Just in Case You Didn’t Know…
After watching various news reports about Warren Jeffs over the past few months we felt it might help the casual visitor to understand the differences between the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (FLDS) in Eldorado, Texas (also in various towns throughout Utah) and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) located in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Contrary to reports on cable news channels like Fox News, the FLDS is indeed a breakaway branch of the mainstream Mormon Church. I would imagine the Church tries its hardest to make sure they tell everyone they’re not affiliated with the FLDS and technically speaking they do not control the FLDS. However, with that being said, it has to be noted where the ideas of the FLDS originated.
Joseph Smith founded the Mormon Church in April of 1830. With the advent of his death in June of 1844, the Mormons packed their wagons and headed west in the late summer of 1846. The first settlement in Utah took place on July 24, 1847 under the leadership of Brigham Young. Just as Smith practiced polygamy, so did ol’ Brigham.
Fast forward another fifty-seven years and the mainstream Mormon Church was still practicing polygamy with the last Mormon prophet of the polygamy age, Heber J. Grant, having no less than three wives. http://lifeafterministry.com/category/polygamy-2
Now when the mainstream Mormon Church denounced polygamy so they could obtain statehood status, not everyone was thrilled about the situation. Needless to say the divisions became many and the true Mormons became the rebellious breakaway clans who settled in southern Utah. The leaders of these clans have varied over the years and have become the public thorn in the side of Salt Lake City.
Today, the FLDS is run by a notorious prophet by the name of Warren Jeffs who is on trial right now in Texas for having sex with two underage girls whom he married by revelation of their god.
The residual fruit of Mormonism just keeps on giving with no end in sight. Jeffs has a following of at least 10,000 adherents. When you talk to any of the people who’ve escaped this horrible scenario the numbers are vastly different; 30,000-50,000. Not all of those belong to Jeffs’ group, but most of them do.
While the FLDS Church doesn’t acknowledge many of the scriptures the mainstream Church does, it’s interesting to note they do believe in the Book of Mormon, some of the Doctrine and Covenants (formerly known as Book of Commandments) and some of the sermons by a few of the earlier prophets. And even more curious indeed is how the mainstream Mormon Church still has the commandment of polygamy needed for salvation in their Church authorized canon. My, what a tangled web we weave.
Up until about five years ago, the legal marrying age in Utah was 14 years. Now they’ve pushed it all the way up to 16…
Ironically enough, if Joseph Smith or Brigham Young were alive today neither would be worthy enough to enter the Mormon Temple because of polygamy.
the flds church is the true church that joe smith started,.the lds church of today is about money in the pocket of the prophet tom monsen..but they are both false churches..get out and jion a christian church
Don’t think that the money thing hasn’t infiltrated the FLDS church as well. I have seen reports that the members of the FLDS down in Texas receive 10 million dollars (or more) in Government money. Yes folks, that is correct. Your tax dollars are going to help fund a society of egotistical pedophiles. The law there for marriage (as God ordained it in the Bible) is one wife only. So the other “wives” of the polygamist man have to file for state and federal assitance for their children. You basically have one married couple living with several “single moms”.
Sadly there are children that are born into that society and many innocent victims left in the wake of the twisted leadership, that have basic needs.
There are other “scams” they pull as well… different Gov. subsidies and fraud they perpetrate.
We lived just North of their compound in Abilene, Texas when the raid went down… it broke our hearts to see those innocent children caught up in the web of lies. And the women are brought up to think that it is all normal and of God. What normal thinking woman, or man for that matter, would support their 12 year old daughter marrying and having children with a man old enough to be her grandfather???
Tragically, a lot of the young girls are groomed growing up with the hopes of being able to marry Jeffs. They are told that they will live like princesses and will automatically get the “golden ticket” to the Celestial Kingdom by being his bride. Of course the brides parents get fringe benefits as well, so the incentive to “pimp-out” their daughters to the “prophet” is of great value to them.
PLUS, “it is a commandment from God and the prophet”. I have heard reports from former FLDS women who say that many of them don’t like the situation, but it is God’s plan and the prophet says that they should do it or face judgement (Pretty much the same words written by Joseph Smith in D&C 132: 62 And if he have ten virgins given unto him by this law, he cannot commit adultery, for they belong to him, and they are given unto him; therefore is he justified.
63But if one or either of the ten virgins, after she is espoused, shall be with another man, she has committed adultery, and shall be destroyed;)
Break out the Kool-aid!!!
you are so right on but the thing i find interesting is the flds church is living the true church of jesus christ of latterday saints.tom and the boys have about 12 or 15 men choosen to live polygamy under cover and not known by many but a few..as john tayler said the lds church will always have polygamy..and they do but they swear that they gave it up in 1890 but that to was a lye because there were sevral marrages done up ninto the 1900 hundreds
i agree 100%. The FLDS Church is indeed living true Mormonism. My great-great grandfather traveled to England in 1904 and married two sisters and brought them back to the states to join the other 3 wives he had here already. One of those 2 sisters was my great-great grandmother. It was March of 1904 when he did this – one month before the final polygamy manifesto published by the church. Tell me that was a coincidence…hmmm…as I’ve stated many times before, if Smith or Young or any of the early “prophets” were alive today none of them would be temple worthy.
Michelle Grim
I forgot to ask if you were Mormon?
So true. In fact many members and heirarchy of the church were still practicing it (secretly) into the 1940’s. It took a 40 year generation to ween them off preying on little girls and “trading in” their old wives for newer models.
Michelle – Have you heard about the audio tape they played at the Jeffs trial??
Oh my gosh! He had quite the harem of “sex slaves” at his disposal…
Wake up women!!! You have to know in your hearts that polygamy never was and will never be, acceptable behavior… EVER!
Please, if you are reading this as a female member of the church, ask yourself; Do I really believe that an all Holy God would command His precious daughters to “share” their husband with other women? Could you do it? What if the prophet came out today and said that he had a revelation from God saying that polygamy was being reinstated (secretly of course)? Would you be “on board” with that prophecy?
Camden –
Yeah unfortunately I was watching the news and heard this. It is another confirmation for me personally how wrong this is. The degrading way women and children are treated is reprehensible. You can just imagine how warped your thinking would be after 20-30 years of this nonsense.
Be watching for our upcoming series on the side by side comparisons of mainstream Mormonism, FLDS and teachings/lifestyles of the early church. It’s a real eye opener.
Michelle Grim
Judgement has come down… Warren Jeffs – GUILTY!!!
Now he gets to suck the tax dollars out of Texans while he appeals the decision…