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FLDS Story in High Country News


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@Howl gotta give the Mormons props for bravery ahahahahah. Yeah I'd imagine after being so closed off for so long that there are going to be a lot of differences spiritually and culturally. Probably the closest thing to what they believe, though. 

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I thought mainstream LDS were considered worse than other types of heathens? Something about being close and choosing the wrong path instead of having just needing to be informed of Joseph Smith? I wonder if, for a majority, it's easier to go LDS or totally different.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Dad and I took the detour through Short Creek on our way to St. George once in like 1995. God Squad started following us when we didn't stop for gas. A minivan with dark tinted windows and radio antennas followed us all the way out of town. We saw no women at all. There were a few men and boys up on a balcony, but that was it. Super creepy. 

As I understand it, the reason for not ever finishing the houses is because you don't have to pay taxes until they're done.

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  • 1 year later...
On 5/9/2017 at 8:31 AM, zee_four said:

Isn't it?? I grew up in a ski town and have been really into boating (rafting and kayaking for non westerners). The two big guide companies in town are mostly employed by ski patrol from the 2 big mountains here. Every April they run ruby canyon to Westwater in a day to train their newbies. We do a 10 day fruits to Westwater float every year with a couple days of camping in ruby. 

@zee_four, I don't know if you're still reading and posting on fj, but a fb friend just posted a picture of a family of river otters checking them out as they floated by on the Westwater section. 

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  • 3 months later...

Many years ago (25?30?) I lives in Salt lake with a friend post high school. I always loved the desert, so I took myself on trips to Southern Utah. There were many, many small towns with Mormon storehouses in a central square, one restaurant that served only postem or whatever the awful non caffeine coffee mix was, it was like the Twilight Zone. 

 

Everyone immediately knew I was “not from around there”. As I was young and a woman I got questions about being from different families. Nope, my family is all thousands of miles away, just passing thru. Alone. 

 

I came upon upon some lovely cemeteries, including the Rockville cemetery which made me sing REM for miles. 

Capitol Reef is the most amazing place on earth, but I’m glad more people do not know that.

Utah is really freaking weird and probably more people should know that.

 

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Utah is starkly beautiful. I'm an Arizona native, now in Virginia. I wish I had a chance to see Salt Lake City before ending up on the other side of the country. I understand, there are areas where the Mormon church does have a strong influence, especially in small towns. Good luck finding a non-Mormon house of worship in those towns. 

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I went to a boarding school in southern Utah. The church does have a lot of influence there. I will give the school credit though, no one tried to convert anyone. The staff would answer questions, but they never pushed. Zion National Park is fucking gorgeous though. Well worth the visit.

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11 hours ago, Pecansforeveryone said:

Good luck finding a non-Mormon house of worship in those towns. 

Also good luck finding a cup of coffee and don’t even think about a glass of beer or a cocktail !! I agree though, Utah is beautiful and I did meet some nice people.

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  • 6 months later...

Thought I'd add this on here, since it's another update article for Hildale/Colorado City, collectively known as Short Creek. 

This article also discusses the Centennial Park group, an FLDS split off that still practices polygamy, but all women involved make that choice, and only women age 18 or older are allowed to enter into plural marriage.  The article does note that the 18 year-old-age limit would be hard to confirm.

I though I knew most of what Warren Jeffs had done, but didn't realize that it was Warren Jeff's policy that boys/young men be "left by the side of the road" and girls of 12 were to be married off (assuming that this author has done her research. 

Prison is definitely the right place for Jeffs and he's not eligible for parole until 2018.  Longish article. 

The Forest Hidden Behind the Canyons

In the valley that spans the Utah-Arizona border, twin cities, born of the Latter-day Saints church’s foundations, are rebuilding themselves after years of abuse, corruption, and manipulation—while holding firm to core beliefs. Their progress tells us a lot about community, and the state of plural marriage, in modern America.

Edited by Howl
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On 6/29/2019 at 3:17 PM, Howl said:

Prison is definitely the right place for Jeffs and he's not eligible for parole until 2018.  Longish article. 

correction 2038

Yes, it is a long article but really good. I didn't know anything about Centennial Park group. I still think when you mix religion, salvation and marriage the choice really isn't the girl's choice, even at 18. They don't know anything else and think they will be damned if they don't enter into polygamy (unlike polyamorous where it isn't tied to religion/salvation. for the record, i don't believe that long term polyamorous relationships will work either, people get jealous.) 

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By "the woman's choice" they mean they get to pick who they marry, not that they get to choose polygamy. There was a special about the Centennial Park people a few years ago. 

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On 12/18/2018 at 7:05 PM, DaisyD said:

I went to a boarding school in southern Utah. The church does have a lot of influence there. I will give the school credit though, no one tried to convert anyone. The staff would answer questions, but they never pushed. Zion National Park is fucking gorgeous though. Well worth the visit.

I grew up in Utah. Conversation was a high priority. Lots of social pressure. In elementary school, I was told I was evil. I was told I was an atheist even though I attend a Christian church. I did not convert. I was an outcast because I was not a Mormon. I learned so much. It's not something a child in third grade should have to learn....

 

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On 12/18/2018 at 7:05 PM, DaisyD said:

I went to a boarding school in southern Utah. The church does have a lot of influence there. I will give the school credit though, no one tried to convert anyone. The staff would answer questions, but they never pushed. Zion National Park is fucking gorgeous though. Well worth the visit.

Lucky you, I went to a boarding school in a small Mormon town in Arizona that had an all-Mormon staff and that was definitely not the case there! It was... educational, to say the least. (None of the religious stuff was disclosed to our parents before enrollment, either.)

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