I was wondering about that. I am just finishing Elissa Wal's book, "Stolen Innocence" and I have again been struck by how much evil can be done in the name of religion. That's the part that is most difficult to address. Trying to get people to understand how they are being manipulated to satisfy the wordly urges of men is rendered almost impossible by the very irrational reality of all religion. How can you establish that their irrational belief is worse or more damaging than someone else's when it shares a foundation of faith alone.
Elissa sets out how Warren was able to bamboozle the FLDS members and become the Prophet, a very controlling and paranoid Prophet who imposed ever stricter rules . He began by pretending to be speaking for his ailing father, the Prophet who was actually never supposed to die. He was supposed to be "renewed" and begin to exist as a young man again. His wives were actually knitting baby clothes in anticipation of this elderly man becoming young and virile again. When he naturally died, Warren led them to believe he was still speaking for his father and that his father was actually renewed just not physically but spiritually and Warren was his mouthpiece. He appropriated many of his fathers wives for himself and doled the remainder out to those loyal to him. He had a wife give her testimony about how Warren had been chosen by the Prophet. Everyone believed what they were told despite it making no sense and was in contradiction to what they had been taught to believe up to that time. Just like the end times were coming in 2000 and then when the SLC had the winter Olympics and Warrens explanation was that God was being benevolent and was allowing them more time to repent. He was able to expell any men who he felt might question or challenge him and whoever he named was immdeiately ostracized regardless of thie previous position and lack of any evidence of wrongdoing.
Reading this book I was angry at Elissa's mother and her inability to protect her daughters and sons. Yes, she "believed" that she had to follow her priesthood head to get to heaven etc and that priesthood heads were to be obeyed as God but as a parent you also have a different and higher calling. Elissa and many of her siblings were able to think their way out. It is possible. It's so frustrating.
Ultimately the system they have in place is likely to always end in corruption. Giving men, as in humans, control over your life and your children to this extent means that this power is extrememly attractive for someone to get. Money, women, property, all are controlled by the head, the Prophet whose very thoughts are the same as God's. I find elections in this country hard enough to take but how much worse it would be to be trying to become and convince people you are, the Prophet.
Whatever happens with this cult and whoever becomes the Prophet the end result will unfortunately likely be the same.
Not necessarily. Hopefully, without the threats of Jeffs, the people of the FDLS can begin to assimilate more into society, or alternatively, make some changes to their own society that allow all members to live peacefully.
Jeffs isn't so much a religious leader as a megalomaniacal cult leader. Behavioral profiling shows that men like Jeffs have much in common with the David Koresh, Jeff Lundgren, and Jim Jones' of the world, but little in common with the average religious leader.
The reasons that such large numbers of people in the world belong to some religious tradition or another, be it Judaism, Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, Paganism, etc., are varied for sure, but it is absolutely not because they are all stupid, or manipulated, or irrational. I guess because I grew up well after the Holocaust and the Civil Rights era, and Apartheid, it's really hard for me to wrap my head around the fact that people sometimes still want to make blanket judgements about other groups of people just because they are different or because they don't understand them....when I hear statements that classify all people of a certain race, religion, gender, etc. in a specific negative light, it just makes me cringe.
So, I don't want to do that to the people of the FDLS either. I have to believe that they are largely good and decent people, and that without Jeffs, they will be able to build something better.
