Dear *|FNAME|*,
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Doris Hanson, Director,
A Shield and Refuge Ministry |
As Brandon Blackmore left the courtroom in handcuffs after receiving his sentence, he looked at the people in the gallery and said, “Everybody happy? I bet you are.” A bitter man who has been tried and convicted for crimes that his religion advocated. Many polygamists, from the time of Joseph Smith forward, have raped young girls in the name of God. They call polygamy a “higher law” given to worthy people who will practice it correctly. How very wrong sincere people can be.
I read an article many years ago that spoke of Biblical Illiteracy. The article boldly said that the only reason cults survive and flourish, is because people are biblically illiterate. Too many people are ready to believe almost anything that anyone claims the Bible teaches. Christians are encouraged to not only know what’s in the Bible, but also to properly understand what it says:
2 Timothy 2:15-- Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.
1 Peter 3:15-- Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.
Our ministry is focused on boldly bringing hope to polygamists through God’s Truths, and to do this in a loving, gentle and truthful manner. Please continue to pray for us.
Most who are born and raised in Mormon polygamy groups go to their graves believing that their loyalty to their polygamy group has indebted God to them. They look forward to waking up in heaven and rewarded with the promotion to godhood. They believe that since the beginning—God was a polygamist who begat millions of spirit babies each with the potential of becoming a god in their own right through righteous living and polygamy. They need the truth!!
Colossians 1:13-14 For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
God has rescued us, may He use us as POWER TOOLS to help rescue them. We are available to speak to your group about Mormon polygamy.
Just call Doris at 801-649-3103
“Though there be multiple sources in the media trying to destroy the Kingdom of God, and keep the saints from living the fullness of the gospel. Yet we shall overcome, our population will grow beyond their bounds, and we will fill the whole state of Utah, and beyond. There will be a day that the whole of America shall be the Kingdom of our God. simply because we keep the first commandment ever given, and that is to go forth, and multiply.” W.A.
“The bigots only have one lame excuse for an argument "It's against the law blah blah blah" as if the law is automatically sacrosanct. They don't want to talk about the constitutionality of the portion of the state's bigoted anti bigamy statute that attacks CONSENTING ADULTS. They don't want to talk about it and I seriously wonder if my post here will be removed to maintain the echo chamber here. Banning and felonizing consenting adults for exercising their constitutional RIGHT to free association, their constitutional RIGHT to religion, and their constitutional RIGHT to due process before losing the right to marry, is so unconstitutional that I dare this page to allow this discussion.... Saying "it's against the law" over and over is not a discussion, that is EVASION. Laws are declared unconstitutional all the time and wiped off the books. It's been happening since the dawn of this nation and it will happen again to the bigoted and blatantly unconstitutional portion of Utah's statute that attacks consenting adults. It's coming, tick tock. Families of consenting adults will finally be able to come out of the shadows of evil threats and intimidation from bigots. By the way, I'm so tired of how the bigots constantly imply that all polygamists are child brides. Smearing an entire group is CLASSIC bigotry.” (Comment from our Social Media page)
Our Response: Our arguments against polygamy is because it destroys lives and subjugates women and children. It follows a different gospel than the Bible teaches, and replaces Jesus ALONE as Savior. Even if polygamy ever becomes legal, our message will remain the same.
- FLDS polygamist and leader Lyle Jeffs who was a fugitive for about a year on food stamp fraud charges, has been captured and appeared in federal court to face those charges as well as for failure to appear. The judge set a four-week trial for September, but has delayed the trial until October. Jeffs’ attorneys asked for a postponement to allow time for him to have a neurological exam because Jeffs claims he has brain injuries from accidents he suffered about 20 years ago. It’s strange, this turn of events, because these “accidents” are news to those who knew him as co-leader of their religion. There were nine other defendants in this case, they all reached plea deals with the court.
- Two polygamist men in Canada have been found guilty for living polygamy. James Oler who has five wives and 32 children, Winston Blackmore who has 25 wives and more than 145 children, were both pronounced guilty of polygamy. Blackmore made the remark that he knew polygamy was against the law, but because the law never challenged him, he thought it was okay. Sentencing for these crimes will be handed down in the coming weeks, the maximum is five years in prison. Blackmore’s attorney has already said he will appeal the guilty verdict arguing the polygamy laws of Canada infringe on their guaranteed right to freedom of religion.
- A polygamous couple was tried for trafficking their 13 year old daughter from Canada to the U.S. for sexual purposes. The girl’s father received a sentence of one year in prison and 18 months’ probation. The mother’s sentence was seven months in prison and 18 months’ probation. We pray God’s grace and truth will be made known to them during this time.
We have finished the book, “Is Polygamy Biblical”. This space will now be used to tell the stories of some of the people and families that
A Shield and Refuge Ministry have helped escape from polygamy or polygamous environments. Real names will not be used, places and dates may also be changed to keep the privacy, confidentiality and safety of those we’ve helped. Although I was helping ladies understand Biblical polygamy before A Shield and Refuge came into being, our first real escapee contacted us for help within two weeks after we first put up our website, www.shieldandrefuge.org. She found the website and the rest was an adventure of rescue. It went like this:
It was nighttime, and the last thing I expected was a phone call from a woman who was looking for answers on how to extract herself from a future of being a second wife in a polygamous home. She had her own cell phone and called me secretly because if she was discovered calling me, it would cause huge and possibly dangerous problems for her. This woman had had just enough “Christian” education to be dangerous.
She “knew” things the bible said, but knew very little about how to properly apply or interpret what it said. She had been convinced by her future polygamist husband that polygamy was a Biblical imperative and was preparing to become his plural wife. She had been living as a nanny in his home with his first wife and children, learning about him and the family. Soon she would be taking vows to marry him. She had been surfing the web and landed on our web page, but questions arose when the information on our page proved from the Bible that polygamy was not a requirement or a command from God, but God’s plan has always been only monogamy. We had quite the conversation! She wanted to believe polygamy wasn’t God’s will, but she also didn’t want to give up believing what she thought she knew. She said she’d think about it and maybe call me back.
We talked several times in the following days, and after discovering that her future polygamist husband abused his wife and children, and also her, we made plans to get her out of there. But it had to be done very secretly. She lived several miles away, in a small town and with our plans made, and the help of a great Christian couple, after it was dark, we drove to where she was staying. We were a couple of minutes away from the house, I called her to alert her we were nearly there. Without being noticed, she had already put her few belongings on the porch, so when we drove up to the house, we threw her bags into the car, she jumped in, and we were gone —a successful secret escape. She called her ex-future husband the next day and told him she wouldn’t be back. He angrily told her he was going to find her and cut off her head! But of course, that didn’t happen! She got away safely and eventually started her own life without the fear and misery of a life in polygamy.
Pioneer Mormons' disdain for America:
“Within four years from September 1832, there will not be one wicked person left in the United States; that the righteous will be gathered to Zion (Missouri,) and that there will be no President over these United States at that time…. I do hereby assert and declare that in four years from the date thereof [1832], every sectarian and religious denomination in the United States, shall be broken down, and every Christian shall be gathered unto the Mormonites, and the rest of the human race shall perish.” - High Priest Martin Harris, quoted in Howe, Mormonism Unvailed, 1834, p. 14
- “Martha Brotherton, a young Nauvoo woman, reported that …. she was privately approached by Brigham Young and asked “were it lawful and right...could [you] accept of me for your husband and companion?” Young stated that “Brother Joseph has had a revelation from God that it is lawful and right for a man to have two wives; for as it was in the days of Abraham, so it shall be in these last days...if you will accept of me, I will take you straight to the celestial kingdom.” Brotherton reported that when she hesitated, Young left the room and returned ten minutes later with Smith. “Well, Martha,” she reported the prophet as saying, “just go ahead, and do as Brigham wants you to … I know that this is lawful and right before God… I have the keys of the kingdom, and whatever I bind on earth is bound in heaven, and whatever I loose on earth is loosed in heaven.” Martha begged for time to consider the offer, then left for St. Louis, where she published her story in the 15 July 1842 St. Louis Bulletin.” ~ Richard S. Van Wagoner, Mormon Polygamy, pg 20
Even before Martha left Nauvoo, rumors of the incident began to circulate. Hyrum Smith, Joseph Smith’s brother, publically addressed the Mormons refuting the story. Joseph Smith addressed the group after his brother was finished, he said this: “There is no person that is acquainted with our principles who would believe such lies.”
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The judge who listened to the recent case of the escapee and her children, has ruled for the husband to take legal custody of
the children—even though polygamy is illegal—the polygamist husbands continue to receive favoritism. There have been
several lawsuits filed on various levels as a result of this escapee. Please pray for financial provision to battle this on several ‘fronts’, please pray for the mother who is trusting God to make things right for her and the children, please pray for all the people involved.
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We are making plans to travel to Southern Utah contingent upon finding people we can interview for our shows. Our ministry will team up for this traveling event with Earl Erskine of Ex-Mormon Files to seek out ex-Mormons and ex-polygamy group members who have found the truth in Jesus Christ, and want to tell their story for our respective shows. Also if your church, missions or other group are interested in inviting us to tape live shows with an audience as a special informative project along with Q & A, please contact us so we can talk more about it.
Call Doris at: 801-649-3103
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