the law for years, who ran from us, who had people surrounding him with guns, threatening to go down with him.” Really? And where have we heard this before? And when Jeffs was arrested, where were all those guns as well? And who, once again, was telling Shurtleff this false information? And as a state official, why was he one of these eager gullible listeners?
And remember those wildly false accusations Flora made about the baby graveyard? What then could also have been expected during the raid, compliments of this same source? Reported in a press conference on June 2, 2008, by FLDS spokesman Willie Jessop, “They brought in cadaver dogs and raided all the flower gardens to try to find babies and carcasses. It’s how sick their information has been.” The source of that information is clearly evident. Of course, once again, they found no babies.
In a letter of June 17, 2008, to Utah officials, including [Attorney General] Mark Shurtleff, FLDS attorney Rod Parker noted, “Moreover, as investigations proceed, Texas authorities are acknowledging that in conducting this raid they reacted to erroneous intelligence.” He chided Utah officials for repeatedly providing Texas authorities irresponsible information “from unreliable sources,” characterizing these as “hate groups who wish to see the FLDS destroyed.” As a remedy to these false insular ideas that have brought about so many unjust and excessive actions, Parker urged them, “It would take very little investigation on the part of your office to realize that your sources are unreliable.” Unreliable indeed.
• Quote: “I have a begrudging respect for [Flora].… She does more harm than good, is an unpredictable bad source, and not credit worthy.… She talks a good ball game, but when you look at her…. She rules over anybody who gets in her way, including me.” (Bob Curran, founder of the anti-polygamist organization, Help the Child Brides, and who personally worked with Flora)
So much more could be said about this raid. As a much-touted public figure, how is it that Flora’s lies could have incited Rosita Swinton, the bogus caller who sparked the raid? Rosita had made similar calls prior to this, going back to June, 2005, but never relative to the FLDS. So where did she get all of her information? And what inspired her to create stories in the identical pattern of Flora’s stories? Many questions arise concerning this that beg to be answered.
Furthermore, one must also ask where the responsibility lies with the media. What grave part did they play in this drama as well? Why were they also so irresponsible in too eagerly and repeatedly parading a pathological witness before this nation without validating her authenticity?
When Sheriff Doran was asked about his part in the raid on YFZ, he replied: “I did not bring this on them. The call came in to assist Child Protective Services. We always assist. We pulled in the law enforcement due to the size of the operation. We pulled in the law enforcement that was necessary to carry out the operation.”
Given the track record of CPS, it is likely that this is true. But given the source of Doran’s information that he was operating on—Flora—we can see why he used so much militant might, and why CPS’s actions were so extreme. But one has to also ask how much Doran, with his errantly skewed position, even influenced CPS’s initiation of the raid? Undoubtedly, in all realms, Flora Jessop was the major influence for this despicable, erroneous, and illegal YFZ invasion.
There is no question that Flora stirred the pot and brought this entire matter to the fevered destructive lawless frenzy that it became, including Rosita Swinton’s part. As she has done for most of her life, Flora pressured, cajoled, and lied until her fomenting stories became perceived reality. And one must ask in conclusion: If what Flora has repeatedly stated—that these girls are indeed entrapped abused prisoners who desperately want out—then why was it that not a single one of them fled to her once they were separated from there? Why was it that there was not a single defection, but rather a unanimous yearning to return to Zion?
After hearing Flora’s tragic story—and as you would suspect, we have not nearly addressed the host of all her lies and inflammatory actions—some might be inclined to feel sorry for her and dismiss her perpetually vile and destructive behavior. This is what the FLDS community did for many years. But Martha’s reply is a fitting answer to this, as she has concluded: “I forgive her, but her lies and deceit should not be allowed to continue on as fact.” For too many years Flora has had free reign to lie, and this has been done to the unjust harm and detriment of the innocent lives of others, particularly of late. That time has come to an end.
• Quote: Flora has been swept up in “the TV interviews, the fame, and the glory. … She loves the attention. She's craved it her whole life.… Nobody wants anything to do with Flora.” “Flora's been getting away with these [false] stories for a long time now, and it’s time to shut her down.” (Pennie Petersen, anti-polygamy activist who grew up with Flora in FLDS)
----------------------------------------------------------------
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)