Texas Authorities, Media Ensure It’s Not Easy Being Mormon

North Star Writers Group ^ | May 26, 2008 | Lucia de Vernai

[Dukes Travels]

It’s not easy being Mormon. No cursing, no premarital sex, no Mountain Dew. Perpetual good neighbors, their religion – so inherent to their existence – is a mystery even to those of us who have grown up in predominantly Latter Day Saint communities. In fact, most people know Mormons as the demographic that keeps FamilyFlix in business, Chevy Suburbans on the road and children from divorced families feeling cheated.

Thus, it’s a shame that the one opportunity the country may have to get to know the faith is when political spin taints the message. The high hopes that the Mitt Romney campaign would serve as a vehicle to spread the awareness of the religion have been replaced by the effort to separate the Salt Lake City-based church from the Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints that have been making the news in Texas. The FLDS broke off from the central authority over 100 years ago.

[muawiyah]

Red. LDS still uses the color "red" but FLDS banned that color. There's a difference on children's toys too. FLDS doesn't want the kids to get attached to them ~

There are other differences of far greater note.

Even Ervil LeBaren knew they were different. That's why he tried to take them over.

[muawiyah]

Red. LDS still uses the color "red" but FLDS banned that color. There's a difference on children's toys too. FLDS doesn't want the kids to get attached to them ~

There are other differences of far greater note.

Even Ervil LeBaren knew they were different. That's why he tried to take them over.

[lonestar]

Tell me which religion condones ...cursing.

I have a friend who was cursed by the priest after Mass about something that had NOTHING to do with church or religion.

[UCANSEE2]

“The real downside is trying to make yourself believe the folly that passes for theology in the LDS church.”

---

I understand you don’t believe in the LDS theology, but criticizing someone’s religion is silly.

There are all kinds of different ‘theologies’ that make up the religions of Americans, and since they are all different, then one could declare any but one’s own, to be folly.

[Graybeard58]

I have a large number of problems with LDS theology. That said, equating FLDS with LDS is about like saying that the snake handlers are representative of all Baptists.

Snake handlers are usually Pentacostal, not Baptist.

The primary difference between FLDS and LDS is LDS gave up bigamy to attain statehood. The FLDS clings to the original teachings of J. Smith.

[Ingtar]

I only read a bit of the article. The headline, if nothing else, equates the two.

[conservativeharleyguy]

" When they came for the Jews Mormons, I said nothing because I wasn't a Jew Mormon. When they came for the Homeschoolers, I said nothing because I wasn't a Homeschooler..."

I'm sure I'll be bombarded for this, but here it goes anyway:

Just because you don't personally agree with their theology and marital practices (neither do I, BTW), doesn't mean the State should have done what they did. Particularly on the strength of a specious call from a known mentally disturbed woman with an axe to grind.

If there really were children being abused, then by all means, vigorously investigate and prosecute those as individual cases (as would be done in any other instance). That's just "old-fashioned Police work". But to remove over 450 children from their families on the possibility that maybe a dozen were at risk is preposterous, and just threw us all headlong down the infamous "slippery slope".

Do you think it's better for large groups of children to be forcibly separated from their parents and each other for an indeterminate period, simply because their neighbors might have abused their own children? And placed into the care of the State!? Nothing bad has ever happened to children in foster care, right? No child has ever been abused, molested, or neglected while in foster care, right? I thought this forum was for those who value individual rights.

BTW, try placing 5 or 6 siblings in the same foster home, it just won't happen. Imagine being told the only way you'll ever see your children again is to completely renounce and give up your religion. That's what the mothers are being told. Is that OK w/you? Sounds a bit too Chinese Communist to me.

This thing has now drug on for a month, and not one single criminal charge has been filed against anyone, and children are being quietly returned to their families as we speak.

This will end badly for the State of Texas. It's already cost over 20 million dollars and rising every day. Now their next move is to confiscate the property to "recover their costs". Where's the Freeper outrage over that???

The Supreme Court rules against some guy up North (who was probably "different" too), and lets a municipality take his cheesy little couple of acres, and the Freeper Constitutionalists lit this board up w/righteous indignation like a Christmas tree for a month.

Look at the threads on the "Assault on the Family" in our society on this board. If you don't think it's a real short leap from their "Fundamentalist Christian" families to "regular" mainstream Christian families, you're sadly mistaken.

But let these "weird Mormons" be dispossessed of everything, even their very families, and you are gleeful because they go to a different church than you do? Take a hard look at yourselves. If they get away with this, maybe you're next, maybe you're last. But when they do come for you, will anyone be left to say something???

[UCANSEE2]

I don’t think they ‘banned’ it.

IIRC, Warren Jeffs declared the RED CLOTHES were not to be worn by any FLDS because that is the color JESUS wore, and will wear upon his reappearance.

It is like ‘purple’ being reserved for royalty.

Warren had a RED SUV, and in one of the ‘news articles’ they asked the FLDS folks about the color RED, and said, “what about the RED cars, there are some RED cars around.”

The FLDS folks said, “it’s just a car”.

So, I think the RED thing only applied to clothes, and may have been restricted as far as printed signs, materials.

Warren and the FLDS keep the children from ‘play’ and ‘toys’ because they teach the children to be subdued, under control, seen -not heard. They teach the children the value of hard work from an early age.

FLDS doesn’t want their members to watch TV. I’m with them on that one.

[TheDon]

Everyone on this chart has either never been a member of the LDS church or was excommunicated from it, except Joseph Smith and John Taylor. I wouldn’t want anyone to be misled...

[humblegunner]

I don’t think anyone on these threads thinks FLDS is the ‘same’ as LDS.

Maybe not the same but close enough for horseshoes.

[TheDon]

If you want to learn more about the Mormons:

[abb]

Damn. Must get more fuel delivered. Many, many witches to burn...

[CharlesWayneCT]

I’ve seen little sympathy for FLDS on threads on these boards. Just concern for the state overstepping it’s authority and abusing it’s power.

[CharlesWayneCT]

The LDS doesn’t do fake marriages.

[MizSterious]

First, there is nothing “quiet” about how the CPS has returned the 12 children to their three families. Google FLDS, and the first 99 or so articles that come up will be about this very non-quiet story.

But more important, please define “family” for us. Do you mean a mom, dad, and one or more children? Or do you mean 7 moms and their childrens, and one dad? Or 7 moms, some of whom have been “given” the children of other moms as punishment for those moms, or even just because the leader of the church got a bee in his bonnet? Or 7 moms, a bunch of children, one dad—until that dad ticked off the church leader and had the entire family ripped away from him and given to some other “dad”?

You cannot compare that kind of family to the kind of family most of us know. To say that it’s wrong to have children “ripped from the arms of their mothers” ignores the fact that this happens anyway in their world when they are (for whatever reason) give to some other mother, or to some other father.

[svcw]

I am absolutely fascinated by your fascination with witches and burning them to death.

[abb]

It’s all here. The original transcripts and everything.
http://etext.virginia.edu/salem/witchcraft/

[svcw]

Ok, I know you have posted these before.
It is your fascination (maybe even obsession) with witches that intrigues me.

[Enosh]

“... no premarital sex...”

The Mormon god boinked someone else’s wife; Mary.

So much for that argument.

[Enosh]

“Tell me which religion condones premarital sex and cursing.”

Pastafarian heaven includes beer volcanoes and strippers, so presumably those bases are covered.