Weighing in on the Warren Jeffs Trial

I haven't blogged about Warren Jeffs till now for one reason: I don't know him or know anything about him other than what is in the newspaper.

Court TV is following his trial daily, and there has been an interesting, and at times, lively discussion about whether or not the prosecution has met its case burden to prove that Warren Jeffs "conspired" to commit rape, as he is charged. I think there is a genuine concern that charging a religious leader with "rape" because of his guidance and counsel could infringe upon religious leaders everywhere. I appreciated Jami Floyd's commentary on Court TV, which you can find here at The Word.

Granted, the victim's story is compelling ~ horrifying, frankly. I feel a mixture of grief and anger at it.

However, in all of her testimony, I don't see the specific instance of rape that the prosecution is alleging took place. It's almost like the state is trying to make the case that the ongoing relationship with her husband was "rape", and that the FLDS culture is raping its young women because it embraces a belief system of arranged marriages.

I don't agree with arranged marriages, and I think marriage decisions (and sexual intimacy decisions) are best left to adults.

The FLDS people do not believe in having sexual relations outside of marriage, and encourage their youth to wait until marriage before developing even social, romantic relationships with members of the opposite sex.

Theirs is not the only religion, or culture, that practices arranged marriage, and believes that God inspires their leaders to direct them in those types of life decisions.

The state of Utah has set the legal age of marriage at 16, with parental consent. Several years ago, it was 14. Currently, 15-year-olds can still legally marry, monogamously of course, with a judge's consent, in the state of Utah.

Many in the polygamous communities, or among the independents not associated with any polygamous group, believed that they were following the law when they permitted their youth to marry at the age set by the state. As far as they knew, they were obeying the law as far as they could, while still practicing polygamy, which is a vital and sacred tenet of their belief system.

Principle Voices has worked hard to educate the members of polygamous communities about the law, and to encourage marriages between consenting adults. You can find our position on underage marriage here, as well as our position on other related issues: Principle Voices Positions. (You may also wish to read this Deseret Morning News article, No longer performing child-bride marriages?.

This is clearly a challenging issue for a community that does not belief in sex outside of marriage, and strongly encourages marriage as sacred institution. Obviously, they are going to encourage their children to marry, and to marry before violating their religious values of chastity.

Over the last several years, the FLDS has been painted as a creepy, controlling cult comprised of religious fanatics engaging in rampant sexual aberrations and abuse, all while "bleeding the beast" (living on welfare). The claims are that their kids aren't being educated, the boys are being driven out in large numbers to free up the females for the polygamous leaders, and the women are brainwashed and ill-educated, subjugated and denegrated. Who is not sympathetic to the plight of the hundreds of young teens excised from their families, church and community, to fend for themselves in a world they believe is evil?

Years ago, this community was more open, interacting with the media in a friendly way (rather than scurrying for cover, chasing them out of town, or cussing at them), sending their children to public school, and college-educating their women.

I have a great-aunt in that community, and her descendants are my extended family. I care about them and hope and pray for their well-being. I don't know the truth of their experiences or what is really going on in that community. I only know what I read. Several years ago, my parents met that great-aunt in Colorado City, to see how she was doing. She was not only safe, but she was very happy. My mother told me that she had never seen a face so innocent and sweet as my great-aunt's.

I've met several families from Winston Blackmore's community in Bountiful, Canada. I saw the same sweetness and innocence there. I hate to see the nasty articles that masquerade as news in Canada about that community. I had the opportunity to attend, and moderate, a polygamy summit in Bountiful, hosted by women from Winston's Blackmore's community (no longer part of the FLDS). They were open enough to invite everyone to attend: friends, public, and enemies. They were naive enough to believe that if people genuinely cared about them, they would listen to them, and dialogue with them as peers. The anti-people, for the most part, weren't willing to even sit in the room and give them a voice. They instead set up a room at the bottom of the stairs full of anti-polygamy diatribe, and even picketed outside the building to try to stop people from entering. I was appalled at their unwillingness to even LISTEN to what these women had to say about their lives, and their experiences inside their community as well as their experiences with outsiders (which was as heartbreaking to hear as Jane Doe's story!).

It is paternalistic to tell adult women that they are brainwashed and unhappy, simply because they believe something different about the world than we do, and they view our gender roles or family ideals differently.

But paternalistic is putting it mildly. It is downright patronizing.

Yesterday, several current FLDS members, many of them women, testified in court about their beliefs and their relationship with Warren Jeffs. I was captivated by their testimony. These are people who don't grant interviews with the press. This is the "other side" of a story that has yet to be told. The tales of horror are all out there (and I'm not saying they're not true; I'm saying that we don't know if we have the whole truth), but the tales of joy, and of families that work are not available; yet surely they must exist. (I am not condemning the media in their reporting, because I know many have tried to gain access to that community in order to be balanced.)

Contrary to media reports and claims of ex-FLDS members, the women who testified are intelligent and articulate, and some own businesses. Jennie Pipkin owns a small business as a webmaster and showed the court an iPod where she stores mp3's of music, scriptures, Jeffs' sermons and lessons on family training. Charlotte Anna Jessop, who also testified, is a pharmaceutical technician in Hildale, Utah.

We must remember the importance of not rushing to conclusions and quickly condemning people when we only have one side of a story. Too often in those cases, the truth has a way of falling by the wayside; there are no checks and balances.

In any community there are families that are functional and families that are dysfunctional. That is a reality of life. In any church there are families that fit in better than others, and families that are the black sheep. In any family there are the obedient children and the boundary testers, or the rebellious ones...

Is it possible that there are women who have found empowerment in the FLDS, who are happy in their roles in marriage, in their church and in their community, and for whom life outside the FLDS would bring them sorrow and distress?

Btw, there is an an interesting ongoing commentary on the Warren Jeffs trial on the Salt Lake Tribune's Plural Life blog. Here is one entry devoted to gender roles of the FLDS: The roles of men and women

Here are links to several news articles that offer testimony from both the victim in this case and the various FLDS defense witnesses from September 18th & 19th:

Links to the victim Jane Doe's testimony (who has now come forward as Elissa Wall):

Salt Lake Tribune: Former Child Bride Resumes Testimony

Deseret Morning News: Witness Recounts 'Complete Despair', Betrayal

AP: Teen Bride: Salvation Tied to Marriage

Check out the archives of the Salt Lake Tribune's blog on the Plural Life.

Links to testimony of defense witnesses:

Deseret Morning News: Witnesses describe Jeffs as religious, caring and gentle

Salt Lake Tribune: FLDS faithful counter alleged teen bride's marriage rape claims

Court TV: Jeffs' followers offer rare intimate testimony about their marriages, beliefs