Several years ago, I read a statement about the focus of our Christian life which remains as important today as it was then and always will be. It is: “The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.”
Of course, the main thing is Jesus Christ and our faith in Him in all things. On the cross He said, “IT IS FINISHED”. And it was finished, and it is finished. Everything we need to know, and everything we need for eternal life has been accomplished—and all we do is trust and obey.
2 Peter 1:3 His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence...
Through Jesus Christ we have everything we need for life and godliness. The main thing is not to worry about or even trust our government, or politics or our education system or “religion”. It is to look to and trust Jesus every single moment in every single circumstance. We want those who are trusting in their polygamy to transfer all that trust onto Jesus our only Savior. The things of this world will pass away—but Jesus and His words will never pass away. So instead of looking around us in bewilderment, we look up in confidence.
We thank you for your support and prayers that enable us to bring the Good News to polygamists!
To help our readers understand the struggles polygamists face, we present suggested reading material which may give you a better understanding of the dark world of Mormon polygamy. This month our featured book is entitled, Born in Polygamy, by Rebecca Kimbel. Her book is 1 1/2 inches thick and contains a huge amount of information, so we will be reviewing it for the next couple of Newsletters. We also focused on this book with a couple of our shows at whatloveisthis.tv/episodes, Episodes 13.37 and 13.38.
We continue our review of Rebecca Kimbel’s story in which the reader can easily understand that being raised in polygamy was a living nightmare for her. You can order her book here: http://www.rebeccakimbel.com.
We begin on page 189 describing the FLDS mental health program:
“There is a mental institution in Colorado City which is frequently and successfully used to discipline uncooperative Polygamous women. The moment they are locked up in there they have a legal mental health record and they never get custody of their children again. There’s even a branch of FLDS working in the mental health departments in Salt Lake City. They recycle escaping women right back into the Polygamous colonies and take their children away.”
Rebecca gives several examples of polygamous wives who were taken to and left in those mental lock-ups. Their stories are horrifying. Rebecca’s polygamous husband was cruel and overpowering. One example of his cruelty from pages 190 and 191:
“Bleeding the Beast, taking from nonbelievers, is a basic part of the religion. Polygamy is no different than the cattle business. Women are breeding stock. Female children are bartered for more breeding stock. Male children provide free labor and added tithing… if you ever try to leave remember … the children are mine! Water boarding the babies wasn’t the end of my control. It was only the beginning. I can destroy your life in more ways than you can imagine. I can have you locked up in the insane asylum and make sure you never get out! Don’t you ever forget you are bought and paid for. I own you. I own our daughters.”
She wrote that she quietly listened to him to make him think that she was compliant, but she decided that death was preferable to serving him. She was more determined than ever to get herself and her children out of the Fundamentalist Polygamist control. But how? She didn’t know.
Rebecca writes about the mental and emotional difficulty plural wives face in choosing whether or not to escape their hellish life in polygamy. Female children are often molested and many times it is their own fathers or brothers or uncles doing it. She explains about their fear and quote from page 486:
“We knew very well that Polygamist children grew up fearing for their salvation if they didn’t live Polygamy. But the public never knew about the blood covenants, so they never understood why enslaved women publicly endorsed those who enslaved them. The public never understood that children born and raised in slavery stay in slavery… there were no teeth in the law and no safety for victims of polygamy.”
BORN IN POLYGAMY is a great book to read by those who are interested in the on-going history of Mormon Fundamentalists as well as current polygamy groups and their unique beliefs. Rebecca Kimbel, the author, has left polygamy behind, but her memories of its cruelty remain. She is now highly active in working to reveal, explain and educate others about Mormon polygamy and all its dangers.
MORMON POLYGAMY HISTORY
Excerpted and condensed from: Mrs. Alice Young Clawson; Life Among The Mormons, pgs 288 - 291; By the Wife of a Mormon Elder. 1872 - conversation between Brigham Young and a woman he proposed to be a plural wife, she refuses his offer:
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He [Brigham] shook his head solemnly, and said, "Your soul is in danger." She said, "And yours may be too, for what I know.” I no longer feared him, though I hated and despised him.
“This is all folly on your part,” he said at length. “As my wife, your temporal and eternal salvation will be secured. You will be safe from the power of the devil, and beyond the danger of ever falling away. It is for your own good that I desire this, and now will you refuse?”
"I will,” she said.
Again his countenance grew dark, and he inquired, "Do you not know that I possess the power to enforce your obedience; that no one, especially a woman, may thwart my will?”
She informed Brigham that another man proposed marriage to her and she accepted. In anger Brigham asked her how she dared prefer another man to him. She said she dared, then he threatened that no marriage can take place without his consent.
A gleam of malicious pleasure twinkled in his eyes, as he answered, 'Well, it is the case, and you may rest assured that I shall never consent to your marriage with him... And now I command you, by the right invested in me — a right which extends to the control and supervision of every female among us — that you cease to associate with him. Beware!”
"Beware of what?' I said, affecting a calmness and unconcern, that I was far from feeling.
"Child, You know very well, that you are solely and wholly in my power. You have no parents, no relatives. These people with whom you live have no legal claim over you, neither can they prevent the exercise of my undoubted right to do with you as I please.”
She then left their conversation.
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This section was appropriately entitled: The Prophet Braved by a Woman. History shows Brigham Young had little respect for females.
Q: If polygamy is a sin, why didn’t God say so in the Bible?
A. Actually, God did say so in the Bible. True, there is no direct command that says, “Thou shalt not live polygamy.” But there is a command that does say, “Thou shalt not commit adultery.” The Old Testament definition of adultery includes the idea of a spouse having sexual relations with another who is not their spouse. In the New Testament Jesus said that just looking at another woman with lust in the heart is equal to committing adultery with her. First Corinthians 7:2 does command one woman for each man, and one man for each woman. And every passage in the Bible that describes a polygamous family describes a very negative situation.
Q: If God saw polygamy as sinful, why did God bless Abraham, Jacob, David and others? Why didn’t He punish them instead of bless them?
Because God is good! God blesses sinners. Not because they sinned, but because God is kind.
Romans 2:4: God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance...
2 Peter 3:15 And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him...
God’s patience leads “whosoever will” to come to Him for forgiveness. It is a completely different world for us who were born and raised in Mormon Fundamentalism. We were brainwashed from the cradle to believe that those not in the group were our enemies and were not to be trusted.
“I learned that the LDS Church claim that they believe the King James Bible “as much as it has been translated correctly.” People worked to translate the Bible, the proof exists, the LDS so called Prophet [Joseph Smith] said that God showed him the golden tablets, which NO ONE has ever seen, yet the LDS people believe that he is a true prophet who saw God. Doesn’t the Gospel of John say that “no one has ever seen God? Thank you for your wonderful ministry.”
“Utah has too many guys looking forward to having sexual relations with multiple women in the next life to be honest enough to admit all the harms done by polygamy.” BH
We presented a program a few months ago called, “The Buffetings of Satan” in which we discussed some brainwashing techniques of a particular polygamy group. We received these responses:
“I have listened to this twice and wrote down the scriptures for study. There were points about the fig leaf I had never heard before. You've given me food for thought. I appreciate you so much! Thank you for all your time, effort and prayer. I pray for ministries to the LDS people and that Biblical Christians will see this and be educated. Blessings to you, your sister in Christ, A.E.”
“I sure love you guys! Thank you for helping me think clearly.” MC
“Wow!!! Best Episode!! I am re-listening.” WR
- Pray for three young adults from a local polygamy group, two males, one female, who recently began attending a local Christian church. One of them has received Jesus for salvation, the other two are borderline. The female was a plural wife but her husband neglected her so she left. She’s still leaning towards the idea that polygamy is righteous. I have been asked to help as this congregation ministers to them and help equip them to minister to those who are questioning their Mormon faith.
- Pray for a young woman from a local polygamy group who has started attending our weekly Bible study. Pray God would open her heart to believe.
- Pray for “M”, we need to find a host home for her.
Just call Doris: 801-649-3103, or Email: doris@shieldandrefuge.org |
