Reader comments
FLDS Church issues statement on marriage

9 comments   |   Read story

VA gal | 6:23 a.m. June 3, 2008
Well it was good to clarify what they believed. I am almost certain they will stick to it. They don't want a repeat. I am glad they will stick to the 17/18 year old marriages. At that age most ladies and gentlemen are old enough to stand up for themselves if they don't want to be married.
It was good for them to | 7:39 a.m. June 3, 2008
"Clarify", but they still do not admit what has been happening in their community. Their leader is in prison and many more have been arrested for forcing young girls (whether through conditioning techniques or not) to marry. They haven't known what else to do! Young people usually follow their families' advice and don't know what other options they have!
bilbo | 8:20 a.m. June 3, 2008
How serious is FLDS in enforcing this policy?
If you read closely, you will NOT see anything that gives any teeth to it...."...The church will counsel families that they neither request nor consent to any underage marriages..."
Counsel......no censure is mentioned.
Excommunication of offenders is not mentioned.
I expect to see another group breal off, with a new prophet and same 'spiritual marriage' planes.
Arrest ALL men who have sex with underage girls....in Texas, in Chicago, on Harlem, in Long Island, in North Carolina, in Martha's Vineyard....any place that has men who have sex with underage girls (and boys).
Preversion is NOT limited to YFZ. Get it all out. Open some tent city prisons.
Stop the underage girls having sex with MEN!!!
Comments continue below
desert darling | 12:19 p.m. June 3, 2008
It has long been a choice of the families what age the daughters got married. Sometimes the daughters themselves pressed the issue, pretty insistently in some cases. But it was still up to the father to make the decision to approve the marriage.
Some fathers stay steady with an older marriage age, some do not. In some cases it was a desperate attempt to prevent premarital sex.
Whatever the case, I am sure they will have a much greater tendancy toward legal age marriages.
Sugar Momma | 1:15 p.m. June 3, 2008
And all I kept thinking about as I read this well-worded PR statement were the pictures of Warren Jeffs making out with a 12-year old.

So in FLDS language, consensual means that kids can have consensual sex with adults.
St. Georgian | 8:45 p.m. June 3, 2008
Big balony. I worked with an FLDS girl that received a phonecall at work one afternoon and she then told her boss that she needed the next day off. When asked why, she said that the phone call was to tell her that she was to be married the next day to a 60 year old man. She was about 21 at that time. No, it was not concensual other than the fact she just did as she was told. By the way, she was the fifth wife to this dirty old man. What choice did she have. Four kids later, her "husband" was removed from the family and sent from the community by Warren Jeffs. This girl and her kids are among those at the FYZ ranch.
Moral of the story, don't believe everything you hear about or from the FLDS.
John Lambert | 11:27 p.m. June 3, 2008
The case is not really for forcing marriage. The case is built on the legal position that underage children can not consent to marriage. Also, it shoulb be born in mind that several polygamists who were convicted in Utah had no connection to the FLDS Church. In fact it is estimated that about half the polygamists and those who believe polygamy is still a commandment of God do not affiliate with any formal church organization.
John Lambert | 11:32 p.m. June 3, 2008
To St. Georgian:
You case is not a good example. CLearly no laws were broken on the consensual side. Under your theory we should also charge Bill Clinton with rape, since if anything Monica Lewinski, although not quite so young since Bill was only about 50, was definantly faced with a man whose preponderance of authority over her was greater.
If the girl in your story had not wanted to marry the man, she could have said no. Consensual does not mean that you arrange the whole marriage. Arranged marriages are not forced marriages.
G | 8:08 a.m. June 4, 2008
I would suggest D-News make it more clear in the link that this is the actual statement from FLDS and not an article about their release of the statement. It's obvious that's what this but may still confuse some readers.

Add your comment

Comments are monitored. Any comments found to be abusive, offensive, off-topic, misrepresentative, more than 200 words or containing URLs will not be posted.

Words Remaining

E-mail address: For internal use only. We may want to contact you to publish your comment (not your e-mail address) in the newspaper or for a separate story idea.

Related content

Article

  1. Hall's pain reflects self-betrayal
  2. Y. student vanished in China
  3. Max Hall issues apology
  4. Hall mouths off about hate of Utah
  5. Cougs begin bowl preparations
  6. Boy shot following traffic stop
  7. Utes won't respond to Hall
  8. Matthews passes new Jazz tests
  9. Body of missing woman found
  10. BYU is champion of the state
  1. Hall mouths off about hate of Utah888
  2. Cougars beat Utes in overtime480
  3. Max Hall issues apology352
  4. Hall's pain reflects self-betrayal228
  5. BYU is champion of the state140
  6. Man trapped in Nutty Putty cave dies120
  7. Cave to be sealed with body inside116
  8. Utes won't respond to Hall112
  9. Hall reprimanded by MWC94
  10. Rivalry Week is highly profane91

Dad blog: Black Friday tales

I wanted to tell them not to go. I dropped subtle hints. "My money is on...

Mom blog: Heroes for our children

When I was a kid, I worshipped my grandpa. He was undoubtedly my hero....

Jay Evensen: Ask Chaffetz

I've asked for your help on this sort of thing before – giving me...

previousnext

Latest comments

Hall reprimanded by MWC

I accept said:

Congratulations to Max and the second place MWC finish. Good Luck on the...

Cougs begin bowl preparations

BYU to Vegas said:

Please, Tina. You want a team with honor to play in your bowl. The Utes are...

Hall reprimanded by MWC

Scoreboard said:

Reprimand or not, the score was still 26-23. Go BYU!!!

Utes won't respond to Hall

Ben Cahoon said:

is class on and off the field, unlike Max Hall.

Hall reprimanded by MWC

Anonymous said:

POOR TENDERED FEELING HYPOCRITICAL UTES: You would be loving it if you had...

Rivalry dishes out talking points

BYU fan said:

As for Max as a QB — he doesn’t seem to do well under real...

Hall reprimanded by MWC

JLS said:

In an era of so-called political correctness and sensitivity, Hall shouldn't...

Hall reprimanded by MWC

Max said:

CTR .. choose to RANT .. typical BYU

Letters: Stop cruelty to animals

Reason said:

I agree that sometimes animal experimentation is used too casually. But...

Letters: Hall is an embarrassment

To "12:14 p.m." said:

12:14 p.m. This wasn't a "what if" scenario. You sound oblivious to the...

Advertisements