Just in Case You Didn’t Know…
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.