"Escape" by Carolyn Jessop

[pastor's wife]

I'm in the middle of reading Carolyn Jessop's story of her life growing up in the FLDS, a polygamous Mormon cult. I'll admit I'd take my childhood of wearing goofy culottes to their memories of having to wear special holy underwear!

It is really chilling though to see many similarities between the IFB (and ATI) and the FLDS. Here are some quotes I found telling:

Emphasis on outward appearance and being sweet:

Quote:"They told us we were not 'keeping sweet," a religious phrase we said to one another to remind us not to react to things that made us mad."

Suffering seen as a sign that someone had sinned:

Quote:"Within the FLDS, any personal problem is seen as the direct result of sin. Serious emotional or physical problems were considered a curse from God."

A successful marriage completely dependent on a wife's perfect submission:

Quote:"Linda was told that if she kept herself in harmony with her new husband, then her life would be perfect in every way and God would bless her with everything she needed. This philosophy of 'perfect obedience produces perfect faith' began sweeping through the community . . . We were told that every problem a woman faced was because she was not being perfectly obedient to her husband."

A total misdefinition of "grace":

Quote:"People did not resist the more oppressive policies he advocated. Instead , it was widely believed that we were being called to a higher way of living the gospel. This wasn't oppression, this was grace."

[Sparkle Pony]

I listened to her book called Triumph on audio because I came across it at the library. It came after Escape so it made me want to read that too, but I haven't yet. I was noting the similarities as far as the mind control, and fear of God and authority, and distrust of anyone outside the cult. A horrible horrible cult. Really crazy stuff and especially sad for the children.

[laurat99]

I read it a few years ago, and WOW, it was crazy what she went through. Good book.

[lillypie82]

I read this a couple months ago, and a few other FLDS "expose" type books... (the one by Warren Jeffs' nephew... "Lost Boys" or something? And then "Stolen Innocence" by Elissa Wall, where she was forced to marry her cousin... that one was crazy)

I really enjoyed reading these books about people "escaping" from FLDS, but at the same time I HATED reading them because of all the horrible stuff that went on. Was Carolyn Jessop the one where her sister wives would beat her kids when she wasn't around? I HATED reading those stories, hated seeing how helpless she was to protect her family.

You are soooooo right, it reminded me a LOT of the IFB culture - especially the "keeping sweet" and submitting to husband type stuff, as well as the emphasis on dressing/appearing a certain way. I think the main difference is that, even though IFB pastors assert a LOT of authority over their "flocks", they aren't quite in the same elevated position as the "Prophet" in FLDS. And also that it's virtually impossible to leave the FLDS without being excommunicated from your family and friends - although that CAN happen in the IFB it's not always the case.

[pastor's wife]

One of the scary things in the book is how the police in their town were all members of the cult too so you could never go to them for help because they were there to just do the bidding of the leader. So this caught my attention today:

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/20...community/

[leaving]

And yet conservatives want to vote in a Mormon for president. Wonder how that will go for them?

Pastors wife, my opinion is that this thing with the police happens a lot. I believe places like Hephzibah House are only still operating because there are enough fundie police/politicians/judges in that local area. I don't think there is any other explanation for it, and I'm pretty sure HH and places like it know it.

[lillypie82]

(07-08-2012 05:51 AM)leaving Wrote:  And yet conservatives want to vote in a Mormon for president. Wonder how that will go for them?

Well to be fair, there's a BIG difference between LDS and FLDS.

[elfdream]

Because of Scouts I have a lot of interaction with LDS members. The ones I know are NOTHING like the people associated with the fundy side of things.

I know one woman who is trying to leave the church. She's far away from prying relatives and her husband is overseas. She's been taking her children to a UU church for now until she decides which direction she wants to go.

[Fishsticks]

There was a book I read, "Under the Banner of Heaven", that dealt with a murder in the 1980s by FLDS members and used it to explain Warren Jeffs and the whole background of FLDS. It made me mad when I read it because nobody was stopping this cult and the police were in its back pocket. A few years later a book was written detailing how the case was made against Warren Jeffs and how he was eventually arrested.

Colorado City, AZ just came up in the news this week. Arizona passed some legislation that requires outside police to patrol the city due to a lawsuit filed against the police corruption there: http://arizonadailyindependent.com/2012/...rado-city/