Saturday, April 26, 2008

How About Those Pastel Dresses?

Since the entire Texas debacle began, I’ve been reading up on the FLDS. Just Google “FLDS” and begin reading. Also, on Youtube, just type in “FLDS”. You can hear Warren Jeffs teach about polygamy and how to “keep sweet”. Creepy beyond words – he speaks very softly, almost monotone. Below is some of what I have learned. When I first saw the pictures from YFZ ranch, I thought that it looked like an idyllic existence – living off the land, being self sustaining, nature all around you, natural foods……what I found out made me change my thinking 360 degrees. I now think that living on that ranch must be like living in a suburb of hell. Here is some of what I learned from my internet searches.

Those pastel Prairie dresses are hiding long Mormon underwear. The underwear is sacred - like sacred garments - and they can't let ANY of it EVER show - it goes from wrist to ankle under those dresses. The color of the dresses - each man in the compound has a color. The women who are his wives wear his color, so if you see two or more women with the same color on, they are "sister-wives" and married to the same man. Women can be re-assigned to a different man at any time and either take their children with them - or not, depending on the ruling of the prophet. Children are communal. Since all the "sister-wives" live in the same big house, the children all live together too. Some of the confusion about "who is your mother?" at the compound at YFZ was because the children look at all the women they live with as their mothers.

Once a boy hits the teen years, his days are numbered. The women and the men have up to a 6th grade education at best. The boys are then taken out of school and sent to work on projects that take stength and endurance. If you see the land before YFZ ranch was there - and what they did in 4 years time - it's amazing.

The boys work on these projects until their hormones dictate that they have become a problem. At this point, often trumped up complaints against them are brought. Things like getting too friendly with a girl, not being obedient enough to the "prophet", etc. They are then eventually kicked out of the compound. It's not completely clear where they go. I've read stories where the "lost boys" as they are called, end up on drugs, dead, etc. because they have no life skills at all - and they are literally just thrown out.

That's why there were so few teenage boys in the equation amongst the 437 children taken from the ranch. It has been said that with that number of children, the demographics should show a much greater number of teenaged boys.

Now for the really weird stuff. The cult believes that they are a select priesthood. They can only aspire to this priesthood if they participate in plural marriage - this means that a man must have at LEAST 3 wives. Women have no identity except through a man. Their salvation - in the sense of being part of this priesthood community in the eternal future - is totally tied up in the man they are assigned to. No man = no salvation. If you leave the compound, you are taught that you will go to hell. Everyone outside the FLDS are evil, according to them, and will be destroyed in the coming catastrophe that is expected.

I think one of the reasons these compounds are built far from populated areas is because they think there will be a great conflagration and they will be the only ones left to build and populate the new civilization. Of course, the more obvious reasons for building in the boonies is to keep society away and to be able to live the weird way they do and fly under the radar.

One of the phrases both boys and girls are taught from day one is to "keep sweet". That means to obey, obey, obey the "prophet". If you rebel at ALL in any way by not doing what you are told, your salvation is in danger - and you could be punished by being excommunicated and forced to leave.

In Colorado City/Hilldale (2 polygamous FLDS towns on the border of Arizona and Utah), the police are part of the group - and enforce the group's laws. Women who try to leave are brought back to their husbands by the police there. The land in both towns is owned by the FLDS. All businesses are owned by the FLDS. No man or family owns anything. If he owns a business, all proceeds go to the FLDS. If he builds a house on FLDS land, it belongs to the organization. If he doesn't toe the line, he can be kicked out of his house and lose all his belongings, because they do NOT belong to him. The money the church has is in a fund called the UEP Trust, controlled by the "prophet".

So, in essence, the men and women are slaves, the women being brood mares. They are all held in this communal existence by their beliefs which are based in fear. It is all works based - if you don't do such and so, you go to hell.

Sounds like hell on earth to me. The fact that these places exist is fascinating to me in a morbid, macabre kind of way.

The mainline Mormon church wants nothing to do with these offshoots – bad PR. I think Mormons are almost as bad, just on a lower, less threatening way. They too believe in sacred underwear, they will be gods in eternity with their wife/wives populating planets for them (oh the fun of having babies for eternity – obviously a woman did NOT have any input in the making up of this religion). They believe Jesus Christ and Satan were brothers. Oh – and the FLDS? They believe God has many wives and makes spirit babies all the time. Those spirit babies come to earth through the lovely procreation efforts of the brood mares of the FLDS “church”. Here is a cartoon video that shows what the Mormons believe. I wanted to find the Southpark version of what the Mormons believe, but it doesn’t appear to be on Youtube anymore.


Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Injustice

I don't usually comment about unpleasant things on this blog, but I cannot help it. The whole FLDS debacle has me quite upset.

I should be used to injustice in this world by now, but no matter how blase I may become, it is never enough. I've been reading the well thought out posts from The Common Room regarding the raid on the FLDS compound in Texas since it began on April 3rd. If there is one thing for certain, it is that US parents, perhaps in the back of their consciousness, are always aware of the power of the State, a la "1984" power. It is documented that one false move, one bruise out of place, one innocent comment to a teacher or other government figure that is misconstrued can bring the whole lumbering, squint-eyed, bumbling and inept "system" down on parents in two seconds flat. And from that point on, life is never the same. You are guilty until proven innocent, your children are seized and you are a criminal until proven otherwise. Meantime, the giant bottomless pit of Child Protective Services in any given area suck up the child and spit him or her out in any number of perilous places. If the government makes a mistake? Tough luck. Maybe, after two or more years of grinding through the system, they finally decide the parent didn't actually do anything wrong. By that time, the child is forever changed, perhaps even raped or dead from his time in the "system", and the lives of the family are forever damaged. Don't believe these statistics? Read this blog entry complete with back-up links to corroborate data.

I'm hoping, but not sure, that sometimes this system does actually save children from abuse, does actually give them a chance at a better life. Perhaps it does and I've only read about the mistakes, which leads me to the latest mistake. The seizure of women and children at the FLDS ranch in Texas.

If, indeed, it is believed that men have abused young girls there, then perhaps it is THEM that should have been seized? However, right from the beginning, this is a thinly veiled attempt to get rid of a religious compound that makes the locals uncomfortable. It is religious persecution and not "for the children" after all.

The whole invasion was launched from a now proven hoax phone call. The woman who made the fake phone call, claiming to be a young abused FLDS girl who was afraid of her 50 year old husband, has been arrested. She has done this before. So - what do we have? The original complaint was false, so perhaps the government should just apologize and send everyone back home. But if there is another thing I am sure of, once the giant, creaky wheels of government roll forward, they all but cannot be stopped. They WILL continue on, way behind the rush of facts to the contrary, to prosecute "justice" and roll over those poor souls who have been targeted.

As of today, there are upwards of 430 children and untold numbers of agonized mothers whose lives have been marred forever. The damage done to date cannot be undone and will only be compounded as the juggernaut of state rolls relentlessly on.

We are supposed to have religious freedom in this country, but it is tenuous at best. Do not, under any circumstances, bring the Great Eye of government to bear upon you, keep your head under the radar, or you too could be targeted for correction. Unless, of course, you are Muslim. Then, it is not only alright to do whatever it takes to practice your religion, including polygamy, child abuse and honor killings, it is the government's self-appointed job to bend over backward to make the Muslim comfortable as he does so. I am very afraid for homeschoolers, afraid that they may be next. Hopefully, because there are so many, it will be too much for the State to bite off. I am so glad that I have already raised my daughter, and at present, she does not have any children. This is not a good time for children in the US.

If you want lots of intelligent coverage of this event from it's inception, go to The Common Room. In addition, here is a link for photos and videos of the FLDS debacle. Also, here is an editorial from the Houston Chronicle that also agrees the wrong people are being punished.

I do want to make the disclaimer that I do not support polygamy, however, I DO support freedom of religion and due process of law. If there is abuse, then the logical thing to do is to arrest the perpetrator, no matter what religion he may be, and proceed legally, treating him as innocent until proven guilty. Once the alleged abuser is removed from the area of the abused, the abused should be able to continue their life unhindered and unpunished any further.

If you want to start or join a cult that has isolated itself in a self-contained community, then that is your right. If the law is broken there, then legal procedure should be followed, as it would be anywhere else. This has not been done at the FLDS compound. Not at all.

Monday, April 21, 2008

Maybe Something New

For many years my husband and I have wanted to move away from where we live. It's too crowded, too much concrete and city people. We've talked and talked about where we would live. I have come to love Florida and would love to live in North Florida or Georgia - somewhere more rural, but with soft seasons. My husband, on the other hand, has always known where he wants to go - the Northwest.

He is going on a job interview in a few weeks for a job out west - Eastern Oregon, to be more exact - and the thought thrills me and frightens me at the same time. One thing is for sure - how we would sell our present home is a mystery, since the housing market is so severely depressed. I know that our future is in God's hands. I also imagine trying to tell my elderly parents that we won't be 2 hours away any more. That, if it occurs, will be very hard to do.

Part of me is so ready for a change. And part of me is terrified of change. One day at a time - my husband may not even get the job, or, if they do offer it to him, they may offer a poor salary - only time will tell now.

Sunday, April 6, 2008

Cool Bug Photos

I finally got around to going through some hoverfly photos I took over a week ago. The camera card was in my computer, but I just kept ignoring it.

This bright green-eyed hover fly was.....hovering.....in my back yard - he was staring at me and I was photographing him. He was beautiful as you will see:






I also discovered a small, neat looking bunch of yellow "stuff" on my car's window - some bug laid some eggs:

I think it might be a spider egg sac. We'll see....

Thursday, April 3, 2008

Just A Woman Going Through Menopause - Move On, Move On, No Gawking....

I've been feeling totally uninspired and depressed. I hesitate to post when I feel like that since I have nothing good to say. Why spread the gloom?

Maybe it's menopause. Maybe it's this lousy planet we're stuck on that hasn't been "fixed" by the Lord yet.

Maybe it's Thursday.

Hope to have some better blogposts and even some photos of a non-depressing subject soon....