Big Love's Evil Twin

From the SL Trib: Warren Jeffs' preliminary hearing continues in a St. George courtroom, as a witness whose name is being withheld testified about entering an arranged marriage at the tender age of fourteen. She testified that Jeffs officiated at the service, which, according to the article, was held in a motel in lovely Caliente, Nevada. The article includes links to several other SL Trib stories, including one giving details from the witness about her allegedly unhappy marriage, and another reviewing Jeffs' teaching and counsel to his flock on the subject of marriage: that women should be "submissive and obedient," and that men should "'persuade through love' and act with kindness, not force."

No story on this at DN online that I could find. Their top headline was a review of The Work and the Glory III.

Comments

[ECS]

Man, I need to take a break from reading all this polygamy stuff. The SL Trib article about the 14 year old girl being forced into marriage and raped by her "husband" made me cry. Then it made me think of the many young women who were similarly forced into polygamous marriages sanctioned by the LDS Church. It's too disturbing for words.

[Guy Murray]

Hi Dave, Great title--I love it. Roman Grant is very much the personification of Warren Jeffs--at least from what I have read, and what the character in Big Love seems to be. Sorry, I didn't know you had posted on this before I did one too--but I did link to yours as well.

ECS: Let's keep our eye on the ball here. No doubt polygamy has seen it's share of abuses. But, they have little or nothing to do with the criminal charge against Mr. Jeffs here--an incredibly weak one in my opinion. You comment raises a good point though--where is this husband, who actually did the raping?

[Dave]

Thanks for the link in your detailed post, Guy.

Despite my playful title, I do recognize that Big Love depicts independent polygamist families, whereas the FLDS groups are communal and are organized around a religious leader like Jeffs. There is a big difference between the two types of polygamy, at least according to the participants, although few non-participants are willing to grant any moral distinction between the two.

[ECS]

Hmm. Well, I guess I need to take my own advice and define my terms if I want to faciliate a conversation about the issue. When I wrote that comment, however, I was more concerned about experessing my anger after reading the article about the rape and abuse of the young woman than I was about separating out cause and effect, or assigning responsibility and blame.