Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints

[PeppyGPhiB]

Originally Posted by Drolefille

There is a lot of "Look the other way" and "don't ask questions" involved here though. Tell me that people weren't aware that the giant compound was an FLDS site. Not that, particularly in TX, it's the LDS who are looking the other way, but civil authorities are.

So various legal authorities are looking the other way. But Mormons live all over, not just in Utah...what I objected to in EE-BO's statement was that ALL Mormons have been complicit in child molestation, which I believe is completely bogus. My Mormon friends up here in Washington state had very normal childhoods and interacted/played with all the other kids, and lived in normal houses with their families. The only obvious difference to many of us was that they spent nearly all day on Sunday in church and at home with their family. I think it's wrong for people to say that the Mormon church should be held responsible for a cult that broke off of it a century ago. There are few denominations that can probably say that they never inspired a cult; I'm going to guess that most cult founders grew up in a church or religious order of some kind...does that mean that their inherited denomination is responsible for the cult's beliefs and actions?

[Drolefille]

Originally Posted by PeppyGPhiB

So various legal authorities are looking the other way. But Mormons live all over, not just in Utah...what I objected to in EE-BO's statement was that ALL Mormons have been complicit in child molestation, which I believe is completely bogus. My Mormon friends up here in Washington state had very normal childhoods and interacted/played with all the other kids, and lived in normal houses with their families. The only obvious difference to many of us was that they spent nearly all day on Sunday in church and at home with their family. I think it's wrong for people to say that the Mormon church should be held responsible for a cult that broke off of it a century ago. There are few denominations that can probably say that they never inspired a cult; I'm going to guess that most cult founders grew up in a church or religious order of some kind...does that mean that their inherited denomination is responsible for the cult's beliefs and actions?

Oh I agree with you, the only place where I'd put some of the blame on the LDS is within Utah.

[UGAalum94]

What do you think that the mainstream LDS Church can do any place that they aren't already doing?

I keep meaning to order Under the Banner of Heaven since I'm a Krakauer fan and maybe that will break it down for me, but I don't have a great sense of their current complicity in polygamy and child abuse.

And I think we have to remember to be careful with how we respond to religious fundamentalists with compounds. The whole Branch Davidians thing didn't go down so well.

It's one thing to feel like we should have done more to protect people after we find out about the abuse, but how much, in general, do you think the American public and Constitution support policing people's homes and private property as a preventative measure?

How would you do it? Hey, you're a sect of Mormonism so we're going to come in twice a month? Hey, you're a Catholic priest, so you can't be around kids? Hey, you're a follower of Islam, so we're going to take over your daughter's health care in case you were interested in female circumcision?