Mormon Mentality - Thoughts and Asides by Peculiar People

By bfwebster

Apr. 18th, 2008 at 8:09 am

I woke up this morning to the local (Denver Channel 2) news reporting that a Colorado Springs woman had been arrested for “false reporting” in connection with the Texas raid on the FLDS compound in Texas. I couldn’t find information on that channel’s website, but one of the TV stations down in Colorado Spring had this story on their website:

Colorado Springs Police say a woman arrested for false reporting in Colorado Springs has not been charged at this time in connection with the Texas case.

Springs Police confirm the Texas Rangers were in the city Wednesday as part of their investigation into the compound. A spokesperson for the Texas Rangers confirms they have had several calls about an out-of-state arrest, but they have no comment at this time.

Springs Police will only confirm that 33-year-old Rozita Swinton was arrested Wednesday evening for False Reporting in connection with a February incident in Colorado Springs.

There is no word on what her connection might have been in the Texas case, in which hundreds of children were seized from a polygamist compound.

This came after someone claiming to be a 16-year-old girl called an abuse hot line claiming her husband — a 50-year-old member of the sect — beat and raped her. The girl has yet to be identified by investigators.

As if this whole situation weren’t complicated and messy enough. ..bruce..

1. PaulW

Fri, Apr 18, 2008 @ 9:23am

Maybe she’s the “16″ year old girl…

2. annegb

Fri, Apr 18, 2008 @ 10:55am

Crazies coming out of the wood work. Women are probably writing to Warren Jeffs begging to marry him and have his babies.

3. AHLDuke

Fri, Apr 18, 2008 @ 2:24pm

I try very hard not to be conspiracy-minded. Of course, once I joined the Church, a propensity to believe such theories may have entered my body along with the blood of Israel.

Is anyone suspicious that somebody who has no connection to the FLDS might have made that call in order to get them in trouble or to “save” them? I can totally see some Baptist or evangelical (it was Colorado after all) doing that just to stick it to the “Mormons.” (The same way they were eager to lend their church buses for the round-up)

4. Christian Prophet

Fri, Apr 18, 2008 @ 3:04pm

I’ve been reading the hundreds of comments from outraged citizens at:
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/2/free-the-innocent-flds

Also, I’ve seen the video of Texas Foster Care system horrors at:
http://dayofpraise.blogspot.com/

Whew! What a situation!

5. Jota G

Fri, Apr 18, 2008 @ 4:01pm

#3 – I agree. That said, whatever made the FLDS think that moving to the middle of the bible belt be left alone was a good idea?

6. queuno

Fri, Apr 18, 2008 @ 4:17pm

The Dallas Observer’s blog has a very salient take on this:

http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfairpark/2008/04/it_would_be_no_surprise.php

7. danithew

Sat, Apr 19, 2008 @ 7:31am

It seems me that the events in regards to the FLDS keep unfolding in interesting directions and I wonder if the painful consequences will become a corrective to both the FLDS (for being too insular and corrupt) and to the Texas authorities (for abusing power).

The difficulty I have with all of this is that I don’t think either the FLDS or the Texas legal authorities are innocent in their motives or their behaviors.

8. Guy Noir, Private Eye

Sat, Apr 19, 2008 @ 8:59am

danithew:

I have written in professional & local peridocals…
Mormons always gave me the ‘unbiased’ line about journalism…

I’d look them square in the face and ask:

‘So, you know someone who Isn’t biased in some of their thinking?’

9. Guy Noir, Private Eye

Sat, Apr 19, 2008 @ 1:07pm

(I should say that ppl gave me the ‘BIASED’ raspberry-epithet..

10. job’s friend

Sat, Apr 19, 2008 @ 2:16pm

That’s fine an dandy Guy, but the journalists/judges etc doesn’t preface their remarks as, “from my biased point of view”.

They draft their stories and opinions in a way that makes it appear as fact. So pointing out that people are indeed biased is a valid thing. The retort, “but everybody is biased” does not excuse biases which are so blatant as to overlook certain facts and misrepresent a case.

11. Guy Noir, Private Eye

Sat, Apr 19, 2008 @ 2:34pm

ah…aren’t all ppl ‘biased’ by their personal histories, education, etc.?

do you know someone/anyone who puts those completely aside when doing their job? HOW could that be???

being realistic suggests that we KNOW that others have different backgrounds & therefore perspectives about things, doesn’t it?

what boss would hire someone without the savvy to do the job WITH the skills, education, background they bring to the position/profession-occupation?
Just who would that be???

I don’t think readers/audiences are as dumb as you’re suggesting.

12. danithew

Sat, Apr 19, 2008 @ 9:36pm

Guy Noir, I’m not sure what you are aiming at in my previous comment. I suspect you simply misread what I wrote. I didn’t use the word ‘objectivity’ anywhere and I wasn’t writing a criticism of journalists or about the topic of journalism.

Since you brought up the topic, I’ll just say that you are correct in saying that everyone has a bias. The issue that concerns me (in regards to what is going on between the FLDS and the Texas authorities) is whether the parties involved are honest or dishonest in nature. Or I could put it in other words – some people attempt to be objective, fair, just, etc. while others act in complete disregard to such values.

I think in this case, both the FLDS leadership and the Texas authorities have been dishonest and unjust – just not in the same way. What isn’t entirely clear yet is which side is worse. It’s a very complicated scenario and it may take awhile before the dust clears.

13. Ben There

Wed, Apr 23, 2008 @ 4:30pm

My belief from the start has been that the call was a hoax. I believe that I will be proven correct. This Rozie woman called Flora Jessop many times. Flora has 30-40 hours of conversations with her. Flora may be behind the hoax, though. My internal jury is still out on that one.

Notice how the state’s case of “numerous pregnant 13 year olds” wound up actually being “five pregnant under-18 year olds”. 16 is the marriageable age. Not unlikely that there will be a few 16-18 year olds pregnant, now is it???

14. queuno

Wed, Apr 23, 2008 @ 6:04pm

No more pregnancies than you find in the average Dallas ISD high school…

15. kathy

Fri, May 2, 2008 @ 8:58pm

“Any excuse is good enough for a bully”…
I don’t think there are too many people who lead a more wholesome life than these people. Secular society should take a really close look at their own short comings before Lynching these innocent people. So much hate so much babbling about pedophiles. The people who yell the loudest about evil polygamous men seem to not care at all about the real suffering that the innocent women and children are enduring. For what ? To make the vindictive Flora Jessop happy and rich ? I can’t see anything being accomplished by this except for a very bad precedent taking away the Constitutional rights of everyone in the country.

16. a random John

Fri, May 2, 2008 @ 10:32pm

kathy,

There’s blame to go around for this debacle. If the FLDS community would cooperate with authorities and report abuses when they happen rather than try to manage such things internally if at all then it wouldn’t have reached this point. The deliberate decision of the community to isolate itself is seen by outsiders as an effort to also isolate victims and make investigation impossible.

I think most people think that putting 14, 15, and 16 year olds into “spiritual marriages” is not wholesome at all. Especially when these girls have no factual knowledge of the outside world. They’ve been fed misinformation in order to scare them into remaining in the group. If the choice is to follow the example of all those around you or face expulsion and damnation, what can we expect them to do? What form of agency is this?

17. queuno

Sat, May 3, 2008 @ 1:46am

Given that 18-year-olds and 19-year-olds are considered teenagers, what’s the teen pregnancy rate at BYU?

18. Ben There

Sun, May 4, 2008 @ 6:34am

aRJ and others:

Before repeating the age-old stories of 14 and 15 year olds marrying old men, being fed misinformation, and frightening them, I’d like to suggest a few items to add to your reading list.

First off are the comments by “FLDS Mother” and “Not a Lost Boy” on Connor Boyack’s post on the FLDS Raid Petition, located at http://www.connorboyack.com/blog/flds-petition-conclusion#comment-54741 and http://www.connorboyack.com/blog/flds-petition-conclusion#comment-54752 along with subsequent comments by said posters.

Next, take a look at the official bishop’s list of households on the YFZ Ranch. This list was confiscated by the Texas Rangers during the raid and entered into evidence in the hearings in mid-April. Notice, no 14 or 15 or 16 year old brides. Most of the 17 and 18 year old wives are monogamous wives of young men in their teens and twenties. Notice also the large number of teenage males. So much for baby brides and legions of lost boys. While I hate that these people’s family relationships and names are now widely available, I think this will actually help the FLDS people. Grab the bishop’s list at http://web.gosanangelo.com/pdf/BishopsList.pdf .

Next, read some of the posts by a former FLDS member who was disfellowshipped (as a result of sin, which he confesses on the blog) has his wife and children “taken away”, and yet he is posting a blog that is favorable toward the church that he still loves. http://fldsview.blogspot.com.

Also, some of you might enjoy hearing the song written by Warren Jeffs, called “Yearning for Zion” (the namesake of the ranch). Grab this partial MP3 of it, while you can: http://blogfiles.wfmu.org/DS/Warren_Jeffs_Searching_For_Zion.mp3

You can choose to believe or disbelieve, but for whatever it’s worth, you ought to at least have both sides of the story.

I, for one, am happy to see that the FLDS, after trying so hard to be quiet and private and not bother anyone, are coming out to tell their story, rather than letting a handful of disaffected former members-cum-novelists tell it for them.