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Escape
is the autobiographical account of Carolyn Jessop, a women born and raised in as a Fundamentalist Latter-Day Saint (FLDS) in Arizona. At the age of eighteen, she was forced into marriage as the fourth wife of Merril Jessop, a man 32 years older then her. She had eight children with him, including four high-risk pregnancies, before she left the group, taking her kids with her. She subsequently gained full legal custody of her kids, a first for FLDS escapees.
According to Carolyn, physical and verbal abuse of children and women is not only tolerated but encouraged by the church, and, even in fairly good times, marriages of teen-agers to much older men was quite common. Then Warren Jeffs became absolute ruler of the church. TV and Internet were forbidden, and many so-called Lost Boys (teenage boys) were kicked out of the community, apparently to provide more available women for the older men to marry. Also, the age of marriage for girls became younger - down to 14 or so. Carolyn's immediate reason to leave was that her oldest daughter, age 12 (yes, 12 - not a typo) had been taken to several sleepovers at the Prophet's house for evaluation as to marriageability.
Women in the FLDS have only marginally more rights then under the Taliban. They cannot refuse to marry, and dating is forbidden. The "sister-wives" of a man have no say in who he marries. Most critical decisions, such as obtaining even emergency medical care, must be made by a male relative. If the women work outside the house, all their wages must be provided to their husband. In Colorado City, AZ, the sect's base, the police and emergency services are all FLDS members, and enforce the party line. I should point out that mainstream Mormons consider the FLDS folks as heretics, but in Jessop's book, a number of FLDS leaders live openly in Salt Lake City and other areas.
You may suspect that I have serious heartburn about the FLDS. I believe in freedom of religion, but when a religious group refuses to let its members leave, they have crossed the boundary between freedom and oppression. I suspect that's the difference between a religion and a cult. If you have to "escape" from it, it's a cult. The problem is what to do about it, and for that I don't have an answer.
is the autobiographical account of Carolyn Jessop, a women born and raised in as a Fundamentalist Latter-Day Saint (FLDS) in Arizona. At the age of eighteen, she was forced into marriage as the fourth wife of Merril Jessop, a man 32 years older then her. She had eight children with him, including four high-risk pregnancies, before she left the group, taking her kids with her. She subsequently gained full legal custody of her kids, a first for FLDS escapees. According to Carolyn, physical and verbal abuse of children and women is not only tolerated but encouraged by the church, and, even in fairly good times, marriages of teen-agers to much older men was quite common. Then Warren Jeffs became absolute ruler of the church. TV and Internet were forbidden, and many so-called Lost Boys (teenage boys) were kicked out of the community, apparently to provide more available women for the older men to marry. Also, the age of marriage for girls became younger - down to 14 or so. Carolyn's immediate reason to leave was that her oldest daughter, age 12 (yes, 12 - not a typo) had been taken to several sleepovers at the Prophet's house for evaluation as to marriageability.
Women in the FLDS have only marginally more rights then under the Taliban. They cannot refuse to marry, and dating is forbidden. The "sister-wives" of a man have no say in who he marries. Most critical decisions, such as obtaining even emergency medical care, must be made by a male relative. If the women work outside the house, all their wages must be provided to their husband. In Colorado City, AZ, the sect's base, the police and emergency services are all FLDS members, and enforce the party line. I should point out that mainstream Mormons consider the FLDS folks as heretics, but in Jessop's book, a number of FLDS leaders live openly in Salt Lake City and other areas.
You may suspect that I have serious heartburn about the FLDS. I believe in freedom of religion, but when a religious group refuses to let its members leave, they have crossed the boundary between freedom and oppression. I suspect that's the difference between a religion and a cult. If you have to "escape" from it, it's a cult. The problem is what to do about it, and for that I don't have an answer.
