Warren Jeffs' Church Espousing Polygamy Under the Radar

Warren Jeffs has made news again today with state officials rescuing a busload of children and young women from a secretive religious retreat near Eldorado, Texas, following a tip off from a girl within its compound, according to the AP. Authorities are now questioning the children to glean information about the religious outfit.

The retreat belongs to the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS) which was headed by Jeffs until he renounced the position following charges of sexual misconduct with minors, rape, sodomy, child-marriage, incestuous marriages, fleecing funds, etc. For his alleged crimes, he was on FBI's most wanted list and the Top Ten Most Wanted Fugitives. He was hunted down and arrested in 2006 and since then, he has confessed to many of his crimes, according to Wikipedia.

When he headed FLDS, Warren Jeffs carried on the tradition of FLDS by espousing doctrines of polygamy, home schooling, strict dress codes, etc. As an organization, FLDS is secretive and closed to the outside world but is believed to have a huge influence in Colorado, Arizona, Utah and Texas. Warren Jeffs himself is believed to have more than 10 wives and has performed marriages of men in his community with multiple women. His father who headed the church before him had more than 20 wives.

Many marriages are believed to be arranged, incestuous, forced and underage, according to Wikipedia. With his arrest in 2006, news about suppression and ill-treatment of women came to the fore. Once again, his church has hit the headlines with today's action in Texas.

At a summer project in Utah, my team hired a contractor who belonged to this Church. He said that his faith espoused having multiple wives as a pathway to heaven. He himself had two wives - the women were cousins. They had each mothered two of his children. When I met with his family at a socially gathering, I was amazed to see how well his wives and all four children got along. They made a warm and affectionate family. They lived in a duplex and each wife had one half of it. The idea of sharing a husband seemed completely normal to them.