Polygamist Mormon fundamentalist sects are making nationwide headlines lately with the arrest of Warren Jeffs. For a detailed explanation of them, read
Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith by Jon Krakauer.
This is an unsettling book. The central topic is the brutal murder of a Mormon wife and her baby by her husband’s brothers, who claimed God told them to do it. Krakauer explores these bizarre sects in detail, as well as the history of the LDS.
I find it nearly impossible to believe that such lunatic Taliban-like cults could openly exist and thrive in Utah without at least tacit support from mainstream Mormons.
I’m not sure that they would truly support them. But I remember reading one time about how bad the Taliban was, how they killed people left and right, they censored books, music, etc. The next link in the list was about Harry Potter being banned in libraries in Kansas, the next was about an execution in Texas, and another one further below criticized the music industry… fundamentalists are everywhere!
When, as has happened, the police themselves in Utah towns are polygamists who track down and drag back 15 year old girls who are trying to escape, then something is seriously wrong. Some of them have been removed from duty. Then there’s the rampant welfare fraud and other money scams, child and wife abuse, child rape – it’s not like this stuff is hidden.
Recently I saw a quote from a ranking Utah state official, presumably Mormon, who said, look folks, this stuff is out of control, we need to do something about it.
At best, it’s been pointedly ignored for decades.