I think your Mormon (LDS)friend is right. I'm sure if you look anywhere you'll find individual families that have poor relations. However, suggesting that the Mormon church leaders would hide it is going a bit far. (If they did they wouldn't be leaders after it came to light.)

Also, please keep in mind that the FLDS church has absolutely no ties with the Mormon or LDS church. They've been labeled Mormon by the media for religious roots they had over 100 years ago. However, they reject core Mormon teachings and scripture and as such really shouldn't be labeled Mormon. They do teach that women should be subservient so in their faith this scenario sounds plausible.

You're right about the FDLS. I know that they are not officially affiliated with LDS or the Mormon church, but their faith is essentially an offshoot of what Mormonism originally was. Like extreme Christian groups base their beliefs on original Christian teachings, but most moderate churces do not agree with their premises.

I think the point here is that within just about every religion is an extreme point of view that attracts followers, and can have destructuve consequences. And because the beliefs and culture presented in this story is not how mainstream Mormonism or LDS runs, that's what makes this an example of a closed community where traditions reign instead of civil law. It was like if anyone outside of their community interfered with how these families run, it was an intrusion and was to be avoided at all costs.

I think you'll agree that within any community, there are those who will abuse their power and do anything to keep it, which is why I think that the church leaders in the story were hiding the abuse. The way this community is structured, the men hold all the power. They know if others find out how much power or what was really going on, they'd lose it. So then, it's in their best interests to hide the corruption. It's like one big abusive family continuing the cycle.

I think it's a natural human paradigm that those who need power to survive will pursue and guard it at all costs. Sad, but true, and you can see it in just about every society. Politicians do it all the time. Burned is just one example of how this occurs in American society and in the name of religion.

"You're right about the FDLS. I know that they are not officially affiliated with LDS or the Mormon church, but their faith is essentially an offshoot of what Mormonism originally was."

If you believe that the FLDS represent in any way the original teachings of Mormonism, you are mistaken.

Twelve of my sixteen great-great-grandparents were among the first generation of converts to the Church, and five of them lived in polygamy. Six of my eight great-grandparents lived in polygamy and painfully split up their families when the revelation to end polygamy was received. But *none* of my four grandparents lived in polygamy, because all of my ancestors were faithful to the true spirit of Mormonism. Those teachings, including polygamy, are not rooted in any dogma but are moderated by continuing revelation, subject to the free will and common consent of the body of the Church.

There was no male dominance, no wife abuse among my ancestors. There were, of course, the normal difficulties that can occur between husbands and wives, but most of the many family stories that are preserved testify of generally loving and mutually supportive marriages.

Utah was the first to give women the vote, but Congress took the vote away from all Mormons when it discovered that the supposedly "enslaved" women voted, in secret, much the same way as did their husbands.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints has always taught respect for women. Male dominance has never been tolerated. The FLDS and other apostate groups justify male dominance only by completely distorting what they put forth as "original" teachings. These groups have *nothing* to do with Mormonism, either in its original or modern embodiments.

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i really liked this book! crank and impulse are a little better i think. im in the middle of glass. it was great but i was dissapointed at the end. i wanted a happy ending :(