Sanjiv Bhattacharya

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Sanjiv Bhattacharya is a British journalist, based in the US. He was born in London and graduated from the University of Cambridge where he studied philosophy. His book Secrets and Wives: The Hidden World of Mormon Polygamy explores the polygamy west, including the Kingstons, who for over a century have also practiced incest breeding techniques, believing they are descendants from Abraham and Jesus.

A former features editor and current contributing editor for British GQ , he has written for several magazines and newspapers including The Observer , [1] The Daily Telegraph , [2] The Times , The Los Angeles Times , [3] Marie Claire , [4] Maxim and Details . [5] He writes generally about social issues, fringe groups, the entertainment industry and boxing.

In 2006, he wrote and presented the Channel Four documentary The Man With 80 Wives , [6] [7] about Warren Jeffs, the fugitive prophet of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. He was subsequently commissioned by Simon & Schuster to write a book of investigative journalism about Mormon polygamy.

In 2008, he was appointed Editor of GQ India. [8] [9]

He lives in Los Angeles, California.

Related Research Articles

Polygamy is the practice of marrying multiple spouses. When a man is married to more than one wife at the same time, sociologists call this polygyny. When a woman is married to more than one husband at a time, it is called polyandry. In sociobiology and zoology, researchers use polygamy in a broad sense to mean any form of multiple mating.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mormonism and polygamy</span> History of polygamy among Mormon denominations

Polygamy was practiced by leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for more than half of the 19th century, and practiced publicly from 1852 to 1890 by between 20 and 30 percent of Latter-day Saint families.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints</span> Latter-Day Saints denomination

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.

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In the Latter Day Saint movement, Heavenly Mother or the Mother in Heaven is the mother of human spirits and the wife of God the Father. Collectively Heavenly Mother and Father are called Heavenly Parents. Those who accept the Mother in Heaven doctrine trace its origins to Joseph Smith, founder of the Latter Day Saint movement. The doctrine became more widely known after Smith's death in 1844.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mormon fundamentalism</span> Advocates of some early Mormon doctrines

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.

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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 movement. There is no affiliation with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In 2011, he was convicted of two felony counts of child sexual assault, for which he is serving a life sentence.

The status of women in Mormonism has been a source of public debate since before the death of Joseph Smith in 1844. Various denominations within the Latter Day Saint movement have taken different paths on the subject of women and their role in the church and in society. Views range from the full equal status and ordination of women to the priesthood, as practiced by the Community of Christ, to a patriarchal system practiced by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, to the ultra-patriarchal plural marriage system practiced by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and other Mormon fundamentalist groups.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Origin of Latter Day Saint polygamy</span> Inception of plural marriage in Mormons

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.

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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.

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Big Love is an American drama television series that aired on HBO from March 12, 2006, to March 20, 2011. It stars Bill Paxton as the patriarch of a fundamentalist Mormon family in contemporary Utah that practices polygamy, with Jeanne Tripplehorn, Chloë Sevigny, and Ginnifer Goodwin portraying his wives. The series charts the family's life in and out of the public sphere in their Salt Lake City suburb, as well as their associations with a fundamentalist compound in the area. It features key supporting performances from Amanda Seyfried, Grace Zabriskie, Daveigh Chase, Matt Ross, Mary Kay Place, Bruce Dern, Melora Walters, and Harry Dean Stanton.

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Dylan John Jones OBE is an English journalist and author. He served as editor of the UK version of men's fashion and lifestyle magazine GQ from 1999 to 2021. He has held senior roles with several other publications, including editor of magazines i-D and Arena, and has contributed weekly columns to newspapers The Independent and The Mail on Sunday. Jones has written multiple books.

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.

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In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, marriage between a man and a woman is considered to be "ordained of God". Marriage is thought to consist of a covenant between the man, the woman, and God. The church teaches that in addition to civil marriage, which ends at death, a man and woman can enter into a celestial marriage, performed in a temple by priesthood authority, whereby the marriage and parent–child relationships resulting from the marriage will last forever in the afterlife.

References

  1. Bhattacharya, Sanjiv (23 May 2004). "Juice on the loose". The Guardian. London.
  2. Bhattacharya, Sanjiv (24 February 2007). "Leader of the pack". The Daily Telegraph. London.
  3. https://articles.latimes.com/2005/jan/09/magazine/tm-petcustody02 To love, honor and belly scratch
  4. "Meet Dr. 90210 Surgeon To the Stars - Marie Claire Magazine - Yahoo!7 Lifestyle". au.lifestyle.yahoo.com. Archived from the original on 5 November 2009.
  5. http://www.details.com/sex-relationships/sex-and-other-releases/200703/meet-the-mandingos Meet the Mandingos
  6. Belcher, David (20 July 2006). "On the prowl for a preacher". The Herald (Glasgow) . Retrieved 11 June 2010.
  7. Johns, Ian (20 July 2006). "Low marks for the heartless head". The Times . London. Retrieved 11 June 2010.
  8. Brook, Stephen (7 April 2008). "GQ to launch Indian edition". The Guardian . London. Retrieved 11 June 2010.
  9. "Air India beats British Airways hands down". DNA . 16 April 2008. Retrieved 11 June 2010.