Where’s the New Book?

POLYGAMY UNDER ATTACK:
From Tom Green to 
Brian David Mitchell

 

Good question because it’s been on the drawing board since David Leavitt convicted Tom Green of child rape. But as I pecked away on my computer, other Mormon polygamists kept leaping into the headlines and I knew I needed to add these other characters to the book because they are all closely related to the dynamic behind Tom Green’s plight, and in very important ways.

Then came the worldwide bombshell of Brian David Mitchell, the itinerant sidewalk preacher who kidnaped Elizabeth Smart. The entire world had been focused on publicity hungry Tom Green and his claim of a peaceful life as a polygamist, when Mitchell and his accomplice wife shocked the world by their grizzly crime against Elizabeth Smart. I knew I needed to explain how all these polygamist men (and women) come from the same starting place of early Mormon doctrine. Not a simple task, but an important one if realistic solutions are to be found.

Tom Green’s highly publicized prosecution proved to be the catalyst in this worldwide look at a lifestyle that many thought only existed in third world countries. The abuses have gained so much attention that Oprah Winfrey aired a segment on abusive polygamy and will follow up with a program and interview of Elizabeth Smart’s parents in their home.

And now Arizona and Utah are taking a hard look at the polygamy groups because of the human rights issues, and because of the huge welfare money drain that has been occurring for years as polygamist wives sign up for state welfare benefits as single mothers with children.

After Tom was sentenced for child rape, I sensed a trend was developing, an unseen force bent upon airing the dirty linen of polygamy. Surely this force would bring about change, I thought...

The headlines began in 1997 when Virginia Hill filed her lawsuit against polygamist leader Owen A. Allred, accusing him and others of stealing from her 1.5 million dollars in cash. Since then there has been one polygamist after another making the news because of outrageous crimes against others, usually women and children.

As public focus intensified, I realized it was imperative to bring all the different pieces of the polygamy puzzle together, presenting a crystal clear image of what is happening. Organized anti-polygamy groups were crying out for action while government was searching for realistic solutions.

It is critical that concerned citizens understand that all these polygamists -- Tom Green, Brian David Mitchell, David Kingston, and others -- have a common, interrelated denominator - early Mormon beliefs. While the mainstream LDS Church has abandoned polygamy, there are thousands of dissidents known as Mormon Fundamentalists, and their practice of polygamy today is directly tied to the early teachings of the LDS Church.

To complicate matters, faithful members of the mainstream LDS Church still hold fast to the doctrine of a man having more than one wife in heaven. They may not practice it on earth, as many of their ancestors did, but to them, it is still a sacred doctrine for the eternities.

LATTER-DAY SAINTS are aware that the state of Utah abandoned polygamy so Utah could officially become a sovereign state within the United States. It is understandable that the entire issue of polygamy today is a conflict for them. They are torn between what was an early practice of their Church, what they believe will occur in heaven, versus the deep-rooted abuses going on among today’s earthbound, active polygamists.

My book will examine polygamy in America, and how a once sacred belief can develop into a dark underworld of horrible crimes usually found in third world countries – not hidden away in the United States of America.

The question every decent citizen asks: What can be done about it? What will, or can Utah and the neighboring state of Arizona actually do, if anything? What resources are available because the victims of polygamy abuse present special problems. The victims are not just women and children, but men too, conditioned from birth to endure abuse under the banner of religion. They don’t know what to do or where to go, which I discuss in detail.

One issue is for certain and will become hotter as facts become more available. Hardworking citizens, struggling in a declining economy, watch as government benefits decrease or disappear. They will be irate when they become aware that their hard-earned tax dollars are helping support abusive, organized polygamist groups who have been allowed to legally incorporate towns and cities and whose women and children live off state tax funds. When the realization hits home, look for changes to come.

Expect my new book on the market in January 2004.