Takes One To Know One

[dsmith]

I must go ahead and say Yes I am a survivor of childhood sexual,mental and physical abuse. It does take one to know one. This is a most horrible crime. I am now in my fifties and it still haunts me. Yes, I had female and male abusers. I was raised Catholic then Baptists. I had more uncles and aunts then you could image. This needs to be stopped. Unless you have actually been there you have no idea how it is. You may pray for these children and young people, but unless you stop it now it will just continue. Some will remember the saying "Good old boy thing" "You scratch my back I will scratch yours" People in the government will protect their own. I know this for a fact.

[dsmith]

Originally posted by asurvivor
I am also a survivor * hints my name* and I agree with what your saying. It is still hard to not have nightmares for me. The abuse lasted 12 years by my step dad and then being rapped by other men. [/*]

I was afraid for over thirty years, many years of therapy to finally realize that by being SILENT they won. I will never be SILENT again. I will gladly tell anyone who wants to know what happened. I am NOT ASHAMED, NO MORE.

[tisamystery]

I'm so sorry you both had to go through that. :rose:

I was thinking today that, for some of these kids, they are finally able to sleep in peace without fear of being molested - at least for awhile.

[Rainkiss]

What frightens me is that most of these kids still don't think they've BEEN abused. Their mothers don't think they've been abused. To them, this is life... They never had enough life to KNOW any better.

[tisamystery]

Originally posted by Rainkiss
What frightens me is that most of these kids still don't think they've BEEN abused. Their mothers don't think they've been abused. To them, this is life... They never had enough life to KNOW any better. [/*]

If you're speaking of sexual abuse, I believe that deep down inside something tells them it isn't right. Even if their mothers and the men tell them it is. I'm not a sexual abuse survivor, thank God, but I'll bet there's a little voice inside.

[wandering]

Originally posted by Rainkiss
What frightens me is that most of these kids still don't think they've BEEN abused. Their mothers don't think they've been abused. To them, this is life... They never had enough life to KNOW any better. [/*]They know better. Carolyn Jessop is on LKL. She's telling it. They are terrorized and abused, not only by the men, but the other wives. I'll post the transcript later.

[Freebird]

Originally posted by tisamystery
I'm so sorry you both had to go through that. :rose:

I was thinking today that, for some of these kids, they are finally able to sleep in peace without fear of being molested - at least for awhile. [/*]


At least till they're in foster care.

[evalles]

Originally posted by Freebird



At least till they're in foster care. [/*]


ITA. :beer:

[wandering]

Originally posted by Rainkiss
What frightens me is that most of these kids still don't think they've BEEN abused. Their mothers don't think they've been abused. To them, this is life... They never had enough life to KNOW any better. [/*]Carolyn said they are abused from an early age. She said her husband called it "breaking them." He used water torture.

Sounds like taming a horse. These guys are really evil.

I posted the links to NG and LKL on the links thread.

:read:

LK repeating right now.

[dsmith]

I took a few days off from everything and I am feeling better. When ever I hear of any kind of child abuse it really gets to me. The thing to remember is that you can never wash out your brain. It just follows you around. I am so glad that the children are being put in foster homes. I know some will say this is the wrong thing to do but you must remember one thing. The mother's of these children did not stop the abuse they let it continue because they do not know any better. Let the children be taken to a safe place. Let the women learn that this is not the way to raise children. Someone will show them the right way.

[lita456]

Originally posted by dsmith
I took a few days off from everything and I am feeling better. When ever I hear of any kind of child abuse it really gets to me. The thing to remember is that you can never wash out your brain. It just follows you around. I am so glad that the children are being put in foster homes. I know some will say this is the wrong thing to do but you must remember one thing. The mother's of these children did not stop the abuse they let it continue because they do not know any better. Let the children be taken to a safe place. Let the women learn that this is not the way to raise children. Someone will show them the right way. [/*]


So sorry for what you others had to go through. Thankfully, for me, I never went through that type of torture. I couldn't even imagine.

I believe these women are just as guilty for letting this happen! They knew what was going on! A couple of the women who had left that sect told it, they lived it, and knew it was wrong.

It's sad to say, but it took a hoax phonecall for LE to check it out? Why didn't any of these women who left say anything prior to this? I don't get it.

JMOO

[Rainkiss]

Sorry for your troubles, Sky, but thanks for sharing, here. It's an important viewpoint.

And, yes, dsmith, you're on the right track, I think.

[lita456]

Originally posted by skytalk
There is actual brain damage that happens in abuse. If many or most of the mothers also were sexually abused they may have had an overwhelming feeling of helplessness to be living in an environment where abuse is 'normal'. That may explain (but not excuse) how the mothers were unable to stop the abuse of their children.

I am working through trauma as well. Sexual abuse was a minor chapter in my past relative to the physical and psychological torture I experienced.

I tried traditional therapy from 1981-1986 and thought I had done enough inner work. I have had a happy and healthy marriagne, I have a strong spiritual path, satisfying work (as a counselor and a social worker). I thought--call it good. Last May I was physically attacked by a neighbor and I completely went into an acute crisis of PTSD followed by a diagnosis of Complex PTSD.

I have been working with a psychologist who does EMDR Eye Movement Desensitization Reprogramming. It is very effective. It actually 'reboots' the brain so that there is cross-over again.

I still have the capacity to be 're-triggered' into a state of extreme fear--fight or flight--a sense of life and death threat and a feeling of despair--that this will never improve and that I am trapped forever. These are the truth of my early childhood memories that are stored within my brain and body.

There has been enormous improvement. Victim witness is paying for the therapy. It takes tremendous courage. I just want everyone who is working on this in their lives to know that we are connected in healing. [/*]


I know you mentioned it but I didn't realize it could be this severe as in brain damage? I do realize people who are abused must go through horrible trauma and of course without help, it can effect them even more severely.

All abuse victims need help, therapy, prayer whatever helps them the most.

What is PTSD? I'm sorry I'm just not familiar with the lingo associated with this.

I'm also truly sorry you had to go through what you did. No one, no one deserves that, not even these women of the sect.

I only responded in that way because I watched the other women who fled the same sect, in fact, was impregnated by that cult leader and I wondered why then, didn't you get help for the others still there? Why did it take something such as this for LE to be called? I didn't understand it.

I'm so glad you have an enriching life, that you are happy and have a spiritual life. You most certainly deserve it.

JMOO

[KatyDid]

http://www.ncptsd.va.gov/ncmain/ncdocs/fact_shts/fs_what_is_ptsd.html

What is Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)?
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is an anxiety disorder that can occur after you have been through a traumatic event. A traumatic event is something horrible and scary that you see or that happens to you. During this type of event, you think that your life or others' lives are in danger. You may feel afraid or feel that you have no control over what is happening.

Anyone who has gone through a life-threatening event can develop PTSD. These events can include:

Combat or military exposure
Child sexual or physical abuse
Terrorist attacks
Sexual or physical assault
Serious accidents, such as a car wreck.
Natural disasters, such as a fire, tornado, hurricane, flood, or earthquake.

After the event, you may feel scared, confused, or angry. If these feelings don't go away or they get worse, you may have PTSD. These symptoms may disrupt your life, making it hard to continue with your daily activities.

:seeya:

[Details]

I can't judge the mothers, nor any others who were abused and have turned into abusers either (boys in this cult do not have it easy either - they too are victims). Enough time, enough experiences where every attempt to break away results in harsh unendurable punishment, and the thought stops being something you can even think. I think that many of those women don't even think about escape anymore. It's not something that is possible, to them. FLDS makes that clear from birth on. Even when we see a chance to go to a shelter, get out - they've been conditioned from birth that no matter what, the abuser will win.

This continues a cycle for these women (and, to a lesser degree, the men) - as a child they are taught to obey everything, to fear, and when they step out, they are hurt, terrified. They learn not to question, to obey, and as they grow older, to do the same thing, because they are told to, because they are told it is right. So they become the abuser in turn.

It'll take a lot to break that cycle.



Realizing when you get older that this is wrong, I think, is why the FLDS keeps marrying them younger and younger. To lock them in, with habit and children they can't escape with, before they are old enough to think enough for themselves.


One ray of light - now several girls who would have to have this experience, now hopefully will not. All those that Texas got to in time will never have to have those memories of abuse, that moment of realization that this is wrong. I think most have some degree of abuse - FLDS is not good to their children, not by anything I've ever heard from those who escape - but it won't be nearly as bad as it could have.

[Details]

People can get broken - just broken - they take all they can, and they cannot fight any longer. Everyone has different amounts of time they can fight, and no one knows how long that will be until they hit that point. But I think given the right circumstances, even the most broken person can come back, given time, freedom from their abuser, and help to face what happened, realize it doesn't have to be your life from now on.


These days, there is so much more support than back then. She may have really had no option other than starving on the street, back then. Now, there are shelters and programs and help - if you can just reach them.

[Details]

When you grow up knowing abuse, sometimes you get broken to where you expect it. I've heard stories of abused children thinking that since their foster parents didn't beat them, they didn't love them. A child needs love, so they associate, sometimes, whatever treatment they get with love - if their parents beat them, that must be because they love them. It may be that your mother had just that happen to her.

[Poochie Pie]

Originally posted by Sumanadevii
A lot of time in therapy was spend on why I could not hate my grandfather and it is becuse he loved me. My parents had no way to love me. Their lives were too mess up. And they had serious evil in t hem. I dont want to go into the stories here. Too hard. But yes, you get a missed message about life ..love...sex...You think it is suppose to hurt. [/*] I am so very, very sorry Sumanadevii.... I am so glad you survived... :rose:

Poochie

[VC2]

you know i think that in this case unless you were a part of a cult there is no real way to understand what the mothers went through. Either a part of it or strongly involved in studying and deprogramming cults.

Its not simple brainwashing even, as happens in some other cults we have heard of...the ones where adults get taken in by some smooth talker creeps and fall for their message hook line and sinker.

This is generational, whole families from great grandparents down to infants cycling a belief system that is a way of life. One where the women are totally submissive and the way to heaven is to please the men and obey them.

Just think of most of our beliefs in the bible and our religion and the morals of our society including children marrying etc. For most those are non negotiable rights and wrongs.

Yet it is exactly the same for the majority of these women. They interact very little with the world outside the FDLS compounds (at least the women do) and all they know of it is that its evil and will try and strip them of all that is good and holy - IN THEIR BELIEFS. Not only do they not have the knowledge necessary to protect themselves or their children but their mothers didn't have it. Sure some leave and escape, in any society there are going to be "misfits" who somehow manage to think for themselves or decide they can't take the lifestyle. Its only further proof to the other women that their beliefs are right and the devil is outside in the rest of the world.

If any of the women felt it was wrong deep inside when they were married off, or having sex with their "husbands", i am sure they just prayed harder thinking the problem is with themselves. Hardly something that could be discussed unless it was to ask to be "cured" of such thoughts sent by the devil.

What I am trying to say is that when we put our own view of right/wrong and what we would know..such as using the words "protect the children" when blaming the mothers, its rather like talking to aliens. Its a foreign concept to most of them, there is nothing to protect in their minds..except their way of life which is the only way to heaven.

I understand the women and their words/actions far better when i put it in the context of a newly discovered tribe in the amazon jungle. We almost always can understand their very different societal rituals, be it young marriages - often because disease/illness takes people younger as well when there are no doctors/hospitals- and realize this is just the way they have lived for generations. Or when its a matriarchal or patriarchal tribe. Or when they believe that scarring their bodies is a way to protect from evil by the shamans. This cult is like that in many ways, at least to the ones locked inside it

In other words, its very hard to affix blame correctly when we can only see it with what we know is right and wrong. I blame the men far more because they ARE out in the world, and certainly the leaders are fully aware of what they are doing. The children should be protected but the women should also be seen as victims of the cult. Hopefully deprogramming them will allow some to be reunited with their children but first they have to realize that there is something wrong since we cant force adults into leaving.

jmo

[dsmith]

I thought when I started this thread no one would post. I think that somewhere in the mother's and father's mind they know it is wrong what they are doing. I think some would say to heal from abuse you have to be able to forgive. Me I can not and never will forgive what happened to me. I am now married to a great man who truly does understand and has stood by me thru my numerous hospitalization and therapy. I know that if these women and children get the help they need and have someone stand beside them it will get easier. I do know for me I can not wash out my brain. It will be a part of me till I die, but it is what has made me me.

[dsmith]

grammybear good for you and I am glad that all who have been abused can find their own life. For some it will be a up hill climb. Years to recover from. I lurk a lot and from what I have been reading some of the women went to a safe place? Some went back to the ranch. Those who went back to the ranch feel they deserve no better that is all they have, the ones that went to a safe place know that something is not right. Unless the leader of the group has far reaching hands and thoughts. Sure hope that is not the case. I hope that this will open up everyone's eyes to abuse. It needs to stop. It happens everyday. I am sure that the women and children at the shelters will get therapy and be shown what life is all about. You may have your religion but you can not use it to abuse.

oh by the way grammybear do you not sleep also?

[dsmith]

Personally for me I think that even though this might have been going on for years you know that in the back of your mind that it is just wrong

[KatyDid]

Umm. I dunno.

I think it depends on how deep the brainwashing is.

IMO, there are conflicted beliefs

1. it is okay to lie as long as you are lying for the lord~~does the bible teach that?

2. it is okay to steal from the very government they believe is evil~~welfare subsidies

3. it is okay to remove a parent from their children and place the children with another family~~their hatred for CPS

Somewhere in there, there has to be a margin of reasonable doubt when on one hand it is okay to lie and steal, but on the other you must never lie or steal. :confused:

[dsmith]

I am enjoying reading all the thoughts shared here. I know for some silence it the only way to deal with abuse. For some speaking out gives them freedom and power. I first must say that I have forgiven myself for what happened. As a child I had no power to say no. I guess I should have stated that. But no way can I forgive the people who did to me the things that haunt me to this day. When you are abused to the point that you lose yourself and then you find safety and comfort and start healing and getting help it is a very long road. Finally one day everything is going the way it should and bingo something triggers and it comes into your mind or you feel it on your skin or a smell comes to you and a memory has flooded you again. Seems it just can not go away. But you learn to deal with it instead of hiding from it. It can no longer hurt you. But for the women and children of this group I think it is in a way different. They believe it is for the lord. But still I think in the back of their minds they know it is wrong.

[xray ra]

I am very reluctant to post on this particular thread as I have never really come to terms to my abuse. But have been reading your posts and I only have my experiences to draw upon. I still feel that in someway, somehow, these GD abusers need to be stopped.
I also don't have a problem with neutering all men that have been found guilty of pedophilea. No matter how short their jail time is. The fact that they are guilty should be enough.
I do know that sometimes even castration doesn't stop their desires but at least it would prevent them from producing offspring that could continue this terrible torture to future generations.:cuss:
in conformance to TOS JMO. IMO, ect....

[xray ra]

hey skytalk: thank God for Karma!!! Your aunt was tortured for 7years, as you were, and your lovely cousin also had to live that existance. HaHA
God Bless you and thank you for telling your story. :rose: X12

[xray ra]

Originally posted by cyottee
My heart goes out to all that have survived their horrors.
Personally I can say that I had a miracle of sorts only 2 evenings ago.
One of the 12 boys/men who raped me from ages 3 thru 16 called me and profusely apologized for the harm he had caused me.The last time was 39 years ago but I can feel that his apology has helped me more than $10,000 worth of therapy.

I am not a huge Oprah fan but her definition of forgiveness is the only one that makes sense to me.

Forgiveness is giving up hope that the past could have been any different.~ Oprah

:rose: Huge hugs and continued recovery for each of us.:seeya: [/*]

My God will forgive that man now that he has reached out to you.
My God (Methodist) will forgive ALL that ask for forgiveness and "fess up" to their sins.

[dsmith]

Originally posted by xray ra
I am very reluctant to post on this particular thread as I have never really come to terms to my abuse. But have been reading your posts and I only have my experiences to draw upon. I still feel that in someway, somehow, these GD abusers need to be stopped.
I also don't have a problem with neutering all men that have been found guilty of pedophilea. No matter how short their jail time is. The fact that they are guilty should be enough.
I do know that sometimes even castration doesn't stop their desires but at least it would prevent them from producing offspring that could continue this terrible torture to future generations.:cuss:
in conformance to TOS JMO. IMO, ect.... [/*]

I feel for anyone who has been abused. But the problem with neutering is it will not work. It all starts in the brain the body just carries out the action. It takes years to figure out how to deal with the aftermath of the abuse. Everyone deals with things differently. Always remember there are a lot of support groups out there to help.

[xray ra]

Originally posted by Sumanadevii


You turned into an abuser? [/*]

What would make you ask that question? That is crazy. Just another incidence of misreading posts. That is why I do post so little and refer to just"lurk"
Again, WHAT? are you thinking?:punch:

[xray ra]

Originally posted by dsmith


I feel for anyone who has been abused. But the problem with neutering is it will not work. It all starts in the brain the body just carries out the action. It takes years to figure out how to deal with the aftermath of the abuse. Everyone deals with things differently. Always remember there are a lot of support groups out there to help. [/*]

Support groups are great.... for people that can't get on with real life.
Just sayin" it would be a good thing if some people were not allowed to procreate. JMO IMO ect....

[Details]

Anyone can misread a post - an apology should be sufficient. There are some people who misread studies on child abusers to actually believe that it's near inevitable that an abused child will grow up to become an abuser - people who would say that the offspring of an abuse victim will be abused actually exist. Those people (fortunately we haven't had any of them on this forum yet) add one more layer of abuse to an abuse victim.

[Annie143]

I feel so sorry for the women that posted of their abuse on this thread but, God bless you. The courage to speak out is healing in itself. God bless you and I wish you the best of luck in dealing with this thing that took your innocence and trust.:rose:

I was a victim of abuse from two siblings, though not as severe as some. Even when my mother questioned me, I was too afraid to come forth and she accepted that. I think she knew something was going on. She was working nights then. My grades fell in school, I started going to school dirty, I would beg her not to go to work, my school picture for that year, I looked like a waif, so many signs that were ignored.......

We were a dyfunctional family in many ways.It pains me to speak of it.

[evalles]

Originally posted by VC2
you know i think that in this case unless you were a part of a cult there is no real way to understand what the mothers went through. Either a part of it or strongly involved in studying and deprogramming cults.

Its not simple brainwashing even, as happens in some other cults we have heard of...the ones where adults get taken in by some smooth talker creeps and fall for their message hook line and sinker.

This is generational, whole families from great grandparents down to infants cycling a belief system that is a way of life. One where the women are totally submissive and the way to heaven is to please the men and obey them.

Just think of most of our beliefs in the bible and our religion and the morals of our society including children marrying etc. For most those are non negotiable rights and wrongs.

Yet it is exactly the same for the majority of these women. They interact very little with the world outside the FDLS compounds (at least the women do) and all they know of it is that its evil and will try and strip them of all that is good and holy - IN THEIR BELIEFS. Not only do they not have the knowledge necessary to protect themselves or their children but their mothers didn't have it. Sure some leave and escape, in any society there are going to be "misfits" who somehow manage to think for themselves or decide they can't take the lifestyle. Its only further proof to the other women that their beliefs are right and the devil is outside in the rest of the world.

If any of the women felt it was wrong deep inside when they were married off, or having sex with their "husbands", i am sure they just prayed harder thinking the problem is with themselves. Hardly something that could be discussed unless it was to ask to be "cured" of such thoughts sent by the devil.

What I am trying to say is that when we put our own view of right/wrong and what we would know..such as using the words "protect the children" when blaming the mothers, its rather like talking to aliens. Its a foreign concept to most of them, there is nothing to protect in their minds..except their way of life which is the only way to heaven.

I understand the women and their words/actions far better when i put it in the context of a newly discovered tribe in the amazon jungle. We almost always can understand their very different societal rituals, be it young marriages - often because disease/illness takes people younger as well when there are no doctors/hospitals- and realize this is just the way they have lived for generations. Or when its a matriarchal or patriarchal tribe. Or when they believe that scarring their bodies is a way to protect from evil by the shamans. This cult is like that in many ways, at least to the ones locked inside it

In other words, its very hard to affix blame correctly when we can only see it with what we know is right and wrong. I blame the men far more because they ARE out in the world, and certainly the leaders are fully aware of what they are doing. The children should be protected but the women should also be seen as victims of the cult. Hopefully deprogramming them will allow some to be reunited with their children but first they have to realize that there is something wrong since we cant force adults into leaving.

jmo [/*]

Very compassionate.
How can we say we'd be stronger, when we've never had to walk in their shoes ?

[evalles]

Originally posted by grammybear
I think most of us were brought up in a dysfunctional family in one way or another. Looking back over things I think I have become a better person because of what I went through. I believe where the difference is is what we do with what has happened to us.

It is a very sad situation in this group that these women did not have what it takes to protect themselves but their children also.
Hindsight is wonderful in some ways but what we do with the knowledge now is what is important.

jmoo [/*]

I don't think functional families are the norm any more.

[evalles]

Originally posted by skytalk
There is actual brain damage that happens in abuse. If many or most of the mothers also were sexually abused they may have had an overwhelming feeling of helplessness to be living in an environment where abuse is 'normal'. That may explain (but not excuse) how the mothers were unable to stop the abuse of their children.

I am working through trauma as well. Sexual abuse was a minor chapter in my past relative to the physical and psychological torture I experienced.

I tried traditional therapy from 1981-1986 and thought I had done enough inner work. I have had a happy and healthy marriagne, I have a strong spiritual path, satisfying work (as a counselor and a social worker). I thought--call it good. Last May I was physically attacked by a neighbor and I completely went into an acute crisis of PTSD followed by a diagnosis of Complex PTSD.

I have been working with a psychologist who does EMDR Eye Movement Desensitization Reprogramming. It is very effective. It actually 'reboots' the brain so that there is cross-over again.

I still have the capacity to be 're-triggered' into a state of extreme fear--fight or flight--a sense of life and death threat and a feeling of despair--that this will never improve and that I am trapped forever. These are the truth of my early childhood memories that are stored within my brain and body.

There has been enormous improvement. Victim witness is paying for the therapy. It takes tremendous courage. I just want everyone who is working on this in their lives to know that we are connected in healing. [/*]

I'm so sorry.

[evalles]

Are boys that are molested by their fathers more likely to molest their own children ?

[Devotion]

Originally posted by evalles

Are boys that are molested by their fathers more likely to molest their own children ? [/*]

evalles...I don't know the answer to your question...

My question is this:
WHY would a man consider molesting young boys/ sons when he had all those YOUNG WIVES unless he was a sick freak or pedofile?......jmo

[KKKKKKatie]

Originally posted by Devotion


evalles...I don't know the answer to your question...

My question is this:
WHY would a man consider molesting young boys/ sons when he had all those YOUNG WIVES unless he was a sick freak or pedofile?......jmo [/*]

Because they find boys more attractive IMO

[tisamystery]

Originally posted by KKKKKKatie


Because they find boys more attractive IMO [/*]


Or because they like them even younger.

[lita456]

Originally posted by skytalk


PTSD is 'post traumatic stress disorder' and there are two types; simple and complex. I have complex. Simple is one traumatic event. Complex involves multiple, repeated experiences. PTDS is considered a psychiatric injury. It is NOT a mental illness, but it can resemble a mental illness and be very debillitating.

Complex arises out of repeated violations of trust and helplessness usually in childhood that may be triggered by an event in the present. lita I started a bullying thread in open court that goes into it more.

There are many reasons why those who were able to flee the situation may not have been able to get help for the others. This type of abuse is difficult to understand. Look into 'Stockholm Syndrome' for some clues.

Sometimes when someone is a bully--people move closer to the bullies in the mistaken delusion that they will be safer closer to the abuser than further away.

I applaud those who escaped and I do not judge ANYTHING they did--including--inability to say anything to LE. [/*]



I did look up stockholm syndrome and it indicates it's a behavior of kidnap victims who over time become sympathetic to their captors.

Captives begin to identify with their captors initially as a defensive mechanism, out of fear of violence. Small acts of kindness by the captor are magnified, since finding perspective in a hostage situation is by definition impossible. Rescue attempts are also seen as a threat, since it's likely the captive would be injured during such attempts.

It could be signaled out as that, but would it pertain to women who grew up in that type of lifestyle?

JMOO

[johnielee333]

Originally posted by lita456



So sorry for what you others had to go through. Thankfully, for me, I never went through that type of torture. I couldn't even imagine.

I believe these women are just as guilty for letting this happen! They knew what was going on! A couple of the women who had left that sect told it, they lived it, and knew it was wrong.

It's sad to say, but it took a hoax phonecall for LE to check it out? Why didn't any of these women who left say anything prior to this? I don't get it.

JMOO [/*]

i bet the women that left did say something about it but LE is the one's that didnt do anything about it. LE has been turning their back on this for yrs. LE knew this kind of stuff was happening in the FLDS for a very long time.

[Details]

Originally posted by johnielee333
i bet the women that left did say something about it but LE is the one's that didnt do anything about it. LE has been turning their back on this for yrs. LE knew this kind of stuff was happening in the FLDS for a very long time. [/*]IIRC, in one of the cases (maybe Elisa - the woman who got Jeffs put away for accessory to rape), she said that LE in their town would not listen, would return her to the cult if she ran to them. They were really part of the cult.

[xray ra]

Hi Grammybear. What a wonderful insight you have brought to this thread. I feel truly blessed to be able to read your posts.
I assume you are of the Mormon faith. If not, then the rest of my post will not make any sense.
Were you or any of your family approached to be a member of the FDLS sect in the past?
My cousin married a Morman girl over 20 yrs ago. The whole family (20+cousins and parents) held our breath. All we knew was that Mormons were polygamists! How crazy. They have 4 children and a monogamous marraige that has outlasted most of ours!!

I am so glad that you have chosen to share your life experiences, good and bad, with us.
IMO, it would be wonderful if regular Mormons would step up and take some of these children AND their mothers into their church and into their homes. The religious teachings might at least have some similarities to what they have been taught in the past.
Or is the FDLS so far removed from the LDS that the women and children in Texas/Utah/Arizona would not fit into the "normal" Mormon faith?: :shrug:

[Annie143]

what a wonderful idea !
it would be wonderful if regular Mormons would step up and take some of these children AND their mothers into their church and into their homes.