From today's Deseret News
SAN ANGELO, Texas — Shortly after the raid began on the Fundamentalist LDS Church's YFZ Ranch, a group of Mormon missionaries sat down to eat at a restaurant here.
A man shouted out "compound!"
"There was this guy. He held up a knife and yelled at us," said Elder Tyler Duffy from Orem.
Some of the fallout from the raid on the YFZ Ranch is being felt by members and missionaries for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. While the FLDS Church is not connected in any way to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, some Mormon faithful have said they feel they are being found guilty by association.
"There are some people here that believe anything bad about Mormons and that's what they're going to do," said Charles L. Webb, who serves as president of the Abilene, Texas, stake.
Elder Quentin L. Cook of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles had this to say about the LDS church and polygamy:
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7 comments:
I personally believe that polygamy is wrong; what I don't understand is how, in the name of protecting children, a government agency can go into their private "home" and remove the women and children and then place the children in another home of their choosing. It seems to be very abusive to separate families like this. Carrying weapons and shouting and using an armored vehicle, when these people are known to be peaceful people? Really, this seems very contradictory!
Anon - I agree. In the post just below I said, "In my own country, religious intolerance rears its ugly head from time to time. Currently in the state of Texas, the government has abducted 416 children. Do I personally agree with the teachings of the FLDS? No. To paraphrase Jacob 2, their practices are an abomination before the Lord. However, to snatch an entire community of children from their parents based on an unsubstantiated phone call and a follicle of hair in a bed, seems rather heavy handed, and begs the question, if the state can do it to them, then why not to me, or to you, whatever your belief system is."
If the investigation ends up showing blatant abuse of children, and the government had good reason to believe that, other than what I've stated above, I will change my opinion. However, at the moment it appears that the government used a bazooka when a pea shooter would've sufficed.
Amen! What I don't understand is why target the women and children anyway? If someone is sexually assaulted or abused, 9 out of 10 times the abuser is a man. And if the "evidence" they had was that men were marrying underage women, and teenage girls were having children wouldn't it have made more sense to round up the men - I mean, if you're going to be all heavy-handed and thuggish to begin with, why not take the abusers and not the abused.
I'm just mad as heck to be associated in any way, shape, or form with these people. Nut cases, all of them. I've taken to referring to the women as Jefford Wives. They're spooky.
Do you think there could be political motivations for associating the current LDS church with other polygamist LDS sects? Mit Romney had been touring around with John McCain recently...
www.graceforgrace.com
Aaron - That thought has ran through my head more than once. Society is already a bit apprehensive about Mormons, i.e. almost everyone has heard some type of rumor about us, and most of them aren't true.
Despite the church trying to get the media to make a clear distinction between the faiths, the media doesn't. I read an article on CNN.com today about the FLDS based out of Utah...
This whole debacle is not doing Mitt any favors. McCain's mother is already on record with unkind words about Mormons and, "Mitt certainly wasn't the savior of the Olympics since it was the Mormons that messed them up in the first place." That's not a direct quote but it is a close paraphrase. I'm sure that she's telling her son to avoid Mitt at all costs because we're all polygamists...
Perception in this case means that at a minimum we, and by extension, Mitt, are guilty by association.
I think that I'm going to start calling my Lutheran friends Fundamentalist Catholics.
You said: "Do I personally agree with the teachings of the FLDS? No. To paraphrase Jacob 2, their practices are an abomination before the Lord."
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What is Jacob 2? Where is that? Is that in the Book of Mormon?
But didn't the LDS at one time in the past follow polygamy? My understanding is that they changed it when it became unpopular. Or was there another reason? Thanks for helping clarify.
I don't think that the Lord changes His mind. If He sees it as an abomination today, then He did long ago, too.
Thanks so much.
:-)
Hi Anon for the third time. I really do appreciate you coming by, reading my blog, and asking very good questions.
There were several prophets in the Old Testament that lived in polygamous relationships, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob come to mind. It is obvious that in at least certain circumstances that God is okay with polygamy. For me, the question becomes when is it okay and when is it not?
Jacob is in the Book of Mormon. Int he 2nd chapter he states that if the Lord wants to raise up seed unto himself he will command the people to enter into polygamy. Otherwise, we are not supposed to do it.
As members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints we believe that Christ has restored His church on earth again. In its early days, the Lord commanded the people to live in polygamous relationships. He has since decided that it was no longer necessary. Though we know that prophets of God were polygamous in the Old Testament, but there is no record of polygamy in the New Testament. That seems to support the view that some times it is acceptable to God, and at others it isn't.
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