Helpthechildbrides.com
Flora Jessup, who says she escaped from polygamy in her teens, backs Mahoney.
Posted on 10/11/2002 9:04:49 AM PDT by Spiff
Friday, October 11, 2002
PHOENIX - Independent Richard Mahoney is making religion an issue of the gubernatorial campaign, launching a broadside Thursday against the entire Mormon church.
Flanked by former members of a fundamentalist sect the church has disavowed, Mahoney said there is a long history of not just polygamy but sexual assaults on minors in Colorado City on the state's northern border. He acknowledged the practitioners are, strictly speaking, not affiliated with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which repudiated polygamy a century ago.
But he said the fact that Republican Matt Salmon is a member of that mainstream church would undermine his ability as governor to forcibly push for a grand jury investigation.
Mahoney's supporters went even further, saying that despite the public disavowals of the fundamentalist church, the LDS organization is actively suppressing investigations because it would embarrass the entire religion. Mahoney said he agrees with their statements.
Salmon on Thursday said he does not agree with the views or practices of the fundamentalist sect and vowed to enforce all state laws. And Don Evans, a spokesman for the LDS Church in Arizona, said his religion's followers see the fundamentalists as an entirely separate church and do not seek to prevent government investigations of criminal acts.
But Mahoney said his campaign will keep running - and paying for - commercials featuring Flora Jessup. See ad watch on this page.
The campaign has so enraged the Anti-Defamation League that regional manager Bill Straus singled out Mahoney for special criticism.
"It's not fair game, ever, to try to label an entire group, a religion, a race, a classroom, a state, a city, by the actions of a few of the more fanatical elements of that group," he said. Straus called Mahoney's tarring of the entire LDS church "hideous."
At the heart of the issue is the fact polygamy is practiced openly in Colorado City and its twin city of Hilldale, Utah. There also have been repeated reports that underage girls have been forced into plural marriages.
Salmon said the fundamentalist group "is separate from my church." But Linda Walker, a former member of the fundamentalist church who runs the Child Protection Project, said the links remain, with both groups claiming the backing of the founders and early members.
Evans said that proves nothing. "Members of the (LDS) church, even though there may be some historical ties, see it as another church," he said.
Salmon called Mahoney's allegations "the stupidest thing I've ever heard." He said questioning his commitment to fighting crime would be like suggesting that Mahoney, a Catholic, would block the prosecution of priests who prey on children.
Mahoney said that would be a legitimate question - but did not answer it. He said what is needed is a grand jury investigation of Colorado City.
| Helpthechildbrides.com |
RICHARD MAHONEY
TELEVISION COMMERCIAL
The race: Governor.
The medium: Television ad.
The visuals: Image and voice of Flora Jessup, an advocate who ran away from a religious fundamentalist sect at age 18 and has since tried to break it up.
The message: Waco was nothing compared to Colorado City.
I was taught as a child that one day we would go to war with the law enforcement of the United States.
Matt Salmon is, to my understanding, of the Mormon faith. He is not going to be able to address this issue because of a conflict in the beliefs of polygamy within that church.
Richard Mahoney is an incredibly brave man.
(A separate piece attacks Attorney General Janet Napolitano for not prosecuting individuals in the sect, saying, "Janet Napolitano has very much proven that in Arizona, victims have no rights.")
The intent: Independent Mahoney has tried to raise questions about Salmon's faith and how it might interfere with governmental duties. Mahoney is also trying to portray Napolitano as soft on crime, particularly on child molesters, since underage girls are reputed to be forced into early marriages.
Fact check: Religious fundamentalists in Colorado City on the Utah-Arizona border are not Mormons. And there is no conflict within the Church of Latter-day Saints about polygamy.
Early Mormon leaders did enter into plural marriages. To be fair, while there are still references to polygamy in the church doctrine, there are similar references to plural wives among early biblical leaders.
LDS President Wilford Woodruff received a revelation and declared the practice should be discontinued in 1890, in a document called the Manifesto. It, too, may be found in church doctrine.
When leaders of Colorado City, then called Short Creek, refused to sign an oath against plural marriages, they were excommunicated from the church.
The area has long been a sticking point for Arizona politicians. In 1953, Gov. Howard Pyle conducted a raid on the community, saying he was fighting "the wicked theory that every maturing girl child should be forced into the bondage of multiple wifehood with men of all ages for the sole purpose of producing more children".
The ensuing publicity, however, of men being rounded up and children pried from fathers, created such a public backlash that Pyle lost his next election. The town changed its name to Colorado City in 1958. It has slightly more than 4,000 residents on the Arizona side.
Napolitano is just the latest in a long line of attorneys general to inherit the case, which has been written about in the media for years. It most recently made headlines in 1999, when the community pulled all of the town's children out of public schools.
Prosecutors say they have had a hard time bringing cases because the town is very closed and tight-knit, and it is difficult to develop witness testimony. Napolitano's office did help Utah investigators in the arrest this week of one of the men in the town, but the alleged illegal acts took place on the Utah side of the border.
* Contact reporter Rhonda Bodfield at 573-4240 or rhondab@azstarnet.com.
They don't care if you're angry, as long as they're elected.
They are Satan's minions here on Earth.
I won't disagree with you about Democrats being "Satan's minions" as I know a number of Democrats.
In this case, however, Mahoney (a former Democrat) is running as an "Independent". The Democrat nominee is Janet "Reno" Napolitano - leftist carpetbagger from California. Clipped hair, feminist, comfortable shoes, not married, broad shoulders - you know what I'm talkin' about. It is imperative that Matt Salmon wins this election.
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