Little known fact: I used to be a Mormon.
Really.
I was excommunicated from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints back in 1999. I didn’t leave as a result of the excommunication, rather, I had to force the issue (by subscribing the Stake President to the vilest XXX publication I could find) in order to get their damn missionaries to stop stalking me. The stalking had reached the point where it was starting to seriously freak me out.
Not that I wasn’t already a bit freaked out at that point. In addition to the numerous lies I had caught church elders on over inconsistencies in church doctrine, I was suffering a growing, and somewhat reasonable suspicion that all of the Relief Society members (what Mormon women are called) were subservient zombie robots. If you’ve ever seen the original version of The Stepford Wives, you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about.
Because of my past experience with Mormon attitudes about women, I have no problems believing in the freaky stuff going on in Bountiful, the polygamist commune in British Columbia. Granted, this is a breakaway sect of the Mormon Church, they are simply building on the proud Mormon tradition of having a head full of bad wiring when it comes to treating women properly.
Unlike the reformers, the original Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints forbids the practice of polygamy by its members. Still, there is an extensive history of polygamy in The Church and you’ll find Mormon scriptures written by Joseph Smith supporting the act. For those who would like to know the backstory behind Mormonism and polygamy, here is some additional reading for you:
- Changing the World, Chapter 9, Part 1 – Plural Marriage
- Changing the World, Chapter 9, Part 2 – Plural Marriage
- SLC Messenger #66 – Other Men’s Wives
- SLC Messenger #94 – Covering Up Polygamy
- SLC Messenger #97 – Joseph Smith and Polygamy
And you thought David Koresh was a fruit loop.