FLDS

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“Sen.. Reid Says Polygamy Is ‘Form of Organized Crime’:

He said that while the groups’ crimes might not amount to those committed by other gambling and drug crime syndicates in American past, “They engage in an ongoing pattern of serious crimes that we ignore at our peril.”

Beyond bigamy and child abuse — including the forced marriage of teens and pre-teens to older men — Reid said they commit welfare fraud, tax evasion and other “strong-arm tactics,” such as witness intimidation.

“These crimes are systematic, sophisticated and are carried out across state lines,” Reid said, adding: “These lawless organizations must be stopped.

After some hemming and hawing, the ACLU weighs in on the FLDS raid.

“The ACLU has serious concerns that the state’s actions so far have not adequately protected the fundamental rights at stake,” the national organization said in a statement recently posted on its Web site.

The ACLU said children have a right not to be abused or forced into marriages by their parents or anyone else, parents have a constitutionally protected right to free exercise of religion and to raise their children in their faith, as well as a fundamental right to due process of the law.

Elder Marlin K. Jensen takes on the NY Times by distinguishing FLDS polygamy from 19th century LDS polygamy.

In distinction to the cloistered isolation of today’s polygamous groups, including the FLDS, Mormon culture in the 19th century was characterized by a vibrancy of productive activity in various fields of endeavor: education, industry, politics, community-building, agriculture, and many professions. Latter-day Saints strived to move apace with the rapid demands and changes of life and sought to embrace modernity, not thwart it. They sought to take advantage of the ideas and innovations of modern life by establishing schools and universities of higher education. In this they followed the advice of Joseph Smith: “One of the grand fundamental principles of ‘Mormonism’ is to receive truth, let it come from whence it may.”

Jeff Lindsay has more to refute the sloppy reporting which lends to these misconceptions.

The LDS Church responds to Judge Walther’s suggestion that LDS officials supervise FLDS prayer sessions. Besides not understanding what exactly was being proposed or directly asked, it wouldn’t be appropriate.

[Scott Trotter, spokesman for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints] also acknowledged that such a request would not be fair, either to the polygamous FLDS, which “long ago chose a different path from ours. In fact, many in these isolated communities view us with some hostility as part of the outside world they have rejected.”