Category Archives: Polygamy

A woman exclusively shared with Express.co.uk her experience with polygamy in the UK. The woman, who wished to be named Rose Berry, started by saying she is still "not married or engaged" but she has had "experiences with married men" who have suggested the idea of being together despite having other wives.

Rose explained most of the married men who have proposed, she has casually "met in restaurants and cafes".

Some, she revealed "were family-related".

Rose explained: "One I met was a man while I was waiting for a taxi.

"He offered to pick me up although I was the opposite of his way and he got me to where I was going.

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"He gave me his number and later on we started chatting.

"I knew that he owned a gold mining company, he was 50+, and he was married.

"He wanted me as a third wife," she said.

Rose explained she didn't accept the offer because she was "still studying".

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"In other words, you're too old to be single."

Rose explained if she ever marries a man with many wives, she "won't be living with him".

"It's a man's job to have separate living for his wives, far away."

This is so "the wives don't clash," she explained.

The law in England and Wales states that "under the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973, it is illegal for anyone in England and Wales to enter into a polygamous marriage; that is a marriage that would mean they had more than one wife (polygyny) or husband (polyandry)".

Continued here:

'He wanted me as a third wife' Woman shares life with 'wealthy' man married to many wives - Express

Madison Brown Brush, the daughter of Sister Wives stars Kody Brown and Janelle Brown, is watching Netflixs docuseries,Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey. The seriesrips the roof off the secretive society of theFundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS). It details the shocking reality many women and girls faced living in the FLDS polygamist rule of Warren Jeffs. So what does a child of polygamy and Sister Wivesstar Madison think about Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey? Heres what she had to say about it.

Keep Sweet: Pray and Obeyis a four-part series released to Netflix in June 2022, which details the rise and fall of the fundamentalist leader andtheir Prophet, Warren Jeffs. The show takes a deep dive into the investigation of sexual abuse, underage marriage, and trafficking of young women at the hands of the Jeffs family.

Jeffs was the sole leader of the church and the only one with the ability to assign wives to men. He would assign girls, some as young as 12 years of age, as brides to older men in the church. The women and the girls, regarded as second-class citizens within the FLDS community, had no say over which man they were given to.

Its rumored Jeffs had over 87 wives and has fathered over 500 children. However, after an intense investigation, there was enough evidence to take down Jeffs finally. In 2011, he wasconvicted of two felony countsof child sexual assault. He is currently serving a life sentence plus twenty years in prison.

Janelle and Kodys daughter, 26-year-old Madison, finally decided to watch the hit docu-series. On June 19, Madison posted on her Instagram Story a photo of her TV showing the Netflix screen for Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey. She wrote, Started to watch this after questions about the correlations. Check out the screenshot below, via Reddit:

Madison has decided against living plural marriage and has chosen monogamy for herself. She is currently married to Caleb Brush, and they have two children, a 5-year-old son Axel and a 2-year-old daughter Evangalynn Brush.

While Madison didnt talk about the connections between her upbringing with polygamist parents, she did mention how devastating the documentary is. She wrote, Already so sad.

As Sister Wives fans know, the Browns are followers of the fundamentalist Mormon sect called the Apostolic United Brethren (AUB), also known as The Group or The Priesthood. The similarities between the AUB and the FLDS come from both sects deriving from the same group in the 1800s. They have the same belief in plural marriage, and they read the same scripture.

Since they derive from the same group, there are familiar names in Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey that Sister Wives fans noticed. The names include Allred, Jessop, and Darger. However, its not unusual for family names to cross over between the LDS sects.

Sister Wives fans are eager to discover what Madison thinks about Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey. Are there more similarities between the Browns and the FLDS?

RELATED: Sister Wives: Kody Brown Opens Up About FLDS and Warren Jeffs in Becoming Sister Wives Memoir This Is Not My World

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'Sister Wives': Madison Brown Brush Reacts to Watching 'Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey' 'So Sad' - Showbiz Cheat Sheet

Per a new report from Gallup, the percentage of Americans now saying they believe in God is the lowest since they first started doing the survey.

In 2022, 81% of Americans say they believe in God.

When Gallup first asked this question in 1944, 96% said they believed, and in the early 1950s, it was up to 98%. It remained over 90% until 2013, when it dipped down to 87%.

The current 81% is a 6-point drop from the last time Gallup asked the question in 2017.

Digging down into the data, we get a mixed message about what it tells us about the future.

On the one hand, the age group with the lowest percentage saying they believe in God is the youngest 18 to 29. Only 68% say they believe. Given that these young people reflect our future, we must assume that, with no change in their views, the country will continue its purge of religion from our lives.

On the other hand, the ethnic cross section with the highest percentage saying they believe is what Gallup defines as people of color. I assume this means Blacks and Hispanics. This group registers 88% belief, 9 points higher than white, who register 79%.

Given that that the demographic people of color is growing faster than white, and becoming each year a larger percentage of our population, this could point to a strengthening of faith, on average, in our population as we move into the future.

Why should we care about this?

From a practical point of view, faith translates into behavior, and as faith diminishes, the incidence of behaviors that once were viewed as morally unacceptable increases.

In 2001, the percentage of Americans saying the following behaviors are morally acceptable was as follows: birth to unwed mother 45%; gay/lesbian relations 40%; abortion 42%. In 2003, polygamy was deemed morally acceptable by 7%; in 2011, pornography was deemed morally acceptable by 30%; and in 2013, teenage sex was deemed morally acceptable by 32%.

Here are the percentages of Americans saying in 2022 these same behaviors are morally acceptable: birth to unwed mother 70%; gay/lesbian relations 71%; pornography 41%; abortion 52%; teenage sex 45%; polygamy 23%.

Again, we can ask, So, what?.

The vision of the founders of the country was freedom. The point was to keep government intrusion at a minimum and permit individual freedom at a maximum.

The preamble to the U.S. Constitution notes that it was put forth to secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity. The Constitution was designed to limit government power to very specific defined areas that were deemed essential and appropriate for government.

For this to work, we must assume we have a population of free individuals who manage their own personal affairs in a responsible way.

It is worth recalling, once again, George Washingtons famous observation in his farewell address, which first appeared in print Sept. 19, 1796:

Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable support reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle.

Clearly, we have departed in a major way from this.

Supreme Court decisions over the years have reinterpreted the Constitution to grant far more authority to the federal government than the founders had in mind.

And along with this, as we see in Gallup polling, we see major deterioration in faith and significantly higher acceptance of many behaviors that were once deemed morally unacceptable.

Hence, we find where we stand today.

Again, per Gallup, only 16% are satisfied with the way things are going in the country.

Government is in our lives in a major way, with trillion-dollar deficits and debt the size of our entire economy. And now inflation, which reflects all this.

Is there a way out without restoration of religious principle and personal responsibility, as George Washington warned?

I think not.

Star Parker is president of the Center for Urban Renewal and Education and host of the weekly television show Cure America with Star Parker.

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Faith and freedom need to go together | News, Sports, Jobs - Alpena News

Sister Wives main man Kody Brown and his four wives follow a polygamous lifestyle as they are all in a relationship together. Polygamy may be considered taboo in mainstream culture but the family are human like the rest of us.

They follow un-traditional religious practices in their faith that are not fully understood, so heres what we know about the Browns religion as well as their multiple marriages.

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Kody grew up in a traditional Morman lifestyle which was very strict until his father felt called to the practice in his 40s.

The practice means switching to polygamy or having more than one wife. Kody chose to follow his father and he now too has plural marriages four in fact.

His four wives are Meri, Jenelle, Christine, and Robyn, but since polygamy is not legal in the US, he is only legally married to his most recent wife, Robyn.

Kudos to Kody Brown for following through on his Morman beliefs.

Kody and his four wives belong to an offshoot of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

Their sect, in particular, is called the Apostolic United Brethren church, which recognises the Morman church as a legitimate one but they dont agree with it banning polygamy.

The AUB church has made sure to distance itself from the FLDS (Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints ) as it still believes that wives must be 18 to get married and may choose their own husbands.

The Apostolic United Brethren church that all of the Browns belong to believes that polygamy is one of Gods desires.

The AUB belive Mormans should never have banned the practice and should be trying to do everything that they can to keep it alive.

However, in their religion polygamy is only one way, meaning women cannot have multiple husbands. The Brown family believes that the gospel calls for plural marriages to make their family stronger and help them live the way God intended.

Kody says the reason he chose to have multiple wives over being monogamous is due to his religious principles.

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Niamh is a multi-faceted journalist with speciality interests in entertainment, lifestyle and culture. She recently graduated from the University of South Wales with a degree in Journalism and enjoys writing features, reviews and trending news stories.

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Kody Brown and his four wives are polygamous and part of the AUB church - Reality Titbit - Celebrity TV News

June 12, 2022by nicholas jacobsen

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (or Mormon church) works to maintain the public image of a loving-Christian religious group while simultaneously acting as an anti-queer international political organization. If youre at all familiar with the church, youre probably aware of their pro-nuclear family / anti-LGBTQIA2s+ politics. What you may not be as aware of is how their current anti-queer beliefs, practices, and policies are tied to 1) their past polygamous practices, as both are rooted in settler-colonial eugenic ideologies, and 2) the World Congress of Families, a known hate group founded and funded by Russian oligarchs.

Polygamy was seen as uncivilized and thus not-white by many in the late 19th century United States. In President Hayess 1880 State of the Union, he called out Mormon polygamy proclaiming that marriage and the family relation are the cornerstone of our American society and asking Congress to reorganize Utah Territory to allow more intelligent and virtuous immigrants'' in.

Immigration, marriage, and the family were as central to the rhetoric and politics of this Euro-settler-nation then as they are now. Settler-colonialism destroys to replace and intelligent and virtuous immigrants who become married and reproductive Euro-settler-couples are essential to the replace half of this equation.

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The Roots of the LDS Church's Opposition to Same Sex Marriage - CounterPunch

The man known as the prophet was arrested in a red Cadillac outside of Las Vegas. Warren Jeffs, the head of a polygamist sect, had been living the high life, a private investigator would later recall. He had been to Disney World. He had celebrated Mardi Gras in New Orleans. He had gone to strip clubs. He had worn gentile clothing instead of the clothes he expected his followers to wear. He had kept the company of his favorite wives.

At the time, Warren Jeffs was a high-profile fugitive, recently bumped to the FBIs Ten Most Wanted list. He had been charged in Arizona with two counts of sexual conduct with a minor, one count of conspiracy to commit sexual conduct with a minor, and unlawful flight to avoid prosecution. In Utah, he faced a charge of rape as an accomplice.

On 28 August 2006, a routine traffic stop led to Warren Jeffss arrest. The license plates on his vehicle were obscured. He and other passengers were pulled over. Warrens brother Isaac Jeffs was driving; Warrens favorite wife was in the front seat. Warren himself was in the back seat, eating a salad.

The arrest, which led to the first of Warren Jeffss convictions, is one of many gripping moments recounted in Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey, a new Netflix documentary dedicated to Jeffs and the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

The FLDS emerged when the Mormon church discontinued polygamy and excommunicated those who kept practicing it. It was incorporated under that name in 1991, though its origins can be traced back to the early 20th century. The group was originally located in Arizona, close to the Utah border, and later expanded into Utah and Texas, with communities in other regions.

Elements of the FLDS story are already familiar to the public. Images of women in long-sleeved, ankle-length pastel prairie dresses, their hair pulled back back in the same braided hairstyle, will ring a bell. (Some of the women themselves spoke to the media after a high-profile police raid of an FLDS ranch in Texas in 2008.) Warren Jeffss photo circulated when he became wanted by law enforcement, and when he was twice convicted on criminal charges. Former members who left the sect have provided firsthand accounts of life in the group, of the type of mind control deployed by Jeffs, and of the events that led to their departure.

Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey adds to these existing testimonies by painting a portrait of the FLDS as a structure of coercive control and systemized abuse, in which Warren Jeffs and his father before him made themselves into so-called prophets and weaved religious doctrine in service of their own domination.

Warren Jeffss name has become synonymous with the FLDS, but the movement had existed for decades, partly under different names, by the time he became its leader. Leroy S Johnson was the head of the Council of Friends (now viewed as an early iteration of what became the FLDS) from the Fifties to his death in 1986. Warren Jeffss father Rulon Jeffs took over that same year. He was known among members of the FLDS as the prophet, an undisputed ruler within the group.

A mans status depends on how many wives he has

Rulon Jeffs lived his years as the FLDS prophet much like Warren Jeffs later would, according to accounts given by former members of the sect. Rebecca Wall, a participant in Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey who was raised in the FLDS, recounts being married to Rulon Jeffs, then 85, when she was 19. Her account is a scathing illustration of the power dynamics in which women and girls, evidently, were treated in the FLDS like something resembling currency, pawns in the sects political games.

A mans status depends on how many wives he has, Wall says in episode one. My dad he had two wives, and he couldnt figure out why other men were getting more wives and he was not. So my dad always felt like he was jilted. He was always kind of frustrated. But he also had this host of daughters that could be given to other men. And its kind of like, Ill give you some if you give me some. Even though its never spoken that way, I think thats the general understanding.

People in the FLDS did not choose who they married. The way Wall recounts it, girls were given over to the prophet once it was deemed time for them to wed, and the prophet decided on marriages himself.

When I turned 19, my father brought me to Rulon Jeffs, she continues. By then, Wall says, it was known that Rulon Jeffs had a specific handshake he used with girls who would later become his wife. He shook her hand and squeezed it three times. That meant I was supposed to marry him, she adds. My dad was so excited. For any man in the FLDS, to have their daughter marry into the prophets family, was a massive honor. And I think my dad felt like finally he was getting the respect that he was entitled to and that he deserved. But I was just like, Ew. I got married, and then my father got his third wife.

In a book disputing his daughters account of the family's time in the FLDS, published in 2015, Lloyd Wall, Rebecca Walls father, stated that there was no pressure or collusion to force his daughter into marriage with Rulon Jeffs. Rebecca does have a story to tell as her marriage to Rulon Jeffs turned out to be a nightmare, he added in the book. But the marriage and the horrible experiences with Rulon Jeffs cannot be blamed upon any family member.

Rulon Jeffs died in 2002. His death was a time of confusion, recounted candidly in the documentary: Members of the FLDS had been taught that the prophet was immortal literally. I truly believed that any minute, he was going to sit up and be renewed, Elissa Wall, who grew up in the FLDS and says she was forced to marry her cousin aged 14, recounts. They closed the casket and there was this overwhelming fear inside of me. If they put him in the ground, how is he going to get out?

Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey trailer

Rulon Jeffs (left) and his son Warren Jeffs (right)

(Courtesy of Netflix 2022)

It could have been a damning moment for the FLDS, proof that a key part of the doctrine (that the prophet could not die) was false. But Warren Jeffs succeeded to his father as prophet, and, per Elissa Wall, began speaking as though he was his father renewed. He married his fathers wives. His ways didnt sit well with some members. I went to my husband, and I said, Somethings wrong, Charlene Jeffs, who was married to Warren Jeffss brother Lyle Jeffs, recounts. And he said, Nothing our prophet does is wrong.

Warren Jeffs enforced stricter rules than his father. Members were to abstain from any form of fun. Lloyd Wall says a big change for him was having to turn in all his guns. But a lot of rules targeted women specifically: under Rulon Jeffs, they had to be covered; under Warren Jeffs, they were forbidden to wear denim, prints, or the color red. They were then expected to wear long underwear covering their entire bodies to their wrists and feet. Their hair had to be done and braided. The women listened, Charlene Jeffs says, because they thought this was their path to salvation.

Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey is at its most powerful when it ventures outside the strict limits of the FLDS to look at the wider forces that allowed the group to keep going for decades, even as it existed in plain sight, with the knowledge of at least some of the local authorities. In a damning sequence, journalist Mike Watkiss, who investigated the FLDS for years, is seen, camera on his shoulder, telling a police officer in Short Creek (now known as the towns of Colorado City, Arizona, and Hildale, Utah): Utah Constitution says that polygamy is illegal, and I guess theres laws on the books in Arizona that say the same thing. Why dont people get arrested here?

You know, Im the police officer begins, then replies: I mean, were in we believe in plural marriage. (That officer, Mica Barlow, was later reported to have written in a letter of support for Warren Jeffs while Jeffs while a fugitive: I want to be an extension of you in the police department or whatever you would have me be. In 2006, he was one of two men held in contempt of court for refusing to testify about Warren Jeffs in front of a grand jury.)

People are entitled to believe what they want, but the law currently in the United States is that polygamy is not a protected constitutional right, Roger Hoole, an attorney in Utah featured in the documentary, says. Yet, despite being illegal, it is almost never prosecuted.

Its hard to prove, and law enforcement and politicians are not very interested in disrupting families, he adds. I think most people in Utah, the mainstream Mormons people like me see polygamy as an embarrassment. But polygamy is really not the problem anyway. Its the secondary crimes that occur in a closed religious society controlled by men. Thats when all sorts of mischief can take place, and thats what happened with the FLDS.

Rulon Jeffs (center) was the FLDSs prophet until Warren Jeffs took over

(Courtesy of Netflix 2022)

Former members of the FLDS said they obeyed the sects leader because they thought it was the path to salvation

(Courtesy of Netflix 2022)

A woman from the FLDS speaks to the media after a 2008 police raid of an FLDS ranch

(Courtesy of Netflix 2022)

Most of the men in the FLDS regarded women as chattel, Wallace Jeffs, one of Rulon Jeffss sons, says at one point. Members of the FLDS were taught that men needed to have at least three wives in order to reach the highest degree of the celestial kingdom. Then, a man would basically become a god.

And what happens to the women? Do they become gods? Wallace Jeffs is asked during his interview. He laughs, then says: That is kind of a gray area. We were never taught what a woman becomes on the other side, other than a wife.

Ruby Jessop, one of the participants in the documentary, says Warren Jeffs ordered her to be married to her second cousin when she was 14. There had historically been underage marriages in the FLDS, Hoole says, but they took off on steroids under Warren Jeffs. The pattern, he adds, seemed to be that with a girl that was a little bit independent, the idea was to get her married young and pregnant, and she would be locked in.

In 2011, Warren Jeffs was convicted in Texas of sexually assaulting two girls. He was sentenced to life in prison for sexually assaulting a 12-year-old girl and 20 years for sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl. This was four years after Jeffss 2007 conviction on two charges of being an accomplice to rape in Utah, for which he was sentenced to 10 years to life in prison. The Utah Supreme Court overturned the conviction in 2010. By then, the Texas charges were already pending.

During the sentencing phase of the Texas trial, evidence reflected that Jeffs was involved in conducting the marriages of 67 underage girls to FLDS men, says Angela Goodwin, a former US Attorney Special Prosecutor. Jeffs himself, she adds, had himself 78 wives 24 of those wives were underage.

Warren Jeffs is believed to still be running the FLDS and exercising influence on members from prison. Former members who have left the FLDS describe being estranged from their relatives still within the group in Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey. Three of us are out, Lola Barlow, who was in the group as a child, says. The rest of everybodys still in. I could just drive to their house and talk to them. But they wont talk to me.

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Polygamy, underage wives, and women treated as chattel: Inside Warren Jeffss Fundamentalist Mormon sect - The Independent

Dear Abby Jeanne Phillips

DEAR ABBY: My husband and I are in our 40s. Last year, we decided to make a very big change in our lives. We decided to seek out a second wife (sister wife) for my husband. I was completely on board with it at first. He reached out to a woman he knew years ago and asked if she would consider joining our family. However, I started getting this feeling that she wasnt the right woman to bring into our family. She ignored many of my in-depth questions about why she wanted to live this type of life.

I have expressed to my husband that I no longer want her in my life and it has reached the point that I no longer want to live a plural lifestyle. I felt bad that Im the one who changed my mind, so I agreed to allow them to continue a relationship as long as they keep me out of it, and he keeps her out of my home and my life.

I dont understand how he can continue living this way, living two separate lives and be OK with it. Weve been together more than 20 years and I dont want to leave, but how can I continue loving a man with my whole heart and soul when he only loves me with part of his? SISTER WIFE

DEAR WIFE: Relationships such as you describe can work out when all three of the parties involved feel they are equally valued. Some women tolerate their husband having someone on the side because they derive some benefit beyond the emotional connection one associates with marriage. That said, in the final analysis, the only person who can answer the question youre asking me is you.

DEAR ABBY: I am an 11-year-old girl. My 16-year-old sister has severe depression and an eating disorder. She has been to the hospital twice because of it, and now she has to go to the hospital every day to get her to eat more. Even though people are helping her, I dont think shes getting better. It makes me feel worried and sad.

My mom has me seeing a therapist, and she helps me to feel better, but its still hard knowing my sister is having such a hard time. I have never dealt with anything this hard in my life. I wish I could just not have to always think about how sad I am. I really want everything to be normal. Can you tell me ways to not get so upset about everything thats going on? HAVING A HARD TIME IN IOWA

DEAR HAVING A HARD TIME: Im glad you are seeing a therapist you can talk to about your sadness and worry. Being able to discuss them with someone you trust and who isnt emotionally involved can be a blessing.

I do have a suggestion that might help you in addition to your therapy. Participate in sports activities and hobbies that keep your mind occupied. If you keep yourself busy, you will have less time to dwell on your sadness and worry. And please, write me again in a couple of months and let me know how you are doing, because Im hopeful you will be feeling better than you do right now.

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First wife has second thoughts on polygamy Shawnee News-Star - Shawnee News-Star

In recent months, Netflix has released a collection of harrowing true-crime content, from the "Conversations with a Killer" series surrounding the John Wayne Gacy tapes to the "Our Father" documentary on disgraced fertility doc Donald Cline.

The streaming giant's latest installation is the docuseries "Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey," which revisits the unthinkable horrors of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS), a radical denomination of Mormonism.

Regarded as the "one true prophet," Warren spent years brainwashing the close-knit community into spiritual submission, promoting child sexual assault, bigamy and unlawful marriage.

Over the course of four episodes, the series features several survivor stories from former members of the polygamous and abusive sect led by Warren Jeffs. Regarded as the "one true prophet," Warren spent years brainwashing the close-knit community into spiritual submission, promoting child sexual assault, bigamy and unlawful marriage all in the name of religion.

RELATED: Inside the diaries of polygamous wives: Life as an early Mormon woman

The documentary notes that Warren himself had 78 total wives, 24 of whom were underage. In 2011, he was convicted of two felony counts of child sexual assault, for which he is serving life in prison and an additional 20 years. Watch a trailer for it below, via YouTube:

Today, the FLDS is regarded as both a designated hate group and "a white supremacist, homophobic, antigovernment, totalitarian cult" by the Southern Poverty Law Center. Here's a closer look at the church's history, from its inception in 1890 to its practices and preachings.

The church's founding

The FLDS was established in 1890 after a group of nonconforming adherents broke away from the Mormon church in order to continue practicing polygamy. Since polygamy was deemed illegal in the state of Utah (and nationwide), the group decided to settle in the towns of Hildale and Colorado City located on the Utah-Arizona border. The remote locations allowed them to follow their customs and expand their following with little to no backlash from state law enforcement agencies in either jurisdiction.

During the 20th century, the FLDS endured several crackdowns from the local government that inadvertently made the denomination stronger rather than weaker. On July 26, 1953, all the FLDS members residing in Short Creek, Arizona including 36 men, 86 women, and 263 children were arrested during a pre-dawn raid ordered by the state's governor, John Howard Pyle. The raid's outcome, however, didn't go as planned as it garnered negative media coverage and botched the governor's own political career. Instead, it bolstered public support and sympathy for the growing sect of polygamists.

Rulon T. Jeffs' reign

The first leader of the FLDS was John Y. Barlow, followed by Joseph White Musser and then Charles Zitting, following a brief scuffle within the community. Zitting was later succeeded by Leroy S. Johnson, who led the sect until his death in 1986. That same year, Rulon T. Jeffs took over as prophet. Prior to his FLDS leadership role, Rulon served as a High Priest Apostle in Salt Lake City after moving back to town in the spring of 1945.

Among his followers, Rulon was commonly known as "Uncle Rulon" and he "oftentimes made decisions based on visions he claimed he received from a higher power," per Distractify.

In "Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey," one of Rulon's many wives, Alicia Rohbock, recounted the prophet's dining room wall, which organized each picture of Rulon's partners in the order he married them. At the time of his death in September 2002, it was reported that Rulon had more than 75 wives and fathered approximately 60 children. Many of Rulon's wives were also believed to have been underage at the time of their marriage Rohbock, in particular, was just 20 years of age when she married Rulon, who was 86.

"Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey" (Netflix)

Warren Jeffs takes over

Rulon's son, Warren quickly assumed his position as prophet shortly after his father's death. What was once Rulon's now belonged to Warren, including Rulon's 70+ wives. Warren married all but two of his father's partners and additionally, took on his father's previous responsibility of assigning wives to their designated husbands.

Warren stripped women and girls of their autonomy, ordering them to don a new kind of prairie dress that covered them from head to toe and style their hair in a specific fashion.

Many former members of the FLDS recalled that Warren's leadership marked a dark period within the church's longstanding history. Under his reign, rules for the sect's members became stricter with Warren dictating what they wore, who they married and what they ate. Warren also forced members to turn over their personal property to the church's leadership, required that children be homeschooled and even prohibited members from voting by telling them that he was the President of the United States . . .

Warren also banned the use of items that were the color red (even though he owned a red Cadillac Escalade) banned different kinds of entertainment like "dogs, toys, television, newspapers, the Internet, birthday and Christmas celebrations, festivals, parades, camping and fishing" and encouraged members to tone down their emotions.

A handful of his rules served to control the girls and women in the group. Warren facilitated numerous underage and incestuous marriages, forcing girls as young as 14 years old to tie the knot with their distant relatives. The so-called prophet also adhered to his own rules and had 78 wives, 24 of whom were underage.

Additionally, Warren stripped women and girls of their autonomy, ordering them to don a new kind of prairie dress that covered them from head to toe and style their hair in a specific fashion.

Warren's arrest

Warren became a sought-out felon in 2005, when he was first indicted in Arizona on felony charges of arranging a marriage between a 16-year-old girl and a 28-year-old man, who was already married. The following year he was arrested as an accomplice to rape for performing another unlawful marriage involving a 14-year-old girl.

In 2007, Warren was found guilty of two counts of rape and in 2008, he along with other FLDS members were indicted on charges of bigamy and sexual assault.

Three years later, on August 4, 2011, Warren was convicted of aggravated sexual assault of a child under the age of 14 and sexual assault of a child under the age of 17. He is currently serving a life sentence for the former and an additional 20 years for the latter.

"Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey" is currently streaming on Netflix.

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A primer on the abusive FLDS church, from its self-proclaimed prophet to forced underage polygamy - Salon

DEAR ABBY: My husband and I are in our 40s. Last year, we decided to make a very big change in our lives. We decided to seek out a second wife (sister wife) for my husband. I was completely on board with it at first. He reached out to a woman he knew years ago and asked if she would consider joining our family. However, I started getting this feeling that she wasn't the right woman to bring into our family. She ignored many of my in-depth questions about why she wanted to live this type of life.

I have expressed to my husband that I no longer want her in my life and it has reached the point that I no longer want to live a plural lifestyle. I felt bad that I'm the one who changed my mind, so I agreed to allow them to continue a relationship as long as they keep me out of it, and he keeps her out of my home and my life.

I don't understand how he can continue living this way, living two separate lives and be OK with it. We've been together more than 20 years and I don't want to leave, but how can I continue loving a man with my whole heart and soul when he only loves me with part of his?

SISTER WIFE

DEAR WIFE: Relationships such as you describe can work out when all three of the parties involved feel they are equally valued. Some women tolerate their husband having someone "on the side" because they derive some benefit beyond the emotional connection one associates with marriage. That said, in the final analysis, the only person who can answer the question you're asking me is you.

DEAR ABBY: I am an 11-year-old girl. My 16-year-old sister has severe depression and an eating disorder. She has been to the hospital twice because of it, and now she has to go to the hospital every day to get her to eat more. Even though people are helping her, I don't think she's getting better. It makes me feel worried and sad.

My mom has me seeing a therapist, and she helps me to feel better, but it's still hard knowing my sister is having such a hard time. I have never dealt with anything this hard in my life. I wish I could just not have to always think about how sad I am. I really want everything to be normal. Can you tell me ways to not get so upset about everything that's going on?

HAVING A HARD TIME IN IOWA

DEAR HAVING A HARD TIME: I'm glad you are seeing a therapist you can talk to about your sadness and worry. Being able to discuss them with someone you trust and who isn't emotionally involved can be a blessing.

I do have a suggestion that might help you in addition to your therapy. Participate in sports activities and hobbies that keep your mind occupied. If you keep yourself busy, you will have less time to dwell on your sadness and worry. And please, write me again in a couple of months and let me know how you are doing, because I'm hopeful you will be feeling better than you do right now.

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The Day - First wife has second throughts on polygamy - News from southeastern Connecticut - theday.com

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Dear Abby: First wife has second thoughts on polygamy - Charleston Gazette-Mail