This is when I remembered the book I randomly picked off the shelf just last month which was Escape by Carolyn Jessop -- it is her retelling of her life inside FLDS church. Born to a religious family, she writes about her normal childhood in a family with 2 mothers and many siblings. Being raised inside the FLDS she never questioned the ultra-conservative ways and teachings even when her older sister ran away to escape an arranged marriage. She believed that things would be different for her, she had plans of going to college, having a job while still practicing her religious and polygamous beliefs. Then at 18 she was forced to marry a 55 year old man to be his fourth wife. In her heart she knew that this was what the Prophet wanted and it was right but she was in the middle of school and she was hoping to finish and when she met her future husband, she knew that things wouldn't go her way. The politics inside the family were more than she could bear -- according to their faith, a man should not have any favorites among his wives but in the Jessop house, one wife obviously held sway over the others. This wife made it sure that all the other wives and the children turned against Carolyn especially when it was her "turn" to spend the night with the husband. Inspite of all the home problems, she endured and struggled to have children as having kids was like having power in a polygamous house, she "kept sweet", tried to ignore the favorite wife and just concentrate on her children and her studies.
After a few years she began seeing a shift in the church's ways, the Prophet of the FLDS was dying and his son, Warren Jeffs was slowly taking over. She noticed that Jeffs was assigning girls as young as 13 to be married to men as old as 80, Jeffs also started to close all the schools as if the community was being closed off to the rest of the world. With this she began to realize that the church she loved so much was under the power of one man, Warren Jeffs who held so much power over the community.
There are so many twists and turns to this story that just left my mouth agape and my eyes as big as plates. This is her story of escape from an abusive husband, a dictator for a Prophet and a brainwashed household and community. It is so hard to comprehend that something like this could happen in the heart of America. A community closed off from the rest of the world where polygamy is the norm and marrying 14 year old girls to 70 year old men were dictated by a "Prophet." What bothered me the most was when Carolyn successfully escaped the clutches of the FLDS to join relatives that have escaped too, her children turned against her. That's how deep and ingrained their church's teachings were that they feared the wrath of God and the Prophet because they were allowing themselves to enjoy life a bit. It's a spine-tingling story and you will feel so appreciative of the freedoms that we have in our everyday life.
And now, Warren Jeffs is free again. He is free to terrorize, abuse and dictate over the lives of so many families under the FLDS church. But what's more disturbing is how the FLDS will view this turn of events -- that their Prophet has won over the clutches of evil, which is, the rest of the world.
