Insider's View Of Polygamist Sect

Women In Them Are "Breeding Machines," Woman Who Escaped One Tells The Early Show

(CBS)  The still-unfolding drama at the polygamist compound in Eldorado, Texas is focusing renewed attention on the world of polygamy.

Some 200 women and children were removed Friday and Saturday from a compound built by polygamist leader Warren Jeffs after a 16-year-old girl complained of abuse. State troopers were looking for evidence of a marriage of the girl, who is said to have had a baby at 15, and 50-year-old Dale Barlow. Girls younger than 16 cannot marry under Texas law, even with parental approval.

On The Early Show Monday, co-anchor Julie Chen spoke with Laurie Allen, who was born into polygamy and escaped at age 30.

Her documentary, "Banking on Heaven," exposes the struggles women and children face in a polygamist sect.

"(Polygamy is) a life where, as a female, you really don't think for yourself, you're basically told what to do. You really are just a breeding machine to further the agenda of the male patriarchy," Allen told Chen. "This is what I experienced.

"And it's just a very oppressive environment -- or repressive. You know, you don't get education. I never finished the fourth grade growing up. So, when you do finally get the wherewithal to get out, it takes about 20 years to really transition into the outside world and to discover your own identity, because you've been taught all your life to just do what you're told."

At what age do women start thinking there's something very wrong about that type of life?

"You really don't," Allen replied. "There aren't that many women -- and unfortunately, women are the most difficult to transition out because of the Stockholm syndrome (in which) we tend to sympathize with our perpetrators.

"And it's much more difficult to transition a female out than it is a male. The males have more independence. They really are the kings. So, women have a much tougher time with that. It does take an average of 20 years. It is very, very difficult."

The women and children removed from the compound in Eldorado are almost certainly terrified, Allen says, "because they are taught from birth, especially in the FLDS (Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints), that outsiders or the agents of Satan, they're evil. They're not even supposed to have any contact with outsiders.

"So, I just hope that they've got trained people in Texas, psychologists, therapists who know how to deal with this type of mind control, because these kids have got to be terrified. I'm very concerned that they're getting put into -- are they getting put in the right homes, where they're getting the right counseling, and do we have people who are trained to specialize in mind control? I know they have them in the military. But I don't know what they're doing (in Texas). I'm hoping for the best."

Allen added that most of the people taken from the compound "will want to go back. And this is what's so amazing about it. They're so abused. They're literally slaves, yet they just can't wait to get back. I know many cases where they were -- the children have been on the outside, the females for several years, and the day they turn 18, they go right back to the cult."

Allen says it took her almost 20 years to overcome what she was taught and went through in a polygamist sect, she says, including "going ... back and forth. I escaped when I was 16, then I just kept going back. I just couldn't find myself in the outside world. Then I went back, I was married. I was a third wife. Then finally, I got out and went to college, and it just clicked one day."

[jdunderd]

Perhaps, Laurie Allen or other women who have escaped the polygamist lifestyle would be the best people to speak with the women and children. At least, they could relate to each other and maybe they would trust them more than a complete outsider.

[nolalou]

I agree with jdunderd. Stockholm syndrome is bad enough when it happens to an adult, but for someone born into this culture, and taught this lifestyle from birth, they know no other way. It would be natural for women and girls raised that way to view the authorities as abductors who took them away from the only family they knew.

[eggy1620]

Where do the members of these cults get their money to run their communities? Simple economics dictates that they must have contact with the outside world in order to function, right? I mean, they can%u2019t be run like mini North Koreas.

[mcharlton]

I''m glad Texas had the backbone to stand up and put a stop to this. This whole thing is sickening. It could be best described as wife breeding. It''s slavery. Take the girls, keep them ignorant and uneducated so they can be brainwashed. Marry them young. Make sure they get pregnant so they''ll feel obligated to stay even though every instinct says for them to leave. If they think of leaving, let a man tell them that they''re going to go to hell if they try.

These men do a great job serving themselves at the expense of women. This guy has a wife. She gets too old. No problem, all he has to do is go wife shopping and marry a younger one; indoctrinated in advance. If she starts resisting, all he has to do is shame her into submission using his "priestly" authority. What more could a controlling tyrant ask for? I''m very happy these oppressed women had the courage to stand up and report these cowards. These women are heros. Now these brainwashed girls will have an opportunity to be educated and live a normal life. They will now get to choose when and who to marry as an equal partner.

[txsanangelo]

"Christian Cults" all seem to have at least a few things in common. One is a leader who speaks for God, another would be followers that are controlled either financially, mentally, or physically and usually all of those. Another behavior you can almost always count on with christian cults is that sexual abuse of some kind is almost always present and accounted for. Either its pervasive throughout the "community" or restricted to a few of the more powerful "leaders" at the top. If you were to write a cult handbook you''d have to devote a whole chaper to that one thing.

[excoachken]

This is not a sect. This is not a religion. A cult is a cult is a cult!

[dixiecharms]

I just finished reading "Escape" by Carolyn Jessup ....Carolyn was the third wife; her husband had at least 17 wives and a 100+ children. This book helps to understand plural marriages and the total subjection of women and children. Women have no choice in marriage and some young girls are forced into marriage with 70 year old men. Lack of education and money and too many children usually keep women from leaving the misery of being property.

[copsmom_99]

What most people dont realize that the women and children get welfare. Yes people it is us taxpayers that are keeping them feed and clothed and maintaining their lifestyle.

[skulldigger7]

So what''s the difference between these ''cultists'' and those of us who work 55 hours a day in a cubicle? Admittedly, their practices are to us oppressive and grotesque (I don''t care WHAT your beliefs - a 15-yr old girl married to a 50-yr old man in these days is very questionable and probably immoral), but are they worse off than the rest of us? Yes, women are oppressed in this ''cult'' environment, but in a sense, the rest of us in the ''real world'' are oppressed in many other ways.

[billpl-2009]

"where do they get their money." ???

They have jobs. own property and businesses.
They''re some of the hardest working people you''ll ever meet.
The ranch itself is self sustaining.

...oh and they don''t have tax-exempt status, because they don''t allow anyone to join their church.

[jn122736]

There is little, if any, difference between religions, especially between the original Mormonism and the Islamic.
It is, and always has been, all about power, and it manifests itself in many forms.
The obvious, in this case (Mormonism), is power of men over women including Polygamy. In the case of Islam it is complete domination of women.

It is pretty obvious to any reader that this Mormon cult practices mind control from birth. It should be equally obvious just how effective that practice is.

It never ceases to amaze me that Christians can readily see, and condemn, how these women and children are being manipulated, yet vehemently deny that they too are being manipulated by so many money and power grabbing individuals/groups, both spiritual and political.
This indoctrination has (in most instances unknowingly) been passed down from generation to generation.

This manipulation is not limited to faith/religion.

Many People (like Charlton Heston and Poster, gunownerdan) are/were so angered and/or frightened by the mere threat of losing their gun rights that they, willingly, give control of this country to the powerful, corporate controlled, new-Republican Party, never realizing that taking their guns away will be, to borrow a phrase, a slam dunk, once they have taken complete control and destroyed all of our other, basic, constitutional rights.

[stn_sage]

Another poster has a good idea that hopefully is or will be implemented to some degree---that is, former
members who have transitioned to mainstream America, could/should be used as counselors to help these people who have been taken/rescred from the cult compound.

[rf35]

The worst part of the story is all the children these people are producing. I once asked a Mormon coworker (normal, not one of these FLDS types) how they could justify having so many children when the world cannot even sustain its present population. He came back with the old Christian mantra: "God will provide for us." Now that he has six kids and the economy is in the pooper, I''m gonna look him up and ask how that''s been working for him.

[skulldigger7]

ssmd2: Janet Reno was ''villainized'' by Americans across the political spectrum, and rightfully so, for she went in to enforce her will or KILL the ''cultists''. Typical leftist (and to some degree rightist) mentality. That''s not what happened here, by the way.

[billpl-2009]

"Don''t tell me there wasn''t one adult female strong enough to stop this. "
Posted by CarlyLaine

There''s no one woman amongst them who could stop this...NO WAY, not even close

[dixiecharms]

Keep in mind, folks.....the American taxpayer gives lots of money in welfare benefits to these women and children. That truly disgusts me!

[pierson98]

Thank you Republican Party, remember how you
villainized Janet Reno! She was trying to do the right
thing, and stop this kind of demeaning of woman. Why
would a woman ever vote for a Republican? For the same
reasons woman keep going back into these cults

Posted by ssmd2 at 11:37 AM : Apr 07, 2008
----------------

I see. You would rather these women just be burned alive?

[theroo4]

Polygamy is nothing more than pedophelia!! Throw these guys in jail where they belong!!

[stanleyrice]

Sounds like the judgmental, ego centric society, is again vindictive, and repressive of anything they see as different from themselves.

The societal cure may be worse than the alleged "aliment".

The other thing that gets my attention is, hundreds of thousands of women and children (younger than 15) are being slaughtered in Darfur, and Americans ignore it! I''m certain your ego can justify that too!

Every time you point your finger at someone, three of your fingers point back at you!

[culturechang]

All in the name of the Lord. Isn''t crazy what religion can talk poeple into believing? We, as a soceity of mostly Protestants and Catholics, believe this abuse of women and children to be wrong. However, we continue to stick by the same common religious belief (with Mormonism) that says prostitution is a sin....and its not specifically listed in the ten commandments as a sin in any those religious sects.

[janeyre-2009]

Yes, the tax payers are taking care of these children. What male, can provide for 75 children? Hmmm, the women are kept bare foot, pregnant, uneducated for a reason. The pedophiles, don''t want them to think, without being told.

[lochlan-2009]

While I agree these places can be very dangerous and some sort of oversight should be suggested. There is a fine line between protecting people from themselves and invading their privacy. Especially when all three branches are going to be democrat within a year.

Be careful with what the media are shoving down your throat for legislation, it could be party propaganda not in the interest of Americans.

[mkbjon]

The leaders even brag that they collect welfare and food stamps for all the children that are born of these "unions". It is really disturbing to know that these women and children are used and abused in this way and do not have any sense of autonomy.

[quatermass2]

Well, is this or is it not a "freedom of religion" arguement? Where does freedom of religion trump basic laws of society? Incest, pedophilia, statuatory rape - these don''t sound like principles of any normal religion. But there are plenty of cases of children dying because they were denied medical treatment because of their parents'' "religion". I hope that some day we move beyond superstition and ludicrous belief systems.

[skulldigger7]

I''m going to found my own religion which REQUIRES me to sit in front of a big-screen TV and watch NASCAR and Formula 1 all day with beer! Woo-hoo! Who wants to join?

[hvj2006]

America is loosing it for some reason

[irliberal]

I''''m going to found my own religion which REQUIRES me to sit in front of a big-screen TV and watch NASCAR and Formula 1 all day with beer! Woo-hoo! Who wants to join?

Posted by skulldigger7 at 12:52 PM

Would that make your wife.... Satan?

[pierson98]

America is loosing it for some reason

Posted by usakora at 12:55 PM : Apr 07, 2008
-----------------

Maybe it''s because of idiots who don''t know the difference between "loose" and "lose."

[scandalont]

There are always those who criticize some movement that they left behind. Republicans become Democrates, Catholics become Protestants. It proves nothing except someone wants something else. Almost all children leave their parents behind. This is not unusual. So this propaganda is useless in determining right from wrong. What the truth is, this country boasts of religious freedom. Why does it not practice what it preaches. Why must we kidnap, arrest, and prosecute those who we do not agree with. I say, leave people alone. Let us quit minding someone else''s business.

[irliberal]

Posted by scandalont at 01:08 PM

Did you even READ the article? This isn''t about religious freedom. It''s about abuse of children you great buffoon.

[skulldigger7]

IRLiberal asked me: "Would that make your wife.... Satan? "

No - she''s the little barefoot pregnant girl with the black eye . . . Hey, it''s my RELIGION - how DARE you judge me???

[deemsnyd]

Check out Oprah''s new religion on youtube.

[billpl-2009]

"Posted by scandalont at 01:08 PM
Did you even READ the article? This isn''''t about religious freedom. It''''s about abuse of children you great buffoon."
Posted by IRLiberal

You''re right, however, it goes deeper than even that.
It''s really about "gender slavery"
In this little group, women and children are property and are treated as such.
Completely denied of any form of civil rights.

[byeneocons]

"(Polygamy is) a life where, as a female, you really don''t think for yourself, you''re basically told what to do. You really are just a breeding machine to further the agenda of the male patriarchy,"

I had no idea Laura Bush was a polygamist.

[mkbjon]

Far too long have these "men" used the guise of religious freedom to victimize these young women and children. They claim to be exempt from the laws of our society, based on their beliefs. I would expect for such a religion to be completely self-sustaining and independent. But to request and receive aid from our government (welfare and foodstamps) is a clear indicator that their so-called religion is simply a convenient excuse to allow them to continue their criminal behavior. When they accepted government assistance, they opened the door to be judged under our laws just like any other citizen. They can''t have it both ways.

[bstrohm2]

Since we have not heard whether the 16-year old girl and her baby have been found yet, let us hope and pray that both of them are still alive and well.

[dakotaclark]

to correct the hyphen errors
Hmmm...

Going back to the 1850s, my grandfathers were %u201Cgood Mormons.%u201D My Grandfather had one wife; Great Grandfather 3; Great, Great Grandfather 7; and Great, Great, Great Grandfather had 11 wives, (and 32 children).

My father disagreed with %u201Cthe teachings of the church%u201D and chose not to participate in church life or events, much to the disappointment of his parents, brothers and sisters. Therefore, the Mormon Church expelled my father. That was a glad day for him, to be rid of the MORONS, as he called them.

My brother and I are not part of the church, but all the rest of the family are Morons.

Any religion (and there are many) that encourage older men marrying young girls, is nothing more than a group of pedophiles or predators.

Though today%u2019s Moron church says that it eschews polygamy, there is evidence of such activity throughout Uduh, ;-).

Then, some guy decides to form his own church, (FLDS), becoming a prophet to others; to dictate their terms of life. Who gets to marry whom, who gets a reassigned marriage, who must leave the cult, etc., all borders on insanity. There is to total the damage done by the pedophiles Rulon and Warren Jeffs%u2026

Unfortunately, due to the brainwashing, many of these people might not ever recover. There is a reason why the ministers refer to them as a flock; those people are like sheep.

[ajaxrose1]

Just because someone does something in the name of their religious beliefs, doesn''t make it right. You want religious freedoms in this country, but don''t think the laws should apply to you? Wrong. We don''t allow any of the radicals from other religions to use their beliefs as a reason to kill someone, as a sacrifice or othewise, and it''s NOT okay for these people to keep forcing the involuntary marriage and rape of these young women and girls. Period.

[stevex47]

scandalot,
"Let us quit minding someone else''''s business."

Religous freedom doesn''t include things like murder, rape, torture, etc. Soooo, we DO kinda mind when they break basic human rights laws, got it?

[memerider]

billpl, it is "gender slavery," and the mind control techniques used by these pedophiles are those used by Stalin and Hitler to control their agents.

And dakotaclark, your observation that "many...might never recover, is probably low-balling it. All of them are scarred for life--the question is can they escape it, since their entire psychological house of cards depends on this sick framework in which they''ve been forced to develop?

[taylpatr]

I grew up around it. I went to school with the Jeffs kids. Looinkg back on it, those poor girls displayed all the signs of abuse back then, not to mention the abuse they took from the mainstream Mormon kids. Utah knew, and the "church" knew. Everyone knew. It was whispered about but no one ever did anything! Shame on you, Utah and your "church". You have been complacent for too long. You are just as guilty as if you had done it yourself.You could have done something a long time ago, but you chose not to. It finally took some Texans to say "Enough is enough"!It''s taken me 15 years of being out of Utah to be able to see it for what it is, and what it is is child se*ual abuse condoned by a state and a church.

[wolfchef]

Polygamy is an ancient practice found in many human societies and Islam is not adverse to it..."Give unto the orphans their wealth. Exchange not the valuable for the worthless (in your management thereof) nor absorb their wealth in your own wealth. Verily that would be a great sin. And if ye fear that ye will not deal fairly by the orphans, then marry of the women (i.e., their mothers) who seem good to you, two or three or four; and if ye fear that you cannot do justice (to so many) then one only or (of the female captive) whom your right hand possess. That is better, that ye stray not from the path of justice." [Qur''an 4:2,3]...also...

http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/feb/08021207.html

[wlmrtpatriot]

mokemont: Darfur isn''t within the borders of the u.s.a.
dixiecharms: This isn''t the only group of people who line up for welfare benefits. Do you consider this group more disgusting than others? Is it just this one group you find fault with?
Janet Reno apparently did a "knee jerk" reaction and sent some less than nice people who burned up the women and children in Waco.
Apparently Ms. Reno sent "not to enforce anything" but to demolish a group of people, which is exactly what happened.
I don''t believe there were that many women within a
place who couldn''t do anything.
Somebody said they went to school with the Jeffs kids? I thought they were homeschooled or had no education at all.
What are the plans for these women and children. I know one of the wives of Jeffs has written a book. I wonder what the others will do now? How will they survive with no home, no jobs, no money etc.? Hospitality runs out eventually.
I''m happy nobody was flashbanged, tear gassed, and no children''t tricycles run over. Everything went peacefully apparently. I don''t suppose anybody had any dogs that could be shot either. That''s a good thing and now these young people have a chance hopefully to sort out their lives.

[cranberry60]

I heard that Mormons still believe that polygamy is holy and will be going on in Heaven. Does anyone know if that''s true??

[krisd999-2009]

This "complaint" by a 16 yold girl is probably made up as an excuse to disrupt the lives of these people. The state is abusing them. Wouldn''t she have come up to the police by now and said "I am the abused, get me out"? In a few days, they will return to their lives and all this would have been for naught.

[jehovahwtnss]

Hey Pierson98, stop being such a nitpicker, this is one of the best series of blogs I''ve read since I started coming to this site.

[wattermelann]

50 year old men having *** with 13 year old girls? This is pedophilism covered up by religion. Breeding is just a biproduct of the main objective of old men having *** with young pubescent girls-who are not educated and too afraid to question the male dominance of these so called elders. A bunch of serial pedophiles masquerading as ministers-sick. And to think the United States of America allows this to go on and on unchecked until now. Wonder what is going to happen now? Will the pedophiles win?

[wattermelann]

50 year old men having *** with 13 year old girls? This is pedophilism covered up by religion. Breeding is just a biproduct of the main objective of old men having *** with young pubescent girls-who are not educated and too afraid to question the male dominance of these so called elders. A bunch of serial pedophiles masquerading as ministers-sick. And to think the United States of America allows this to go on and on unchecked until now. Wonder what is going to happen now? Will the pedophiles win?

[rhondafaye1]

It''s about time. Next they need to focus on the Kingston Clan in Salt lake City

[Travis212]

taylpatr -

You obviously haven''t followed this story. The group fled to Texas because Utah began prosecuting.