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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 variously defined as a cult, a sect, or a new religious movement. The organization has been involved in various illegal activities, including child marriages, child abandonment, sexual assault, and human trafficking including child sexual abuse. The sect is not connected to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the largest Latter-day Saint denomination.
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 cult leader who is serving a life sentence in Texas for child sexual assault following two convictions in 2011. He is the president of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, a polygamous cult based in Arizona. The FLDS Church was founded in the early-20th century when its founders deemed the renunciation of polygamy by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to be apostate. The LDS Church disavows any relation between it and the FLDS Church, although there are significant historical ties.
Bountiful is a settlement in the Creston Valley of southeastern British Columbia, Canada, near Cranbrook and Creston. The closest community is Lister, British Columbia.
Rulon Timpson Jeffs, known to followers as Uncle Rulon, was an American polygamist and religious leader who founded and was recognized as 5th the president of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, a Mormon fundamentalist organization based in Colorado City, Arizona, United States, from 1986 until his death in 2002. He was the father of later FLDS Church leader and convicted felon Warren Jeffs.
"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.
The Yearning for Zion Ranch, or the YFZ Ranch, was a 1,700-acre (690-hectare) Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS) community of as many as 700 people, located near Eldorado in Schleicher County, Texas, United States. In April 2014, the State of Texas took physical and legal possession of the property.
The Short Creek raid was an Arizona Department of Public Safety and Arizona National Guard action against Mormon fundamentalists that took place on the morning of July 26, 1953, at Short Creek, Arizona. The Short Creek raid was the "largest mass arrest of polygamists in American history". Law enforcement arrested polygamist men and removed children from their families. Arizona governor John Howard Pyle had invited journalists to view the raid, and the resulting media coverage from multiple outlets was negative, criticizing the raid's tactics and the intrusion upon children.
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.
Merril Jessop was a high-ranking bishop in the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, commonly referred to as the FLDS Church. He was briefly the de facto leader of the FLDS. Jessop was also in charge of the YFZ Ranch during the 2008 raid.
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.
The term placement marriage refers to arranged marriages between members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Placement marriage is believed and practiced by members of the FLDS Church to show their commitment and obedience in order to obtain salvation for themselves and their parents; it might be considered “the most visible outward symbol of members’ devotion."
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.
Stolen Innocence: My Story of Growing Up in a Polygamous Sect, Becoming a Teenage Bride, and Breaking Free of Warren Jeffs is an autobiography by American author Elissa Wall detailing her childhood in the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS) and subsequent later life outside of the church. It was first published by William Morrow and Company in 2008.
Lyle Jeffs is the brother of Warren Jeffs and a bishop in the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, commonly referred to as the FLDS Church. He has been referred to as his brother's "special counselor" in some church documents.
James Marion Oler is the bishop of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Canada and has been convicted of being a practicing polygamist. The polygamy case brought against Oler is considered "the first major test of Canada's polygamy law." As of 2014, he is reported to have 13 children.
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.
Rachel Jeffs Blackmore is an American author and former member of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. She is the daughter of the church's prophet, convicted pedophile Warren Jeffs.
References
- ↑ "US polygamy sect leader sentenced". BBC News . November 20, 2007. Retrieved May 7, 2019.
- ↑ "Polygamist Charged With Felony Accomplice Rape of a Minor". FindLaw.com . April 5, 2006. Archived from the original on November 22, 2007. Retrieved May 7, 2019.
- ↑ KUTV, Cristian Sida (2024-04-19). "Ex-FLDS parents searching for missing children believed to be hidden by church". KUTV. Retrieved 2024-05-01.
- ↑ Pagones, Stephanie (2023-02-14). "Polygamist Warren Jeffs' nephew to be extradited for kidnapping girl after parents left FLDS Church: Report". Fox News. Retrieved 2024-10-20.
- ↑ Lantry, Lauren; Drymon, Vera; Morris, Kaitlyn (June 22, 2023). "Former FLDS members fear their children's disappearance is part of Warren Jeffs' prophecy". ABC News. Archived from the original on November 25, 2023. Retrieved 2023-12-09.
- ↑ Craven, Erika (2023-04-05). "FLDS members 'gather' in North Dakota and why some have left the group". KFYRTV. Archived from the original on April 7, 2023. Retrieved 2023-12-09.
- ↑ "Warren Jeffs' nephew sentenced in girl's disappearance". June 13, 2023.
- ↑ staff, Seth Tupper Journal (2019-03-03). "Polygamous compound has new overseer, court records indicate". Rapid City Journal. Retrieved 2023-12-10.
- ↑ "FLDS neighbors wary, optimistic | myblackhillscountry.com". hillcityprevailernews.com. Retrieved 2023-12-10.
- ↑ "Ex-FLDS moms say their kids have gone missing since Warren Jeffs' latest revelation from prison". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved 2024-01-29.
- ↑ KUTV, Cristian Sida (2024-04-19). "Ex-FLDS parents searching for missing children believed to be hidden by church". KUTV. Retrieved 2024-09-16.
- ↑ "Former FLDS members fear their children's disappearance is part of Warren Jeffs' prophecy". MyClallamCounty.com. Retrieved 2024-09-16.
- ↑ "Warren Jeffs' nephew sentenced in girl's disappearance". June 13, 2023.
- ↑ "Warren Jeffs' nephew sentenced in girl's disappearance". ABC4 Utah. 2023-06-13. Retrieved 2024-10-20.
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