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The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is a religious sect of the fundamentalist Mormon denominations whose members practice polygamy. It is estimated that 6,000 to 10,000 members reside within the congregate sister cities of Hildale, Utah and Colorado City, Arizona; Eldorado, Texas; Westcliffe, Colorado; Mancos, Colorado; Creston and Bountiful, British Columbia; and Pringle, South Dakota.
Mormon fundamentalism is a belief in the validity of selected fundamental aspects of Mormonism as taught and practiced in the nineteenth century, particularly during the administrations of Joseph Smith, Brigham Young, and John Taylor, the first three presidents of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Mormon fundamentalists seek to uphold tenets and practices no longer held by mainstream Mormons. The principle most often associated with Mormon fundamentalism is plural marriage, a form of polygyny first taught in the Latter Day Saint movement by the movement's founder, Smith. A second and closely associated principle is that of the United Order, a form of egalitarian communalism. Mormon fundamentalists believe that these and other principles were wrongly abandoned or changed by the LDS Church in its efforts to become reconciled with mainstream American society. Today, the LDS Church excommunicates any of its members who practice plural marriage or who otherwise closely associate themselves with Mormon fundamentalist practices.
Warren Steed Jeffs is an American religious leader who has been convicted of several sex crimes and two assisted sex crimes involving children. He is the president of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, a polygamous denomination of the Latter Day Saint movement. In 2011, he was convicted of two felony counts of child sexual assault, for which he is serving a life sentence plus twenty years.
The Latter Day Church of Christ, is considered a Mormon fundamentalist denomination by some in the Latter Day Saint movement. Also known as the LDCJC, the Kingston Clan, and The Order, it is a religious organization created by members of the Davis County Cooperative Society or DCCS in 1977. DCCS itself was established in 1935, but upon creation of the LDCJC, most members of the DCCS became members of the church and most retain dual membership in both organizations to this day. There are approximately 3,500 members, some of whom are known to practice polygamy and incest.
Polygamy in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, or plural marriage, is generally believed to have originated with the founder of Mormonism, Joseph Smith. According to several of his associates, Smith taught that polygamy was a divine commandment and practiced it personally, by some accounts marrying more than 30 women, some of whom had existing marriages to other men. Evidence for Smith's polygamy is provided by the church's "sealing" records, affidavits, letters, journals, and diaries. However, until his death, Smith and the leading church quorums denied that he preached or practiced polygamy. Smith's son Joseph Smith III, his widow Emma Smith, and the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints challenged the evidence and taught that Joseph Smith had opposed polygamy. They instead claimed that Brigham Young, the head of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, introduced plural marriage after Smith's death. In 1852, leaders of the Utah-based LDS Church publicly announced the doctrine of polygamy.
The Apostolic United Brethren (AUB) is a Mormon fundamentalist group that practices polygamy. The AUB has had a temple in Mexico, since at least the 1990s, an endowment house in Utah since the early 1980s and several other locations of worship to accommodate their members in Wyoming, Arizona, and Montana.
Ervil Morrell LeBaron was the leader of a polygamous Mormon fundamentalist group who ordered the killings of many of his opponents, using the religious doctrine of blood atonement to justify the murders. He was sentenced to life in prison for orchestrating the murder of an opponent, and died there in 1981.
Thomas Arthur Green was an American Mormon fundamentalist in Utah who was a practitioner of plural marriage. After a high-profile trial, Green was convicted by the state of Utah on May 18, 2001, of four counts of bigamy and one count of failure to pay child support. This decision was upheld by the Utah State Supreme Court in 2004. He was also convicted of child rape, on the basis that one of his wives had his child at the age of 13. The wife in question was his stepdaughter before they were married; she was the daughter of his first polygamous wife. In total, he served six years in prison and was released in 2007.
"Lost boys" is a term used for young men who have been excommunicated or pressured to leave polygamous Mormon fundamentalist groups, such as the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS). Although sometimes officially accused of apostasy or disobedience, it is thought that they are mainly pressured to leave by older adult men to reduce competition for wives within such sects, usually when they are between the ages of 13 and 21.
Owen Arthur Allred was the leader of the Apostolic United Brethren, a Mormon fundamentalist polygamist group centered in Bluffdale, Utah. He came to this position following the murder of his brother Rulon Allred on orders of rival polygamist leader Ervil LeBaron, in 1977.
Alex Joseph was an American outspoken polygamist and founder of the Confederate Nations of Israel, a Mormon fundamentalist sect. As mayor of Big Water, Utah, Joseph was the first Libertarian Party mayor of a community in the United States.
Carolyn Jessop is an American author and former Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints member who wrote Escape, an autobiographical account of her upbringing in the polygamist sect and later flight from that community. She is the cousin, by marriage, of Flora Jessop, another former FLDS member and advocate for abused children. Carolyn Jessop now lives in the Salt Lake City area with her children.
Polygamy is the practice of having more than one spouse at the same time. Specifically, polygyny is the practice of one man taking more than one wife while polyandry is the practice of one woman taking more than one husband. Polygamy is a common marriage pattern in some parts of the world. In North America, polygamy has not been a culturally normative or legally recognized institution since the continent's colonization by Europeans.
Winston Blackmore is the leader of a polygamous Fundamentalist Latter Day Saint religious group in Bountiful, British Columbia, Canada. He is described as "Canada's best-known avowed polygamist". He has 150 children with his 27 "spiritual" wives, some of whom he has admitted were underage.
Joseph Smith, the founder of the Latter Day Saint movement, privately taught and practiced polygamy. After Smith's death in 1844, the church he established splintered into several competing groups. Disagreement over Smith's doctrine of "plural marriage" has been among the primary reasons for multiple church schisms.
Wendell Loy Nielsen was the president of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, replacing Warren Jeffs, at that time imprisoned on charges related to sexual assaults against minors.
Sister Wives is an American reality television series broadcast on TLC that premiered on September 26, 2010. The show documents the life of a polygamist family, which includes Kody Brown, his wife Robyn, ex-wives, and their 18 children. The family began the series living in Lehi, Utah, moved to Las Vegas in 2011, and to Flagstaff, Arizona, in mid-2018.
Rebecca Musser is an American author and activist. She was a wife of the late Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints prophet Rulon Jeffs and escaped the compound before bringing legal proceedings against the church. In the film Outlaw Prophet: Warren Jeffs, Musser is portrayed by actress Sabina Gadecki.
Seth Jeffs is an American high-ranking official in the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. He is known for harboring his brother Warren Jeffs during the federal manhunt to arrest him.
References
- ↑ "Ontario Superior Court of Justice: Statement of claim" (PDF). Ontario Superior Court of Justice. Retrieved 11 February 2014.
- 1 2 3 Dunn, Scott (3 December 2012). "Polygamy, abuse alleged to be hallmarks of cult". Owen Sound Sun Times. Owen Sound, Ontario . Retrieved 1 February 2014.
- 1 2 3 Campbell, Jennifer (17 November 2012). "Allegations of polygamy, abuse and psychological torture within secretive sect". CTVnews.ca. CTV Television Network . Retrieved 1 February 2014.
- ↑ Dunn, Scott (24 April 2013). "OPP probed of Chatsworth church continues". Owen Sound Sun Times. Owen Sound, Ontario . Retrieved 1 February 2014.
- ↑ Gowan, Rob (7 April 2014). "Two brothers, alleged Ontario polygamist cult ring leaders, face 31 sex and assault charges". The Toronto Sun. Owen Sound, Ont.: Canoe Sun Media. Retrieved 20 May 2014.
- ↑ Dunn, Scott (16 April 2014). "Church leader free on bail". Sun Times. Canoe Sun Media. Archived from the original on 16 July 2014. Retrieved 20 May 2014.
- ↑ Bernard, Kevin (September 26, 2014), "Hearing Set for Cult Suspects", BayshoreBroadcasting.ca, Bayshore Broadcasting
- ↑ "Owen Sound Cult Leader Committed to Trial News Centre News".
- ↑ "Former Church Leader in Chatsworth to Stand Trial". 25 March 2015.
- ↑ Network, Postmedia (2016-05-11). "Alleged polygamist leader of cult-like Ontario church pleads guilty to 'corrections and chastisements' | National Post". National Post.
