If you are unwilling to even listen to the FLDS people, you are a bigot. If you only listen to only to a persons enemies you would condemn each and every one. What if I told you that no one in the FLDS church even READ Carolyns book before the raid, they had no idea that she was spreading such lies! They would forgive her in the smallest of split seconds if she would but tell the truth, that is why they didn't want to read it. They don't have any axe to grind, only the preservation of their peace.
By their FRUITS you shall know them:
From "What are you thinking Carolyn?"
By Maggie Jessop
"Think about this. What if I were to go on a big campaign all over the United States and say a lot of things and make a horrendous stir, maybe even write a book about all the evils and corruption in the world today? I know there is much evil in the world, so I make it my crusade to save everybody from themselves and protect the women and children from those evils. How do you think that would go over? Okay, so Carolyn goes on a campaign to expose the evils that she has decided are present in the FLDS lifestyle. She was miserable, so every other woman must be miserable, right? Wrong. Does she have the right to represent us? Does she have the right to claim we are abused when we claim we are not? Carolyn says it took her a year after her escape to be able to think of herself as a person, not an object. That’s interesting. I do not feel like an object. I am a person, and I feel good about myself and all others. I’m telling you, it is all in the perspective.
"The women in our society are all controlled by the men, you say? Hardly. I know hundreds of fine men, young and old, honest men who treat me with kindness and respect, and they look out for my best interest, just as I do theirs. The media image of tyrannical FLDS men who lord it over the women, forcing them to obey, is not part of my religion. The women just don’t dare speak up, you say? Well, what am I doing right now? Am I just an exception? No, I am not an exception. I have hundreds of friends. I know hundreds of very bright, intelligent, well-balanced, beautiful, happy, spunky women. You have to have a deep love for truth to live the way we do. You have to be willing to continually humble yourself before the Lord, and truly desire for Him to bring about the experiences you need in your life to see yourself and improve step by step. You have to have a lot of backbone; yes, even the nerves of steel to endure the mockery of the world.
"Carolyn claims she has had a horrible life. Have I had a horrible life? No, but if I had, it would be my own fault. Have I had hard times? Yes. Have I had humbling experiences? Tons. Have I known hardship and want? Of course I have. Jesus was treated very badly. Did He run out and tell everyone? Did He write a book about all those mean and wicked people who mocked Him and even killed Him? Did He start up a campaign of talk shows and media exploitation so He could make a million dollars to pay for the abuses He had endured? There has been a book written. It is called the Holy Bible, and therein, He gives the recipe for success: forgive, forgive, forgive, and then do it some more."
Read the REST: http://www.truthwillprevail.org/index.php?parentid=1&index=122
Other required reading:
Marie Musser, mother who's broken promise to her children was torture to her soul:
"We have been a persecuted and driven people. We are not popular with the world, so our reaction was to gather all the children into the house, close our blinds, and lock our doors. We finished the day in normal routine. Why are we not accepted by the world? Because we are different, and that scares the world."
http://www.truthwillprevail.org/index.php?parentid=1&index=73
From the sweet grandmother and College teacher "Aunt" Dorothy Emma:
"My story as an FLDS member is a little different from many others in that I am a convert to this Faith. I lived for sixteen years “out there” just like most of you. I saw the trends of the day in society in general that pointed to a marked decline in morals and good old honesty. You know it as well as I do. Your mothers and fathers and grandparents were heard to say, as mine were, “Decency just isn’t what it used to be. Why, I was taught that it was criminal to treat your partner dishonestly, whether in marriage or in business.”
http://www.truthwillprevail.org/index.php?parentid=1&index=38
From eighty-year-old patriarch dear "Uncle" Sam Roundy:
"Anyone who does not have the character to endure the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which is our purpose, is and always has been free to use their agency to come and go as they please. And if they make known their desire to leave, we would supply them with transportation and money to help them. It is against our creed and belief to force any person against his or her will. Such characters who do leave us feel that they have escaped because they did not have the character to live up to the high standards of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and so their escape is the feeling they have from having laid off the burden of the principles of the Gospel of Jesus Christ."
http://www.truthwillprevail.org/index.php?parentid=1&index=14
Maggie Jessop, mother who just had her children stolen from her and still said this:
Hello America! So you want to hear from the FLDS women huh?
http://www.truthwillprevail.org/index.php?parentid=1&index=3
Showing posts with label education. Show all posts
Showing posts with label education. Show all posts
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Let’s Have More Teen Pregnancy
Frederica Mathewes-Green
[National Review Online, September 20, 2002]
"True Love Waits. Wait Training. Worth Waiting For. The slogans of teen abstinence programs reveal a basic fact of human nature: teens, sex, and waiting aren’t a natural combination.
"Over the last fifty years the wait has gotten longer. In 1950, the average first-time bride was just over 20; in 1998 she was five years older, and her husband was pushing 27. If that June groom had launched into puberty at 12, he’d been waiting more than half his life.
"If he *had* been waiting, that is. Sex is the sugar coating on the drive to reproduce, and that drive is nearly overwhelming. It’s supposed to be; it’s the survival engine of the human race. Fighting it means fighting a basic bodily instinct, akin to fighting thirst.
"Yet despite the conflict between liberals and conservatives on nearly every topic available, this is one point on which they firmly agree: young people absolutely must not have children. Though they disagree on means-conservatives advocate abstinence, liberals favor contraception—they shake hands on that common goal. The younger generation must not produce a younger generation.
"But teen pregnancy, in itself, is not such a bad thing. By the age of 18, a young woman’s body is well prepared for childbearing. Young men are equally qualified to do their part. Both may have better success at the enterprise than they would in later years, as some health risks—Cesarean section and Down syndrome, for example— increase with passing years. (The dangers we associate with teen pregnancy, on the other hand, are behavioral, not biological: drug use, STD’s, prior abortion, extreme youth, and lack of prenatal care.) A woman’s fertility has already begun to decline at 25 -one reason the population-control crowd promotes delayed childbearing. Early childbearing also rewards a woman’s health with added protection against breast cancer.
"Younger moms and dads are likely be more nimble at child-rearing as well, less apt to be exhausted by toddlers’ perpetual motion, less creaky-in-the-joints when it’s time to swing from the monkey bars. I suspect that younger parents will also be more patient with boys-will-be-boys rambunction, and less likely than weary 40-somethings to beg pediatricians for drugs to control supposed pathology. Humans are designed to reproduce in their teens, and they’re potentially very good at it. That’s why they want to so much.
"Teen pregnancy is not the problem *Unwed* teen pregnancy is the problem. It’s childbearing outside marriage that causes all the trouble. Restore an environment that supports younger marriage, and you won’t have to fight biology for a decade or more."
"Most of us blanch at the thought of our children marrying under the age of 25, much less under 20. The immediate reaction is: "They’re too immature." We expect teenagers to be self-centered and impulsive, incapable of shouldering the responsibilities of adulthood. But it wasn’t always that way; through much of history, teen marriage and childbearing was the norm. Most of us would find our family trees dotted with many teen marriages.
"Of course, those were the days when grown teens were presumed to be truly "young adults." It’s hard for us to imagine such a thing today. It’s not that young people are inherently incapable of responsibility-history disproves that-but that we no longer expect it. Only a few decades ago a high school diploma was taken as proof of adulthood, or at least as a promise that the skinny kid holding it was ready to start acting like one. Many a boy went from graduation to a world of daily labor that he would not leave until he was gray; many a girl began turning a corner of a small apartment into a nursery. Expectations may have been humble, but they were achievable, and many good families were formed this way.
"Hidden in that scenario is an unstated presumption, that a young adult can earn enough to support a family. Over the course of history, the age of marriage has generally been bounded by puberty on the one hand, and the ability to support a family on the other. In good times, folks marry young; when prospects are poor, couples struggle and save toward their wedding day. A culture where men don’t marry until 27 would normally feature elements like repeated crop failures or economic depression.
"That’s not the case in America today. Instead we have an *artificial* situation which causes marriage to be delayed. The age that a man, or woman, can earn a reasonable income has been steadily increasing as education has been dumbed down. The condition of basic employability that used to be demonstrated by a high school diploma now requires a Bachelor’s degree, and professional careers that used to be accessible with a Bachelor’s now require a Master’s degree or more. Years keep passing while kids keep trying to attain the credentials that adult earning requires.
"Financial ability isn’t our only concern, however; we’re convinced that young people are simply incapable of adult responsibility. We expect that they will have poor control of their impulses, be self-centered and emotional, and be incapable of visualizing consequences. (It’s odd that kids thought to be too irresponsible for marriage are expected instead to practice heroic abstinence or diligent contraception.) The assumption of teen irresponsibility has broader roots that just our estimation of the nature of adolescence; it involves our very idea of the purpose of childhood.
"Until a century or so ago, it was presumed that children were in training to be adults. From early years children helped keep the house or tend the family business or farm, assuming more responsibility each day. By late teens, children were ready to graduate to full adulthood, a status they received as an honor. How early this transition might begin is indicated by the number of traditional religious and social coming-of-age ceremonies that are administered at ages as young as 12 or 13.
"But we no longer think of children as adults-in-progress. Childhood is no longer a training ground but a playground, and because we love our children and feel nostalgia for our own childhoods, we want them to be able to linger there as long as possible. We cultivate the idea of idyllic, carefree childhood, and as the years for education have stretched so have the bounds of that playground, so that we expect even "kids" in their mid-to-late twenties to avoid settling down. Again, it’s not that people that age *couldn’t* be responsible; their ancestors were. It’s that anyone, offered a chance to kick back and play, will generally seize the opportunity. If our culture assumed that 50-year-olds would take a year-long break from responsibility, have all their expenses paid by someone else, spend their time having fun and making forgivable mistakes, our malls would be overrun by middle-aged delinquents.
"But don’t young marriages tend to end in divorce? If we communicate to young people that we think they’re inherently incompetent that will become a self-fulfilling prophecy, but it was not always the case. In fact, in the days when people married younger, divorce was much rarer. During the last half of the 20th century, as brides’ age rose from 20 to 25, the divorce rate doubled. The trend toward older, and presumptively more mature, couples didn’t result in stronger marriages. Marital durability has more to do with the expectations and support of surrounding society than with the partners’ age.
"A pattern of late marriage may actually *increase* the rate of divorce. During that initial decade of physical adulthood, young people may not be getting married, but they’re still falling in love. They fall in love, and break up, and undergo terrible pain, but find that with time they get over it. They may do this many times. Gradually, they get used to it; they learn that they can give their hearts away, and take them back again; they learn to shield their hearts from access in the first place. They learn to approach a relationship with the goal of getting what they want, and keep their bags packed by the door. By the time they marry they may have had many opportunities to learn how to walk away from a promise. They’ve been training for divorce.
"As we know too well, a social pattern of delayed marriage doesn’t mean delayed sex. In 1950, there were 14 births per thousand unmarried women; in 1998, the rate had leapt to 44. Even that astounding increase doesn’t tell the whole story. In 1950 the numbers of births generally corresponded to the numbers of pregnancies, but by 1998 we must add in many more unwed pregnancies that didn’t come to birth, but ended in abortion, as roughly one in four of all pregnancies do. My home city of Baltimore wins the blue ribbon for out-of-wedlock childbearing: in 2001, 77% of all births were to unwed mothers.
"There are a number of interlocking reasons for this rise in unwed childbearing, but one factor must surely be that when the requirements presumed necessary for marriage rise too high, some people simply parachute out. It’s one thing to ask fidgety kids to abstain until they finish high school at 18. When the expectation instead is to wait until 25 or 27, many will decline to wait at all. We’re saddened, but no longer surprised, at girls having babies at the age of 12 or 13. Between 1940 and 1998, the rate at which girls 10-14 had their first babies almost doubled. These young moms’ sexual experiences are usually classified as "non-voluntary" or "not wanted." Asking boys to wait until marriage is one way a healthy culture protects young girls.
"The idea of returning to an era of young marriage still seems daunting, for good reason. It is not just a matter of tying the knot between dreamy-eyed 18-year-olds and tossing them out into world. Our ancestors were able to marry young because they were surrounded by a network of support enabling that step. Young people are not intrinsically incompetent, but they do still have lots of learning to do, just like newly-weds of any age. In generations past a young couple would be surrounded by family and friends who could guide and support them, not just in navigating the shoals of new marriage, but also in the practical skills of making a family work, keeping a budget, repairing a leaky roof, changing a leaky diaper.
"It is not good for man to be alone; it’s not good for a young couple to be isolated, either. In this era of extended education, couples who marry young will likely do so before finishing college, and that will require some sacrifices. They can’t expect to "have it all." Of the three factors—living on their own, having babies, and both partners going to school full-time—something is going to have to give. But young marriage can succeed, as it always has, with the support of family and friends.
"I got married a week after college graduation, and both my husband and I immediately went to graduate school. We made ends meet by working as janitors in the evenings, mopping floors and cleaning toilets. We were far from home, but our church was our home, and through the kindness of more-experienced families we had many kinds of support-in fact, all that we needed. When our first child was born we were so flooded with diapers, clothes, and gifts that our only expense was the hospital bill.Our daughter and older son also married and started families young. Things don’t come easy for those who buck the norm, but with the help of family, church, and creative college-to-work programs, both young families are making their way. Early marriage can’t happen in a vacuum; it requires support from many directions, and it would be foolish to pretend the costs aren’t high.
"The rewards are high as well. It is wonderful to see our son and daughter blooming in strong, joyful marriages, and an unexpected joy to count a new daughter and son in our family circle. Our cup overflows with grandchildren as well: as of July we have four grandbabies, though the oldest is barely two. I’m 49.
"It’s interesting to think about the future. What if the oldest grandbaby also marries young, and has his first child at the age of 20? I would hold my great-grandchild at 67. There could even follow a great-great-grand at 87. I will go into old age far from lonely. My children and their children would be grown up then too, and available to surround the younger generations with many resourceful minds and loving hearts. Even more outrageous things are possible: I come from a long-lived family, some of whom went on past the age of 100. How large a family might I live to see?
"Such speculation becomes dizzying-yet these daydreams are not impossible, and surely not unprecedented. Closely-looped, mutually supporting generations must have been a common sight, in older days when young marriage was affirmed, and young people were allowed to do what comes naturally."
http://www.frederica.com/writings/lets-have-more-teen-pregnancy.html
[National Review Online, September 20, 2002]
"True Love Waits. Wait Training. Worth Waiting For. The slogans of teen abstinence programs reveal a basic fact of human nature: teens, sex, and waiting aren’t a natural combination.
"Over the last fifty years the wait has gotten longer. In 1950, the average first-time bride was just over 20; in 1998 she was five years older, and her husband was pushing 27. If that June groom had launched into puberty at 12, he’d been waiting more than half his life.
"If he *had* been waiting, that is. Sex is the sugar coating on the drive to reproduce, and that drive is nearly overwhelming. It’s supposed to be; it’s the survival engine of the human race. Fighting it means fighting a basic bodily instinct, akin to fighting thirst.
"Yet despite the conflict between liberals and conservatives on nearly every topic available, this is one point on which they firmly agree: young people absolutely must not have children. Though they disagree on means-conservatives advocate abstinence, liberals favor contraception—they shake hands on that common goal. The younger generation must not produce a younger generation.
"But teen pregnancy, in itself, is not such a bad thing. By the age of 18, a young woman’s body is well prepared for childbearing. Young men are equally qualified to do their part. Both may have better success at the enterprise than they would in later years, as some health risks—Cesarean section and Down syndrome, for example— increase with passing years. (The dangers we associate with teen pregnancy, on the other hand, are behavioral, not biological: drug use, STD’s, prior abortion, extreme youth, and lack of prenatal care.) A woman’s fertility has already begun to decline at 25 -one reason the population-control crowd promotes delayed childbearing. Early childbearing also rewards a woman’s health with added protection against breast cancer.
"Younger moms and dads are likely be more nimble at child-rearing as well, less apt to be exhausted by toddlers’ perpetual motion, less creaky-in-the-joints when it’s time to swing from the monkey bars. I suspect that younger parents will also be more patient with boys-will-be-boys rambunction, and less likely than weary 40-somethings to beg pediatricians for drugs to control supposed pathology. Humans are designed to reproduce in their teens, and they’re potentially very good at it. That’s why they want to so much.
"Teen pregnancy is not the problem *Unwed* teen pregnancy is the problem. It’s childbearing outside marriage that causes all the trouble. Restore an environment that supports younger marriage, and you won’t have to fight biology for a decade or more."
"Most of us blanch at the thought of our children marrying under the age of 25, much less under 20. The immediate reaction is: "They’re too immature." We expect teenagers to be self-centered and impulsive, incapable of shouldering the responsibilities of adulthood. But it wasn’t always that way; through much of history, teen marriage and childbearing was the norm. Most of us would find our family trees dotted with many teen marriages.
"Of course, those were the days when grown teens were presumed to be truly "young adults." It’s hard for us to imagine such a thing today. It’s not that young people are inherently incapable of responsibility-history disproves that-but that we no longer expect it. Only a few decades ago a high school diploma was taken as proof of adulthood, or at least as a promise that the skinny kid holding it was ready to start acting like one. Many a boy went from graduation to a world of daily labor that he would not leave until he was gray; many a girl began turning a corner of a small apartment into a nursery. Expectations may have been humble, but they were achievable, and many good families were formed this way.
"Hidden in that scenario is an unstated presumption, that a young adult can earn enough to support a family. Over the course of history, the age of marriage has generally been bounded by puberty on the one hand, and the ability to support a family on the other. In good times, folks marry young; when prospects are poor, couples struggle and save toward their wedding day. A culture where men don’t marry until 27 would normally feature elements like repeated crop failures or economic depression.
"That’s not the case in America today. Instead we have an *artificial* situation which causes marriage to be delayed. The age that a man, or woman, can earn a reasonable income has been steadily increasing as education has been dumbed down. The condition of basic employability that used to be demonstrated by a high school diploma now requires a Bachelor’s degree, and professional careers that used to be accessible with a Bachelor’s now require a Master’s degree or more. Years keep passing while kids keep trying to attain the credentials that adult earning requires.
"Financial ability isn’t our only concern, however; we’re convinced that young people are simply incapable of adult responsibility. We expect that they will have poor control of their impulses, be self-centered and emotional, and be incapable of visualizing consequences. (It’s odd that kids thought to be too irresponsible for marriage are expected instead to practice heroic abstinence or diligent contraception.) The assumption of teen irresponsibility has broader roots that just our estimation of the nature of adolescence; it involves our very idea of the purpose of childhood.
"Until a century or so ago, it was presumed that children were in training to be adults. From early years children helped keep the house or tend the family business or farm, assuming more responsibility each day. By late teens, children were ready to graduate to full adulthood, a status they received as an honor. How early this transition might begin is indicated by the number of traditional religious and social coming-of-age ceremonies that are administered at ages as young as 12 or 13.
"But we no longer think of children as adults-in-progress. Childhood is no longer a training ground but a playground, and because we love our children and feel nostalgia for our own childhoods, we want them to be able to linger there as long as possible. We cultivate the idea of idyllic, carefree childhood, and as the years for education have stretched so have the bounds of that playground, so that we expect even "kids" in their mid-to-late twenties to avoid settling down. Again, it’s not that people that age *couldn’t* be responsible; their ancestors were. It’s that anyone, offered a chance to kick back and play, will generally seize the opportunity. If our culture assumed that 50-year-olds would take a year-long break from responsibility, have all their expenses paid by someone else, spend their time having fun and making forgivable mistakes, our malls would be overrun by middle-aged delinquents.
"But don’t young marriages tend to end in divorce? If we communicate to young people that we think they’re inherently incompetent that will become a self-fulfilling prophecy, but it was not always the case. In fact, in the days when people married younger, divorce was much rarer. During the last half of the 20th century, as brides’ age rose from 20 to 25, the divorce rate doubled. The trend toward older, and presumptively more mature, couples didn’t result in stronger marriages. Marital durability has more to do with the expectations and support of surrounding society than with the partners’ age.
"A pattern of late marriage may actually *increase* the rate of divorce. During that initial decade of physical adulthood, young people may not be getting married, but they’re still falling in love. They fall in love, and break up, and undergo terrible pain, but find that with time they get over it. They may do this many times. Gradually, they get used to it; they learn that they can give their hearts away, and take them back again; they learn to shield their hearts from access in the first place. They learn to approach a relationship with the goal of getting what they want, and keep their bags packed by the door. By the time they marry they may have had many opportunities to learn how to walk away from a promise. They’ve been training for divorce.
"As we know too well, a social pattern of delayed marriage doesn’t mean delayed sex. In 1950, there were 14 births per thousand unmarried women; in 1998, the rate had leapt to 44. Even that astounding increase doesn’t tell the whole story. In 1950 the numbers of births generally corresponded to the numbers of pregnancies, but by 1998 we must add in many more unwed pregnancies that didn’t come to birth, but ended in abortion, as roughly one in four of all pregnancies do. My home city of Baltimore wins the blue ribbon for out-of-wedlock childbearing: in 2001, 77% of all births were to unwed mothers.
"There are a number of interlocking reasons for this rise in unwed childbearing, but one factor must surely be that when the requirements presumed necessary for marriage rise too high, some people simply parachute out. It’s one thing to ask fidgety kids to abstain until they finish high school at 18. When the expectation instead is to wait until 25 or 27, many will decline to wait at all. We’re saddened, but no longer surprised, at girls having babies at the age of 12 or 13. Between 1940 and 1998, the rate at which girls 10-14 had their first babies almost doubled. These young moms’ sexual experiences are usually classified as "non-voluntary" or "not wanted." Asking boys to wait until marriage is one way a healthy culture protects young girls.
"The idea of returning to an era of young marriage still seems daunting, for good reason. It is not just a matter of tying the knot between dreamy-eyed 18-year-olds and tossing them out into world. Our ancestors were able to marry young because they were surrounded by a network of support enabling that step. Young people are not intrinsically incompetent, but they do still have lots of learning to do, just like newly-weds of any age. In generations past a young couple would be surrounded by family and friends who could guide and support them, not just in navigating the shoals of new marriage, but also in the practical skills of making a family work, keeping a budget, repairing a leaky roof, changing a leaky diaper.
"It is not good for man to be alone; it’s not good for a young couple to be isolated, either. In this era of extended education, couples who marry young will likely do so before finishing college, and that will require some sacrifices. They can’t expect to "have it all." Of the three factors—living on their own, having babies, and both partners going to school full-time—something is going to have to give. But young marriage can succeed, as it always has, with the support of family and friends.
"I got married a week after college graduation, and both my husband and I immediately went to graduate school. We made ends meet by working as janitors in the evenings, mopping floors and cleaning toilets. We were far from home, but our church was our home, and through the kindness of more-experienced families we had many kinds of support-in fact, all that we needed. When our first child was born we were so flooded with diapers, clothes, and gifts that our only expense was the hospital bill.Our daughter and older son also married and started families young. Things don’t come easy for those who buck the norm, but with the help of family, church, and creative college-to-work programs, both young families are making their way. Early marriage can’t happen in a vacuum; it requires support from many directions, and it would be foolish to pretend the costs aren’t high.
"The rewards are high as well. It is wonderful to see our son and daughter blooming in strong, joyful marriages, and an unexpected joy to count a new daughter and son in our family circle. Our cup overflows with grandchildren as well: as of July we have four grandbabies, though the oldest is barely two. I’m 49.
"It’s interesting to think about the future. What if the oldest grandbaby also marries young, and has his first child at the age of 20? I would hold my great-grandchild at 67. There could even follow a great-great-grand at 87. I will go into old age far from lonely. My children and their children would be grown up then too, and available to surround the younger generations with many resourceful minds and loving hearts. Even more outrageous things are possible: I come from a long-lived family, some of whom went on past the age of 100. How large a family might I live to see?
"Such speculation becomes dizzying-yet these daydreams are not impossible, and surely not unprecedented. Closely-looped, mutually supporting generations must have been a common sight, in older days when young marriage was affirmed, and young people were allowed to do what comes naturally."
http://www.frederica.com/writings/lets-have-more-teen-pregnancy.html
Saturday, August 2, 2008
The Racist
First off I want to tell you the audio that you hear Warren Jeffs talking about the black race, almost all of it was him reading quotes from 19th century Mormon prophets. The bitter people who put out the snipped recording took all of the neutral and positive comments out and only have the worst sounding quotes they could find. He explained the teachings about the black culture and the truth about the black race as the FLDS believe it. Warren Jeffs is no more a bigot than I am. But the term racist can fit us, because we do believe races are different, and are treated differently in the gospel. The term racist and the term bigot are not the same thing to me, as I know that racial identity is widely considered racist. I can't change my heritage no matter how hard I pray about it, and neither can they.
I had an email conversation with a black Mormon man who was looking to the FLDS so he could live polygyny in a religiously sanctioned way, as his wife was unable to have children. We parted on good terms and mutual understanding, although I could not answer all of his questions. For the past few weeks I have been having a really friendly chat with a fellow from Vanuatu, he is a struggling college student who is black as well, I sent him some funds to help him get a camera or cell phone. When I grew up in Salt Lake one of my best friends in grade school, one who came over to play as much as any other, was a black fellow named Michael Scott. I have not a bigoted bone in my body. But I, like those in the black community, understand and accept racial identity and I am glad for my heritage.
The FLDS people believe that we are LITERALLY descendants of Ephraim, the son of Joseph who was sold into Egypt. As a Israelite, you cannot mix with other races and still be an Ephraimite. It is Biblical to marry within your heritage. In the Old Testament only the sons of Levi could be Priests, and since the restoration of the Church of Jesus Christ, Only Ephraimites can be priests.
We believe that God made different races for a reason. There is a reason a black man is black a white man is white and a brown man is brown. Although we don't believe in anything but equal rights for all humanity, and even all races can be members of the FLDS church, only Ephraimites can be Priests, Elders, or Apostles.
We believe that the dark skin is a "curse" upon a certain family, but we believe that all people since the time of Adam have "curses" placed upon them. A curse is an obstacle that must be overcome. To us it is equivalent to being born with a disability in some way. God loves all of His children equally, but some are born into the world blind, or deaf, or otherwise handicapped. The black man was cursed as a community because of what their ancient forefathers did. They must live with the curse throughout this life, and can overcome the uncivilized nature of their curse, and be blessed in the next life with all the same blessings that any other child of our Heavenly Father can, including Ephraimites.
Joseph Smith was a strong anti slavery advocate and believed in absolute freedom for all; that was part of the reason he was so hated in Missouri. He even ran for President of the United States in 1844, the year he was murdered; and part of his platform was to free the slaves and give land to them. There were many black people who were members of the church at that time and none can be found who were ordained to the Priesthood. Except perhaps Elijah Abel.
Joseph Smith is widely known to have said that black slaves could be baptized, but not ordained to the Priesthood. Although there is no directly recorded quotation from the Prophet Joseph Smith that he meant ALL of the black descendants of Ham could not hold the Priesthood; we have confirmations from 7 men (four of them Apostles) who said that Joseph Smith told them personally that Negroes could not be given the Priesthood. One of these men is Brigham Young.
Yet according to some historians Elijah Abel was a black man who was ordained to the priesthood by Joseph Smith. I believe that there were two Elijah Abel's and one was black while the other was not. They were both members of the church and left little or no posterity. Joseph Smith translated and wrote the Book of Abraham recorded in the Pearl of Great Price:
ABRAHAM 1:
25 Now the first government of Egypt was established by Pharaoh, the eldest son of Egyptus, the daughter of Ham, and it was after the manner of the government of Ham, which was patriarchal.
26 Pharaoh, being a righteous man, established his kingdom and judged his people wisely and justly all his days, seeking earnestly to imitate that order established by the fathers in the first generations, in the days of the first patriarchal reign, even in the reign of Adam, and also of Noah, his father, who blessed him with the blessings of the earth, and with the blessings of wisdom, but cursed him as pertaining to the Priesthood.
27 Now, Pharaoh being of that lineage by which he could not have the right of Priesthood, notwithstanding the Pharaohs would fain claim it from Noah, through Ham, therefore my father was led away by their idolatry;
This is a quote from Joseph Smith:
“Elder Hyde inquired the situation of the negro. I replied, they came into the world slaves, mentally and physically. Change their situation with the whites, and they would be like them. They have souls, and are subjects of salvation. Go into Cincinnati or any city, and find an educated Negro, who rides in his carriage, and you will see a man who has risen by the powers of his own mind to his exalted state of respectability. The slaves in Washington are more refined than many in high places, and the black boys will take the shine off many of those they brush and wait on" (History of the Church 5:217) (Read by Warren Jeffs in the very same History Class)
These are quotes of Brigham Young:
"Negroes should be treated like human beings, and not worse than dumb brutes. For their abuse of that race, the whites shall be cursed, unless they repent." (Journal of Discourses 10:111)
"Men will be called to Judgment for the way they have treated the Negro." (J.D. 10:250)
We believe in freedom for all, but we also believe that only the blood of Ephraim can be high priests in this day. In ancient Judea only the Levites were allowed to be priests of the Levitical Priesthood, and since the restoration in this day only the Ephraimites are given the Melchizadek priesthood (which can give the Levitical Priesthood). There is a third Patriarchal priesthood that perhaps can be held by the other races, I do not know. In the resurrection all will be blessed according to the faithfulness and virtue they lived up to in this life, and many will be given the High Priesthood. But in this life we are all cursed in one way or another, the black skin is a sign of a curse. We must all overcome our curses and obstacles, to pass the test of life.
Someone asked:
"And what it seems to me was being said [by you] is not that African Americans, or other black and brown folks are bad. What is being said is there is only one group that can have a certain role in this life on earth; that other peoples have different roles; that everyone is loved by God, that every role, although different, is important, and that all roles will change and move forward as we move through our spiritual lives. Am I correct?"
That is exactly right; God has a plan for each of us individually, and each and all are important to Him. The only exception I take with it is the term “African” American because most black people have been full blooded Americans longer than I have. To me the term Negro (Spanish for black), or Black American is less belittling their contributions to this country, and any who do not like those terms have an inferiority complex.
We believe that the Native American people are descendants of a man named Lehi, who left Jerusalem with his family around 600 B.C. They are descendants of Manasseh, the brother of Ephraim, and were later cursed with a dark skin because they apostatized from the gospel. They were cursed with a brown skin because of what their forefathers did. My son has been cursed for what I have done, and must overcome me. My family has been cursed to have a higher obedience requirement because of what my great grandfather did (he joined the church)
There is actually a greater punishment for not obeying the religion if you are baptized FLDS, than if you aren’t. There is a greater punishment in the next life if you are a Priest who apostatizes than if you were never a Priest. The more you are taught, the more is required of you by God to obey what you are taught. In some ways I ENVY the ignorant masses sometimes. A black man will not be punished as much as an Ephraimite for the same sin. A FLDS woman will not be punished as much as a FLDS Priest for the same sin. Women cannot be Priests either.
I had an email conversation with a black Mormon man who was looking to the FLDS so he could live polygyny in a religiously sanctioned way, as his wife was unable to have children. We parted on good terms and mutual understanding, although I could not answer all of his questions. For the past few weeks I have been having a really friendly chat with a fellow from Vanuatu, he is a struggling college student who is black as well, I sent him some funds to help him get a camera or cell phone. When I grew up in Salt Lake one of my best friends in grade school, one who came over to play as much as any other, was a black fellow named Michael Scott. I have not a bigoted bone in my body. But I, like those in the black community, understand and accept racial identity and I am glad for my heritage.
The FLDS people believe that we are LITERALLY descendants of Ephraim, the son of Joseph who was sold into Egypt. As a Israelite, you cannot mix with other races and still be an Ephraimite. It is Biblical to marry within your heritage. In the Old Testament only the sons of Levi could be Priests, and since the restoration of the Church of Jesus Christ, Only Ephraimites can be priests.
We believe that God made different races for a reason. There is a reason a black man is black a white man is white and a brown man is brown. Although we don't believe in anything but equal rights for all humanity, and even all races can be members of the FLDS church, only Ephraimites can be Priests, Elders, or Apostles.
We believe that the dark skin is a "curse" upon a certain family, but we believe that all people since the time of Adam have "curses" placed upon them. A curse is an obstacle that must be overcome. To us it is equivalent to being born with a disability in some way. God loves all of His children equally, but some are born into the world blind, or deaf, or otherwise handicapped. The black man was cursed as a community because of what their ancient forefathers did. They must live with the curse throughout this life, and can overcome the uncivilized nature of their curse, and be blessed in the next life with all the same blessings that any other child of our Heavenly Father can, including Ephraimites.
Joseph Smith was a strong anti slavery advocate and believed in absolute freedom for all; that was part of the reason he was so hated in Missouri. He even ran for President of the United States in 1844, the year he was murdered; and part of his platform was to free the slaves and give land to them. There were many black people who were members of the church at that time and none can be found who were ordained to the Priesthood. Except perhaps Elijah Abel.
Joseph Smith is widely known to have said that black slaves could be baptized, but not ordained to the Priesthood. Although there is no directly recorded quotation from the Prophet Joseph Smith that he meant ALL of the black descendants of Ham could not hold the Priesthood; we have confirmations from 7 men (four of them Apostles) who said that Joseph Smith told them personally that Negroes could not be given the Priesthood. One of these men is Brigham Young.
Yet according to some historians Elijah Abel was a black man who was ordained to the priesthood by Joseph Smith. I believe that there were two Elijah Abel's and one was black while the other was not. They were both members of the church and left little or no posterity. Joseph Smith translated and wrote the Book of Abraham recorded in the Pearl of Great Price:
ABRAHAM 1:
25 Now the first government of Egypt was established by Pharaoh, the eldest son of Egyptus, the daughter of Ham, and it was after the manner of the government of Ham, which was patriarchal.
26 Pharaoh, being a righteous man, established his kingdom and judged his people wisely and justly all his days, seeking earnestly to imitate that order established by the fathers in the first generations, in the days of the first patriarchal reign, even in the reign of Adam, and also of Noah, his father, who blessed him with the blessings of the earth, and with the blessings of wisdom, but cursed him as pertaining to the Priesthood.
27 Now, Pharaoh being of that lineage by which he could not have the right of Priesthood, notwithstanding the Pharaohs would fain claim it from Noah, through Ham, therefore my father was led away by their idolatry;
This is a quote from Joseph Smith:
“Elder Hyde inquired the situation of the negro. I replied, they came into the world slaves, mentally and physically. Change their situation with the whites, and they would be like them. They have souls, and are subjects of salvation. Go into Cincinnati or any city, and find an educated Negro, who rides in his carriage, and you will see a man who has risen by the powers of his own mind to his exalted state of respectability. The slaves in Washington are more refined than many in high places, and the black boys will take the shine off many of those they brush and wait on" (History of the Church 5:217) (Read by Warren Jeffs in the very same History Class)
These are quotes of Brigham Young:
"Negroes should be treated like human beings, and not worse than dumb brutes. For their abuse of that race, the whites shall be cursed, unless they repent." (Journal of Discourses 10:111)
"Men will be called to Judgment for the way they have treated the Negro." (J.D. 10:250)
We believe in freedom for all, but we also believe that only the blood of Ephraim can be high priests in this day. In ancient Judea only the Levites were allowed to be priests of the Levitical Priesthood, and since the restoration in this day only the Ephraimites are given the Melchizadek priesthood (which can give the Levitical Priesthood). There is a third Patriarchal priesthood that perhaps can be held by the other races, I do not know. In the resurrection all will be blessed according to the faithfulness and virtue they lived up to in this life, and many will be given the High Priesthood. But in this life we are all cursed in one way or another, the black skin is a sign of a curse. We must all overcome our curses and obstacles, to pass the test of life.
Someone asked:
"And what it seems to me was being said [by you] is not that African Americans, or other black and brown folks are bad. What is being said is there is only one group that can have a certain role in this life on earth; that other peoples have different roles; that everyone is loved by God, that every role, although different, is important, and that all roles will change and move forward as we move through our spiritual lives. Am I correct?"
That is exactly right; God has a plan for each of us individually, and each and all are important to Him. The only exception I take with it is the term “African” American because most black people have been full blooded Americans longer than I have. To me the term Negro (Spanish for black), or Black American is less belittling their contributions to this country, and any who do not like those terms have an inferiority complex.
We believe that the Native American people are descendants of a man named Lehi, who left Jerusalem with his family around 600 B.C. They are descendants of Manasseh, the brother of Ephraim, and were later cursed with a dark skin because they apostatized from the gospel. They were cursed with a brown skin because of what their forefathers did. My son has been cursed for what I have done, and must overcome me. My family has been cursed to have a higher obedience requirement because of what my great grandfather did (he joined the church)
There is actually a greater punishment for not obeying the religion if you are baptized FLDS, than if you aren’t. There is a greater punishment in the next life if you are a Priest who apostatizes than if you were never a Priest. The more you are taught, the more is required of you by God to obey what you are taught. In some ways I ENVY the ignorant masses sometimes. A black man will not be punished as much as an Ephraimite for the same sin. A FLDS woman will not be punished as much as a FLDS Priest for the same sin. Women cannot be Priests either.
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Religious Liberty
"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
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
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Top 5 Lies about the FLDS
Lie #1 Girls are forced to marry
No person was ever forced to get married. That is so ridiculously untrue it should not even need to be discussed, but it is so universally believed that it is used to justify the bigotry that exists and the genocide that is being attempted in Texas. No one is forced to do anything in the FLDS after they reach an age to be accountable for themselves, and that is long before marriage. Marriage is the greatest and most important step in life, and is revered more within the FLDS church than it is outside the church. The women who have left the church and say they were once forced to get married are only saying it to get attention and appease the preconceived perceptions of the general public. I feel sorry for those who declare this after they leave. The memories of their whole lives have change to having been forced, abused, and miserable. I do not doubt that they are miserable now, because you cannot lie as they do and be happy. To blame their misery on their former church is ridiculous. It brings me to pity them. There is as much freedom in the FLDS as anywhere else. You always have the freedom to leave if you want. To say they mourn the loss when one leaves is an understatement, but no one is forced to stay. If you do not want to obey the FLDS gospel, feel free to leave; just don’t try to force those who want to stay to leave too. OK? They can choose too can't they? Let them choose to believe what they want, and get on with your own life.
Lie #2 The FLDS exists by pillaging the government for welfare.
This is so absolutely untrue it is laughable. I first heard the term “bleeding the beast” by reading the newspaper, it did not come from the FLDS. The fact that some of the FLDS people have received Social Security, food stamps, and medical benefits from the government is true, but never did the leaders tell the people to do it. In fact the opposite is true. The leaders often recommended staying off government aid. In Texas there was no one on any assistance at all unless you count Social Security. Until now. To think that children were being born for the purpose of taking your tax money is ridiculously stupid. The State governments have been meticulous in investigating all assistance in Hildale and Colorado City, probably more than in any other community in the U.S. because of the continuous accusations, but despite the assumptions there has not even been one case of welfare fraud charged against an FLDS family.
Lie #3 The FLDS do not educate their children
The FLDS believe, as all civil people do, that children should be educated, and that to, by their parents and whomever their parents want them to be educated by. Girls are given the same opportunity as boys, and I believe that there are no better teachers in the world than those in the FLDS church. More girls graduated from high school than boys. And never are the children pulled out of school because they don’t want them to be too smart. Education is the most important thing for everyone on earth, and you can be educated without going to liberal College. The most important education you can get is how to get back to heaven. We are taught that obedience creates happiness, but that does not mean the children are forced to believe as their parents do. They want them to believe as they do, they teach them to believe, but they do what they want with that education. Would you teach your children that what you believe in is wrong? Why would you want the FLDS to?
Lie #4 The FLDS hate black people
We do not hate anyone. We believe that the Negro have just as much right to the salvation of heaven as we do, just not the rights to the priesthood. Joseph Smith said this: “Elder Hyde inquired the situation of the negro. I replied, they came into the world slaves, mentally and physically. Change their situation with the whites, and they would be like them. They have souls, and are subjects of salvation. Go into Cincinnati or any city, and find an educated Negro, who rides in his carriage, and you will see a man who has risen by the powers of his own mind to his exalted state of respectability. The slaves in Washington are more refined than many in high places, and the black boys will take the shine off many of those they brush and wait on” (History of the Church 5:217) (Read by Warren Jeffs in History Class)
We believe that the Negro people are our brothers and sisters, all descendants like we are, of Adam, and Noah. But everyone is given different obstacles to overcome. We believe that all people who are born into this world were put here for the same reason, to obey God. We all will be judged by what we do, what we say, and what we think, according to what we have been taught. We also will be judged by what we teach our children. This is the same no matter where you were born, or what color you are. We believe in freedom for all. We believe we lived before we came to earth, and it is there that we were given our calling. God chose our color, our nationality, and our family not by accident, nor against our will. For the black race, they must overcome the curse they were born with. For us, we must live up to, or overcome our heritage also. The black race cannot be a part of the Priesthood family in this life, but we hope to see as many as will pass their own trials and purify their own lives in the highest heaven too. I believe there will be many.
Lie #5 All people besides those in the FLDS will go to hell
The Savior of the world died on the cross for all of Adams children, and that almost all will go to heaven; Sons of Perdition being the lone exception. All will have the happiness that they earn here, in the next life. They will be happier there then they are here. We believe that there are at least three heavens, or degrees of heaven, and that if you want to go to the highest, you must do what it takes to get there, you must sacrifice all earthly things. To us that is what obedience is. Jesus died so that all will be resurrected and have physical bodies again. And His sacrifice gives us the opportunity to save ourselves through righteousness. You will be just as good, or just as bad, after you die as you are here. You will dwell in heaven with those who you are the most like in character.
No person was ever forced to get married. That is so ridiculously untrue it should not even need to be discussed, but it is so universally believed that it is used to justify the bigotry that exists and the genocide that is being attempted in Texas. No one is forced to do anything in the FLDS after they reach an age to be accountable for themselves, and that is long before marriage. Marriage is the greatest and most important step in life, and is revered more within the FLDS church than it is outside the church. The women who have left the church and say they were once forced to get married are only saying it to get attention and appease the preconceived perceptions of the general public. I feel sorry for those who declare this after they leave. The memories of their whole lives have change to having been forced, abused, and miserable. I do not doubt that they are miserable now, because you cannot lie as they do and be happy. To blame their misery on their former church is ridiculous. It brings me to pity them. There is as much freedom in the FLDS as anywhere else. You always have the freedom to leave if you want. To say they mourn the loss when one leaves is an understatement, but no one is forced to stay. If you do not want to obey the FLDS gospel, feel free to leave; just don’t try to force those who want to stay to leave too. OK? They can choose too can't they? Let them choose to believe what they want, and get on with your own life.
Lie #2 The FLDS exists by pillaging the government for welfare.
This is so absolutely untrue it is laughable. I first heard the term “bleeding the beast” by reading the newspaper, it did not come from the FLDS. The fact that some of the FLDS people have received Social Security, food stamps, and medical benefits from the government is true, but never did the leaders tell the people to do it. In fact the opposite is true. The leaders often recommended staying off government aid. In Texas there was no one on any assistance at all unless you count Social Security. Until now. To think that children were being born for the purpose of taking your tax money is ridiculously stupid. The State governments have been meticulous in investigating all assistance in Hildale and Colorado City, probably more than in any other community in the U.S. because of the continuous accusations, but despite the assumptions there has not even been one case of welfare fraud charged against an FLDS family.
Lie #3 The FLDS do not educate their children
The FLDS believe, as all civil people do, that children should be educated, and that to, by their parents and whomever their parents want them to be educated by. Girls are given the same opportunity as boys, and I believe that there are no better teachers in the world than those in the FLDS church. More girls graduated from high school than boys. And never are the children pulled out of school because they don’t want them to be too smart. Education is the most important thing for everyone on earth, and you can be educated without going to liberal College. The most important education you can get is how to get back to heaven. We are taught that obedience creates happiness, but that does not mean the children are forced to believe as their parents do. They want them to believe as they do, they teach them to believe, but they do what they want with that education. Would you teach your children that what you believe in is wrong? Why would you want the FLDS to?
Lie #4 The FLDS hate black people
We do not hate anyone. We believe that the Negro have just as much right to the salvation of heaven as we do, just not the rights to the priesthood. Joseph Smith said this: “Elder Hyde inquired the situation of the negro. I replied, they came into the world slaves, mentally and physically. Change their situation with the whites, and they would be like them. They have souls, and are subjects of salvation. Go into Cincinnati or any city, and find an educated Negro, who rides in his carriage, and you will see a man who has risen by the powers of his own mind to his exalted state of respectability. The slaves in Washington are more refined than many in high places, and the black boys will take the shine off many of those they brush and wait on” (History of the Church 5:217) (Read by Warren Jeffs in History Class)
We believe that the Negro people are our brothers and sisters, all descendants like we are, of Adam, and Noah. But everyone is given different obstacles to overcome. We believe that all people who are born into this world were put here for the same reason, to obey God. We all will be judged by what we do, what we say, and what we think, according to what we have been taught. We also will be judged by what we teach our children. This is the same no matter where you were born, or what color you are. We believe in freedom for all. We believe we lived before we came to earth, and it is there that we were given our calling. God chose our color, our nationality, and our family not by accident, nor against our will. For the black race, they must overcome the curse they were born with. For us, we must live up to, or overcome our heritage also. The black race cannot be a part of the Priesthood family in this life, but we hope to see as many as will pass their own trials and purify their own lives in the highest heaven too. I believe there will be many.
Lie #5 All people besides those in the FLDS will go to hell
The Savior of the world died on the cross for all of Adams children, and that almost all will go to heaven; Sons of Perdition being the lone exception. All will have the happiness that they earn here, in the next life. They will be happier there then they are here. We believe that there are at least three heavens, or degrees of heaven, and that if you want to go to the highest, you must do what it takes to get there, you must sacrifice all earthly things. To us that is what obedience is. Jesus died so that all will be resurrected and have physical bodies again. And His sacrifice gives us the opportunity to save ourselves through righteousness. You will be just as good, or just as bad, after you die as you are here. You will dwell in heaven with those who you are the most like in character.
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Cultural Awareness Guide
I found a copy of the "Cultural Awareness Guide" that the state has passed out to the those running the shelters that they have taken their little prisoners to. And I want to point out each of the things that they obviously got from "escapees" (or those who have become very bitter) and are bigoted lies.
1-The very first thing under "Culture" is just plain bunk. "Have a deep instilled fear of the outside world" That is just not true whatsoever. Most fear is a result of hatred, and they are taught to love and forgive all. To avoid association with those with lower standards is not because of fear.
2-"Males dominate Females" I don't think these people have met my mother. If the man is the head of the family, does he dominate? "No power or influence can, or aught to be maintained by virtue of the priesthood. Only by persuasion, by long suffering, by gentleness and meekness, and by love unfeigned" (I just typed that off the top of my head from being REQUIRED to memorize it).
3- "Distrust all outsiders" I am sure those who have interviewed the children could bunk this one. But to trust after being told your mother is just going for a minute? Why should they trust them?
4- "Electronics are prohibited" TV, and modern music yes. Computers, cell phones, i-pods are very common and have never been prohibited.
5- "Children, while in care, especially young boys, have made derogatory remarks to staff of color" I am sure some have made derogatory remarks to all of the staff, they are children, and they have been kidnapped. They are not taught to be bigots, but to be respectful.
6- "Children in care were initially extremely compliant, but are beginning to “act out” after separation from parents" Well duh!
7-"Children are socialized to believe that sexual activity with adults is positive" Now this one, this one is so sick minded that I would rather not even mention it, but there it is in black and white. Why is bigotry is considered common sense to these people?
8- "No pork" I better stop eating hot dogs!
9- "Occasional fasting for 1-3 days" This came directly from bitterness. Children are never included in fasting unless they want to. Fasting is an extension of prayer, and is referred to as "rejoicing and prayer" You can't fast and be grumpy about it, you might as well eat.
10-"Some children may not have education beyond the 8th grade." This one may be true, but it made me laugh. I bet not one of those six-year-olds have more than an 8th grade education!
11-"Since 4/4/08 children are playing with cars, battery operated toys, riding tricycles, and enjoying other more mainstream toys" The only toys that are discouraged are talking animals, and action figures.
12- "Children do not know the correct names for body parts and are not familiar with the terms “intercourse”, “sexual intercourse,” or “sexual relations”. GOOD GRIEF! Are you people telling me that YOUR children understand these terms?
13- "Clarifier: At this time, it is difficult to determine many of the religious beliefs of this particular community due to their isolation from mainstream society." That is because they are treating mothers like third class animals who are too stupid to tell them. What an insult.
14- "...and discourages the use of conventional medicine." Since when? Sure home remedies are great, but everything is given to man from God, even all of the modern medicines.
15-"They believe personal revelation can come in the form of a strong impression, dream, voice, vision, or “burning of the bosom.” The still, small, voice. A burning peace. I am curious, is this meant to be an insult? The way it is written it seems to be because it has absolutely no bearing on how to treat children.
16-"If children do not conform to high standards set by the parents, they often feel they are failures, and parents may take extreme disciplinary measures to force obedience." Good heavens, I hope that they are not believing this garbage.
17-"Intercourse is referred to as “heavenly relations”, or “marriage relations” Intercourse is not even referred to at all with children under marriageable age.
18- Some of the glossary is really stupid and irrelevant. Not one of those children will know what you are talking about when you say "Lost Boys", or "Poofers". And I have never heard of the "True order of Prayer" garbage myself. This is obviously information attempting to prejudice the workers against these children's parents.
The only thing they are "rescuing" these children from, is believing the gospel of their parents
1-The very first thing under "Culture" is just plain bunk. "Have a deep instilled fear of the outside world" That is just not true whatsoever. Most fear is a result of hatred, and they are taught to love and forgive all. To avoid association with those with lower standards is not because of fear.
2-"Males dominate Females" I don't think these people have met my mother. If the man is the head of the family, does he dominate? "No power or influence can, or aught to be maintained by virtue of the priesthood. Only by persuasion, by long suffering, by gentleness and meekness, and by love unfeigned" (I just typed that off the top of my head from being REQUIRED to memorize it).
3- "Distrust all outsiders" I am sure those who have interviewed the children could bunk this one. But to trust after being told your mother is just going for a minute? Why should they trust them?
4- "Electronics are prohibited" TV, and modern music yes. Computers, cell phones, i-pods are very common and have never been prohibited.
5- "Children, while in care, especially young boys, have made derogatory remarks to staff of color" I am sure some have made derogatory remarks to all of the staff, they are children, and they have been kidnapped. They are not taught to be bigots, but to be respectful.
6- "Children in care were initially extremely compliant, but are beginning to “act out” after separation from parents" Well duh!
7-"Children are socialized to believe that sexual activity with adults is positive" Now this one, this one is so sick minded that I would rather not even mention it, but there it is in black and white. Why is bigotry is considered common sense to these people?
8- "No pork" I better stop eating hot dogs!
9- "Occasional fasting for 1-3 days" This came directly from bitterness. Children are never included in fasting unless they want to. Fasting is an extension of prayer, and is referred to as "rejoicing and prayer" You can't fast and be grumpy about it, you might as well eat.
10-"Some children may not have education beyond the 8th grade." This one may be true, but it made me laugh. I bet not one of those six-year-olds have more than an 8th grade education!
11-"Since 4/4/08 children are playing with cars, battery operated toys, riding tricycles, and enjoying other more mainstream toys" The only toys that are discouraged are talking animals, and action figures.
12- "Children do not know the correct names for body parts and are not familiar with the terms “intercourse”, “sexual intercourse,” or “sexual relations”. GOOD GRIEF! Are you people telling me that YOUR children understand these terms?
13- "Clarifier: At this time, it is difficult to determine many of the religious beliefs of this particular community due to their isolation from mainstream society." That is because they are treating mothers like third class animals who are too stupid to tell them. What an insult.
14- "...and discourages the use of conventional medicine." Since when? Sure home remedies are great, but everything is given to man from God, even all of the modern medicines.
15-"They believe personal revelation can come in the form of a strong impression, dream, voice, vision, or “burning of the bosom.” The still, small, voice. A burning peace. I am curious, is this meant to be an insult? The way it is written it seems to be because it has absolutely no bearing on how to treat children.
16-"If children do not conform to high standards set by the parents, they often feel they are failures, and parents may take extreme disciplinary measures to force obedience." Good heavens, I hope that they are not believing this garbage.
17-"Intercourse is referred to as “heavenly relations”, or “marriage relations” Intercourse is not even referred to at all with children under marriageable age.
18- Some of the glossary is really stupid and irrelevant. Not one of those children will know what you are talking about when you say "Lost Boys", or "Poofers". And I have never heard of the "True order of Prayer" garbage myself. This is obviously information attempting to prejudice the workers against these children's parents.
The only thing they are "rescuing" these children from, is believing the gospel of their parents
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