The Lost Boys of Southern Utah
By Fascinating (and heartbreaking) piece in the LA Times here on the “lost boys” of the FLDS. Polygamy as an organizing principle of a society has numerous problems, at least one of which is mathematical–what to do with the extra boys? The FLDS crowd has a solution:
Gideon is one of the “Lost Boys,” a group of more than 400 teenagers — some as young as 13 — who authorities in Utah and Arizona say have fled or been driven out of the polygamous enclaves of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City over the last four years.
His stated offenses: wearing short-sleeved shirts, listening to CDs and having a girlfriend. Other boys say they were booted out for going to movies, watching television and staying out past curfew.
Some say they were sometimes given as little as two hours’ notice before being driven to St. George or nearby Hurricane, Utah, and left like unwanted pets along the road.
The article also provides an answer to the inverse of the “best cities” question below–where would I least like to live in the US? Despite the superior (to much of the south) climate and spectacular landscape, I’m going to have to go with Hilsdale, UT/Colorado City, AZ:
The spiritual heart of the church lies in Hildale and Colorado City, communities a mile apart with a combined population of about 10,000.
The towns sit at the foot of the remote and majestic Vermillion Cliffs, a place of red rock isolation. Women walk the streets in bonnets and trousers under long dresses. Their hair is pinned high on their heads, often with a braided ponytail hanging in back.
Many of the boys said children didn’t attend school past the eighth grade and that they were taught that blacks were inferior — the offspring of Cain and doomed to slavery. Such views have earned the FLDS a hate-group designation by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
The children are told that dinosaurs came from another planet, and man never walked on the moon. More important, they learn the outside world is wicked and salvation comes through obedience to the prophet, who channels God’s will.
According to those inside and outside the community, this way of life has become even stricter since Jeffs took over in 2002. Competitive sports — said to promote pride — have been curtailed or eliminated. Swimming is frowned upon, and talking to a girl can earn a boy a visit from the local police.
Ross Chatwin, who lives in Colorado City, said when Jeffs took charge, “rumors started going around that if you weren’t obedient, you would be kicked out.”
Some time ago, Scott commented on the slippery slope argument that same sex marriage might lead to the legal recognition of polygamous marriage (can’t seem to find the post). Setting aside for the moment whether that’s empirically true, he suggested, as I recall, that we should consider the possibility that the proper response to such a fact might be “So?” or even “Good!” On first reading this story, I thought it provides a bit of a sobering counterweight to Scott’s position, but on further reflection I revised that opinion. If the illegality of polygamy can’t be used in a way that lessens this destructive cult’s pernicious influence on children, what good does it do us?
It seems to me the FLDS is routinely in violation not just of the difficult to prove crime of polygamy, but also semi-routine child abandonment and unlawful sex with minors (the ‘wives’, it seems, are routinely married off before they’re 18). If I’m not mistaken, FLDS members have a reputation for being adept at tax evasion and welfare fraud.The story details a few prosecutions, but I have to wonder why state-level officials don’t go after them more. The Times provides one unconvincing anecdote:
In 1953, Arizona state police swarmed into Short Creek, now Colorado City. They arrested the men and transported crying women and children to detention camps. The result was a public outpouring of sympathy for the families — and scorn for state political leaders. The governor, Howard Pyle, lost the next election.
Whether this was a factor in Pyle’s loss, I have no idea, but this seems like a PR problem more than anything. And the AZ AG’s office has apparently started looking into these matters more agressively.
But here’s my question: Why not Utah? It’s long been my understanding that the LDS a)considers the FLDS to be an abomination and an embarrassment, and b)holds a fair amount of sway in Utah government. Is it the case that conservative LDS voters around the state would disapprove of an agressive prosecutorial approach to these crimes? Are there broad segments within the LDS sympathic to the theology and lifestyle of the FLDS? If not–if they are widely regarded as a destructive cult–what is Utah waiting for?