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!

Betty Jessop and Maggie

In reading Brooke Adams story in the Salt Lake Tribune about Betty Jessop, daughter of Carolyn Blackmore, writer of the book "Escape"

http://www.sltrib.com/News/ci_11559735

I didn't want the comments underneath the article by Maggie to be missed. If you haven't read them, they are interesting. First in how genuine and intelligent she shows to be, and second in how she reacts to such bitterness from the other comments. I can learn a lesson! I have come to the conclusion that those people actually do believe the ridiculous stories from Flora and Carolyn, and WANT their imaginary tales to be true. Here is what Maggie had to say, but if you want to read the others, you have to go to the article. *The Comments are here

(*you may have to click the words "show negative comments" under the title, they don't favor comments that are not disparaging the FLDS people)


Maggie Jessop: 1/26/2009 10:30:00 PM
"I know Betty Jane very well. She happens to be my sister. She has done an outstanding job on her book, especially for one so young. I have enjoyed helping her write her experiences that have served to strengthen her faith and determination, and in doing so, it has strengthened mine as well.
I noticed that several commentators seemed to have misunderstood the quote in this article where I said that our Father, Merril Jessop, instructed us in the rules for Betty's book. Actually, if you knew my father, you would know that he is a lover of freedom, and he expects his children to choose the right and stand up for truth. He encourages people to think and feel with their hearts and not be swayed by public opinion or fear of the majority ruling. A more accurate way to describe my father's request for me to help Betty with her book would be to say that he gave us several suggestions. You bet I am going to listen to him because I have no reason not to. When people have good and wise parents, they sure ought to be able to get good advice from them and be benefited thereby. No one is so smart that they cannot use a little advice from their honorable father or mother. Merril Jessop has always given me wise counsel and expects me to speak the truth without fear. I feel it a privilege to assist Betty in presenting her side of the story by abiding by our father's suggestions to only speak the pure truth and not slam Carolyn. Truth will speak for itself. Time is a friend to the innocent, and in time, the truth shall be known by all. From one who personally knows Merril Jessop, I have never heard him express a single negative comment against Carolyn for her colorful tales. Not ever."


Maggie Jessop: 1/26/2009 10:54:00 PM
"40,
Actually, I have written several articles about my experiences during the YFZ Raid. They are found on Truth Will Prevail, the FLDS site. Yes, I am a very real person, and I have very real feelings. What I experienced in having my children taken from me is almost indescribable. Yet, I know that all experience will contribute to a deeper and wiser character, and I really appreciate that. How thankful I am for the gift of forgiveness the Lord has freely given to me. In addition to the awful pain I felt at the hurt and sorrow that was inflicted on innocent children, I used to feel hot and indignant when I would read about how they considered the FLDS women as brainless twits. But now, I just laugh. When you know your own innocence, you are able to be silent and just smile. I have found in my experience that when people are loud and verbose about their supposed injuries, they are hiding something, generally a guilty conscience. Truth really doesn't need a lot of defense, but error has to continually be defending itself in order to convince everyone. It is interesting to see how many people are so easily convinced that error is truth."


Maggie Jessop: 1/26/2009 11:14:00 PM
"Thank you, Prof, 40, Katch, and Poly for your thoughtful comments. Yes, it is past my bedtime, but how can I go to bed when there are such nice people to speak to? My children are doing quite well, as long as they don't see any police officers, guns, buses, or really chubby people. It takes a lot of time and love to heal from an experience like that, but the Lord is willing and able to do it for us, so we just take it one day at a time.
Some are back at the Ranch; some are not. Some attorneys say it is dangerous to go back; others say they wouldn't ever try anything so foolish again. We just do the best we can until we find something better.
I have been treated quite well, I think. It is not the same living away from the Ranch. We were so spoiled there, so well taken care of. We didn't know how we actually lived with the "luxuries of life" so much. This whole thing has been turned into a positive experience for us because when one realizes how blessed one is, they can't help but increase in gratitude. Once in a while, someone out here in the city says something rude or accuses us of evils they have heard we are guilty of, but they seem to calm down a bit after they get used to having us for neighbors and realize that we are very harmless people and would rather give them a fresh loaf of bread than quarrel. Life is very good to us. I am happy, and I expect tomorrow to be better than today."


Maggie Jessop: 1/26/2009 11:24:00 PM
"Katch,
I think it isn't so much someone's heftiness that is appalling to our children, but more when they let their bulges exceed the scanty confines of inadequate clothing. For the children to see flabby flesh oozing from t-shirts and shorts was like seeing a UFO, I suppose. Oh, well, what's done is done. It won't do any good to feel bad about it. We just want to go forward. But thank-you, Katch, for your concern for the children."


Maggie Jessop: 1/26/2009 11:32:00 PM
"Thanks Poly for the reminders. I do have a lot of duties, and I find them very pleasant. I do know a wee babe named Merril, and he sometimes needs a fixin', but I guess I'll just let his mother take care of that."


Maggie Jessop: 1/26/2009 11:38:00 PM
"40, I am aware that often people are mistaken for their true thoughts and intentions. I really appreciate my experiences because it has taught me to be careful in judging others, for it may just be misunderstanding. I would rather think well of people and give them the benefit of the doubt.

Poly, I guess I don't know what you mean by drone, but I had a chuckle when you wondered if I am a guy pretending to be a woman. Actually, it would be very difficult, I think, for a guy to pretend to be me. It would probably be easier for me to pretend to be a guy. Regardless of what it may appear, I am Maggie, and I am a gal."


Maggie Jessop: 1/26/2009 11:50:00 PM
"Blackbird,
You are mistaken, but that's all right. I am not out to prove you wrong. If you are comfortable with that, it's up to you.
Poly,
I don't really spend time worrying about the indictments. People aren't bad just because others say they are bad. The Savior was accused by the Jews of all manner of evil, and they even killed Him, but that didn't change the fact of His innocence. I am sure that if you really knew the men who have been indicted, you would feel differently. But if you didn't, that really doesn't matter.
Katch,
I understand that a dame and a broad are terms more appropriate for those who choose to use raw language and frequent inappropriate residences or businesses. I prefer to think of myself as a gal, a girl, a woman, a lady. I like to think of things that bring me self-respect.
40,
Have a wonderful night's rest."


Maggie Jessop: 1/26/2009 11:59:00 PM
"Poly, Katch, Philo, you are mistaken, but that's all right. I do wish you might know the truth, but it is evident by your tone of voice, you don't appear to be interested in it. I am not interested in quarreling, and I don't feel too bad about you thinking what you do. It has always intrigued me how some people are so incredibly wise as to have deep opinions about something they know nothing about. Maybe you should go to bed and you'll feel better in the morning. Have a wonderful night's rest."

Escape stupidity

I went to a library to check out “Escape” by Carolyn Blackmore, and the waiting list for the book was 52 people long. Amazing. So I went to Barnes and Noble and asked the clerk if they had the book “Escape” and she didn’t hesitate but brought me right to it; in hardback for 25 bucks. Nope, I’d rather flush $100, so I gave $20 to a homeless lady instead. But I did sit down and read the first few pages and found it interesting how such a exaggerated and bitter story could be so intriguing to people. Had she not been a plural wife her story would not even been worthy of more than a blog post, but fear and hatred of the FLDS religion is so cult-ivated that even an obviously ridiculous sensationalized story of what is commonplace in most divorce courts has become a best seller. Women “escape” their marriages every day, and most of them have exaggerated the “awfulness” of their life with their ex-husband. But not every day do they leave the FLDS, in fact it said right on the cover that no wife had “escaped” in 20 years. She couldn’t even get that right.

What I can’t figure out is why people even want to believe her. Are people really that gullible?

How come the women who freely leave the FLDS are the only ones who were forced to stay?

Why are the ones who plead stupidity and say they were once “brainwashed” considered the only smart ones?

Why is several adults sharing the responsibilities of a home considered prison to “escape” from, when a single mother with the entire burden is considered freed?

Is marriage really as awful as rape to most people?

Why are more believable if you say something bad about someone than if you say something good about them?

Flora Jessop

The Troubled Woman Who Cost Texas $14 Million, and Hundreds of Innocent People Their Peace and Safety

July 1 2008
By Author Gary D. Naler


Flora Jessop, the outspoken media favorite and determined critic of the Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints (FLDS), has had the advantage and luxury of accruing audiences who want to believe her or are understandably uninformed about Flora’s real life and the FLDS church itself. Therefore, she has been able to say what she wants; and since people are often hearing what they want to hear, she has gotten off scot-free without any accountability or recourse whatsoever for what we now know are an endless string of vicious lies.

But Flora’s days of unaccountability have come to an end. She has now been instrumental in causing the state of Texas to carry out an illegal invasion on an entire community at a cost to the state that carries a running tally of $14 million, and has hurt so many innocent people that these silent ones who know her well, have loved and cared for her, and endured her continual destructive behavior, are finally speaking out.

Martha Jessop, wife of the late Fred M. Jessop—beloved Bishop of the Colorado City/Hildale FLDS community for fifty years—has written a most revealing account regarding Flora’s life (“The Truth About Flora Jessop,” at truthwillprevail.org). From Flora’s birth, until she was sixteen years old, Martha was very closely associated with her. She is an Advanced Practice Registered Nurse and Certified Nurse Midwife. Because of this formal training, the state of Utah appointed her as Flora’s legal guardian at the age of fourteen when it was revealed that her father had molested her. Flora was under Martha’s direct care and supervision, living in their home, until she left at the age of sixteen.

In representation of the sentiments of others, Martha writes: “After listening to and hearing of the stories and lies that Flora has been telling and putting out to the world through the media—lies about how she was ‘abused’ and ‘escaped’ from her childhood home and religion, I feel compelled to tell the true story of Flora.” With Martha’s help and the help of many others who have never been interviewed about these matters or spoken out, as well as previous news accounts, interviews, and information, we will now tell the true story about Flora Jessop. And let it be noted that the account by Martha is corroborated by Flora’s mother, Patricia, who upon reading it stated, “That’s the whole truth and nothing but the truth.”


Flora’s Growing-Up Years

Flora was born to Joseph and Patricia (Pat) Jessop in the little FLDS town of Colorado City, Arizona. “Flora was a beautiful child, well loved and enjoyable,” Martha recalls. But she noticed “a tendency in her to exaggerate and embellish little incidents. She enjoyed being in the spotlight and the center of attention.” Martha recalls chiding her to “tell the truth and not make it bigger than it is,” a quality Flora never learned.

As Flora got older, she became “restless and wild, with unpredictable mood swings, sometimes seeming impulsive and aggressive, then swinging back to the happy and free-spirited Flora we knew and loved.” As early as the age of eleven, she began going out at night, prowling around, “looking for fun.” “She seemed to be dissatisfied with the family outings and social times with her friends and siblings,” Martha recalled.

Her mother and others tried to deal with Flora’s troubling behavior; but as her mood swings became more extreme, she soon developed a whole new set of “friends,” often coming home intoxicated and violent, and it was highly suspected that she was using drugs. Today, Flora often points a limp finger at the FLDS, and regarding her drug and alcohol use and loose living states: “The pain got so bad in heaven that I was willing to damn myself to hell to escape it.” But the fact is, Flora had already brought her own hell to heaven long before she left the FLDS. As is the case with many alcoholics and drug addicts or otherwise-troubled people, for Flora it has always been easier to point the finger and assign fallacious blame than to be honest and take personal responsibility.

By the early age of thirteen, Flora was completely out of control. On one occasion she was out all night and found with a fifteen-year-old boy having sex. “Such behavior went against everything Flora had been taught,” relates Martha. Even so, they did not give up on her.

• Quote: “I went to school with Flora.… It's true Flora had a very abusive upbringing, sex abuse, etc., but she was a wild child, loved to sneak out and go to parties.… In my opinion, she is clinging to the only thing she really knows—slamming her upbringing. Think about it—it pays their bills doesn’t it?… How would Flora like the world to know she was the easiest lay in town? The point is, I left there in 1986 and haven’t looked back. My life is great. Flora should do the same!!!!” (Laddie Dockstader, former FLDS classmate and friend)

When Flora was fourteen, Martha was talking with her about the impact of loose morals, when she blurted out, “Well, my father has raped me!” “It struck me like a thunderbolt,” related Martha. “That was terrible! I was sickened at the thought. I thought maybe she had made it up, but she insisted it was true.”

In Martha’s words, in their society “child molestation or abuse of any kind is unthinkable and unacceptable.” Flora’s father was turned over to legal authorities and subsequently excommunicated from the church. Despite this decisive correction that she is well aware of, when asked if incest was permitted in FLDS, she replied, “Incest is not only permitted, it is accepted.” Evidenced here and throughout her life, Flora’s habitual lies have been twisted ill-intended distortions of events.

• Quote: “She is a liar.… [Lying is] Flora’s life history.… She is not credible.… I do not see how any reasonable person can believe what she says.” (Benjamin Bistline, author of “The Polygamists – A History of Colorado City, Arizona,” who personally knew Flora as a child and is an FLDS critic)

One of the things I learned after examining the FLDS, from both the inside as well as the outside, is that they have a near-zero-tolerance policy for young men, fathers, and husbands when it comes to moral impropriety, evidenced by the action taken against Flora’s father. This high standard would certainly be one reason why there are fewer men than women in the FLDS. One man I communicated with extensively throughout the many days and hours of this careful examination was disfellowshipped for mistreating his wife. He said she and his two children could have gone with him, but decided not to, and that the present separation was best for both of them. What was his guilt? He had been looking at pornography. How many homes would be left in America today if the same standard the FLDS follow was practiced by the rest of society that so misguidedly judges them?

After Flora’s father was reported to legal authorities, she was taken from his home and placed into Martha’s care as the court-appointed legal guardian. In a joint interview I had with Flora on June 1, 2008, I mentioned to her that Martha had raised her after she had been taken away from her father, to which she replied, “Martha was just one of the other wives in the household.” I find it both shameful and remarkably untruthful that the woman who had reached out to her so much and was in fact her legal guardian assigned by the court, was regarded with so little respect or gratitude.

Martha, Fred, and others began trying to help Flora through the healing process. To limit destructive influences, she and her court-appointed counselor thought it best that Flora be homeschooled, which she was. For a while they thought she was healing, but once again she became restless and began to return to her prior ways. “Any little thing would make her fly into a rage,” recounts Martha. On one occasion she attacked Martha, scratching herself as she flailed away at her. Then, exhibiting a characteristic that would endure to this day, she called the counselor and accused Martha of beating her.

Finally, one night she left, just disappeared, and stayed gone for two weeks. When she did call, she was in Las Vegas, crying and wanting to come home. Fred drove 160 miles to get her, finding her scantily clad in bikini-type clothing.

But still they didn’t stop loving her. Because of their concern about her influence on the other girls, they made her a little room at the end of a wide hall, putting curtains across it. They tried to make it cozy and cute for her, said Martha. But consistent with her slanderous lies and total lack of appreciation, Flora would later repeatedly tell her enraptured and blindly sympathetic listeners that she had been locked up at the end of a hall, imprisoned behind a wall for “three years in solitary confinement.” “With curtains? Oh my!” replies Martha. “I spent three years in this room with them trying to beat Satan out of me for daring to stand up against God’s commandments,” Flora lavishly tells others. The little girl still cannot stop exaggerating and embellishing, taking it to unthinkable pathological levels.

Once back, her involvement in drugs, alcohol, sex, and unaccounted absences only continued. “Her behavior was quite oppressive,” relates Martha. “I felt like such a failure.” She continues, “One night she was out all night with a boy—a cousin. He came the next morning and told Grandpa [Fred] that they had had sex. So Grandpa asked him if he wanted to marry her. He said he did. Then Grandpa asked Flora if she wanted to marry the boy. She said she did. So he helped them get legally married. Flora was sixteen. The newlyweds left town to settle elsewhere, but I learned later that she left him several weeks after their marriage.”

The August, 2004, issue of “The Los Angeles Times Magazine” reported: “In May 1986, she [Flora] entered into an arranged marriage with a 19-year-old cousin, Philip Jessop.” “Arranged marriage”? The only thing arranged about it was that Flora and Philip arranged to be out all night and were caught having sex.


Phillip’s Sympathetic Marriage

Though the Times article was supposed to be favorable to Flora, it astutely noted, “Over the years, she has told conflicting stories about how [her ‘getaway’] happened.” One thing that she is consistent about is her repeated and convincing claim that she “escaped” from the FLDS, that she was a victim held in solitary confinement. Was she indeed a victim? This is evidently the case, insomuch that she lived in an abusive situation with her father. But beyond that, she in fact created her own world of difficulties, and the reality of an escape is framed solely within the walls of her own mind.

Many people undoubtedly reached out to Flora and tried to help her. Were their efforts sufficient? Evidenced by her life, clearly not; but at some point people have to take responsibility for their own actions. One of those who sought to be her “savior” was Phillip. I talked with him by phone several times. No one before had ever contacted him so as to verify Flora’s statements. I was the first. In fact, Flora has never been questioned regarding her life accounts. Up to now, what she has said has been blindly accepted carte blanche. The name that Phillip goes by is Phil, and here is his account.

Phil was eighteen years old when he married Flora. He said that for two years they had been “sneaking out” together. Martha was right in that they were caught one night in a sexual affair, by a night watchman; but Phil did not immediately go to Fred. He related that he was first confronted by his older brother about the incident. He admitted to it, and his brother, for whom he worked, was prepared to carry out retribution for his actions. Once again we see that the idea propagated by FLDS critics that irresponsible behavior, such as Phil’s out-of-wedlock sexual relationship, is accepted is unfounded. As evidenced here and in other instances, the FLDS take swift remedial action.

Phil said that two weeks afterwards, his stepfather, Bill Shapley, came over and left a note for Phil to contact him. Two days later Phil met with him. Bill asked him if he wanted to marry Flora. At the age of eighteen, Phil said he had a “savior complex” regarding Flora—he wanted to “draw her out of the negative @#*! she was in.” Bill even tried to talk him out of marrying her. In Phil’s words, Flora “had a rebel streak in her that was a mile long.” But he made a commitment to be a friend to her and to always be there. Obviously Flora felt this as well, for she later related, "He was my friend and he helped me leave."

The next day, Phil and Flora met with Fred in his office. As Martha has noted, they both wanted the marriage. So on May 3, 1986, Phil, Flora, Fred, Phil’s mother and stepfather, and Flora’s father and stepmother, rode in a limousine to Las Vegas and the two were married.

After the wedding, they were taken to a motel in St. George, followed by moving in with his brother. The marriage lasted only ten days. Phil said Flora became very cold—their marriage was “like sleeping with an iceberg.” He no longer wanted to be married to her and asked her what she wanted. He said she was confused and wanted to be young. Phil made arrangements for Flora to stay at his friend’s house in St. George, where she remained for two to four weeks. From there, he said she went to Las Vegas, and from there to Kansas City. The next time he saw her was about six months later in Phoenix, where she was with another man, supposedly a TWA executive.

“[Flora] learned how to work people,” Phil relates. “She was a topless dancer and worked for an escort service.” Ten years later she finally filed for a divorce. He never remarried.Phil maintains a great deal of compassion for Flora, and retains his commitment to be her friend. “The sad part,” he said, “is that her motives are for the hurting who have experienced pain and betrayal. But she has a tainted perspective, and her methods are destructive from her pain and anger.” When explaining why he married Flora, he said, “She has told a lot of lies and did manipulative stuff, but she needed someone to believe in her.” Phil gave Flora that chance.

• Quote: “Flora Jessop was possibly abused as a child either by her brother or her father, both of whom were excommunicated from the FLDS church and lost their families. She moved in with Uncle Fred, whom her mother married.… She was never mistreated by Fred Jessop; he only wanted to help her. Flora left in 1986. I do not blame her one bit for being angry for what happened to her as a child, but she found identity and notoriety by blaming the church for her pain. I don’t blame her, but she is wrong.” (Allen Holm, former FLDS member and older brother of Fawn Holm who was a part of a huge media spectacle generated by Flora in 2004)


Martha Continues

Flora tells her eager listeners that she was not prepared for life on the “outside,” that she was “naive to the point of being socially retarded.” Hardly! From the young age of eleven, to the age of sixteen when she married Phil, she was entirely experienced in the aberrant lifestyle outside of the FLDS community’s high standards. She had already brought her hell into this heaven, and now she was ready to drink its cup fully.

In the years that followed, Flora freely fed her tragic lusts with drugs, alcohol, sex, prostitution, and stripping—with one brief interruption. Within a year after leaving, once again she called Fred. “She said she wanted to repent and come home,” wrote Martha in her account. And once again this kind and caring man who loved her and gave her every chance to do good, took her back. He got her a room in Cedar City and paid for it. Yet today Flora shamefully accuses him of imprisoning her. He also paid several thousand dollars for dental work for her, and visited and encouraged her. Everyone was kind to her, said Martha. Phil said he came to see her a couple of times as well. But then one day, once again, she just disappeared, leaving without saying a word and giving no indication as to where she had gone.

On Court TV Flora stated in an obvious pathological prevarication, “I was married as a child bride to my cousin. Stayed with him for about three weeks, then ran like crazy. They chased me for five years after I left. I had no support, I lived on the street, I know what it's like to try and get out of this cult and to have no one there for you. That is why I now try to help those who want to escape.“Yes. They chased me for five years, and I just hitchhiked back and forth across the U.S. for those five years. I did get pregnant towards the end of those five years, with my daughter, and she is the reason that I stopped running from them. I realized that I could not continue to run and protect my baby, so I stood up and told them if they wanted me, to come and get me, because I was not running anymore. At that point, I realized that the men from this cult are like schoolyard bullies. They only like to pick on people who are weaker than they are, and that power comes from the fear that they have instilled in the people.”

It is increasingly obvious that Flora’s lies are without depth or breadth, and this is recognized by all who know her. No one ever chased her. In fact, she freely returned to seek their help. In closer examination, her bizarre account serves to describe herself—always running from the truth, pressing her own distorted and corrupted agenda, and instilling false fear in others regarding the FLDS. For years Flora sold her body to destructive vices and prostitution—today she does no less with the truth.

• Quote: “I was very much a part of what Flora was doing before she ever left.… She was not forced to stay there. She could have gone anytime, just like you and I could.… She was not forced to stay in this community.… She could have gone at anytime.” (Reply of James Zitting, right-hand man to Fred M. Jessop, when questioned by his brother, Les, concerning Flora)

“For many years now I have kept quiet about what I knew,” relates Martha, “thinking Flora was just hurting herself. But now, since her lies and influence with authorities is affecting the lives of many innocent people, I think the truth should be told. The stories she tells have no credence and are fabricated. Her lies about being ‘locked up’ and being ‘used’ by men in our religious group are outrageous! She was never locked up in our community. When she chose to leave home, she walked out without difficulty—of her own free will and choice. Flora has not been a part of our religion or community for over twenty years. We have never hunted her or tried in any way to interfere in the life she chose to live. We have only helped her when she asked for help and did it without any thanks on her part.“I forgive her,” continues Martha, “but her lies and deceit should not be allowed to continue on as fact.”


“Ruby is a Hostage” [AKA "Where's Ruby Jessop?]

Let’s now move forward to 2001 when Flora began to dramatically enhance her public slander of the FLDS, becoming its chief persecutor. Like the written account from Martha and the interview with Phil, what you are about to read is the first ever account of actual events that unfolded regarding Flora’s oft-touted sister, Ruby, whom she alleged was brutally raped at the age of fourteen. This first-hand information comes from my personal phone conversations with Ruby and her husband, Haven; with Martha; and email correspondence with Ruby’s mother, Pat. For the first time, the veil of silence, misunderstanding, and false information will be lifted.

Back in Colorado City, Flora’s younger sister, Ruby, made some decisions that would bring her life into an unwelcomed examination and falsely-reported public spectacle, all because of the painful intrusion of her activist sister. On the day that Flora was married, leaving the FLDS, Ruby was born. “Ruby gave me my freedom,” Flora later said. “She was born the day I left Hildale. May 3, 1986.” Flora certainly did not find freedom when she left Hildale, but rather an even greater bondage to the ever-increasing lusts that controlled her life. In reality, the freedom Flora needs from Ruby and others is her freedom from living a life of continual lies and of inciting wrongful harm.

On April 23, 2001, Haven and Ruby had a church wedding ceremony in Caliente, Nevada. But she was being torn at the time as to whether this was what she truly wanted. “I needed time just to find myself,” she said. Her two older brothers had already left the FLDS, and three weeks after the wedding she went to be with them. But she was there for only one week and was already regretting leaving. Joseph, a friend of hers, contacted her and offered the opportunity to return. She gladly accepted and stayed in the home of the always-benevolent Fred Jessop. “I was never so glad to be home,” she rejoiced!

But what about Flora? When Ruby left her two brothers, they called Flora and told her that Ruby had gone back home. This infuriated Flora and she sprang into action to try to force Ruby to leave, uninvitedly intruding into her life. Her plan? She stirred up others and called Child Protective Services (CPS), and in her characteristic style told them an aggrandized lie. Does she believe her own agenda-driven lies? Undoubtedly so. But when CPS interviewed Ruby and her mother, they found no credibility whatsoever in Flora’s accusations. “[Ruby] was wonderful—gave no information of any concern, for anything,” stated CPS director Gene Ashdown to Flora, “and that really, I guess, isn't a surprise.” In our phone conversation, Ruby told me, “CPS wanted to have Flora there at my questioning, and I said no. I did not want to have anything to do with her.”

Upon her return, Ruby turned to the same home and security that Flora herself had often fled to for help in her own times of trouble, the home Flora later fallaciously described as imprisonment for three years in solitary confinement. But now Flora sought to accomplish the same disparaging accusations relative to Ruby. With ever-mounting evidence, Flora’s reports of events are more than exaggerations, but have all indications of being pathological lies.

• Quote: I don’t know what information you’ve got, but [Ruby’s] been around [since she came back]. And I know one thing, and that is that I was there personally the day after she came back. She was sittin’ there with her family and she was in tears and she says, “You guys don’t know how glad I am to be back.” That’s what she said, and I listened to it. So people that say that she’s there against her will—not true, not at all.… I know for a fact that, yes, there was a time there where she thought that maybe she wanted to leave; but after she was gone for how ever many days she was, SHE WAS MIGHTY GLAD TO BE BACK. She says, “I found out that that isn’t what I want.” (James Zitting, right-hand man to Fred M. Jessop, June 17, 2001)

• Quote: Since [Ruby] went back to Fred’s, you’ve seen her around?… Have you seen her around in the last two weeks?… Well that’s weird. Somebody’s lying to us.” (Les Zitting, James’s older brother who is anti-FLDS and asked him about Ruby, June 17, 2001)

Always an opportunist, in classic Flora fashion all of this made great fodder for falsely and wrongly inciting others against the FLDS, garnering great media attention and financial support. Flora’s efforts, as well as the efforts of other avid FLDS critics, are agenda-driven, media-driven, predominated by flagrant wrongful exaggerations and lies, have included fraudulent Attorney General documents (re., 2002 Napolitano investigations), and serve only to hurt the innocent. In 2004, Flora’s media-grandstanding and intrusive actions regarding Fawn Holm and Fawn Broadbent not only devastated families, but also infuriated other anti-FLDS crusaders, and even resulted in a court ordering her to stay away from the two girls. In 2006, Flora wildly alleged that there was an FLDS baby graveyard with 200 baby graves that were dug in one month and that “night burials” were being practiced, claims that were all proven to be totally false. Even so, she has continued to tell these lies to this day. Continually, she has proven herself to be the proverbial woman who cries “wolf.”

Repeatedly, Flora appealed to her willing listeners, “This is about every Ruby that's in there that wants to be free." But the freedom Ruby needs is to be free from the threats of her obsessed sister and those like her who make their lives more difficult and threatened, to be free to raise her family, and for Flora to be free from her own torturous bondage. The revealing fact is, none of Flora’s eleven sisters, or even her own mother, will have anything to do with her. “The reason I dislike seeing Flora is because it is too stressful for me to see and hear what she is doing with her life,” laments Pat.

But with standard purposes of attracting attention, Flora went so far as to file a missing person report on her mother and make it a media issue. In an interview, when asked in typical demonizing questioning if her family suffers retribution among the FLDS members for her public attacks, she stated, “I‘ve been given messages that my mother is paying the price for everything I do.” She is, Flora, but not by virtue of the supportive and caring FLDS members. Rather, she pays the price of a mother’s broken heart for a recalcitrant wayward daughter.

Beginning in 2001, and as recent as this year, Flora has boldly claimed that on the night of Haven and Ruby’s wedding, at the age of fourteen, Ruby “was raped so brutally [by Haven] that she almost died from the hemorrhaging,” and that her mother, only “a couple of doors down,” was not allowed to intervene. Yet Flora is never obligated to tell her source of these repeated outrageous lies. I asked Haven and Ruby specifically about these stunning accusations; and even knowing all that I know about Flora, I was not prepared for their answer. Frankly, based on what I had read and heard, in my own mind I had formed more gracious possibilities, though still surrounding these purported accusations. But I was totally taken aback that the facts were not anywhere near what Flora has viciously spread.

Did Haven brutally rape Ruby and did she almost hemorrhaged to death? When I asked them if this was true, Ruby quickly answered, “Absolutely not! I was never raped.” Haven added, “I absolutely wouldn’t do that. I’d give my life to protect her.” Even before hearing this, two men who personally know Haven assured me that there was no way he would have done that. It was totally contrary to his nature, his character, and his upbringing.

When I wrote Pat about this accusation, she confirmed: “Yes, I was there at the ceremony. Haven would not do these kinds of actions, let alone hurt anyone, and there is no truth in Flora's claims of any brutality.” The fact is, Haven and Ruby had no sexual relations whatsoever that evening, or even in the days to come, and not even in the months that followed.

Following the ceremony of April 23 and a brief honeymoon in Phoenix, Ruby was not settled with either herself or with marriage. As she stated, she needed time to find herself. She related, “I wanted to wait a little more time and see what I wanted.” “It was something Ruby needed,” responded Haven, “a little more time; and we gave it to her.”

Over the next six months, the two of them communicated very little. When Ruby was more comfortable and sure of what she wanted, their relationship began to progress. One year later, on May 5, 2002, they were married before a judge in St. George, Utah. Ruby was sixteen years of age, and Haven was twenty-one. Only after this marriage did they ever have conjugal relations.

Despite Flora’s repeated lies and accusations that marriages are forced in the FLDS and that men abuse the women, clearly this is far from true. Ruby was in fact given all the time and freedom she needed in order to make her own choice, one she was comfortable with. And consistent with the FLDS lifestyle, there was no abuse whatsoever.

However, during this time when the community was showing patience and care, a dark storm brewed outside. In stark contrast to this peaceful people who prefer the sanctity of silence, the brutally vicious lies of Flora and others flew like hot embers from troubling firebrands. In addition to the rape allegations, other wild claims were made, including that Ruby was being brainwashed, re-educated, even whisked off in secrecy to Canada or Idaho. But by and large, Ruby stayed right there in Hildale. She said she and her mother did take a little vacation and went to visit some friends.

Today, Haven and Ruby remain happily married. And despite the unwelcomed willful intrusion of Flora and others like her, they are living the life they have chosen. Looking back at the struggles she went through in 2001, today Ruby is now able to say with gratefulness, “This is my life, and I would never go back to the world.”

Frankly, I was stunned at their account. It was not at all like what I had read and heard, and I could not grasp how Flora could contrive something so profoundly different. Puzzled, I asked them, “Where could Flora get such a story?” “Where she gets all her other stories,” replied Ruby, “from her head.”

Does the FLDS have flaws? Of course they do. Do they have difficulties within community life. Certainly they do. Would there be conflicts and hard feelings on the part of some individuals? That is inevitable, especially when dealing with teens when they hit those infamous distressing and troubling years. But what I have seen in all my examinations is that, even so, they are a people who strive to do what is right, and who excel immeasurably better in wholesome and right living than society that exists outside of their lives. And most certainly, I have found that the accusations made against them by anti-FLDS critics hold no weight. In fact, the best characterization of these acrid critics is that their accusations are as worthy to be trusted as the testimonies of rebellious troubled teenagers who rant about their parents.

There are many who have left the FLDS who we never hear from, those who could provide a much more realistic assessment of FLDS life without the embittered accusations. But the problem is that no one, especially the feeding-frenzy media, wants to hear from them. They are much closer to reality, even with some of their criticisms. But this is a lynching mob, and the voice of the reasonable is drowned out.

One twenty-three-year-old young man who was raised in the FLDS and had been away for three years wrote on a blog regarding his experience: “I had a very happy childhood free from television, drugs, and abuse.… 95% of the men I knew were honorable and trustworthy.… I personally know every man on that [YFZ] Ranch in Texas. Search the world over, you will not find men more dedicated, more committed, and more focused on living in Peace and living their religion than within that group.” He continued, “half [a figure that is probably closer to twenty to thirty percent] of the children raised within the FLDS end up leaving [of] their own free will and choice,” and “95% of them you will never hear from again.” But, he noted, “5% seem to spread rumor[s] and false accusations everywhere they turn, either because they are lonely and need someone or something to blame, or because they really were hurt or abused and somehow think it's the church's fault.”

A common mantra of both FLDS critics and CPS is that the men are “perpetrators” of sexual crimes. But as we just read and saw regarding Haven and Ruby, nothing could be further from the truth. My experience in talking with FLDS men confirms this. One man had waited six months before he even had sexual relations with his wife, another several months as well. The latter man stated, “You have to wait until you are comfortable with one another. You love one another. You respect one another. It is very important that it is the lady’s idea and she is comfortable with it. It is not our place and is repulsive to force ourselves on women. It goes against our moral fabric and goes against everything we have been taught. That is how every FLDS man that I know has been raised. Something of this magnitude in your life is important and comes from love and not lust.”

Despite this reality regarding these peaceable and moral people, Flora sought to incite others with the oft-repeated claim, “Ruby is a hostage.” But Ruby was not and has never been a hostage. Rather, she is the happily-married mother of four young children, two boys and two girls, who love her very much and whose lives are threatened by people like their venomous aunt. Ruby is not the hostage. But rather, it is Flora who is the hostage—hostage to her own blinding hatred and willful pursuit to gainfully destroy those who tried to help her so many times.

If there is anyone who was born and raised in Colorado City who needs to be set free from a “compound,” it is Flora Jessop, the little girl who was “a beautiful child, well loved and enjoyable,” who is held captive by her own walls of bitterness and self-gratifying destructive pursuits. Flora lived a lifestyle that was self-destructive, and now she seeks to destroy those who, even now, still love her. In all my contacts and interviews with FLDS members, I have yet to find a single person who is bitter towards her; they all want only the best for her.

I asked Haven and Ruby one last question: If you knew Flora was telling these vicious lies about you, then why didn’t you say something? Why didn’t you speak up and refute them? “In our culture,” answered Haven, “we’re not out to find problems, or to find fault with other people. We try to mind our own business, and others can live their own lives. If some say something bad about you, you forgive them, turn the other cheek, and move on with your life. Flora really does have family here that love her…,” then Ruby interjected, “but we don’t appreciate what she is doing…,” and in a seamless sentence between the two of them, Haven continued, “and she needs to come out and be honest.”

Somehow Flora missed this instruction about forgiving and moving on with your life, the very thing she desperately needs to do. She is in fact in every way the antithesis of the culture she was raised in, a paradox of all the good and virtue they seek to practice. And instead of adopting their pacifism, she has taken advantage of this quality evidenced in her people as a freedom to tell all her lies undisputed. As a result, she has hurt too many and caused far too much trouble. “Ruby and I were both betrayed,” wrote Flora. No, Ruby survived the insidious attacks of her bitter sister, and Flora betrays herself, her people and loving family, truth, and justice.


The Yearning For Zion Raid

It’s one thing to stand under a high-wire and try to catch those who might fall, and quite another to climb the pole and cut the wire.If Flora’s purpose is to help those who want to leave the FLDS, and some indeed leave and have the freedom to do so at their own will, then why is it that she seeks to enforce a destructive control for which she herself accuses them? But if her purpose is to grandstand, to lead the uninformed into deception, and to foment unjust actions so as to destroy peaceful innocent lives, then it is she who needs to be called into question and disregarded.

• Quote: Flora is a publicity-hungry "fanatic" whose "demands to have control over someone else's children are becoming eerily similar to the dictatorial attitude of her sworn nemesis, Warren Jeffs." She is "misguided and devious." (“The Phoenix New Times”)

When the state of Texas and CPS invaded the YFZ Ranch with substantial militant force, removing all of the innocent children, they did so illegally. This has been the ruling of both a Texas Appellate Court and the Texas Supreme Court. So what was it that prompted Texas and CPS to take this highly extreme and costly action that has now blown up in their faces?

In March of 2004, Flora traveled to Eldorado, Texas, where she met with local law enforcement officials and held a press conference. Here she found a very receptive ear in Schleicher County Sheriff David Doran. “Flora has provided us with a lot of information and I find her to be very credible,” said Doran. This relationship continued over the next four years, leading up to the YFZ raid. In fact, after the raid Doran confidently stated, "I have had a good informant who has given me good information over the past four years. This person has been assisting us as we've gone forward on this operation." A court affidavit unsealed on April 9, 2008, stated that "on more than 20 occasions" Doran's informant had provided him with supposed details about life at the ranch. He has also stated that the informant was a former member and was "instrumental in teaching me the group's ways."

Putting all the facts together, it is quite obvious that Sheriff Doran’s trusted informant was none other than inflammatory Flora Jessop. She is the only former-FLDS person who had been with him for four years. Later he said that there was more than one informant. Indeed, subsequently there were other anti-FLDS former members who provided biased information, but Flora was the first and foremost.

Flora had stated prior to these events, “One day [the FLDS] will go to war with law enforcement and the streets will run red with the blood of the enemy. We were taught that from the time we could walk.” She said the “compounds” aren't like homes in that they are fortified, built with thick walls. “They are very much armed. They have many, many weapons," she warned, and even went so far as to say that Warren Jeffs is “David Koresh, Jim Jones, and 9-11 all wrapped up in one nice little package. These guys are very dangerous." How then would this kind of information affect Sheriff Doran?

It is now evident who is the more dangerous—Flora. These views of Doran’s trusted informant explain why he called in such a dramatic show of law enforcement with extensive firepower and militant might. With SWAT-team methods they crashed through doors and entered into homes with machine guns raised in an invasion so large and with so much might that it cost Texas $5.3 million to carry out. But what kind of resistance did they encounter? Was it Flora’s forewarned apocalyptic bloodbath? No, they encountered nothing more than shocked adults and scared crying children. Where were all of Flora’s promised weapons? Once again we see why Flora Jessop cannot be believed. Truth is as elusive in her life as were the purported weapons—they did not exist whatsoever.

At the October 13, 2006, Exmormon Foundation annual conference, Flora related her own purported personal experience with these gun-slingin’ FLDS men. “The way these guys work, they’re not gonna come after me, although they do. I’ve had many fun instances where we’ve dealt with bullets flying and things like that; but, hmm, I just think they need to get a better target to shoot at.” Her account is nauseating. This blatantly outlandish statement reinforces the reality of Flora’s rampant fantasy for violence, and her willingness to propagate it. And this infection of misinformation has not been limited to Sheriff Doran. The Utah Attorney General, Mark Shurtleff, ranted in an interview, “Here’s a man [Warren Jeffs} who had a whole army supporting him, who thumbed his nose at the law for years, who ran from us, who had people surrounding him with guns, threatening to go down with him.” Really? And where have we heard this before? And when Jeffs was arrested, where were all those guns as well? And who, once again, was telling Shurtleff this false information? And as a state official, why was he one of these eager gullible listeners?

And remember those wildly false accusations Flora made about the baby graveyard? What then could also have been expected during the raid, compliments of this same source? Reported in a press conference on June 2, 2008, by FLDS spokesman Willie Jessop, “They brought in cadaver dogs and raided all the flower gardens to try to find babies and carcasses. It’s how sick their information has been.” The source of that information is clearly evident. Of course, once again, they found no babies.

In a letter of June 17, 2008, to Utah officials, including [Attorney General] Mark Shurtleff, FLDS attorney Rod Parker noted, “Moreover, as investigations proceed, Texas authorities are acknowledging that in conducting this raid they reacted to erroneous intelligence.” He chided Utah officials for repeatedly providing Texas authorities irresponsible information “from unreliable sources,” characterizing these as “hate groups who wish to see the FLDS destroyed.” As a remedy to these false insular ideas that have brought about so many unjust and excessive actions, Parker urged them, “It would take very little investigation on the part of your office to realize that your sources are unreliable.” Unreliable indeed.

• Quote: “I have a begrudging respect for [Flora].… She does more harm than good, is an unpredictable bad source, and not credit worthy.… She talks a good ball game, but when you look at her…. She rules over anybody who gets in her way, including me.” (Bob Curran, founder of the anti-polygamist organization, Help the Child Brides, and who personally worked with Flora)

So much more could be said about this raid. As a much-touted public figure, how is it that Flora’s lies could have incited Rosita Swinton, the bogus caller who sparked the raid? Rosita had made similar calls prior to this, going back to June, 2005, but never relative to the FLDS. So where did she get all of her information? And what inspired her to create stories in the identical pattern of Flora’s stories? Many questions arise concerning this that beg to be answered.

Furthermore, one must also ask where the responsibility lies with the media. What grave part did they play in this drama as well? Why were they also so irresponsible in too eagerly and repeatedly parading a pathological witness before this nation without validating her authenticity?

When Sheriff Doran was asked about his part in the raid on YFZ, he replied: “I did not bring this on them. The call came in to assist Child Protective Services. We always assist. We pulled in the law enforcement due to the size of the operation. We pulled in the law enforcement that was necessary to carry out the operation.”

Given the track record of CPS, it is likely that this is true. But given the source of Doran’s information that he was operating on—Flora—we can see why he used so much militant might, and why CPS’s actions were so extreme. But one has to also ask how much Doran, with his errantly skewed position, even influenced CPS’s initiation of the raid? Undoubtedly, in all realms, Flora Jessop was the major influence for this despicable, erroneous, and illegal YFZ invasion.

There is no question that Flora stirred the pot and brought this entire matter to the fevered destructive lawless frenzy that it became, including Rosita Swinton’s part. As she has done for most of her life, Flora pressured, cajoled, and lied until her fomenting stories became perceived reality. And one must ask in conclusion: If what Flora has repeatedly stated—that these girls are indeed entrapped abused prisoners who desperately want out—then why was it that not a single one of them fled to her once they were separated from there? Why was it that there was not a single defection, but rather a unanimous yearning to return to Zion?

After hearing Flora’s tragic story—and as you would suspect, we have not nearly addressed the host of all her lies and inflammatory actions—some might be inclined to feel sorry for her and dismiss her perpetually vile and destructive behavior. This is what the FLDS community did for many years. But Martha’s reply is a fitting answer to this, as she has concluded: “I forgive her, but her lies and deceit should not be allowed to continue on as fact.” For too many years Flora has had free reign to lie, and this has been done to the unjust harm and detriment of the innocent lives of others, particularly of late. That time has come to an end.

• Quote: Flora has been swept up in “the TV interviews, the fame, and the glory. … She loves the attention. She's craved it her whole life.… Nobody wants anything to do with Flora.” “Flora's been getting away with these [false] stories for a long time now, and it’s time to shut her down.” (Pennie Petersen, anti-polygamy activist who grew up with Flora in FLDS)

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Heeeeere's Ruby!

Stop the presses!, this is as big as finding Elizabeth Smart! Hooray! She is alive!
OK Mr. Curran and Mr Beswick, along with Les Zitting and Lenore Holm, you can put away your signs and close your offices.

Or better yet, keep them open and find Waldo or Carmen San Diego.

Interview given to and story written by author Gary Naler:
"Let’s now move forward to 2001 when Flora began to dramatically enhance her public slander of the FLDS, becoming its chief persecutor. Like the written account from Martha and the interview with Phil, what you are about to read is the first ever account of actual events that unfolded regarding Flora’s oft-touted sister, Ruby, whom she alleged was brutally raped at the age of fourteen. This first-hand information comes from my personal phone conversations with Ruby and her husband, Haven; with Martha; with former FLDS member, Allen Holm, the older brother of Fawn Holm; and email correspondence with Ruby’s mother, Pat. For the first time, the veil of silence, misunderstanding, and false information will be lifted...."

"Today, Haven and Ruby remain happily married. And despite the unwelcomed willful intrusion of Flora and others like her, they are living the life they have chosen. Looking back at the struggles she went through in 2001, today Ruby is now able to say with gratefulness, “This is my life, and I would never go back to the world.”

"Frankly, I was stunned at their account. It was not at all like what I had read and heard, and I could not grasp how Flora could contrive something so profoundly different. Puzzled, I asked them, “Where could Flora get such a story?” “Where she gets all her other stories,” replied Ruby, “from her head...”

"Despite this reality regarding these peaceable and moral people, Flora sought to incite others with the oft-repeated claim, “Ruby is a hostage.” But Ruby was not and has never been a hostage. Rather, she is the happily-married mother of four young children, two boys and two girls, who love her very much and whose lives are threatened by people like their venomous aunt. Ruby is not the hostage. But rather, it is Flora who is the hostage—hostage to her own blinding hatred and willful pursuit to gainfully destroy those who tried to help her so many times.

"If there is anyone who was born and raised in Colorado City who needs to be set free from a “compound,” it is Flora Jessop, the little girl who was “a beautiful child, well loved and enjoyable,” who is held captive by her own walls of bitterness and self-gratifying destructive pursuits. Flora lived a lifestyle that was self-destructive, and now she seeks to destroy those who, even now, still love her. In all my contacts and interviews with FLDS members, I have yet to find a single person who is bitter towards her; they all want only the best for her.I asked Haven and Ruby one last question: If you knew Flora was telling these vicious lies about you, then why didn’t you say something? Why didn’t you speak up and refute them? “In our culture,” answered Haven, “we’re not out to find problems, or to find fault with other people. We try to mind our own business, and others can live their own lives. If some say something bad about you, you forgive them, turn the other cheek, and move on with your life. Flora really does have family here that love her…,” then Ruby interjected, “but we don’t appreciate what she is doing…,” and in a seamless sentence between the two of them, Haven continued, “and she needs to come out and be honest.”

http://www.expertclick.com/NewsReleaseWire/default.cfm?Action=ReleaseDetail&ID=22119

My Old Blog Posts

Back when I wrote this blog before, I had frequented the texaxpolygamy blog. I don't know why but I saved alot of what I wrote on my computer. In looking back at them I thought they were interesting maybe you will too. Here are some...

"Anyone who thinks this is not religious persecution ARE LOST!If Polygamy was not required by our religion, we would not try to live it. End of STORY IF Polygamy was not against the obviously UNCONSTITUTIONAL law, then you could get all the information that you desire about who married who, when, and even speak to them about whether they were "forced" or not. BUT it IS against the law, END of story.

“Jane Doe” [Elissa] wants to make sure that everyone knows that it is not about religion. Who is she kidding? “Jane Doe”[Elissa] and the state of Utah contend that Warren Jeffs “forced” her to have sex. How did he force her? In what way was she forced? How was she threatened? Was she threatened with monetary fine? NO! Was she threatened with imprisonment? NO! Was she threatened with bodily harm? NO! Was she threatened with death? NO! She was told that if she did not stay married to the man she said “I do” to, then she could lose her ability to procreate IN THE NEXT LIFE. What a threat! She was told that she might not be able to be something that no other religion believes is attainable anyway! Now If that isn’t religious I don’t know what is.

I KNOW that she is MORE “forced” to make this complaint, than she ever was “forced” to get married! And this is the STRONGEST case against Warren Jeffs? And he was on the FBI top ten “most wanted”? HELLOOO, anybody in there McFly? Same lies of forced marriage, welfare fraud, and abuse as were claimed in 1953. The funny thing is THOSE ARE AGAINST OUR RELIGION TOO!

mugs- The law was challenged back in 1879, and the Supreme Court ruled that it was "constitutional" based on the theory that they had to have some control on religion, or else there would be people who commit human sacrifice in the name of religion. WHICH IS BOGUS. That equates the family of Jacob as inhumane as the murderous priests of BAAL! Congress should make no law against the FREE EXERCISE of religion. We will live by the constitution, and the bill of rights, and NOT by unconstitutional laws. Our CREATOR gave us this right, NOT the government.

fttc -NICE TRY, but it IS about religious polygamy. How many teenage mothers among monogomists have older men being charged with rape SOLELY on the fact that the girl was under 18? NONE! Haven't you noticed that a judge was debarred, and that policemen were kicked off the force, not for police or judicial misconduct, but for the SOLE reason they had more than one wife!

atari said-"If everyone can wait a couple years, there's not a problem, and no reason for the law to intervene."

Make the girls wait, big deal. BUT the LAW that put Rodney in jail is a Utah state law that was not passed until 2001; AFTER his marriage was performed. That law states that no girl can get married under 18 to a man that is 10 years her senior WITHOUT PERMISSION FROM THE GOVERNMENT. Is this law against underage sex? NO! Only MARRIAGE! Why wouldn't a judge give permission? How did this become a law? (hint: anti-polygamy)

How about Kelly Fischer? would he have been convicted of anything had it not been for polygamy? OF COURSE NOT!

About Welfare "Fraud". Where is it? Why has no one in the FLDS been charged with it? Isnt it rampant as you say it is? OBVIOUSLY NOT. More lies piled on lies.

About boys being dumped in deserts. BOGUS! IF your son refused to live by the rules of the home, refused to come home at night, and ran away often, what would you do? Think hard. These boys wanted to leave, and they were obliged. I'll bet you nickels to $20 bills that every single one of them (who want to) still have contact with their parents, who love them very much.

THEFT OF PROPERY? HELLOOOO? Who did the property belong to? Who do 99.9% of the FLDS people want controlling the property? (I'll give you a hint it's NOT Bruce Wisan) All of these so called "crimes", including polygamy, are not the goal of ALL of you who want to destroy the FLDS. The great crime that you want to stop, is the crime of holding and obeying what we believe to be Gods law's above man's laws. Of course you will never admit that will you?

furnace- the Bible is a book all about people who lived in your definition of cultism. The word " cult" is harmless, unless there is harm to people. It is the anti-cult that is un-American.

I wanted to comment on what gadestring brought up, for it proves that the girls are NOT forced. All three of the scenarios gadestring defined in her post (9/8/2006 12:39 AM) (except the ultimatum/threat part) COMBINED semi-accurately describe EACH of my rebellious sisters. Rebellion and unbecoming contact with boys are always intertwined. “Saving” them, by marrying them, does not work, unless THEY believe it is the RIGHT thing to do. I had several sisters who were rebellious, (one who left, and came back) and they did not get married until they decided to settle down. I remember telling two of them that, as their brother, I was willing to give my life in defense of their virtue. All of the rebellious ones waited until they were over 18, and all but one of the unrebellious ones too, but that is an afterthought. Now, you could offer them all the money in the world to leave the FLDS, and they would not.

In the FLDS, the only reason girls married when they were teenagers, is because THEY wanted to, and making them wait affects no one except them, and their children. Making them wait until 18 means absolutely nothing to the FLDS. It is just a thinly veiled attack on our religion. Just an attempt to LESSEN the dignity of our faith; A way to make our marriages less "good" than yours.
-------------------

According to teenpregnancy.org 34% (820,000) of ALL teenage girls in the U.S. become pregnant. And a report on mafamily.org states that TWO THIRDS of them were to adult men. I am as disgusted as anyone else about teenage pregnancy to unwed mothers, or any sex without marriage. And I think it is ALWAYS the mans responsibility. But MARRIAGE by teenagers is rarely, if ever, attacked, unless it is associated with religious polygamy.

atari-In the FLDS, there is no urgency to marry at any age. The only reason for marriage is for moral FAMILY creation, and ETERNAL happiness. THAT is the goal, that is what we were taught in public and in private by Warren Jeffs, and Rulon Jeffs, and Leroy S Johnson. Sex is not the goal in our religion, an eternal and mortal family that is pleasing to God is. The age of consent to MARRY is 16 in Utah, and most other states. Utah had to ADD that extra religious polygamy persecuting law requiring the GOVERNMENT to approve marriages under 18. THAT is the law that Rodney Holm was convicted of. MARRIAGE to a girl 10 years his junior. And of course they couldnt convict him of that without proving they were married, which convicted him of bigamy also. Had there NOT been a MARRIAGE ceremony, that case would not have lasted a day.

I will acknowledge that statutory rape should be more widely prosecuted, IF there is no wedding, IF the parents do not approve, and IF the girl does not want to marry. The cases you speak of do not fit that bill, in the least. The monogomist relations that do fit that criteria are NEVER prosecuted. IF YOU will acknowlege that Polygamy, in and of itself, is not abuse, then you might start to see. I still would bet nickels to $20 bills that "Jane Doe" [Elissa] has had a thousand times much more pressure to testify against Uncle Warren than she ever did from him to get married.

The thing I dont understand, from my prospective, is the cloudy headed assumption that girls lose their freedom if they become wives and mothers. Are you not free now? For every Caroline Blackmore Jessop, there are 400 women like my mother, free to leave, but have less than a zero desire to. I know that many of the certified teachers, accountants, and registered nurses in the FLDS had both a college education and a career AFTER getting married and having children. And I bet even YOU would agree that raising children is the greatest career in the world.

gad-The law of chastity is the same as it was as taught by Uncle Rulon, and Uncle Roy, but the law is not as absolute as you state. Like food, libido can do more harm than good, if not self regulated. All I was ever taught was constraint is to the man, and not necessarily to the woman.

Brigham Young said: "The man that enters into this order by the prompting of passion, and not with a view to honor God and carry out his purposes, the curse of God will rest upon him, and that which he seems to have will be taken from him and given to those that act according to principle. Remember it." (JD 9:36)

As for child bearing, I guess I cannot reason with the idea that anyone would NOT want to bring Gods children to earth. One of my mothers had over 16 and she often lamented not having more!

Atari, and gad-The age difference is not new in "Christian" monogomy either. You just put blinders on instead of facing it. The only thing that has changed is YOUR society, where marriage is not necessary first.The truth is there have been very very few marriages at all in the last 4 years. Candi and Ruth [and Elissa] were both married previously, under the direction of Uncle Rulon. Though the ceremonies were performed by Uncle Warren. fttc keeps saying that Uncle Roy, and Uncle Rulon said they wouldn't do it anymore, but they married under 18's WAY WAY more than Uncle Warren has in the last 4 years.

Atari- Your argument is based on the argument that Polygny in and of itself is abusive to women, which is bogus. It is fact that before the Roman Empire, All societies practiced it, all the way back to Adam.

Atari-Your background, and the drive by media, makes your skin crawl when it comes to girls and Warren Jeffs. I can understand that. You have very little more respect for a great man named Leroy S Johnson. But ultimately it is a fight between truth and lies, for me.

Atari-What I was saying was that you had no interest in us, or our religion, before you saw us in the news, and the news only reports through the eyes of "mainstream" Americans, and get their information from apostates. You could not fathom a man having a dozen wives and that being a "moral" thing to do. SO you think you hold the moral high ground before you read past the headline. True?

Leroy S Johnson was a very kind, revered, and magnanimous leader of the FLDS church. He died in 1986. 99% of the people who are feeding the media now about how terrible Warren Jeffs is hold Uncle Roy in very high regard. They claim that our religion has been hijacked by Warren Jeffs, or some other man. But if you had read the headlines (And there were quite a few) back in Uncle Roy’s day, you would probably have the same opinion of him as you have of Warren Jeffs. There were people on food stamps in Uncle Roy’s day. There were young men working on construction sites. There were Jessop’s marrying Barlow’s. There were accidental deaths among children in his day. He taught the "one man" rule in his day. There were many men 'kicked out' in his day. And (for you the most appalling) there were definitely girls under 18 getting married to older men in his day.

I contend that these were acceptable and GOOD things in the sight of God. AND benefit innocent children.The religion has not changed, only people and the opposition has. This is the difference between truth, and lie, for me.

atari-How did you hear about the large houses? And why did you become so involved? The bogus news. But you still feel like the anti-polygamy laws are just, and that our religion is bogus. That is what I am saying. I am not saying you should agree that it is the right way. I am just saying that those who are giving you your information of MORE marriages, and other "terribleness" by Warren still think rather highly of Uncle Roy. I am saying they cannot have it both ways. I have more respect for the 5 of you who never knew Uncle Roy or Warren than for the other 5000 who did, (OK, slight exaggeration) and still hate him. There is no in between for me. If it was true then, it is true now.

.atari-I don’t know if I want to explain. You seem sinister to me; pretending to be curious, but only far enough to use the info to call in the military. Phishing is what they call it. Besides, it is just about the difference between me and others who are on my side as far as freedom of marriage, but are on your side in hating Warren Jeffs. It has nothing to do with you.

fttc-I have known Warren Jeffs very well, for a long time. My defense of him is not blind. Do you not want the FLDS people to STOP following him? Your un-hatred for him doesn’t go that far does it?

4:03(silicon wafers)-I do not know what Uncle Roy said to individuals in private meetings, but I know what Uncle Rulon did. I am not sidestepping, I just hold what Uncle Rulon did in higher esteem than what Winston has spread around since his apostacy. That is simple, and obvious. Question all you want. but dont try to force, or even expect anyone else to.

atari said-"If Pedophilia and Abandonment of children is not a tenant of your faith, don't embrace it, encourage it, practice it, allow it." I dont, and neither does Warren Jeffs. Your sources of otherwise are tainted by lies.

mugs-Despite what you have heard, there has been no "date" given. For even the angels in heaven know not the time. But there have been prophesies. And none of them will go unfulfilled. My religion is as plausible as yours, if not more so. I do want to see you with our Savior in the Millenial Reign, and I believe all that can purify themselves of sin can be there. I make no claim to be already worthy. Who can? Also dont believe these lies that Uncle Roy thought President Young was "off his rocker"

mugs-Just so you dont think I deny the truth, I give a word about the April 2004 exodus prophesy. It was invented by some anti-FLDS. We found out about it the same way you did, by noticing the Cameras, and reading the paper. Same with the Y2K, the 2002 Olympics, and the old "gather at the garden", and "gather at Berry Knoll" stuff.

Fact: Warren Jeffs has never said he would not be caught.
Fact: If Warren Jeffs was wearing shorts and T-shirt I definately excuse him because he was in hiding from religious persecution.
Fact: It is O.K. for the FLDS to own red cars. It is bright red clothing that is taboo.
Fact: Girls do wear pants quite often, but usually under the dress. Besides, it was a disguise also.
Fact: Warren Jeffs used an assumed name to buy his contact lenses. He had no illegal ID

Fact: Leroy S Johnson was imprisoned in 1953, John Y Barlow was imprisoned in 1944, John Taylor died in hiding from the "law", Brigham Young was put in jail in 1875, Joseph Smith in 1838, and in 1844 when an armed mob killed him and his brother, for which no one was prosecuted. ALL FOR LIVING THEIR RELIGION. It is amazing in this society today, when harlotry, adultery, sodomy, and abortion, are all considered rights to the people. But if someone engages in performing a marriage for Religious reasons it becomes a crime so bad you can attain to the FBI top ten most wanted criminals.

Fact: This "underage" rule is only applied to polygamy, it is far more rampant among monogomists, yet ignored (and there is rarely a marriage.) Admit it, you only want the girls to wait until 18 because you hope they might "get smart" and leave. 12 out of the 13 of my married sisters were over 18. And They felt it a burden to wait!

Fact: There is has never been, or ever will be fear of Warren Jeffs forcing women or men to be FLDS, no one will leave just because he was put in jail.I am very grateful that Uncle Warren is somewhat safe. Please Keep up the heavy armed guards, there are men who have threatened his life. If it were possible, I would gladly take Warren Jeffs place behind bars. Gladly!

I just wonder what will happen if they find him innocent. Will the facts, or will public outcry decide his fate? What new charges will they file? What new law will they create? Thou shalt not be FLDS in the USA? (like they did in MO in 1830's and the Utah Territory in 1880's)

fttc- the FLDS do not communicate because they are not believed. It is rather pointless. The anti-FLDS are the REASON the FLDS are in the news.

OAS-I have heard stories of girls as young as 13 getting married, but that hasn’t happened since (long before my father was born). The youngest girl I know of getting married in my lifetime is 14, and that was extremely rare and under very special circumstaces. Many girls were "forced" to wait until they were 18 or older. In fact THE OVERWHELMING MAJORITY of girls have waited until at least 18.

I grew up FLDS, and I noticed that the girls who married young were amazingly sweet and mature, and every girl I knew wanted to get married long before they were married, even Candi and Ruth [and even Elissa]. I saw them both when they were happily married. It was a desire for divorce and pressure from Flora, Pennie and other "activists", that created their claim of being forced.

That is a claim "after the fact". (meaning: I thought it was a wonderfully good thing to do at the time, but now that I left, I have discovered how dumb I used to be and must have been forced) They chose just like my sisters did, my mothers did, and everyone else did. No one is forced.

OAS- I really appreciate your desire to understand. To answer your question of "are there any other choices?" and "The Prophet" has a revelation as to who the Lord wants a girl to marry, is this correct?"I can answer your questions together. The choices in a girls life are not "other", I have never met a girl, in the FLDS or out, that did not want to get married at some point. That POINT is the key. SHE decides that point. In the FLDS we believe that dating is guessing, and often results in promiscuity. It is also unneccessary, the Prophet can guide you to what God wants, and the man who can bless you. Sometimes the girl has been impressed who she should marry, sometimes her parents were, but girls do not get married in the FLDS until they decide they want to, their parents decide it is in her best interest, and then they go and ask the Prophet, and they all agree on who. Believe me, we love our children as much as you do or anyone else does.There have been cases of girls saying no to the Prophet's choice, and there have been cases of the parents saying no to the marriage because they did not feel right about it. When that is the case, the marriage does not happen and they try again another day. They are not threatened with damnation or dismissed from the community. I ask you, what is more important to you, your career or your child? What would you choose?

Seemed rather frustrated didnt I?

FLDS vs Forced Marriage

Here is the central theme to the FLDS marriage system, mind you this is from a revelation from our Father in Heaven to the Prophet Joseph Smith, This is our Lord speaking:

"All covenants, contracts, bonds, obligations, oaths, vows, performances, connections, associations, or expectations, that are not made and entered into and sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise of him who is anointed, both as well for time and for all eternity, and that too most holy, by revelation and commandment through the medium of mine anointed, whom I have appointed on the earth to hold this power…are of no efficacy, virtue, or force in and after the resurrection from the dead; for all contracts that are not made unto this end have an end when men are dead" (D&C 132:7)

"And again, verily I say unto you, if a man marry a wife by my word,… by him who is anointed, unto whom I have appointed this power and the keys of this priesthood…it shall be done unto them, in time, and through all eternity; and shall be of full force when they are out of the world" (D&C132:19)

"Gave instructions to try those persons who were preaching, teaching, or practicing the doctrine of plurality of wives; for, according to the law, I hold the keys of this power in the last days; for there is never but one on the earth at a time on whom the power and its keys are conferred; and I have constantly said no man shall have but one wife at a time, unless the Lord directs otherwise" (Joseph Smith DHC 6:46)

"Everything the GOD gives us is lawful and right; and it is proper that we should enjoy His gifts and blessings whenever and wherever He is disposed to bestow; but if we should seize upon those same blessings and enjoyments without law, without revelation, without commandment, those blessings and enjoyments would prove cursing's and vexations in the end, and we should have to lie down in sorrow and wailings of everlasting regret." (Joseph Smith DHC 5:135)

The FLDS marriage system is really quite awesome to us. It is exactly opposite of what you would expect by watching the news. All of my married sisters would tell you as they often did me, that they would never want to get married any other way. I definitely would never have it any other way. Imagine, not even having to worry about finding a good mate, but just trusting in the power of Prayer, and inspiration from God; at times revealed to us directly, but always through the Prophet’s direction and authority. How can you make a mistake if God does it?

There is no trial and error in the FLDS. I never dated, I only went to a few dances, and the only girls I really associated with after high school were my sisters. My first kiss was at my wedding ceremony, and it was awesome!

In the FLDS, the men are not to solicit for wives, or court (unless by direction or permission), and the girls are not to respond to the advances of boys or men, but all are to be anxious to do their duty, and remember to pray always. I have sisters and brothers who were directly inspired about their marriages. The rest of us just put ourselves in the hands of the Prophet and prayed that God would direct him in our behalf. There is no greater joy than to have God speak in your behalf.

The men are officially turned in for marriage when they are ordained as Elders, and stay turned in through purity, kindness, loyalty, and obedience. If a man leaves, or loses his Priesthood through sin, his wife or wives do not have to go with him. If they are married by the Priesthood, and they lose the Priesthood, then the marriage is void. That is the truth, and you can see the bitter ex members spin it all sorts of different ways.

The bitter people who leave say that the FLDS people live in fear of the tyrannical renegade prophet. Honestly the only people who live in fear are those who secretly do wrong and are trying to hide it, or those who do not want to be there anyway. The rest of the people are trying to mind their own business and work out their own salvation. Many of the people who "escape" (leave) get really mad because those who stay have no desire to "escape" with them and hate the leader as they do. So they heave all their fury at the government, to "do something" to stop this "terrible mad man". It is the same accusation made many times before, all the way back to Joseph Smith.

I just want to tell you, Warren Jeffs is the most humble man I have ever met who is still alive. He has been the leader only since late 2002; but the FLDS marriage system is much older. My grandparents were married this way in the early 40's, and even Joseph Smith, Brigham Young, John Taylor, and John Woolly directed many marriage arrangements. Everything Warren Jeffs does, he does to help and improve the people. Even I who have been sent out, it was done to improve me, and the people I left behind. Although it definitely has been painful, I feel it was the best thing to happen to help me, if not to my family. Everything is a growing experience. I know it hurt him to need to do it, and I take full responsibility for it.


The stories of forced marriage have been in the news since the beginning of time. Just read the New York Times archives back in the 1870's. People assume that the ladies have to be forced, for as they would say, "What girl that is not forced would ever want to be a plural wife?" I know a few. No one is forced to marry at any age in the FLDS. The girls go to their good fathers when THEY want to get married. If he and their mother approve, then they would go see the Prophet. Even after they seek the prophets council they have the option to say who they want to marry, or they can say yes or no to the man the prophet suggests without any recourse whatsoever. I saw it many times. The FLDS people seek to be inspired from heaven in all things, and most especially when it comes to this, the most important act in life. In heaven there is only peace. There is never force, ever. It is the opposite of the FLDS religion to force. We were taught that the devil was cast out of heaven because he wanted to force us to be good.

An few hours before our wedding, my fiance and I went for a drive together, and she talked while I listened. Finally I got up the courage to ask her, "Will you marry me?" I realized by the look on her face that it was a strange question. "Of course", she said, smiled wide, and went back to talking.

This is the free will in the FLDS church. It makes it much more comfortable around others. Little of this "what if" happens. We believe God is doing it, sometimes by revelation to ourselves, but always through the inspired Priesthood. We either believe, or don’t.

From An FLDS Mother

I have been very busy, I have lots to post, lots of questions to answer, but I want to post this comment that I stole from this blog post because I think it is important:

An FLDS Mother said-
"I am so very tired of hearing from people that listen to media as well. (Media says whatever sells.)
I have sons, each have had to make their own choices. Two were having some troubles. What I mean is they liked girls, listened to bad music and drank with friends. This in turn lead them to be very disrespectful to their father and me. They had to choose, what they wanted in life. I’m so grateful the choice they made was to clean up their life and stay. They are very good men now and such a support to us all. I also have another son who is having to make the same choice. At first he didn’t want to stay, but he is seeing things a little different. He doesn’t want to leave now… he is working on cleaning up his life as well. I pray he can do it. I know he can, but its his choice. All the boys that have left had the same choices.
What the standards are for one religion may not be the same standards for another. We expect perfect obedience. Honoring the parents. Behaving as the “outside” world does, is NOT honoring your parents. We try to raise our children to be clean, have morals, to talk sweetly, to act sweetly, to love one another, to be kind to everyone, pray for everyone, forgive everyone, and let God be the judge, ect. How could this life style be so abusive. You say well underage marriages…. this is not taught nor is it trained. I was legal age when I married my husband who is only two years older then me. Old men??? Where???? There aren’t very many old men left here. But there sure are a lot of young men that are ready to be married, and there are a lot of older girls, in their 20’s that are still waiting to be married. I’m sorry, but the media says a lot of lies. “Judge not that ye be not judged.”

My sister Fawn

Fawn Holm is my little sister, she was born on my fourteenth birthday. She has 12 older sisters married in the FLDS church, and not one of them was married under 18. My sisters had to twist my fathers arm behind his back to get him to “turn them in” to get married.

Fawn “escaped” when she was sixteen. When her twenty-year-old boyfriend and our nineteen-year-old brother moved to the “lost boy” party house in Hurricane Utah, she decided she wanted to go live with them. Her mother threw a conniption and said, No Way! Several times the Hurricane police were called to that "lost boy" house for the parties they threw, and Fawn had several fines for truancy, and underage drinking. I went there twice to pick her and some of my nephews up.

She was determined to go and that is when she called Flora Jessop. When Fawn went missing overnight, her mother was frantic. She even called my eldest brother Carl who lives in Salt Lake. He told her that he saw Fawn on the news! With two TV crews in tow (including her lapdog Mike Watkis) Flora Jessop kidnapped my sister. She knew it and concocted a great big story about imminent forced marriage, abuse by her father, and blood atonement. She had the two Fawns write these stories in an affidavit. It was either play the abuse card, or go home.

Sexual assault and child abuse charges were filed against my father and the Arizona CPS came and inspected his home and interviewed all of the children left in the home. Soon charges were dropped, and custody returned to our parents, but Flora kept Fawn hiding from her mother. It was rather hard on her as Fawn was her youngest child. My father’s lawyer suggested he press charges of kidnapping against Flora and anyone else involved, but he was free to forgive. He just wanted Fawn to be safe. He knew Fawn wanted to leave.

When custody was restored to Fawns parents, Flora then helped her ditch the CPS in Phoenix and held a press conference with my brother Carl’s wife Joni claiming the state would not "protect" Fawn from polygamists and did not know where she was. Fawn turned up at Joni's house in Sandy, Utah a few weeks later.

It was arranged for Fawn to live with Carl and Joni (which could have happened without the fanfare) BUT Fawn didn't like the rules there either. She wanted to live with her boyfriend and brother who now moved their "lost boy" party house to St George. The news media made a big deal about her going back to Polygamy when she turned 18. She moved in with her 19 year old niece who left the FLDS to marry the 40 year old man running the "lost boy" safe (party) house.

Fawn went to a "deprogramming" school in Boston paid for by the Dr. Phil show. She was having trouble seeing how much better it is to live outside the church. She has had a few life altering experiences and now has moved back to Utah with her boyfriend from Boston. I love Fawn very much, and I have no desire for her except for her every dream to come true. God bless her forever!

Expert's

It gives me no pleasure to write what I am about to write, because I believe wholeheartedly in the admonition of Jesus Christ to turn the other cheek; but when children and their families are being literally ripped apart by the state of Texas on the advise of those who hate them the very most, to me makes it absolutely necessary to call out the very ones who make the ridiculously sickening allegations against the FLDS religion.

I am going to tell you the truth about three of those who you see on the news as experts; those women who once were members, but made the decision to leave. Not satisfied with that, they have become incensed that everyone else does not leave the church with them. There is no lie they will not tell, and no abuse that you could invent in your head that they would not agree with, when it comes to the FLDS.

Here are the true stories of three of the "experts":

Flora Jessop

From a relative of Flora: "Flora got in trouble when she was 13 with a boy who was 15, it was by her own choosing not by force. It might interest you to know that immoral activity is not accepted in our society. They are offered repentance and she was. But she soon made her choice she ran off with her cousin at age 16. They got married and 2weeks later she left him. She has worked at some of the grossest places in Vegas. Flora in my mind has only told on her self."

Flora got caught when she was in 9th grade with a Barlow boy, a note was found by her schoolteacher revealing the graphic details. Just after she turned 16 she left with her cousin Philip, they ran off to Las Vegas to get married. But 2 weeks later she left him, and came back. She called the Bishop, her uncle Fred Jessop to come and get her, which he did. There was an article in the St George newspaper detailing how “activists” tried to “rescue” her, but they could do nothing because she wanted to go home. In a short time, she left again. She became a bar dancer and she had a daughter by one of her customers. But that didn't pay as good as what she does now; telling whoppers.

HERE is a more accurate and complete story of Flora


Carolyn Blackmore (Carolyn Jessop)

From a relative: "Carolyn lied to her children and went about it in a very deceitful manner when she left. She told the children “we are going to do a job for father”, she drove to Salt Lake and then she turned on them and was very cruel to them because they wanted to go home to father because they loved him. The children on their own would bum a ride down to see their father to escape her abusive manner. Her daughter when she got to be 18 moved back in with her father because he is so very loving and kind to all of his children. The fact of the matter is she didn't escape in the middle of the night, she went to a dentist appointment and took all her children with her, she left in broad daylight.”

I considered getting Carolyn's book to do a book report. But I am sure she is selling enough of them by getting on TV as an "expert". I heard she has some pretty big whoppers in there. Something about torturing babies to subdue them, etc. (I remember when Flora told that story to the newspapers, I guess Carolyn liked it) I saw a video clip of Carolyn explaining how Warren Jeffs twisted his wife Annette's braid in front of the high school and told the boys something to the effect of "This is how you subdue your wives, boys" I was there personally when that happened (Carolyn wasn't, she heard it from Dan Fischer's daughter on the news). It was in our Chorus and Home Entertainment Class and they were doing a skit about two children on the playground. He pulled her braid and she slapped his face as hard as she could, and they both had to go see the "principal". It was very funny then, but it sure sounds sinister now. He may have hurt her head, but I think he got the worst of it, that hand print on his face lasted quite a while.

Kathy Jo Nicholson

Kathy got in "trouble" with one of the Draper boys when she was 18 and he was 23. They went together and confessed to Rulon Jeffs and asked to be married by him. He told them that he would not marry them until they settled down and waited for a year. They didn’t last that long, both giving up on returning to the church, and both running in different directions. I knew them some, Kathy was very good friends with two of my sisters.

She became an "activist" a few years ago and came to "rescue" my happily married sister who was her friend. When my sister told her to go away, she told the news that my sister was married at sixteen (she was 19) and had called her to tell her about being abused.

What is really sad is Kathy has made some horrid claims on national television that her brother John was “blood atoned”. He was my younger brothers’ good friend and he died a few years ago when he fell off of a cliff while rock climbing. Their mother, aunt Kathy, never has gotten over it. She left her husband and moved in with Kathy Jo. I sure hope the best for her.

We believe in always being the first to forgive and leave judgment to God, We believe that to criticize even those who hate us is wrong. I hold no grudge against these women, and hope they repent. May they be "cursed" with honesty!

'edit'- My mother sent this text message to me: "Follow our prophets example and not hold feelings toward those who are testing us, be prayerful and careful not to be deceived by the adversary [meaning the devil] and forgive"

Bitter ex-members "guiding" the State

It is sad that bigotry can be so blinding. Yes polygamy is different, but to assume that all families are the same, or that all men, or women, or children have the same experience within the lifestyle is absurd. That is like showing a picture of a woman who was abused by her husband, and happen to be monogamist, that it is because of monogamy.

The FLDS women are the most disrespected citizens in America. Most outside the religion think that they are all idiots who are brain dead zombies who cannot think for themselves. They think that the only "smart" ones are those who leave the church. Well, I beg to differ. My mother is smarter than yours.

To "Escape" the FLDS church is to walk away. Not one man or woman is ever forced to stay except through their own feelings. If they believe that the church is wrong, why would they feel guilty for leaving? The only "escape" that any of those women who have left is to escape their testimony. That is the ONLY thing that they flee, and the ONLY thing that chases them to come back. Of course those within the church believe that it is the true church, and they don't want anyone to leave. But I witnessed only sadness for those who left; not hatred, but pity.