DOJ files bias suit against towns home to polygamist sect
Source: Reuters
WASHINGTON | Thu Jun 21, 2012 6:45pm EDT
(Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department on Thursday sued two towns on the Utah-Arizona border that are dominated by a polygamist Mormon sect, citing religious discrimination and civil rights violations against residents who do not share the majority faith.
The lawsuit against the twin cities of Colorado City, Arizona, and Hildale, Utah, said the towns and their joint police department and utility providers had allowed the sect to unduly influence the provision of public services, including policing.
Most of the residents of the towns are members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a breakaway Mormon sect whose leader, Warren Jeffs, is serving a sentence of life plus 20 years in prison in Texas for raping two underage girls he wed in "spiritual marriages."
"City governments and their police departments may not favor one religious group over another and may not discriminate against individuals because of their religious affiliation," Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, said in a statement announcing the suit.
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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/06/21/us-usa-polygamy-idUSBRE85K1QG20120621
freshwest
(53,661 posts)siligut
(12,272 posts)Not all Mormons are that way, but the ones you never hear about are. I wonder if this is why this is happening now, if so, I am all for it.
freshwest
(53,661 posts)Comes out at the same time. I remember hearing about those two towns a while back, rather extreme group. Not the big city types who get along. Just cultish. Very hostile to anyone who traveled through the town for any reason. Creepy places who deny the laws of the USA.
siligut
(12,272 posts)They are taught to believe that outsiders are evil.
freshwest
(53,661 posts)The mischief that can develop when there is no outside contact is incredible.
Retrograde
(10,137 posts)Read "Under the Banner of Heaven" for a look at some of these cults. If they decided to go off and live as a commune while taking care of their own that would be one thing. However, they want benefits for all the "unwed" mothers and their children, not to mention state and federal funds for roads, schools, etc.
freshwest
(53,661 posts)lindysalsagal
(20,692 posts)But we knew that.
siligut
(12,272 posts)I know they are anti-government, unless they are bleeding the beast, as they call receiving federal funds.
I may be misinterpreting your post, but I will clarify what I meant. The small poly communities are taught to be wary of outsiders, they believe that anyone who is not a part of their group is evil/not to be trusted.
I don't believe all non-republicans are evil, personally and the cult members are taught that non-cult members are evil, it doesn't matter what political party they belong to.
Does it make sense now?
shanti
(21,675 posts)many of jeff's followers aren't going for this 15 men getting all the women shit either....there is a rebellion going on.
MADem
(135,425 posts)that shit in the bud!!! You go, DOJ!!
kestrel91316
(51,666 posts)LDS members in positions of political power are notorious for abusing that power and treating non-members like second class citizens.
MADem
(135,425 posts)those "regular" LDS folk. One hand washes the other, both wash the face--I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of them do business together.
They all gotta make money, now, don't they? It's not all Ancestry.com and Marriott, Inc. paying those bills!
Response to kestrel91316 (Reply #5)
gejohnston This message was self-deleted by its author.
gejohnston
(17,502 posts)when asked in a job interview "what's your favorite restaurant" Denny's is not an answer. A friend of mine was stationed at Hill, his wife was asked that at several job interviews. It was a way to weed out Catholics and infidels from the base.
Some of the Polygamists have connections in SLC among the powers that be.
kestrel91316
(51,666 posts)gejohnston
(17,502 posts)the name or number of your ward (church)
PoliticAverse
(26,366 posts)Last edited Fri Jun 22, 2012, 12:56 AM - Edit history (1)
lindysalsagal
(20,692 posts)It's sexual enslavement. Period. I don't understand why we allow them to remain out of the schools. Public schools aren't perfect but they'd give those poor kids a chance.