FLDS-Their Roots

Joseph F. Smith, the Mormons 6th prophet, was under tremendous pressure to put an end to the Mormon church's polygamous activities which was declared illegal by the US government in 1874-the Poland Bill. Not only did Reed Smoot counsel him to stop polygamy, the church attorney Franklin S. Richards did likewise. Richards informed Smith that some sort of declaration be written to show that the church was now anti-polygamous.
As a result of the pressure from Smoot, Richards and others, Joseph F. Smith issued a Manifesto to the Mormon community. Not only did it uphold the first Manifesto from Woodruff, the 4th prophet, but there was a serious penalty for disobedience: "If any officer or member of the church shall assume to solemnize or enter into any such marriage he will be deemed in transgression against the church, and will be liable to be dealt with according to the rules and regulations thereof and excommunicated therefrom." (Joseph F. Smith, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Conference Report, April 7, 1904) Smith himself was in clear violation of both manifestos. He had six wives to himself, yet Smith's second manifesto marked the beginning of a separation within the church. Mormons continued with polygamous marriages that had been taken place in their temples, and had been published in the local paper as late as 1910.
The Mormon church struggled with getting the polygamous image removed from their church. Two of their own apostles were used as scapegoats by the LDS authorities to protect that image. This act was part of Mormons assimilation into mainstream society. "LDS leaders subsequently resorted to what has become a hallmark of Mormonism-revision of history. Even before Musser's [A Fundamentalist publisher of the "Truth" magazine.] arrest, the article "Leaves From An Old Scrapbook" had been published in the church's Deseret News (June 1, 1940). It stated that polygamy began among the saints primarily because Mormons needed to rapidly increase their population in Utah to do the "work of subduing the deserts and building Zion." After that had been accomplished, said the article, plural marriage was no longer needed, and so it was discontinued." (One Nation Under Gods, Richard Abanes, pg 346, brackets added)
Not all Mormon believers accepted all the changes that were happening within the church. Future presidents of the LDS church continued to distance mainstream Mormonism away from polygamy, and after cohabitation became a felony, the church excommunicated large numbers of polygamists. Such action only gave birth to a full-blown movement of people committed to following the old ways. They are known as the Mormon Fundamentalists, or the FLDS = Fundamentalist Latter-day Saints.

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About Me

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Michigan, United States
I spent a lot of time deciding if I should write this blog or not. I'm not a great writer and I'm not going to pretend to be. I need to share what I have learned and I might not make some people happy with what I am saying. This blog is a way for me to release the thoughts and feelings that come with knowing I grew up in the wrong religion. A healing process if you will.

How To Read This Blog

Please start with the month of February 2007 and read backwards. This is the most effective way to understand, in order, why I say what I do.

Handmaidens Creed

1.I believe in God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit as one God without beginning or end.
2.I believe the Bible to be the Holy Inspired word of God with full truth and righteousness. No other writing is.
3.I believe that the work of the Lord comes first. Before any temporal thing or person.
4.I believe that grace is a gift and Christ gives that gift freely to all who believe.
5.I believe that the beauty of a woman is contained inside of her and not by what she looks like on the outside.
6.I believe that marriage is sacred and represents the Godhead on earth; two are one just as three are one.
7.I believe that love is more powerful than any other power. Remember, God is love.
8.I believe that tithing is not a part of God's new covenant, free will offerings are. And that doesn't mean just money.
9.I believe that the Aaronic, Levitical, and Melchizedek priesthoods are abolished and Christs Holy Priesthood whom Christ is the "Great High Priest" is eternal.
10.I believe that every believer is a priest in the "Priesthood of Believers".
11.I believe that when two are one, nobody is to separate the one.
12.I believe that Christ is the only way to heaven.
13.I believe that our bodies are temples, not man made buildings.
14.I believe that liars make fools out of others and the liar hates the fool.
15.I believe that all believers are in authority to preach the gospel.
16.I believe that the word 'organization' to describe Christs body is evil and has no place with God.
17.I believe the Americas are not the land of Zion and Christ will return to His origonal land-Israel in the Middle East.
18.I believe that God has set out correct ways of worshiping Him, not man.
19.I believe in holding to the truths of the Bible and not mans understanding of it.
20.I believe that the world is full of evil and Satan can easily gain control over the minds of those who do not profess Christ of the Bible to be their only Messiah.
21.I believe that Saints are those who know the real Savior, Jesus Christ, of whom the Bible speaks of; not the jesus of a cult.