Letters to the Editor
-
Marriage != sex
Sure, it's against the law to "arrange or facilitate sex with anyone under the age of 18," but where on the site are they outwardly selling sex?
They're simply selling marriage proposals, and as any married person can tell you, sex doesn't go hand-in-hand with marriage.
-
_Allie_: split personality much?
Is this the same Allie so worried about child abuse? And when faced with actual child abuse balks?
-
I'm surprised with allie as well
Seriously, have you never smiled while being very upset, because its whats required of you at the time? There are several pictures of me at a celebratory event where my life was shattered that morning, yet I had to put up appearances for the bride's day. I was doing everything I could to hold it together, going to the bathroom every hour or so and crying, then coming back to the event with a big smile on my face and playing the part of happy bridesmaid.
I am really shocked this is coming from you after reading so many of your letters here. We're talking about a 14 year old in a backwards world. She quite honestly may have never been told about sex. Granted, I'm not familiar with FLDS types but there are plenty of conservative cultures in america where talking about sex is still taboo. I went to college with a guy in the 80s who, as a senior and still a virgin, thought the only time a woman could get pregnant was during her period, like she was in heat. This was before that state had any sex education in the schools.
Really, your attitude isn't far from saying that a daughter should know that her father isn't supposed to be having sex with her so why wouldn't an incest victim just tell somebody or just say no?
-
Re: Don't we wish it was over
rhenly writes: "Don't we wish it was over ...While that web site might think it's a joke - the problem is real enough - even in the US......" and goes on to refer to Warren Jeffs polygamous sect.
Actually I think the public reaction to the Warren Jeffs case shows that this type of behavior IS essentially over in the U.S. I'm sure the vast majority of Americans think that parents marrying off their children is wrong. I think you'd be hard-pressed to find someone, outside of FLDS, who thinks it's okay to arrange marriage for their underage child. Just because a few crackpots in Utah believe in something doesn't mean it's a serious problem in this country.
-
My Favorite Martians
Just because a few crackpots in Utah believe in something doesn't mean it's a serious problem in this country.
-- kansasgirl
Actually I think you'll find that the majority of polygamous sects/members are to be found outside the borders of Utah. Here's a chart rendering of some of them:
CHARTING POLYGAMY LEADERSHIP Splinter groups have embraced polygamy and branched out to communities in Utah, Montana, Arizona, southern Canada and Mexico. (A 2.3 mb PDF file download)
http://extras.sltrib.com/specials/polygamy/PolygamyLeaders.pdf
But her testimony is so obviously lies. ... A 14 year old should at least know what sex is. ...
- Allie_
Jane Doe also said that she did not know sexual relations were necessary to have a baby.
The Defense Questions Jane Doe http://blogs.sltrib.com/plurallife/2006/12/defense-questions-jane-doe.htm
I don't ever remember any loose dogs in Utah when I lived there years ago.
I know it's hard to believe here in the land of iPods that any form of sheltered existence can occur at this time, but when you are constantly taught the following and forced to wear those granny dresses, possibly this disconnect you think is lies may be easier to understand:
ST. GEORGE - As a young girl, Jane Doe was taught there was a high price for disobeying her religious leaders: Loss of heavenly salvation.
The consequences of disobedience were driven home by polygamous sect leader Warren S. Jeffs in school lessons, church sermons and personal interviews, Doe said.
"The prophet was a God to us, God on Earth," she said, and his counselors were the same.
"We were to follow them obediently as though we were led by a hair," she said, a hair that if snapped would cause them to "forfeit our chance at an afterlife."
Doe took the stand for about an hour Thursday afternoon as the state's first witness in its case against Warren Jeffs Trial, Day 1
Jeffs, leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. He is charged with two counts of rape as an accomplice.
...
Jeffs' supporters and jurors alike listened intently as Doe talked about attending Alta Academy, the private school once operated by the FLDS church. Jeffs was the principal and taught classes there, she said.
In many lessons he instructed girls about their proper roles and duties as wives.
Young people were taught that dating and intimacy before marriage were inappropriate. Girls and boys were to treat each other "as though they were snakes," she said. "There was nothing permitted romantically."
She said she received no instruction on maturation or sexual intimacy.
"That would be taught to us by our husbands," she said.
Washington County Attorney Brock Belnap previewed Doe's testimony in his 15-minute opening statement. He emphasized Jeffs' position of authority and constant teachings on the dutiful and obedient behavior expected from women.
He made repeated references to Doe's age and to her "adult husband." Belnap also focused on Doe's numerous objections to marrying her cousin, a man she despised.
When Doe learned who she was to marry, she went to then-FLDS leader Rulon T. Jeffs, got on her knees and begged that it not happen, Belnap said.
But Jeffs, then a first counselor in the FLDS church, told Doe "her heart was in the wrong place and she had a duty to go forward," Belnap said.
Doe was told that "entering the Celestial Law of Marriage was the most important thing she could do with her life," Belnap said. And being married to a "righteous priesthood man" was the only way for her to get to heaven.
"She also learned that she was to keep sweet," Belnap said.
http://www.sltrib.com/polygamy/ci_6890819
This philosophy, religion and practice is not in any danger of going away. It's just as strong now as it was 30 years ago when I first ran into Mr. Jeff's father - Rulon. Who was, barring this aging twisted, crackpot philosophy a much more interesting person than found in the majority of the Utah populace.
Unfortunately it appeared that the charming weasel gained his power by denying it to women of all ages.
And therein lies the rub that the website glosses over with that parody of commerce.
Isn't it just possible that this young woman is attempting now in her own culturally-limited way to reclaim ?