 The Fundamentalist Church of the Latter Day Saints (FLDS) is a cult that broke away from the main LDS(Mormon) Church in 1890.One of the conditions of attaining statehood was the repudiation of the custom of polygamy. The FLDS has maintained the practise in spite of it being a crime in both the US and Canada.
Central to the FLDS belief system is the faith that god speaks through the leader or prophet. Since 2002 that lone leader has been Warren Jeffs. He has consolidated his power over his believers who reside mainly in Utah, Arizona and Texas. There are about 7500 followers in the towns of Colorado City and Hildale which straddle the Utah Arizona state lines. There have long been rumours about abuses in the colonies, but after Jeffs attained power conditions for the faithful deteriorated further. Family men have been kicked out of the towns and their wives and children assigned to men more favourable to the prophet. Because all property is held in a church trust, people kicked out of the colonies leave with nothing and are forbidden to contact their former friends and family. When Jeffs’ father died, he married 20 of his stepmothers and assigned others to men of his choosing. He had a reputation for watching out for young, beautiful girls and marrying them as “spiritual brides”. His nephew sued him for raping him when the nephew was five years old. Some of the wives escaped the colonies and began to tell the public about abuses. An investigator was brought onto the scene to find out about the “lost boys”. Those are young boys and men who are expelled from the colonies never to return. It is obvious that a polygamous system cannot function with an even number of men and women. Warren Jeffs alone is reputed to have married over 80 women. A photograph in the book Prophet’s Prey by investigator Sam Brower, shows Jeffs posing with 58 of his wives. Law enforcement people tried on several occasions to serve subpoenas but Jeffs always seemed to be not at home. The FBI put him on the Ten Most Wanted list and he was apprehended. In his possession at the time was a tape recording of him raping 12 old Merrianne Jessop. The offense took place in Texas and he was charged with her sexual assault as well as the assault of another under age girl. That got him a life sentence with no parole. He is still able to control his cult. He does it by phone. The town marshal and the City Manager of Hildale/Colorado City are currently embroiled in a federal court case that alleges that they aided and abetted crimes against non-church members. According to the Justice Department, the Marshal's Office selectively enforces "laws and regulations against non-FLDS individuals on the basis of religion." Just when you may think you’ve heard it all, information was leaked out in a child custody case that those men in the FLDS fold are no longer allowed to touch their wives, except to hold their hands while selected “seed bearers” impregnate them. Most of the members of the cult are descended from two founding families. The inbreeding that has occurred has resulted in a formerly rare genetic disorder now firmly in place in the colonies. The defect results in microcephaly, major brain dysfunction, severe seizures and early death. It has been explained to the mothers as a test from god. Sources: CNN Topix.com Courthouse News Service CNN
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The building of massive settlements for Jewish people while building massive walls to keep Palestinians from their land has been condemned by the UN.
The nastiness is not confined to the terrorists living in the occupied territories. In September, Prime Minister Netanyahu made it clear to the world that Israel will not allow people fleeing the Syrian civil war. He announced the building of another massive barrier wall construction to keep the people out. He is quoted below: "We will not allow Israel to be flooded with illegal migrants and terrorists." Common Dreams It would behoove those in power in Israel to look to the growing number of fascists within their ranks and extirpate them. Guided and instigated by far-right ideologues such as Benzion Gopstein and Baruch Marzel, the crowds chanted their usual “Death to Arabs,” “A Jew has a soul, an Arab is a son of a whore,” and other similar malicious slogans. Mondo Weiss Sources: Al Jazeera Wikipedia Common Dreams Mondo Weiss
A former military man, Buhari has initiated sweeping reforms which now include supplying the military with bullets and footwear. While much money had been earmarked for the military under the former regime, little was actually spent on equipping the troops.
In spite of the stepped up military actions, the extremists continue their mayhem. On the weekend a group of them invaded a small town near Chibok and all but destroyed it. They looted and burned most of the town. Operating with seeming impunity, they struck the village twice. Two days earlier they rustled 200 head of cattle from the community. The terrorist group is seeking to establish a caliphate that would enforce their philosophy. They have made friends with the terrorist of the Islamic State. IS accepted a pledge of allegiance from Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau in March, giving the group its first foothold in sub-Saharan Africa in its efforts to create a global caliphate. BBC Sources: Al Arabiya All Africa The Gulf Today BBC
 In July critics said a new Israeli law only targeted Palestinians protesters, but spares Israeli settlers [EPA] While the draconian measures passed easily in the Knesset, not all were in agreement with the move.
MK Jamal Zahalka (Joint List) spoke out against the law, saying “fires cannot be put out with gas, and this law is throwing gas on a fire.” Jerusalem Post A Palestinian radio station was raided and trashed by Israelis on Monday. It was alleged that the operators were inciting the spate of violence that has erupted in the past few weeks. Stabbings and deadly shootings have resulted in deaths on both sides of the conflicts with the preponderance of deaths young Palestinians. Authorities threatened to take the Palestinian dead and bury them in unmarked graves, but later relented and returned the corpses to their families. The state of Israel was formed after the horrors of WW2. Jews were one of the groups targeted by the Nazis and millions were killed. While the Jewish religion began in the Middle East, at the time of WW2 there was no Jewish homeland. One was created where the modern Israeli State is now. Unfortunately those people who were displaced, suffered and were resentful. Some swore to “take back” their territory. In 1967 surrounding Arab countries prepared to go to war against the small state. Israel conducted pre-emptive air strikes which destroyed their enemies’ air power, seizing large tracts of land and humiliated the Arab coalition. Some of the land seized is referred to as the Occupied Territories. There have been Jewish settlements built in the area and in doing so nudging the Palestinians living there aside, sometimes with brutal force. Earlier this year a Palestinian family was destroyed when unidentified people set fire to their home, trapping them inside. Sources: Jerusalem Post Wikipedia
Some public toilets and simple accommodations have been built, but those criticizing the $13 billion US plans have pointed to the construction of upscale hotels and shopping centres.
Others have objected to the important religious sites that are being obliterated. While the official line is that the increasing number of pilgrims attending Mecca need reasonable housing, others point out that the Wahhabi branch of Muslim frowns on the reverence for the historically important sites. The Wahhabi, the Al Qaeda and now the followers of ISIL have all displayed their antipathy to concrete reminders of religions. The close relationship between the Wahhabists, the House of Saud and petroleum money have led some to accuse the rulers of funding the religious terrorism that is currently spreading in the Middle East. Sources: Al Arabyia Reuters |
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Barbara McPherson
Blogger, gardener, farmer. Working toward food security and a 30 foot
diet. Addicted to reading. Love this planet, especially my little corner
on Vancouver Island, Canada Archives
November 2016
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