Breaking NEWS! Documented Proof of Elissa Wall Abuse!

New evidence was discovered today from archives found of a secret video recording of the typical abuse Elissa Wall suffered while she was a member of the FLDS Church.

Rodney King nothing! THIS is on film!

Brigham Young on Marriage

“Brethren, what is it that you love the truth for? Is it because it gives you the power, the authority of the Priesthood? Is it because it makes you rulers, kings, and priests unto our God, and gives you great power? There are men professing to be Saints, even in this congregation, within the sound of my voice, who feel how almighty they have become. They will curse you, if you do not see proper to comply with their wishes. Many men have feelings in their hearts towards their wives, that if they will not do precisely as they wish to perform this or that, they will curse them. What wonderful things they are going to do! "If you do not obey my voice, my counsel, I will send you to hell, and turn the keys upon you, that you may never! no NEVER! be released." Sisters, you might as well heed the crackling of thorns under the pot, the passing idle bird, or the croaking of a crane, so far as their Priesthood is concerned. You are safe, if they will only keep their hands off from you; let them curse. It reminds me of a proverb which the Arabs have, that "cursings are like young chickens, they will still come home to roost."

Is it for this—is it because it gives you such great power and authority, that you love the Truth? That it gives you power to curse your neighbors, your neighbor's children, their cattle, and everything around you? Let all such go away to their own place, to California, by the northern route; not to San Bernardino, at brothers Lyman and Rich's location, for they have devils enough there already; but go into the world entirely away from the Saints, and the sooner the better.

Men should act upon the principle of righteousness, because it is right, and is a principle which they love to cherish and see practiced by all men. They should love mercy, because of its benevolence, charity, love, clemency, and of all of its lovely attributes, and be inspired thereby to deal justly, fairly, honorably, meting out to others their just deservings.

If selfishness prompts you to embrace the truth, if it is merely to exalt yourself and your friends that you covenant to serve your God, and that is your only motive, you had better pass on the northern route, for we can do you no good if you wait, or remain with us; not but that God has regard for all His children; but He loves those who love all the principles of righteousness, because they are righteous, and have a delight in the exercise of pure principles, of virtue, of excellence and truth, of meekness, long-suffering, and self denial, mercy, and charity.

I am aware that my language fails to convey my ideas to you as I could wish. But I will proceed a little further. A great promise was made to Abraham, which was—you shall have seed, and unto your increase there shall be no end. The same promise was made unto the Saviour; and unto every true and faithful man who serves God with all his heart, and whose delight is in keeping the law of the Lord, obeying the behests of Jehovah, and building up His kingdom upon the earth.

The Elders of Israel frequently call upon me—"Brother Brigham, a word in private, if you please." Bless me, this is no secret to me, I know what you want, it is to get a wife! "Yes, brother Brigham, if you are willing."

I tell you here, now, in the presence of the Almighty God; it is not the privilege of any Elder to have even ONE wife before he has honored his Priesthood, before he has magnified his calling. If you obtain one, it is by mere permission, to see what you will do, how you will act, whether you will conduct yourself in righteousness in that holy estate. TAKE CARE! Elders of Israel, be cautious! Or you will lose your wives and your children. If you abuse your wives, turn them out of doors, and treat them in a harsh and cruel manner, you will be left wifeless and childless; you will have no increase in eternity. You will have bartered this blessing, this privilege, away; you will have sold your birthright, as Esau did his blessing, and it can never come to you again, never, NO NEVER!

Look to it, ye Elders! You will awake from your dream, alas! But too soon, and then you will realize the truth of the remarks I am making to-day. Whose privilege is it to have women sealed to him? It is his who has stood the test, whose integrity is unswerving, who loves righteousness because it is right, and the truth because there is no error therein, and virtue because it is a principle that dwells in the bosom of Him who sits enthroned in the highest heavens; for it is a principle which existed with God in all eternities, and is a co-operator, a co-worker betwixt man and his Maker, to exalt man, and bring him into His presence, and make him like unto Himself! It is such a man's privilege to have wives and children, and neighbors, and friends, who wish to be sealed to him. Who else? No one. I tell you nobody else. Do YOU HEAR IT?

Many applications will unquestionably be made to me for wives, and, perhaps, by men too who will steal, or trespass upon me, their neighbors, kill their stock, do wickedly in various ways. Nothing would damn such men sooner than to give them this privilege. I answer the brethren; they have to go upon their own responsibility. I tell you the truth. If you are a first-rate good man, and honor your Priesthood, it is your privilege. The man who has proved himself before God, has been faithful, has gone through and performed everything the Lord has laid upon him to do, for the purpose of building up and sustaining His kingdom, has proved himself before men, angels, and his Father in heaven, he is the only character that will increase, and obtain a Celestial glory. Others may seem to prosper, to increase for a season, but by and by they are left in the shade, their glory is clipped, and their house is left unto them desolate.

Pray the Lord to inspire your hearts. Ask for wisdom and knowledge. It is our duty to seek after it. Let us seek, and we shall find; knock, and it will be opened unto us. But as for His coming down here to pour His Spirit upon you, while you are aiming after the vain and frivolous things of the world; indulging in all the vanity, nonsense, and foolery which surrounds you; drinking in all the filthy abomination which should be spurned from every community on the earth—so long as you continue this course, rest assured He will not come near you.

I will not enter into particulars. You already know enough about them. I ask that you would leave it off; refrain, purify, and sanctify yourselves before your God, and get so much of the Spirit of Truth that you may become filled with it, so that you can shout aloud with all your might to the praise of God, and feel your hearts clear as the noon-day sun. Then you can dance, and glorify God; and as you shall abide in the truth, God will raise you up, and add to your numbers, so that your train will fill the Holy Temple, as it was said of the Lord by one of old.”
(Brigham Young JD 1pg 118-120)

No Longer Ignoring the Problem

“silence is golden, but sometimes it’s just plain yellow”

“When in the course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the Earth, a separate but equal station to which the laws of nature, and natures God entitle them…”

“I decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they declare the causes that impel them to the separation.”

In the experiences of writing this blog in this day and time I often feel very alone, I know there are hundreds of men more qualified and more able to defend the way we were brought up and the wonderful teachings of peace and love that truly embody the FLDS Church. From reading the newspapers about Flora and her disturbing accusations, and then seeing a smiling and happy Ruby the same day; to going to a funeral of my little nephew who died in a tragic accident and then reading and hearing stories of a cult involved in sacrificing children. I would often wonder why we as a people did not “answer them something”

For years we have been taught that the persecutions were going to come again, that the raid of 53 was not the end, and the bitter lawsuits of the eighties and nineties were not the end. Truly the prophet would often say that the Lord needs a pure people to be able to withstand what is going to come. Those words cut me to the bone as I write them.

In recent days those outsiders who have been in the forefront of defending the innocent women and children who were victimized by Texas perpetrators of the law have been tested as well. They have been loud and outspoken in every way they possibly can, and yet they see the FLDS people laying low and avoiding the conflict. Now the conflict is almost un fightable for them because of the accusations and charges that have become public. Truly they are being tested as well.

I personally am in a quandary very often. For no one asked me to write this blog, no one approved of it, no one helped me write what I have written. Who am I to write these things? What qualifications do I have? None. I feel like a rebel without a home or a cause. Fighting for those who often do not want me to fight for them, against people who do not want me fight against them. Butting my nose where it seems not welcome or does not belong. There is only one place that steels me, only one. Now don’t get me wrong, I am not steel, I am jelly and powder. I am rebellious and slow. But I care. That is the only thing that keeps me writing this blog. I care. Do not let it be said of me that I did nothing for my fellow man! I had a younger brother come to me as he was leaving the church several years ago, and he said he knew that none of his brothers cared what he did. I wept when he said that to me. That memory haunts me. I was so caught up with my personal life that I could not argue with him, although I tried. I write this blog for those who WANT to believe the truth about the FLDS. Not for the FLDS, or for the enemies of the FLDS.

I find that in many cases the truth is so far away from what the general population WANTS to believe, my efforts oftentimes feel useless and takes away from my personal effort to get closer to my Father in heaven and turn the other cheek. But I continue not for me, my purpose is to help outsiders who do want to believe the truth, no matter what happens. I do miss me.

For those who wonder why the FLDS do not fight, let me tell you. The answer is very simple and not what you may think. The answer is not just turning the other cheek; the answer is there is no legal leg to stand on except the Constitution of the United States. Not once has the religious rights of the FLDS people been upheld. Not even once in all the history of the Mormon Church and that is since 1830, a hundred and seventy years ago. We have been driven and assaulted ever since in every way. The only time it ever stopped was after those who were doing the attacking tired, or after the people capitulated to their enemies at least in public.

Not from the time that plural marriage was made public as a doctrine of the Priesthood and a requirement of the highest heavens has any group of judges or lawmakers given this law of my birthright the shadow of respect that it deserves. And every time a government or a group of apostates attacked any of the institutions of the FLDS, they could always excuse it away to the public because of the illegality of the Celestial law of marriage. All insults were excused away every time; at the end of the day we still had no rights. The fights often were long and ridiculous in their worthless cause, but the effect was always the same. “We don’t like you, and we could stop you, but we won’t for now.” Pretending we had Constitutional God given rights merely because they let us.

In 1956 the state of Utah stole the children of Vera Black for the second time, decimating the life of little Wilford. And the fight went to the Supreme Court. Poor Aunt Vera was forced to sign a paper pledging to not teach her children about the law that she held most sacred because secular and mainstream Mormon society did not approve and called it “abuse”. She signed it just to get her poor devastated children back into her arms again. What other choice did she have? In effect, that law that took her children is still good law and has never changed.

Since that time the persecution slowed to almost nothing, and a general ignorant stand had been taken until the turn of the century. The persecution changed shape when apostate women, besides apostate men, became outspoken. The gripe that stuck, of all the gripes, was the age of marriage. They could never say with accuracy that anyone was forced to marry, or anyone was abused in any way by the church, or that fraud was widespread among or sanctioned by the Church, despite these continuous complaints and their common belief among the general population.

What they could prove was some girls were getting married as teenagers. Ah Ha! Polygyny AND teenage marriage! Now there is a CRIME! Of course we can’t compare responsible lifelong committed marriage with a teenager to non married sex between adults and teenagers, or compare percentages of sexually active teenage girls in and out of the FLDS, or even compare polygyny in the FLDS with polyamory among teenagers everywhere else, why? Because that would condemn the society that was being held out as the greater of the two.

So laws were changed to try to fight this “problem” specific to the FLDS culture. The problems with these laws are obvious, marriage and family advocates who fight for them are shooting themselves in the foot. But they always have that history of persecution to stand on to defend the persecutions today. It does not matter what statements get made by the FLDS leaders, they are criminals because their religion requires that a “crime” be committed at some point. You have no right to make a commitment to two women at the same time! (Sex on the other hand, just don’t tell anyone and you can be President!)

Recently a statement was read declaring what seemed like a big deal to the outside world but was in the FLDS world a non issue in reality. Girls will not be married in the FLDS church under the age that society decides of consent to marry. Big deal. There is nothing about the religion that requires girls to get married young anyway. There is nothing in the religion that requires a lady to even be intimate with her husband after they are married. The only requirement is that they get married FIRST. There is a requirement of the men to never force, but that doesn’t seem to matter.

Sure, making girls stay single may be difficult for them personally, but timing means very little to the eternal progress of families that God expects. To wait a couple of years is quite unsubstantial. This is not even close to the same thing as declaring to stop polygyny. It’s who you marry, and how you marry, not when you marry, that is important. Maturity and age are relative anyway, but for some reason society has picked an age for girls to be irresponsible one day, and completely dumped on their heads with no protection the next. And that age is different depending on whether or not they are FLDS.

Now that we got that major “problem” out of the way, we need a trade off to fight the very dangerous belief system of people outside of the FLDS church. It is now a pandemic.

They force their little girls to run around naked or with very little clothes on. They use very sharp metal instruments and cut bloody holes in their little girls ears and often noses when they are very young. Their children are forced to believe that a fat man with a red coat and a big beard is breaking into their home in the middle of the night, bringing them toys so that is “ok”. Their children are forced to believe that animals can talk. They are forced into a culture that destroys millions of trees to put in their houses for a few weeks a year. They are forced to believe that man came from monkeys and prayer in school is evil. The children are forced into watching horrible indoctrination of sexually explicit movies and television for years, and force them into listening to sexually explicit music. The girls are forced to paint their faces and destroy their hair to sexually seduce men. Girls are forced to walk around baring their legs and stomach, and this is “ok”. Children are being forced into drug use and physical abuse at school. They are forced into a culture that promotes premarital sex and force them to murder their children or forced into a belief system that murder is “ok”. They are forced into a culture where girls are taught that it is “important” to have sex at a young age with as many men as they can before they commit to anyone. And they are forced into a culture where fidelity is frowned upon and sin is excused away. They are forced to believe that it is “ok” to attack a non agressive sovereign country and kill thousands of their citizens because some of them believe a certain religion. Girls are forced to hate marriage because if they get married abuse must be tolerated until they die. Boys are forced to hate marriage because it will end in divorce if they are not obedient to their wife.

I know this is all true about all of you non-FLDS because I saw it on Maury Povich and Jerry Springer. There is way to much secular data to give you any benefit of the doubt. If you don’t give up your beliefs, we should take your children and put them in good FLDS homes.

A great trade off, if you ask me.

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!

The Case Against the Prophet

If you could have planned for years to create a case trying to convict the leader of the FLDS church, you could not have had a case better than the one they had. The things that happened before the marriage, the ages of the “victims”, the timing of when Warren Jeffs became the leader, the split within the FLDS, who left the church and became witnesses in the case, besides what happened to him while in custody, could not have been scripted more precisely to make him look guilty.

He was guilty.

You may think I believe that he was guilty of the charges against him. I don’t. He wasn’t. In fact his conviction should put every priest or justice of the peace who performs a marriage in fear that they could be convicted of rape. And any family councilor who suggests a wife to stay with her husband is in danger of being convicted of rape as an accomplice.

Warren Jeffs is, was, and always will be guilty of believing his father was the prophet of God. And I am guilty of that too. If there was a death penalty for being guilty of that, please come and string me up.

Elissa Wall claims she was the victim of unwanted advances from her half cousin Allen Steed, the victim (as she refers to him) who she married. Warren performed the wedding even though he was not the one who arranged it. That fact, and the fact that he taught on tape that married people should have children if possible, was all the evidence they needed to convict him on the first count of “Intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly solicited, requested, or commanded her to have sexual intercourse without her consent”. Five years to life.

The second count is much less legitimate than the first. Sometime between May 2001 and September of 2003 (28 months), she came and asked to be divorced from Allen, telling Warren that she didn’t like Allen touching her. According to her (in “plig” language) this meant “He’s going to rape me!” Add another five years to life for telling her that if he wasn’t mistreating her she should stay true to her vows.

I am not positive that Elissa knew that she did not have to marry Allen, or anyone else for that matter, but even if she did not know she had a choice does not mean that she did not have that choice. If she had gone to the classes they played the audio of during the trial she would have known. If she would have read the book they quoted during the trial she would have known. Every time the Prophet was approached for marriage and he gave a name it was by way of suggestion, not commandment. His only desire was to bless; to help, to make you smile. He often said he was in the “happiness business”. If you weren’t happy about it, of course he wouldn’t perform the wedding. I know several that did that very thing.

If Elissa didn’t agree at first, Warren may have thought she was wrong, and tried to convince her that it was best. He had no doubt that his father was right, but he would have given her the final say. I wasn’t there, but that sounds more like the Warren Jeffs I know. Her own mother and sister Rebecca, I am sure, put more pressure on her than he did. I knew them both and I know how excited women get when a marriage is about to happen.

I don’t deny some of what Elissa went through before the wedding. Her second thoughts when she found out it was that “mean” boy who squirt her with cow’s milk back on grandpa’s farm, or that she was crying (happy? excited? nervous?) when she was being fitted with her wedding dress etc. But I still don’t believe she thought she was too young or sincerely objected to being married to Allen, until much later. I have absolutely no doubt that Uncle Warren did not know she objected. Her two bitter sisters said she didn’t want to marry, but her own mother was a defense witness. Only ten of the forty defense witnesses were put on the stand. The jury completely ignored them because they were all “brainwashed” FLDS. Part of "them", not "us"

The case would have gone absolutely nowhere except for her age at the time of the "crime". But that fact was not supposed to be even a consideration in a rape charge, the judge’s instructions plainly stated to the jury that the law was: “With respect to the crime of rape, a 14 year old is capable of consenting to an act of sexual intercourse” The jury ignored that and centered on the non-marriage law: “A lawful marriage cannot occur between first cousins or when on of the parties is younger than age fifteen” Yes, according to the law they could not have been married, but that is not proof of what they convicted him of. There is no life sentence for performing a marriage that cannot be licensed by the state.

The jury was hung and very heated until one of the jurors admitted to lying on the questionnaire. She was replaced, and the alternate ended the deadlock.

Allen Steed is a really nice guy, even if he was a little backward and had a hard time expressing himself. I enjoyed being around him because he was always smiling and asking if he could help. I know that Elissa has no desire to see him go to prison, unless keeping him out might help the Prophet Warren Jeffs get out.