{"id":26790,"date":"2015-10-01T05:59:07","date_gmt":"2015-10-01T11:59:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?p=26790"},"modified":"2015-10-01T05:59:07","modified_gmt":"2015-10-01T11:59:07","slug":"are-the-flds-and-other-contemporary-polygamists-the-true-followers-of-joseph-and-brigham","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2015\/10\/are-the-flds-and-other-contemporary-polygamists-the-true-followers-of-joseph-and-brigham.html","title":{"rendered":"Are the FLDS (and other contemporary polygamists) the true followers of Joseph and Brigham?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Entering<\/a>
Polyamist territory on the Utah\/Arizona border
(Wikimedia Commons)
Click to enlarge.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve heard the claim, many times, that it\u2019s Warren Jeffs and his FLDS church (and similar such offshoots) that have preserved the true legacy of nineteenth century Mormonism<\/a>, whereas the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints<\/a> has \u201csold out.\u201d \u00a0Such folks, it\u2019s said, are the true heirs of Mormonism\u2019s founders.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

The polygamists themselves make that claim, of course, but I hear it most commonly from hostile unbelievers \u2014 who intend, by it, not to praise the fundamentalists but to highlight the supposed evils of Joseph Smith and Brigham Young.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

The claim is deeply false, on multiple counts.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

I spent a great deal of time reading up on contemporary Mormon \u201cfundamentalism\u201d a few years ago, when I served as an \u201cexpert witness\u201d for the federal government against Brian David Mitchell (the kidnapper of Elizabeth Smart) both at his competency hearing and, a year later, at his trial.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Someday, I intend to write up an accounting of the vast differences in both spirit and practice between nineteenth-century Mormonism and schismatics such as Warren Jeffs and Brian David Mitchell.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

In the meantime \u2014 though I warn you that this story contains some fairly graphic and unpleasant material \u2014 you can clearly see one difference illustrated in this appalling item from CNN:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2015\/09\/30\/us\/polygamist-flds-warren-jeffs-update\/index.html<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Posted from Victor, New York<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0 I\u2019ve heard the claim, many times, that it\u2019s Warren Jeffs and his FLDS church (and similar such offshoots) that have preserved the true legacy of nineteenth century Mormonism, whereas the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has \u201csold out.\u201d \u00a0Such folks, it\u2019s said, are the true heirs of Mormonism\u2019s founders. \u00a0 The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1019,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26790","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nAre the FLDS (and other contemporary polygamists) the true followers of Joseph and Brigham?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"    I've heard the claim, many times, that it's Warren Jeffs and his FLDS church (and similar such offshoots) that have preserved the true\" 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