"The [Mackert] sisters are seventh-generation polygamists. Their ancestors have practiced polygamy since soon after Joseph Smith had his revelation in 1843" writes Daphne Bramham, Vancouver Sun newspaper columnist.

It must be cringe-worthy for Mormons and especially Mormon leaders to see daily coverage of the underbelly of Mormonism. Despite LDS leaders' instructions about terminology, reporters continue to refer to FLDS as Mormon fundamentalists (GBH stated there was no such beast as a Mormon fundamentalist) and often revert to just "Mormon". I've seen references and comparisons to the Mormon SLC temple and today Daphne is bringing up JS.

I doubt this daily coverage of the current polygamy trial and all the back stories and history surrounding it will improve proselytizing efforts in British Columbia.

It brings to mind a missionary I became particularly friendly with during my mo interlude who was shocked into total horrified dumbstruck silence when he found out on his mission that JS started and practiced polygamy and that other men followed. Despite living near enough to see the Jordan River temple every day and coming from a fully active LDS family, including having an SP for a father, he had never heard about polygamy. "Why didn't my parents tell me?" was his plaintive wail as the truth sank in, after a confrontation about it while he was out tracting door-to-door. (And why not, indeed?) The mish emphatically insisted to the householder that it was an anti-Mormon lie until he later confirmed for himself with some church members that, indeed, JS et al engaged in polygamy. The mish still looked green when he told me about it. At the time, he was as sick about not having known about it - and making a fool of himself at the door - as he was about the polygamy itself. Many exmos can relate to that feeling of having been snowed and having been part of something unawares that they would not have chosen if they'd known. (I had a similar when I found out about Mormon Church racism after I left. Obviously, I would not have chosen to participate in such an organization had I known).

Here is the newspaper article online:

http://www.vancouversun.com/life/Opinion+Abused+sisters+stand+witnesses+harms+polygamy/3874914/story.html

Excerpts from article:

"When lawyers talk about the harms of polygamy, there’s scarcely one that Kathleen and Rena Mackert haven’t personally endured.

"The sisters have had front-row seats in B.C. Supreme Court for the opening week of the constitutional reference case to determine whether Canada’s anti-polygamy law is valid.

“It’s a redemption to feel that we can make a difference,” Kathleen said during the Tuesday afternoon break. “To go through all the abuse we endured for most of our lives and turn it around for future generations is very redemptive.”

"The sisters are seventh-generation polygamists. Their ancestors have practised polygamy since soon after Joseph Smith had his revelation in 1843.

"Their father had four wives, 27 children and four stepchildren. Their mother was his third wife and she had seven children. Rena is one of her older children and she was born in a chicken coop near the Utah-Arizona border.

"That’s where their mother lived and was grateful for a place of her own, even if it was unheated and had no running water or electricity.

"Rena says her father began molesting her when she was three.

"Kathleen can’t recall when her father began molesting her. But by the time she was six it had become so intense that she tried to kill herself by taking an overdose of pills. Later, she remembers her mother turning a blind eye to the blood in another sister’s diapers.

"Their mother, who remains a member of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, never spoke up when the prophet arranged for both Rena and Kathleen to marry their half-brothers. Rena had only 36 hours to adjust to the idea that her half-brother was soon to be sharing her bed; Kathleen had a week.

"Both have received death threats...[for testifying]"

“It’s important for Canada and the U.S. as well that the law is upheld,” says Kathleen.

“If the law is repealed, you will see an increase in trafficking of girls ... as well as an increase in child labour and increased violations of human rights and civil liberties.”

"As pleased as they are that the issue is before the court, both sisters know that the law could be declared invalid because it breaches the guaranteed rights to freedom of religion, association and expression.

"But, they say, at least they will be content knowing that they have done everything they could to make people understand what polygamy looks like from the inside."



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 11/24/2010 01:47PM by Nightingale.

I'd love to know if the COB is aware and scrambling to fix up a PR campaign, or whether they don't even know where Canada is so don't care.

But surely it must have an impact on Mormon missionaries in this area where now more than ever they will face householders at the door-knocks who are bringing up polygamy even more than usual. It is the pre-eminent impression outsiders have about Mormonism, despite all the church denials and scrambling to disassociate themselves from their lurid history and now it's in the news daily!

Mentioning JS as the founder of FLDS polygamy, with all of its abuses, is icing on the cake for those who want to highlight the truth and get the negative aspects of such groups out into the open and improved.

Count me in as an avid daily reader while this trial lasts at least. It's gratifying to see all this info come out.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/25/2010 01:53PM by Nightingale.

Thank you Nightingale for posting these updates. I look forward to them with great interest. I just wanted you know that someone is reading them and looking forward to your updates.

Yes very interesting, I agree.

Nightingale, thanks for keeping us all up to date on this trial. I try to catch the news on TV myself, but I get more info on the trial through reading your posts!