I have just finished this book & highly recommend it to anyone who is interested in the workings of the FLDS. This story is of the LeBaron family & their compounds in Mexico & is written by a woman who left the group after a 10 year plural marriage. Conflicts & relationships with "sister-wives" are covered in depth. Unlike the El Dorado group, these people wore normal clothing (with the exception of the strange underwear of the men), danced, had parties, played cards, had stage plays, & went to movies. They did have underage marriages, but the girl's were not forced & they were expected to choose their own husbands when ready for marriage. The author readily & eagerly entered into marriage at age 15 to a 40 year old man.
From reading this book, I get the idea that any actions of one particular group is in large part determined by the "revelations" sent from God to their "prophet". And I also get the idea that anyone can declare that they had a "revelation" & declare themselves a prophet. Of course, there are central beliefs such as plural marriages, Book of Mormon, & the writings of Joseph Smith & Brigham Young.
Although this book is highly informative, it is also a sad story of living in abject poverty (no welfare in Mexico). Of course, it has it's share of vile, evil men who even commit many murders, but I think the saddest part is that many of the people totally & honestly believed that they were living as God commanded & were living a life that they believed would take them to the Celestial Kingdom. Surely, there is a special place in hell for religious leaders who use religion for their own personal purposes.
Barnes Noble & Amazon have this book & accompanying reviews, if anyone is interested.
From reading this book, I get the idea that any actions of one particular group is in large part determined by the "revelations" sent from God to their "prophet". And I also get the idea that anyone can declare that they had a "revelation" & declare themselves a prophet. Of course, there are central beliefs such as plural marriages, Book of Mormon, & the writings of Joseph Smith & Brigham Young.
Although this book is highly informative, it is also a sad story of living in abject poverty (no welfare in Mexico). Of course, it has it's share of vile, evil men who even commit many murders, but I think the saddest part is that many of the people totally & honestly believed that they were living as God commanded & were living a life that they believed would take them to the Celestial Kingdom. Surely, there is a special place in hell for religious leaders who use religion for their own personal purposes.
Barnes Noble & Amazon have this book & accompanying reviews, if anyone is interested.