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Getting Support : Speaking Out
Dr Phil-Cult story | from moon beam - Tuesday, May 03, 2005
accessed 6335 times Brainwashed Brides
Dr. Phil goes inside a religious sect where young girls are reportedly forced to marry men three times their age and bear as many children as possible. On the verge of becoming child brides, two teens escaped. Now they turn to Dr. Phil for help leaving their painful past behind.
Journalist Mike Watkiss of KTVK-TV, Phoenix, spent years documenting polygamy and alleged abuse in a fundamentalist religious society in Colorado City, Arizona. The cult believes that each man should have more than one wife, and each wife should bear as many children as physically possible. Women are instructed to wear modest clothes from another era, and are expected to be subordinate to men.
Marriages are arranged by religious leader Warren Jeffs, a man whom followers believe is a prophet of God. Jeffs is rumored to have up to 80 spiritual wives. A few years ago, he ordered children in his sect to stop attending public schools. Now they are taught in church-run charter schools. When group members try to flee, they are often pursued by Colorado City police officers, some of whom are alleged polygamists and loyal to Jeffs.
Activist Flora Jessups sheds light on escaping the cult. "By the time they're old enough to make this decision that they don't want to be here, they've got three or four kids. And in order for them to leave, they've got to run with children," she says. "I thought the authorities were supposed to protect the kids, and they don't. They're protecting the criminals. They're protecting the abusers."
Fawn H. (right) and Fawn B. (below), both 17, escaped a year ago. They now live with Fawn's brother, Carl, and his wife, Joni.
Fawn B. explains, "It's like someone programmed your mind. My mom even admits it. She says, 'Man, I wish I could just open your brain and brainwash you like I have been.' ... They teach that men are higher than women. Women should bow to them. Girls came to earth for one reason: to have children for their husband. I never learned any science. I was taught that there has never been a man on the moon ... I was taught that colored people were the devil."
Fawn H. adds,"I was taught that people from outside were not to be trusted and not to talk to them."
Both girls ran away because they were being pressured into marriage. "If I would have stayed there for a couple more months, I would have been married to someone that I didn't want to marry, to someone that could have been old enough to be my own father," Fawn B. says. "Pretty much my life would end. I would physically be alive, but inside I'd be dead."
In tears, she continues, "One of the reasons I left is because I was afraid that Warren Jeffs would command the people to kill themselves, and I wouldn't be able to watch that, especially my family."
Both girls wrestle with shame and guilt, and think about going back. "Sometimes, I still feel that I'm going to burn in hell for leaving," says Fawn H. "I think about going back because I think about my future out here ... I don't really fit in."
Fawn B. is homesick. "I stay up at night and cry. I think, 'Will I ever see my brothers and sisters again?' ... I think about going back for my mom, I know she needs my help. She told me that she might have breast cancer."
Carl, who ran away from the group when he was 17, understands the girls' plight. "It's really hard to go against your family. They use the psyche that they put inside you to make you feel like you're dirt," he says. "After you leave the cult, you feel like you have this dark cloud on you and you're not going to have any enlightenment in your life. You're out of their world completely. It's like you're dead."
Carl says he was abused in the society. "I would get punishments for sneaking out and going roller-skating with my friends. I would get beatings or thumpings for doing things like that," he says. "I attempted to kill my father. I tried to make his car blow up. I hated him that much. I am very convinced today that I would be in prison had I not met my wife."
Activist Flora Jessups helped Fawn H. and Fawn B. escape in the middle of the night. "It absolutely is a cult. They use brainwashing. They use terror to control these kids," Flora declares. "I don't care what religion you are, it does not give you the right to rape children. Using the guise of religion to cover up the child abuse and the child rapes, no."
Although the girls are grateful that Flora came to their rescue, they're conflicted.
"I have a real big fear that they're considering going back because things get really stressful for them," says Joni. "If they go back, it's a failure."
Dr. Phil clarifies that the polygamist cult he's addressing is not affiliated with the mainstream Mormon religion. "They call themselves the Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints, and broke off from the Mormon religion over 100 years ago," he says.
When Dr. Phil asks Fawn H. why she would consider returning to the cult, she says that she fears for her family. "I'm scared that I'll never see them again. You never know what [Warren Jeffs] is going to do. And I'm also scared because I kind of still believe in it a little bit."
Pointing out that neither girl attended school past the fifth grade, Dr. Phil asks, "Why was your education stopped at that point?"
"Because Warren Jeffs told everyone to put their families in private schools and not to mingle with the outsiders," Fawn H. explains. "We were just taught the history of our church and how to cook, how to sew, how to tend kids."
"Both of you say you were taught not to show emotion at a very young age," Dr. Phil points out. "How were you taught that?"
"If you showed emotion you were punished," Fawn B. says. "You would have to go without food for a day or two."
Dr. Phil addresses the girls' fears about leaving the cult. "You've been taught that if you leave the community which you have that you've traded your freedom for eternal burning in hell, right?"
Both girls say yes. "It scares me," Fawn H. admits. "I just sit there and think, 'What am I doing here? What if it happens tomorrow?'"
Fawn B. has the same concerns. "I believe I will be burned for eternity," she confesses.
"Why did you want to be here today?"
Fawn B. replies, "I need to know if this is worth all the pain. I feel like there's no hope. Why go on?"
"What do you think would happen to you if you went back?" Dr. Phil presses.
"I would be married right away. I'd start to have children. I'd have no life at all," Fawn B. says.
"I don't want to take the place of some other man that's been over here telling you what to think, what to do, how to feel, all of that ... That is not my place. But on the other hand, you're very young, and you're very naοve," Dr. Phil tells them. "I'm no preacher. I certainly do not hold myself out to be such. But I do believe in a higher power that I call God ... There's a lot I don't know as a layman. But let me tell you know what I do know. I do know that God is a loving God. And that God is loving and giving and caring and nurturing, particularly of children. And God is a forgiving entity," he stresses. "This idea that if you assert this free will these wonderful minds and hearts that you have that you will forever burn in hell is just simply not right."
Dr. Phil introduces Flora Jessups, who grew up in the same polygamist cult, and was forced to marry her cousin at 16. She escaped when she was 18, and was instrumental in helping the girls get out. "Tell me what your experience has been in fighting the authorities," he asks. "What do you hear from the authorities?"
She replies, "That we don't have the right to help these children. That they belong to their parents, and it's not our right to help them escape from the abuses."
Dr. Phil presses: "Why is Child Protective Services not intervening to protect children who cannot protect themselves? What do they tell you?"
"Reunification in the family unit is the most important thing, and that's the bottom line. It doesn't matter what the abuses are ... the problem is they're not taking services to the families."
"I have worked with CPS agencies around the country in all walks of what I've done. I find these to be caring, dedicated, devoted people that go home at night and hurt for the children that they work for," Dr. Phil says. "Something is going on because these are not just mindless bureaucrats who don't care."
Steve Hassan, a world-renowned cult expert and author of Combating Cult Mind Control, explains how brainwashing occurs. "People can be systematically broken down indoctrinated through controlling information, controlling their behavior, controlling their thoughts, controlling their emotions and made into obedient dependent slaves or clones of the cult leader," he says. "There are thousands of people who've been in other groups with other leaders who are prophets or apostles or messiahs or avatars where the same system of mind control is in place." Some may escape, but often don't have anywhere to turn. "Many people in the mental health profession are not trained on how to counsel people involved with destructive mind control cults."
Dr. Phil turns to his colleague and the chair of the show's advisory board, Dr. Frank Lawlis. "These girls are very much like prisoners that have been in prison all their lives," Dr. Lawlis observes. "When you get out of prison, you are actually more afraid of the freedom than you are of the prison because you know what's going on in the prison. They don't know what awaits them with their freedom."
Dr. Phil asks the girls, "How do you feel about being here now where you can say anything that you want to say, and ask anything that you want to ask?"
"I'm a little scared, because I was taught not to ask questions, just go with the flow, do what everybody else is doing," Fawn B. admits. "Now it's a big relief because I can talk about it and I need to talk about it."
Dr. Phil tells them, "What we're tying to tell you is that you are intelligent young women that have ability to think and make decisions for yourself. But the rub is this: You're still very young. Your brains aren't through growing yet so your ability to reason is sometimes not exactly what it might be when you're 30 or 35 years old, so you do have to rely on other people. And I want to give you a few guidelines that I think you should think about."
Dr. Phil suggests, "You need to be asking questions. You do need to be studying, going to church, doing different things, but it should always be with an open door. You should always be free to accept or reject what someone says to you. And it should always be open to close and careful monitoring by loving and caring people that have your best interest at heart." The girls should be wary of any activity that stresses secrecy, because if people are isolated, they can be controlled.
http://www.drphil.com/show/show.jhtml?contentId=3109_brainwashedbrides.xml
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Reader's comments on this article Add a new comment on this article |  from Oddman
Wednesday, May 04, 2005 - 22:09
(Agree/Disagree?)
Another link to information regarding the Warren Jeffs cult.
http://www.rickross.com/reference/polygamy/polygamy186.html
*Excerpts.
<< In a town of approximately 7,000 residents, the public school has about 100 students, according to Deloy Bateman, the science teacher.
About five years ago, church leaders ordered the faithful to take their offspring out because they had found the curriculum "wicked," says Bateman, whom Jeffs has declared "apostate."
Youngsters are being "homeschooled," with predictable results.
*Excerpt 2
<< The last serious attempt at outside intervention dates back to 1953, when governor Howard Pyle arrested two-dozen local men and placed about 200 children in foster homes.
But images of crying kids being torn away from their mothers had a boomerang effect: The governor lost his re-election bid after turning off mainstream Mormons, a powerful constituency in Arizona.
(reply to this comment)
|  From Oddman
Wednesday, May 04, 2005, 22:38
(Agree/Disagree?)
http://www.polygamyinfo.com/plygmedia%2003%20156newtimes.htm
*Excerpts
<
<< Jeffs told the congregation that services were canceled until further notice because he had received a "revelation" from the Lord.
<< There was no mention of the threat by outside authorities. Instead, Jeffs said, "Until this people honor the word of God, this privilege [marrying into polygamy] is withdrawn from them."
<< Parker said Holm was simply following "God's laws," instead of the state's.
<< The raid has been elevated to biblical proportions by the FLDS, whose members see its failure as a confirmation that they are entitled to practice their fundamentalist religious beliefs
(reply to this comment) |
| | from French Pedophilia Trial Hears Sordid Tales
Wednesday, May 04, 2005 - 11:44
(Agree/Disagree?)
By STEPHANIE LACAZE, Associated Press Writer2 hours, 6 minutes ago
Harrowing scenes from a young girl's birthday, in which she and other children were allegedly surrounded by naked adults, were recounted during testimony Wednesday in a pedophilia trial that has horrified France.
Alain D., one of 66 people accused of involvement in a pedophilia ring, recalled the day a child named Marine V. turned 6, adding more chilling testimony to the trial.
Most of the defendants deny any wrongdoing.
Investigators say 45 children aged 6 months to 14 years old were abused by parents or acquaintances from 1999 to 2002, in some cases in exchange for small amounts of money, food, cigarettes or alcohol.
Marine V. is 10 today. Victims and suspects cannot be identified by full names because of French laws designed to preserve the anonymity of child victims. She is the daughter of two top suspects in the case, who were said to have organized the pedophilia ring, and hosted adults and lured other children to their home in the western city of Angers.
On Marine's birthday, her father Franck V. and her grandfather, Philippe V., were at home with the children, Alain D. told the court.
"I went into the bedroom, I saw Franck and Philippe with their pants down. They were touching the children," said Alain, who faces a maximum of five years if convicted of sexual assault and failing to report criminal acts.
Alain D. detailed graphic accounts of sexual acts he witnessed involving Marine and other children, both boys and girls.
"Why did you watch?" asked the prosecutor, Eric Marechal, visibly stunned.
Alain D. responded: "I was paralyzed."
Jacqueline, his wife, told the court that at that time she said: "We have to intervene."
But they did nothing.
The case, one of the most shocking in recent memory in France, became known in 2000 when a 16-year-old girl alleged she had been raped by her mother's boyfriend and his brother.
Franck V., under questioning Tuesday, acknowledged having fondled his children one time, but denied any sexual abuse on any others or any repeat offenses.
In all, 39 men and 27 women are accused of participating in a pedophilia ring in which babies and children were allegedly raped, sexually abused and prostituted by their parents for food or money.
Some of the alleged abusers are accused of playing games of "doctor" with the children.
More than half of the accused, aged 27 to 73, were unemployed and living off benefits in state-supported housing. Some were drawn to the alleged ring from neighboring towns. If convicted, the defendants face sentences ranging from three years to life.
The trial is expected to end in July.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050504/ap_on_re_eu/france_pedophile_trial&printer=1
(reply to this comment)
| | | | From SeanSwede
Wednesday, May 04, 2005, 23:16
 (Agree/Disagree?)
I know a former FM, who now is 29 yrs old, who during most of his childhood was abused sexually by women. They did and made him do everything you could imagine. It started when he was only 4 yrs old he told me.
They said that Jesus wanted him to touch them on their breasts and lowerparts. Sometimes when he refused they would punish him or threaten him by telling his teachers or parents. He told me many, many stories about different incidents. He would get real upset and teary eyed when explaining about them. He has lived alone for many years now and I guess he had alot of things to get off of his chest. He told me that he didn`t understand anything about it and that he didn`t like what they where doing. He said that they always wanted to masturbate him and suck him all in the name of "The lord" "his will" and that he needed to obey him and them and that it was the thing to do at the time and that it would help him to grow up and be a healthier boy for Jesus and Grandpa(Berg)
He said that their was about about 15 different women who abused him in the space of about 10 years. The last time was when he was 14. His teacher, who was married, forced him to have sex with him or she would tell on him. She went anyways and confessed and the sick thing about it all was that it was only he who got in trouble for it.
Their is a certain sickness or extrem jealousy which existed back in those days. It seemd like the teens couldnt really have to much or any at all sex with oneanother. It was strictly forbidden. The adults where jealous cause they wanted to have all of the "fresh and undamaged meat" Only the "Adults" got to have sex with them. I remember a couple of times when I was inlove with a girl that she would have to go off and have sex with some adult. I was really hurt by it, it felt like I was being cheated on. Not that I was after any sex really but just that I couldnt be intimate with anyone, cause it was forbidden. We wheren`t even allowed to hold hands or go for a walk togethar, or be in a room in private and all of our mail had to be censured before we read it. I remember them praying with me everytime before I was allowed to read them...how weird!!
Come on we where teens for cryin`out loud! We only wanted to explore each other and our sexuality. Most of our virginities where taken by grown up adults sometimes even before we barely came into puberty. (reply to this comment) |
| | from GoldenMic
Tuesday, May 03, 2005 - 19:31
(Agree/Disagree?)
Another information resource, besides the well-written "Under the Banner of Heaven" is the organization "Tapestry" that provides help for the young girls that get free.
To be sure, the Mormon's have some pretty strange beliefs, and the more insider information you get, the stranger it is, but this phenomenon of "Mormon sects" is actually much worse; the inevitable splinter group that breaks off and follows a new "prophet"... analogous to how TF is a splinter from Christianity. These fundamentalist Mormon cults spring from a similar yearning to "return to the true faith" under the guidance of an "inspired" leader, isolated from any external controls, and where the leadership uses (twists) an established set of beliefs, practices, and scriptures to engage in unrestrained behavior and rampant sexual and physical abuse of their children. Where the larger church is (hopefully) somewhat subject to public scrutiny and internal checks-and-balances, the members of splinter groups accept the membership criteria of abandoning critical thinking for the sake of loyalty, and the children, especially, pay for it.
(reply to this comment)
| | | | From GoldenMic
Wednesday, May 04, 2005, 17:23
(Agree/Disagree?)
Yeah, you are right that your example of Lutherans is a better example of an analogy, though I think that "Protestant" refers to all of the Catholic splinter groups, and the Lutherans were just the first. In this case, however, the analogy I was looking at was not "splinter religion" as much as "splintering off into a bizarre cult". However, since the master wordsmith, Joe H., handed you the mantle, I will defer to your wisdom (just teasing)! (reply to this comment) |
| | | | | from Gothsmack
Tuesday, May 03, 2005 - 16:27
(Agree/Disagree?)
The mormons are completely bizzare. Check out this guide they printed to help young people stop masturbating. http://www.ldolphin.org/mormon.html
STEPS IN OVERCOMING MASTURBATION
Mark E. Petersen Council of the 12 Apostles
Be assured that you can be cured of your difficulty. Many have been, both male and female, and you can be also if you determine that it must be so.
This determination is the first step. That is where we begin. You must decide that you will end this practice, and when you make that decision, the problem will be greatly reduced at once.
But it must be more than a hope or a whish, more than knowing that it is good for you. It must be actually a DECISION. If you truly make up your mind that you will be cured, then you will have the strength to resist any tendencies which you may have and any temptations which may come to you.
After you have made this decision, then observe the following specific guidelines:
A Guide to Self-Control:
1. Never touch the intimate parts of your body except during normal toilet processes.
2. Avoid being alone as much as possible. Find good company and stay in this good company.
3. If you are associated with other persons having this same problem, YOU MUST BREAK OFF THEIR FRIENDSHIP. Never associate with other people having the same weakness. Don't suppose that two of you will quit together, you never will. You must get away from people of that kind. Just to be in their presence will keep your problem foremost in your mind. The problem must be taken OUT OF YOUR MIND for that is where it really exists. Your mind must be on other and more wholesome things.
4. When you bathe, do not admire yourself in a mirror. Never stay in the bath more than five or six minutes -- just long enough to bathe and dry and dress AND THEN GET OUT OF THE BATHROOM into a room where you will have some member of your family present.
5. When in bed, if that is where you have your problem for the most part, dress yourself for the night so securely that you cannot easily touch your vital parts, and so that it would be difficult and time consuming for you to remove those clothes. By the time you started to remove protective clothing you would have sufficiently controlled your thinking that the temptation would leave you.
6. If the temptation seems overpowering while you are in bed, GET OUT OF BED AND GO INTO THE KITCHEN AND FIX YOURSELF A SNACK, even if it is in the middle of the night, and even if you are not hungry, and despite your fears of gaining weight. The purpose behind this suggestion is that you GET YOUR MIND ON SOMETHING ELSE. You are the subject of your thoughts, so to speak.
7. Never read pornographic material. Never read about your problem. Keep it out of mind. Remember -- "First a thought, then an act." The thought pattern must be changed. You must not allow this problem to remain in your mid. When you accomplish that, you soon will be free of the act.
8. Put wholesome thoughts into your mind at all times. Read good books -- Church books -- Scriptures -- Sermons of the Brethern [sic, Cistern too?]. Make a daily habit of reading at least one chapter of Scripture, preferably from one of the four Gospels in the New Testament, or the Book of Mormon. The four Gospels -- Matthew, Mark, Luke and John -- above anything else in the Bible can be helpful because of their uplifting qualities.
9. Pray. But when you pray, don't pray about this problem, for that will tend to keep [it] in your mind more than ever. Pray for faith, pray for understanding of the Scriptures, pray for the Missionaries, the General Authorities, your friends, your families, BUT KEEP THE PROBLEM OUT OF YOUR MIND BY NOT MENTIONING IT EVER -- NOT IN CONVERSATION WITH OTHERS, NOT IN YOUR PRAYERS. KEEP IT _OUT_ of your mind!
The attitude of a person toward his problem has an affect [sic] on how easy it is to overcome. It is essential that a firm commitment be made to control the habit. As a person understands his reasons for the behavior, and is sensitive to the conditions or situations that may trigger a desire for the act, he develops the power to control it.
We are taught that our bodies are temples of God, and are to be clean so that the Holy Ghost may dwell within us. Masturbation is a sinful habit that robs one of the Spirit and creates guilt and emotional stress. It is not physically harmful unless practiced in the extreme. It is a habit that is totally self-centered, and secretive, and in no way expresses the proper use of the procreative power given to man to fulfill eternal purposes. It therefore separates a person from God and defeats the gospel plan.
This self-gratifying activity will cause one to lose his self-respect testimony becomes weak, and missionary work and other Church callings become burdensome, offerins.
To help in planning an effective program to overcome the problem a brieation is given of how the reproductive organs in a young man function.
The testes in your body are continually producing hundreds of millions of reproductive cells call _spermatozoa_. These are moved up a tube called the _vas deferens_ to a place called the _ampulla_ where they are mixed with fluids from two membranous pouches called _seminal vesicles_ and the _prostate gland_. The resultant fluid is calleeminal vesicles are full a signa to the _central nervous system_ indicating they are ready to benother, depending on such thingsexercise, state of health, etc. everal times a week, for others It is normal for the vesicles to be emptied occasionally at night durise the emptying come from the cetral nervous system. Often an erotic dream is experienced at the same time, and is a part of this normal process. nstead ourse, the reproductive system is operating at a more rapid pace, trying to keep up with the loss of semen. When he stops the habit, the body will continue to produce ahis increased rate, for an indefese are not harmful and are to be endured until the normal central nervous system pathway of rel During this period of control several things can be done to make the pr As one meets with his Priesthood Leader, a program for overcoming masturbation can be implemented using some of t Remember it is essential that a regur report program be agreed on, so progress can be recognized and failures understood and eliminated.
Suggestions:
1. Pray daily, ask for the gifts of the Spirit, that which will strengthen you against temptation. Pray fervently and out lout when the temptations are the strongest.
2. Follow a program of vigorous daily exercise. The exercises reduce emotional tension and depression and are absolutely basic to the solution of this problem. Double your physical activity when you feel stress increasing.
3. When the temptation to masturbate is strong, yell _STOP_ to those thoughts as loudly as you can in your mind and then recite a prechosen Scripture or sing an inspirational hymn. It is important to turn your thoughts away from the selfish need to indulge.
4. Set goals of abstinence, begin with a day, then a week, month, year and finally commit to never doing it again. Until you commit yourself to _never again_ you will always be open to temptation.
5. Change in behavior and attitude is most easily achieved through a changed self-image. Spend time every day imagining yourself strong and in control, easily overcoming tempting situations.
6. Begin to work daily on a self-improvement program. Relate this plan to improving your Church service, to improving your relationships with your family, God and others. Strive to enhance your strengths and talents.
7. Be outgoing and friendly. Force yourself to be with others and learn to enjoy working and talking to them. Use principles of developing friendships found in books such as _How to Win Friends and Influence People_ by Dale Carnegie.
8. Be aware of situations that depress you or that cause you to feel lonely, bored, frustrated or discouraged. These emotional states can trigger the desire to masturbate as a way of escape. Plan in advance to counter these low periods through various activities, such as reading a book, visiting a friend, doing something athletic, etc.
9. Make a pocket calendar for a month on a small card. Carry it with you, but show it to no one. If you have a lapse of self control, color the day black. Your goal will be to have _no black days_. The calendar becomes a strong visual reminder of self control and should be looked at when you are tempted to add another black day. Keep your calendar up until you have at least three clear months.
10. A careful study will indicate you have had the problem at certain times and under certain conditions. Try and recall, in detail, what your particular times and conditions were. Now that you understand how it happens, plan to break the pattern through counter activities.
11. In the field of psychotherapy there is a very effective technique called _aversion therapy_. When we associate or think of something very distasteful with something which has been pleasurable, but undesirable, the distasteful thought and feeling will begin to cancel out that which was pleasurable. If you associate something very distasteful with your loss of self-control it will help you to stop the act. For example, if you are tempted to masturbate, think of having to bathe in a tub of worms, and eat several of them as you do the act.
12. During your toileting and shower activities leave the bathroom door or shower curtain partly open, to discourage being alone in total privacy. Take cool brief showers.
13. Arise immediately in the mornings. Do not lie in bed awake, no matter what time of day it is. Get up and do something. Start each day with an enthusiastic activity.
14. Keep your bladder empty. Refrain from drinking large amounts of fluids before retiring.
15. Reduce the amount of spices and condiments in your food. Eat as lightly as possible at night.
16. Wear pajamas that are difficult to open, yet loose and not binding.
17. Avoid people, situations, pictures or reading materials that might create sexual excitement.
18. It is sometimes helpful to have a physical object to use in overcoming this problem. A Book of Mormon, firmly held in hand, even in bed at night has proven helpful in extreme cases.
19. In very severe cases it may be necessary to tie a hand to the bed frame with a tie in order that the habit of masturbating in a semi-sleep condition can be broken. This can also be accomplished by wearing several layers of clothing which would be difficult to remove while half asleep.
20. Set up a reward system for your successes. It does not have to be a big reward. A quarter in a receptacle each time you overcome or reach a goal. Spend it on something which delights you and will be a continuing reminder of your progress.
21. Do not let yourself return to any past habit or attitude patterns which were part of your problem. _Satan Never Gives Up_. Be calmly and confidently on guard. Keep a positive mental attitude. You can win this fight! The joy and strength you will feel when you do will give your whole life a radiant and spiritual glow of satisfaction and fulfillment.
(reply to this comment)
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | From Phoenixkidd
Wednesday, May 04, 2005, 16:38
(Agree/Disagree?)
Hey check out this new article,
Joseph A. Reaves
The Arizona Republic
Aug. 28, 2004 12:00 AM
Six young men filed suit Friday claiming they were among several hundred forced from their homes and cut off from their families so leaders of the nation's largest polygamous community could have easier access to multiple wives.
The suit, filed in Utah's 3rd District Court in Salt Lake City, accuses the two top leaders of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints of assault, extortion, making "terroristic threats" and encouraging or engaging in child kidnapping.
It is the second suit filed in four weeks against the hierarchy of the FLDS, which has its headquarters in the remote communities of Colorado City and Hildale, Utah, along the Arizona-Utah line.
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Warren Jeffs, self-proclaimed prophet of the FLDS, was accused in the earlier suit of repeatedly sodomizing his 5-year-old nephew years ago and covering up for serial sexual molestations by other sect leaders for decades. He denied those allegations.
The latest suit accuses Jeffs and one of his closest aides, Sam Barlow, of conspiring to ruin the lives of several hundred young men by forcing them out of Colorado City and Hildale.
"The church and its leadership have established the secret, cruel and unlawful practice of systematic excommunication of adolescent and young adult males for trivial reasons or no reason at all, in order to reduce competition for wives," the suit alleged.
The young men "have been cut off from family, friends, benefits, business and employment relationships and purportedly condemned to eternal damnation," the suit continued.
The suit seeks a jury trial and asks that all assets of a charitable trust run by the FLDS be seized.
Rod Parker, a Salt Lake attorney who represents the FLDS, could not be reached for comment Friday night.
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| | | | | | | | from lucidchick
Tuesday, May 03, 2005 - 14:39
(Agree/Disagree?)
"Pretty much my life would end. I would physically be alive, but inside I'd be dead." I felt the same when I ran away as a teenager.
Have you read "Under the Banner of Heaven"? It's a fantastic book that touches on fundamental LDS sects.
(reply to this comment)
| from Phoenixkidd
Tuesday, May 03, 2005 - 12:53
(Agree/Disagree?)
God, I hate this Mormon cult, it makes me so so mad!! They live on the border between Arizona and Utah. The whole town is run by this ultra-religious leader, everyone down to the State Trooper, and the Sherriff and the school teachers all belong to this sect. They have their own school and use the alloted funds the state gives them to buy their own goodies such as a private helicopter and SUV's. The worst thing of all is they just breed so many kids and don't take care of them. All the boys are kicked out of their homes by age 17 and have to find work in other parts of Arizona and Utah. There is even a goverment agent who helps them find homes to live. The girls get married off to these old geezers by the time they are 16 into polygamous marriages and just produce more kids, absolutely horrendous! The local government in Arizona is trying to stop this but also realize they will upset the whole economy of this northern arizona area if they decide to do so, so they have been very wishy washy about the whole thing.
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