I enjoyed the story. I would however liked to have heard more detail, if you have been following this story for over a year.
For instance, the fact foneta was sent away from YFZ ranch many months before she died. No one knew where she was sent. And Fred Jessop was at YFZ ranch for awhile but also was sent away, and died alone. You picture these people as being in harmony, but then that's what they showed you,so its not entirely your fault.

You forgot to mention that Bob Barlow who gave the tour of the YFZ gave his daughter Merilyn as an underage bride not once, but twice. She was first married to LeRoy Jeffs, brother to Warren, but when Warren exed LeRoy, Merilyn was reassigned to Allan Eugene Keate, a move which allows Allan to be a guest of the State of Texas for the next 33 years.

Couple of corrections.

Those arent "Office Staff" serving the FLDS side of the table. They are FLDS women serving FLDS men and their attorneys, in an in-your-face display to the AG.

The men are Merril Jessop (center -suit) Warrens brother Bishop Lyle Jeffs, (to his left in the white shirt), and then their Attorney Ken Okazaki, to Merril’s right is FLDS member Wendell Nielson.

I don’t know who the white haired gentleman is. The guy with his back to us in the front of the picture is Attorney Jim Bradshaw.

Noticeably absent would be Spokesman Willie Jessop, who really just parrots to the press what these three men in the center tell him.

What people should ask, if there are child brides in the FLDS, exactly HOW many are there, HOW many lost boys, How many reassigned men.

You may find the numbers in the hundreds for each. Those abuses and exploitations are systemic.

Once again the journalists got twitter patted that the isolated members of the FLDS "trusted them" that they didn't want to betray their trust. THIS GOT IN THE WAY OF GOOD JOURALISM!!!

You've only featured the ideal home and community experiences. Not the poor run down trailers of the families the leaders have exploited. No meantion of the 2 million dollars owed in property taxes while members expect tax payers to pay for their public defenders when they have impregnated 9 girls under the age of 15.

Where are the photos of the deformed children from inbreeding and the ones with IQ's fewer than 20. What about the children raped and sodomized by leaders, grandfathers, fathers, uncles and brothers. What about the sad faces of over 1500 boys thrown out without their parents ever facing abandonment charges or child welfare investigations And the girls forced into marriage in terror while being told this is what GOD wants, with no help in sight while everyone around them celebrates.

What about the children they adopt and then marry to their adoptive fathers. The daughters forced to marry their stepfathers and share the same man with their mothers. The women and children dying without medical care. This is the polygamy I knew and experienced without the rose colored glasses they require you to wear.

I wish they would do some hard research into the cost of polygamy to the taxing citizen. It would paint a very different picture than building a home start to finish in one day for a family and having 500 people show up to every single funeral.

Years of research by the Southern Poverty Law Center has identified the FLDS are a hate group with white supremacy ideologies.

Most of all they should have told what was discovered during the Texas Raid. Ask members what the bed (in the Temple) with an observation and praying platform, and rails to bind someone, was used for? What about the detials on how the child welfare case was mishandled when they sent children back! They returned some children to a community without ever determining who their biological parents were! They returned them to parents who do not have "protect parenting capacities." Parents who handed over a 12 year old girl to Warren Jeffs. This is a pedophile sex ring....polygamy is the smoke screen!

They never mention how the FLDS elders continually tamper with witnesses, intimidate and harass them into no longer testifying.

A man with 5 wives and 46 children is nothing more than a sperm donor. By definition he is not a husband, father, or grandfather. Joe Jessop has spread the recessive gene of fumarase deficiency ....to 239 offspring!

Oprah Winphrey and National Geograpghic need to cover the full story backed up by a wealth of research, or reframe from covering this topic at all.

As a photographer I appreciate the honesty of the work of Stephanie Sinclair. As a resident of Utah I am aware that this photograph is not an anomaly. Women in the FLDS group are second class citizens. The State of Utah is a partner in that arrangement and is a partner in the practice of young/under age girls becoming property and wives.

I read "Escape" by Carolyn Jessup and it really made me mad. Not only is this a society not allowing basic human rights, but they are living off of taxpayers' money by applying for welfare. This isn't just an interesting, isolated community. The story Carolyn tells sounds like science fiction, how the cult operates. It's an important book and I wish the Nat.Geo. article excerpted from it.

Stephanie has done some great intimate work with the FLDS. I am from Utah and my whole life I have been curious about Mormons (LDS) and the FLDS. LDS and FLDS roots are deep throughout the Inter-Mountain states, Mexico and Canada, their history is a rich part of the American West.
Not to draw any attention away from Nat Geo, but some more of Stephanie's in-depth Polygamist photographs can be found at the New Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/27/magazine/27mormon-t.html

According to the 2000 US Census, there were a grand total of 3767 residents under the age of 24 in both Colorado City AZ and Hildale Utah. The m/f ratio was 50/49 in Co City and 49/52 in Hilldale Utah. That means there were approx. 1800 males under the age of 24 as of 2000.
The claim of "over 1500 boys" kicked out of short creek over the past decade is a factual impossibility unless there are virtually NO males under the age of 34 currently in the FLDS.
If this assertion is false, how many others are likewise not true?

What is unique about this sect as opposed to other reputed "cults" is that the entire rank and file are equally vilified along with the leadership. While there are bad apples in every bunch, most FLDS people are decent folks who love their families.

Thanks NatGeo for humanizing these people who are so often treated like criminals for no other reason than their religious beliefs.

This was a really interesting article, and it caused me to do some further investigation (which is a good thing).

I'm a practicing member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (LDS) living in Utah, so of course, I'm aware of the FLDS. I thought this article did a pretty good job of trying to be objective, and to my pleasant surprise I learned some new things about them.

I don't want to defend the FLDS for the unlawful acts they commit, but I have to admit, that America's aparent outrage over the practice of polygamy seems ironic, and hypocritical in some ways.

For example, America is a mostly Christian, bible-based culture, and the Bible records that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob all had plural wives. Yet polygamists have achived circus-freak status in America, both now, and even more so in the past.

On the other hand, men like KISS front-man Gene Simmons or Wilt Chamberlain who engage in un-committed, casual sex with hundreds of women are heroes.

Does that seem fair? I'm not making a pro-polygamy argument; I just think there's an unfair bias against polygamists that's been around in America for a long time.

I would like to say that your writer failed to mention any perspective from the LDS Church. He uses the statements from the FLDS spokesperson when referring to the LDS Church. This is akin to asking a perpetrator his opinion of the victim in open court and never asking the vitim her side. It is disappointing to see N.G. let poor journalism practices happen like that. Many of the facts he stated have been brought up by other media outlets when the Texas ranch event happened. I would hope that a year within the group would have yielded more information than what this article did.

Why is it considered good not to be judgmental of something that is so 1)illegal and 2) obviously wrong as the arranged "marriage" of an under aged girl? Why didn't Stephanie Sinclair judge these people the way she has judged those in other parts of the world?

The absence of any real discussion of the numerous legal cases against these people is a glaring hole in this article. Shame on the National Geographic. Shame on the author.

And shame on Stephanie Sinclair who has shown the plight of under aged brides in Afghanistan and elsewhere but manages to make these girls seem so wholesome and all American! Is it less offensive if they are blond and clean rather than living in a dirt floor home and wearing foreign clothing? Would it be too disturbing if we all realized that people in America behave as barbarically as those in far distant lands? Is it less offensive because they are not Muslim? Maybe it's because the photographer was not invited to the secret marriages that she did not get to photograph the sad looking bride beside her gray haired groom as in Afghanistan!

i really wish the flds would own up to their practices and stand up and say "yes we marry underage girls" everyone knows they do, the proof is there, but the flds aren't man enough to own up to what they are doing.

Humanizing the FLDS is like humanizing the Taliban.

You dont think the Taliban smile once in a while?

This just strikes me as being about as good for women as female circumcision. That practice is often inflicted by women on girls. Hmm. I think there's a lot more looking to do here.

Perhaps Stephanie Sinclair didnt' get any photos of "sad looking" brides living in a "dirt floor" home because there aren't any to be found in the FLDS. Granted, some girls were married below the "legal" age of consent but the only shots of "sad looking" brides have been fictional re-creations of what the anti-flds imagine what goes in in FLDS households. An episode of John Quinones's "What would you do" comes to mind.

The FLDS are not deploying suicide bombers or guerilla fighters in an effort to forcibly convert the United States to their religion.

The article lowered National Geographic's credibility. No mention was made of the thousands of Morman polygamous sects in Mexico, where LDS leaders took their plural families in 1990 and continue to do so today. Nor of the impact on native culture and the thousands of Mexican female children taken as plural wives by immigrant Mormons, and the abuse they were subjected to under the guise of God. No mention of how so many non-mormom Mexican men copy the polygamists, religious or not, because it appeals to their Machismo. No mention was made of the ABU's or FLDS' roles in the cocaine wars of Juarez, or of how they just distribute cocaine (which isn't unGodly, just using it is).

In the past, when I read accounts about Afghanistan or Islam, I thought, that's just like the Mormons and Apostolic religion where women are subjugated, children are abused and men are doted on. It was frightening for me to see how eerily similar the religions are set up to exploit women and children. The God's name is different, but the roles by sex or age are the same. Like divergence in morphology,only it's behavioural. It was reassuring to see we are not alone, but really horrifying to see how humans exploit religion anywhere.

My own mother fled from Mexico 30 years ago to get away from the Morman man who began having sex with her as a child. She met him at nine years old. She is as blind as the women photographed in your article. She believed what she was taught to. But when a 34 year old man impregnants a child at 15, that's wrong and any trauma will be dealt with by the victim as best possible to survive. You know, like Stockholm's syndrome.

As immigrants here, my older siblings faced the double whammy of no longer having their father or their other family, while facing assimilation. Added to this was the incredible amount of discrimination towards them on account of their race, language and conservative lifestye. There are hundreds of stories like this.

What about other forms of polygamy? Men who travel and have multiple wives and families who don't know about each other? Or non-religous polygamists? It must be a common enough occurence for I've lived next to two different non-religous polygamists in two different towns (Vancouver, WA and Beaverton,OR) for it to be simply a coincidence.

Maybe humans just aren't supposed to be monogamous.

Whatever your views, adults certainly shouldn't be having sex with teenagers.

You ask your readers to see FLDS as normally as they see themselves. Why not ask us to see murderers as lost souls needing redemption. Priests who rape boys as heeding to their higher calling, instead of sexually repressed monsters?

National Geography could have reported on the families of same sex couples who raise amazing children. People who truly commit to each other for love and deserve equal rights. There are so many other groups who deserve to be understood and issues that need awareness. Why did National Geographic choose to highlight a group that thrives on sexual abuse and the coercion of women and children?

You missed the central issue with FLDS because they are charismatic masters who charmed your staff, like they do their children.

What struck me most about this story, which seems to be consistent with what we outsiders have seen unfold on TV, as well as through shows like Oprah, is the large number of children being produced by this very closed-off society. Their doing "God's will" is questionable. Seems as if it's man's will to produce a staggering number of offspring, which will only contribute to our already strained resources. One man being the "father" of 46 children from 5 wives seems bizarre and almost unnatural. I know that the world would be a better place with less judgement and more understanding, but it's difficult not to judge when children are being pumped out irresponsibly, with no real connection to their biological parents. To think that the church leaders could then "reassign" a woman and her children to another man is barbaric. I think that we as readers only saw what they (the FLDS)wanted us to see.

I have found that most comments about the FLDS are from those who read and accept the medias' version of the so-called facts. The biases that are added by most reporters do no justice to these Christians. They are not in a cult. FLDS are following the biblical lifestyle than any other organized religion, including the Orthodox Jews or the Amish Christians.

National Geographic did a fair and balanced reporting here. Not like Fox News about the FLDS.
When I see the inconsistencies in reporting, like not following up on the cases that were dismissed or when the reports are skewed and misreported. There is no recanting or corrections and especially no follow-up made when FLDS are vindicated or are found innocent.
There are no investigations of the Attorney Generals, Judges, Special Prosecutors, or Bureaucrats. For their personal associations, involvements and political benefits for the prosecutions and negative media coverage of the FLDS people.
These are the purposes of the freedom of the press clause in the Bill of Rights.

This is really just about the business of making babies. Page 50 "Brigham Young himself took 55 wives who bore him 57 children."
REALLY???

Polygamy is illegal in the United States. Why are these people getting away with adultry. I feel sorry for the women and children who are living in this society. These men are very selfish, and treat women as objects/property. We live in the 20th century, not in the dark ages. Give me a break.

I wanted to thank you for your article about pligamists. I have lived in the town next to Colorado city my entire life and would like to extend my concern about this topic. It would be one thing if they just wanted to live thier lives in thier religion, which is illegal. But it is another thing to use our tax payers dollars to live this way. All of the sister wives are required by thier faith to go on every type of financial assistance there is. Because they are not leagally married to these men, they are concidered by the State of Utah as single mothers. They recieve Thousands of Dollars in food stamps to feed all the children. They also recieve W.I.C as well as Medicade. There are many of the children who are in the NICU at Dixie Regional Medical Center for months at a time because they are born with birth defects due to inbreeding. All of which is paid for by US, the American people.

FLDS are not the only face of polygamy in America and the article does a disservice by asserting such a thing. There are many non-Mormon and non-religious polygamy families all over America and it would have been nice if the article had mentioned them too. I started learning about poly over two years ago and I found out right away that every big city and every state has poly families and the FLDS are probably way outnumbered anymore by all of the Muslim, Christian, and secular poly families all across America.

Two questions:

Is this the National Geographic or True Crime Stories?

Are you going to have an article on the Manson family next? They're a non-traditional family that broke the laws of the U.S. also?

i love NG. i subscribe. i was revolted by the cover photo but read the story anyway and looked at the repulsive photos. it wasn't until i googled "fumarase deficiency" on the basis of one sentence in a long article that i uncovered the essence of the repulsion: the effects of inbreeding. yes, the whole "church" stinks to high heaven of unbridled patriarchal privilege and its attendant crimes, a feminist's nightmare, but it's also an eugenicist's nightmare. to the extent NG considers itself scientific and not a lifestyle magazine, you missed the story, you disserved your readers, you pandered to the self-perception of your subject: a prime journalistic nono. i could care less about one more photo of a godawful hairdo. the real story is here: http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/2005-12-29/news/forbidden-fruit

I live 50 miles from Colorado City ( St, George , Utah) First, I am not an exFLDS member and do not any kind of desire to go get the polygamist.

The article itself left too many questions unanswered:
How does a father of 5 wives and 26 children ( or many more in some cases) provide for the family?
Four of the wives are legally "single women with children". They typically receive foodstamps, WIC, and other social services. Go to any grocery store in St. George on a Saturday to observe this. The local regional hospital has the greatest number of free patients from the Colorado City/ Hilldale communities.

The children receive very limited education and work as construction workers from a very early age ( the boys) or motel maids ( the girls).

I teach at a high school and have had many "lost boys" as students; it is sad to see them so far behind socially and educationally.

In Utah it is legal to marry at age 16 with parental consent. So many, many girls are listed in the "joy book" and married to middle age men at age 16.

The author missed many important points and only seemed to use sources those who were past or present FLDS members.

Thanks for the interesting article on this peculiar and problematic US subculture.
Readers may be interested to know that a form of polygamy is actually
still condoned and practiced by the main LDS church. If an LDS man
marries a woman in an LDS temple and the woman dies, the man may not only
marry another woman in a civil ceremony, but also in another temple ceremony.
The LDS belief is that if he has a second temple marriage, he will be
married to both women in the next life. There is no limit to this
process, although the mechanism means that these days, marriage in the
hereafter to more than two or three women is unlikely. Women are not
allowed the converse process. A woman must obtain a temple divorce to
marry a second man in an LDS temple.

This world has enough problems, especially due to over-population. This is the first time in over 50 years of reading & enjoying Nat.Geo.Magazine that I am repulsed. Nearly 30 pages, about a cult, is disgusting.

The Polygamists: after reading this incredulous story, I can only conclude the following: Where there are sheep, there will be shepherds.

Congratulations, National Geographic, on publishing the first NG issue I've had to chuck into the recycling bin in eight years of subscribing. I get your magazine primarily in order to open the world to my children (ages 8 and 5) and I've saved every issue until today. Particularly by making this an in-your-face cover story you have rendered this issue utterly inappropriate material for younger readers. What repulsive, reprehensible people you have brought into our homes with this article; what an unfortunate choice of subject for your magazine.

Colorado City and Hildale were on a list of the top ten towns with a population over 2,000 in the Intermountain West for reliance upon Medicaid (health care for the poor) in 1998. And in that same year the same towns draw from the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program (food for low-income mothers) could only be equaled by Western Indian reservations and impoverished inner cities. 33% of Hildale and Colorado City residents were using food stamps in 1998. To put this into perspective, respectively Arizona's average was 6.7% and Utah's 4.7% during that same period.

I realize that we wouldn't have even had this story or photos or perhaps wouldn't even be *aware* of what is going on in this part of our country were National Geographic to handle this more objectively.

However, I have three major concerns about the treatment of this news story.

1) The respectful to the point of apologetic tone smacks of bias, not obectivity.

2) The suggestion that this super-patriarchal society is actually matriarchal in action. That because the women are articulate, intelligent and vocal, this means they have more power than the men who are quiet in order to please the dictator. And the suggestion that because women don't choose to leave, this somehow condones the mistreatment. Women in this culture are taught from such a young age that their worth is tied directly and wholly to partnership with a "godly" man of many wives. Just because they no longer bed underage girls doesn't mean they aren't still doing the same thing to their minds to prepare them for a lifetime of submission and ultimately a horribly crippled sense of self-worth. This is like foot binding. Today. Now. In America. Horrific.

3) Last but not least, how can a magazine dedicated to "inspiring people to care about the planet" gloss over the fact that these women are trained to realize their worth first through marriage but close second through giving birth to as many other humans as possible, no matter the population consequences to our planet or the genetic diversity consequences to the cross-bred gene pool that turns out infants with complex neurological disorders at such a high rate compared with the rest of society that the numbers are staggering.

I read your article. I have relatives with the last name of Jessop and this topic always perks my interest. Also, I have a rare neurological disorder, probably because my ancestors were among those who practiced polygamy in the name of God.

I am horrified that more people aren't more horrified by this.

In the magazine the opening Editor's Note states "In a world full of shrill voices and agendas, we at *National Geographic* are committed to an unbiased presentation of the facts."

The "facts" presented in this story resulted from controlled interviews with FLDS selected representatives or with FLDS elders in attendance. Talk about receiving biased information!

Also, when Jeffs was arrested in Texas news stories reported that all but the first wife and her progeny are on welfare. Since all the remaining children are considered fatherless by the courts the entire sect is largely bankrolled by the state. So much for the claim of self-sufficiency.

Next time you want to present an "unbiased view" of a pedophile ring get it printed in a supermarket tabloid.

It was a nice change to read a non-judgmental story on the FLDS -- but I disagree that this was an "unbiased presentation of facts". How is it that there is no mention of Elissa Wall by name or of her book 'Stolen Innocence' -- a book that chronicles the suffering both she and her family experienced under the rule of Warren Jeffs? The FLDS prophet was imprisoned because of her allegations and testimony; She has played a pivotal role in the history of the FLDS. How is that National Geographic failed to present such relevant information?

I found it interesting that your author made mention of other FDLS sites around the country, but failed to mention the sizeable enclosed FLDS compound that has developed over the last several years at Pringle, South Dakota, it's evolution beginning prior to Warren Jeff's arrest. This compound continues to evolve and function under the watchful eye of the local law enforcement, with no intervention, since it is "law-abiding".

Anyone who wants to read an insightful book should read "Stolen Innocence" by Elissa Wall, who was a 13 year old FLDS member married off by Warren Jeffs and his father Rulon, to her first cousin, Allen. She subsequently blew the whistle on the FLDS and Jeffs, and was the star prosecution winess at his trial, which landed him in prison, after he was found guilty of 2 counts of rape of an underage child.

It seems unbelieveable that National Geographic would provide a forum and national exposure to a cult which is ruled by men whose sole goal is to dominate women so totally in this day and age

Your article was great but skipped some major points, like how they pay for it all. All those "single" women w/ 13 kids? It's all paid for by you and me, ie; medicaid, food stamps. They call it "milking the beast". They hate the federal gov't. Also did your reporter notice how none of the buildings are finished?? Another way to milk the beast, buildings under construction don't have to pay property tax. I'm not sure the exact figure, but it's astounding, the ratio to population and pecent of welfare services to that area. Check into it, there is a lot more homework to be done on this.
oh funny story- my then fiance, now hubby, worked in a building where the FLDS were doing contruction work. He told them that we were together for 7 years and recently engaged. One said, "well what was you doin' , waiting for her to turn 14??" -Yikes don't know weather to laugh or shiver w/ the heebie jeebies.

I was not just dismayed but disgusted that you would display on your cover the family with 46 children. Your claim to protecting the planet has just declined totally in my eyes. While the story may have some interest to many people, I cannot imagine why you would glorify this disregard for females, children and the impact that unbridled population growth has on the planet by putting it on your cover! I still haven't read the story and I finally had to place the magazine face down on the floor of my office. I couldn't look at it! You must understand the relationship between population growth and the degradation of our natural resources.

While I fully support freedom of speech and religion, putting that photograph on your cover is just so counter to all you claim to support.

Please think about the messages you are sending.

I had some real questions about this article and the Mormon community in Colorado City, but thanks to all the very well-informed people who commented. My questions have been answered. This situation is a perfect example of if the state subsidizes something, it will grow. If welfare benefits dropped for each successive baby by a woman, and ending entirely after the third child, would that have put some control on this ridiculous and sad situation?

Shame on National Geographic for highlighting such propaganda and not highlighting the horrific abuses as outlined by those FLDS children who escaped or were abandoned. For those who are interested check out www.smilefordiversity.org or follow-up with Elissa Wall's "Stolen Innocence" or Brent Jeff's "Lost Boys" books. Pretty,glossy pictures do not tell the whole story,especially when most readers are ignorant of the FLDS abuses .

Is this what National Geographic about now about - cover-up?

I have written a letter to the editor of National Geographic. Today, after receiving the polygamy article in my mailbox once again, but this time from the umbrella organization for many Muslim women's groups, I am sending out a call for action. I hope you get many, many more letters protesting your whitewash of FLDS polygamy. Yes, I agree with the writer who said you have taken your magazine down in credibility. Both you and Oprah have done great harm to the public psyche in educating them on what polygamy is all about--no matter what sect!

Child abuse disguised as religion. Welfare fraud disguised as god's directives.

Perhaps your next article will be about the "culture" of systematic sexual abuse of children in the Catholic church.

This magazine edition lives in my trash bin.

There are so many things wrong with this story it's hard to know where to start. It's great to be non-judgmental in order to gain access to a closed community, but ridiculous to maintain that position in the telling of their story. Let's look at some facts:

1. In the United States of America, polygamy is against the law. We are all free to practice our religions as we like, but that freedom ends when it involves breaking the law. Aside from the occasional raid and a few arrests, these people flaunt their lawlessness with virtually no fear of punishment from their local or state governments.

2. Since only one wife is legal, other women living in the home are essentially mistresses. As single mothers, they and all the children they bear are mostly on welfare - Aid to Dependent Children. Therefore, law-abiding citizens are paying for Mormon polygamy with tax dollars. To those of us who are religious as well, this means we are also paying for people to live in sin.

3. The line between religion and cult is not always a clear one, but there really is not any doubt in this case: a charismatic leader who rules completely and with unquestioned authority; strict uniforms worn by all members; the kicking out of rule-breakers; living apart from the mainstream of society. This is a cult.

4. The article barely acknowledges the sexual abuse of children but it is an ongoing and regular practice in this "religion." Young girls are routinely "married," and in most cases to men who are decades older.

5. The "reassigning" of women to different men (based on the men's "godliness") is simply sexual slave trade on a small scale. There is not another way to look at this.

I strongly encourage all your readers to read Jon Krakauer's "Under the Banner of Heaven" for another (also unbiased) look at this particular form of Christianity.

Hello everybody,

After reviewing the article on "Polygamy in America", and then reading the member's comments on the NGM (Magazine) blog page, I find myself pondering something.

Was this an appropriate topic for the NGM to attempt? I believe that their motives were pure, and their finished article was competant. I LOVE the National Geographic Society and everything it stands for, and strives for.

However, given the complexity and numerous "dark tunnels" that these sects venture down, I just wonder if it was too much of a topic to be adequately explored from every possible angle. There are all the "horror" stories from young boys/men, and girls/women alike who have escaped or been bannished from these groups. There is the issue of the elders (men) having sex (forced, or not?) with under-age girls. There is the whole mess of the mothers and children being on every state-run Aid program in existence, and not least, the aspect of separation of church and state, with the added bonus of "freedom of religion" in this country (United States).

It just seems our hands are tied. Why should non-sect (taxpayers) citizens financially bear the burden of these groups (education, welfare, groceries, medical care, etc.) ? This country values sanctity of life, yet we do nothing to stop the in-breeding causing so many birth ailments/defects, which just do not need to happen! If we try and stop the underage appropriation of girls for marriage/sex/childbearing, then it turns into the U.S. Federal government infringing on the rights of people to practice religion....yet where is the line drawn between what is acceptable in a 21st-century (secular) state, and in a religious cult/sect/group? Surely we can ban underage marriages without being "monsters" who are hostile to religion. It seems to me that we cannot allow a claim that "it's in the Bible" to be justification to do anything they want, in the name of God per se.

One last thought (my personal belief): if "they" insist on living the way they do, and insisting on legal immunity and non-interference from the outside - federal government or otherwise - fine! But then they should have to become self-sustaining and NEVER use public taxpayer monies for their livlihoods and very survival. They want it both ways, and since we know what they do with their young boys and young girls, this should be abhorrent. It should stop this instant.

What do you all think?

kind regards,

- Scott

Well that was quite a puff piece that Scott Anderson delivered on the FLDS. I can only assume that his “access” to the secretive community came at a significant editorial price. Either that or he failed to do much in the way of research. He quickly succumbed to the utopian smokescreen with drivel like:

“Striving to be as self-sufficient as possible, the community grows a wide variety of fruits and vegetables, and everyone, including children, is expected to help bring in the yield. Church members also own and operate a number of large businesses, from hotels to tool and machine manufacturers.”

In reality, according to Jon Krakauer in “Under the Banner of Heaven” Random House 2003, 33% of Colorado City’s residents are on Food Stamps as compared to the state average of 4.7% . And this from a former member of the FLDS:

“Uncle Rulon (Jeffs) justifies all that assistance from the wicked government by explaining that really the money is coming from the Lord,” says Deloy Bateman . “We’re taught that it’s the Lord’s way of manipulating the system to take care of his chosen people.” (ibid)

Fundamentalists call defrauding the government “bleeding the beast” and regard it as a virtuous act.

As of June 2009 the average monthly Food Stamp benefit was $133.12 (Wikipedia). Multiply that by 46 kids. O’ Hallelujah and pass the panini!

The term "bleeding the beast" was invented by anti-mormons. Nowhere in FLDS or LDS doctrine does that term appear. The people of the FLDS are human beings and they are all individuals with their own hopes and dreams. Collectively punishing a despised minority based soley upon the alleged misdeeds by a few of them is a travesty of justice and un-American.
On another note, many Shortcreekers (FLDS) have nobly served in our Armed forces from WW1 to Vietnam and even Desert storm. Some paid the ultimate price and unlike some other "radical" religious sects (amish), they have proven themselves willing to bear arms, fight, and die defending the United States of America.

This is what conservatives should look like. This is real America. Where families comes first. I am proud to have people like these among us.
Go Mormons!

I think Polygamy is the cure of all social evils in our society.