What Are You Saying, Carolyn?
By Maggie Jessop
About Carolyn Jessop and her dark and imaginative concoction ESCAPE, it would be an understatement for me to say that Carolyns words and actions for the past five years have been shocking and horrifying. You see, I have known her personally for many years, and I would have thought she was a more honorable person than to stoop to such selfish and childish measures as exaggeration and lying to promote her own hateful agenda and purposely hurt innocent people. What is even more interesting than knowing Carolyn (at least what I thought I knew of her) is the fact that I personally know her husband. You see, her husband is my Father, Merril Jessop.
My name is Maggie Jessop. I have known my Father for forty-four years. I am his third child, second daughter, and I think I have lived around my Father long enough to know him. I am well aware of his habits, actions, personality, traditions, beliefs, and intentions; and I know his character. There is something about character that just doesnt lie. Reputation is what people may think about a person, whether correct or incorrect; but character is what is known about a person. I have known my Father for a long time, and it is amazing to see how a disenchanted wife can paint such an evil picture of a man who is good and kind, honorable and faithful, and actually get so many people to believe something that is the opposite of truth. Are you one of those unsuspecting people, saturated with misdirected sympathy, soaking up the whimsical and fanciful script of a fairytale? Do you remember the tale of The Little Mermaid? Remember when Ursula posed as a beautiful woman with a soft voice? Though she appeared innocent and beautiful, she was still the wicked witch. Have you been hornswoggled and bushwhacked by the emotional tales of a fantasizing female?
I was married the same day as Carolyn, May 17, 1986. I witnessed her wedding ceremony. She witnessed mine. I did not see her make any resistance to the step she was taking. I felt no resistance to the step I was taking. She was over eighteen years old and able to make her own choices. I was twenty-two years old and able to make my own choices. Both of us had the same opportunity. Both of us accepted the guidance of our parents and our religious leader in getting married. Carolyn was a plural wife. I was a plural wife. During the next fifteen years, Carolyn had eight children. I had eight children. Carolyn had four high-risk pregnancies. I had five. Carolyn was always free to leave. I have always been free to leave. Did Carolyn escape? No, she ran. If I wanted to leave, would I have to escape? No, I would just simply walk out the door. Of course, if I did, my children would fight me tooth and nail, just as Carolyns did. Did anyone pursue Carolyn? No. If I were to leave, would anyone pursue me? No, but they would help me pack my bags. Why did Carolyn leave? She wanted to. Why dont I leave? I dont want to.
Plurality is not for everyone. I may not choose your way of life for myself, but I will respect your choice without criticism. You may not agree with my lifestyle, but of course you will allow me the freedom to exercise my free agency the same as you. Think about this. What if I were to go on a big campaign all over the United States and say a lot of things and make a horrendous stir, maybe even write a book about all the evils and corruption in the world today? I know there is much evil in the world, so I make it my crusade to save everybody from themselves and protect the women and children from those evils. How do you think that would go over? Okay, so Carolyn goes on a campaign to expose the evils that she has decided are present in the FLDS lifestyle. She was miserable, so every other woman must be miserable, right? Wrong. Does she have the right to represent us? Does she have the right to claim we are abused when we claim we are not? Carolyn says it took her a year after her escape to be able to think of herself as a person, not an object. Thats interesting. I do not feel like an object. I am a person, and I feel good about myself and all others. Im telling you, it is all in the perspective.
The women in our society are all controlled by the men, you say? Hardly. I know hundreds of fine men, young and old, honest men who treat me with kindness and respect, and they look out for my best interest, just as I do theirs. The media image of tyrannical FLDS men who lord it over the women, forcing them to obey, is not part of my religion. The women just dont dare speak up, you say? Well, what am I doing right now? Am I just an exception? No, I am not an exception. I have hundreds of friends. I know hundreds of very bright, intelligent, well-balanced, beautiful, happy, spunky women. You have to have a deep love for truth to live the way we do. You have to be willing to continually humble yourself before the Lord, and truly desire for Him to bring about the experiences you need in your life to see yourself and improve step by step. You have to have a lot of backbone; yes, even the nerves of steel to endure the mockery of the world.
Carolyn claims she has had a horrible life. Have I had a horrible life? No, but if I had, it would be my own fault. Have I had hard times? Yes. Have I had humbling experiences? Tons. Have I known hardship and want? Of course I have. Jesus was treated very badly. Did He run out and tell everyone? Did He write a book about all those mean and wicked people who mocked Him and even killed Him? Did He start up a campaign of talk shows and media exploitation so He could make a million dollars to pay for the abuses He had endured? There has been a book written. It is called the Holy Bible, and therein, He gives the recipe for success: forgive, forgive, forgive, and then do it some more.
The Jessop family discussed in Carolyns book I have known all of my life, even longer than Carolyn has, in fact, nearly three times longer. Ill tell you how it is. Imagine taking your family and writing a book about them, discussing each person in detail. If you ignore every good thing each person has ever done, and you take each weakness each person has, and then times it by one hundred, and then present it as truth, you would have for yourself a book of lies. When we leave out the good and focus on telling the bad that we think or imagine about a person, even if it were partly true, we only tell on ourselves. The best way to find out the truth about a person is to ask their children. Who knows better than ones own offspring? I have just told you the truth about my Father. Has anyone asked Betty Jane what she knows about her mother, Carolyn?
There is a fundamental truth that every person in the world should understand and protect. EVERY PERSON ON EARTH HAS THE RIGHT TO HIS OR HER OWN POINT OF VIEW. I am so thankful for mine. I would like to keep it safe. I am thankful for America, the Land of the Free, where I can expect to exercise my choice of religion, my perspective, my point of view without misrepresentation and persecution, without slander and abuse. Dont make the mistake of assuming that all the sensational tales you hear about the FLDS are true because I can tell you firsthand that they are not. Dont make the mistake of assuming that all of the women and children are suffering abuse and are powerless to act for themselves. I do not need anyone to save me besides the Lord. My eight children would tell you the same, times ten.
It never ceases to intrigue and amaze me how so many thinking adults, even educated people in the world, even those claiming to be fair and unbiased, can actually be so wise as to be able to form an opinion about something they know nothing about. Listen to the FLDS people. Read about the principles we stand for. Do not make the mistake of trying to fix something that is not broken. Remember, By their fruits, you shall know them. Dont look at the misrepresentations given out by the media and former FLDS. Thats like taking Neros testimony to condemn the Christians. Thats like expecting Hitler to be fair with the Jews. That is like condemning the innocent to protect the guilty.
http://www.truthwillprevail.org/index.php?parentid=1&index=122