Polygamy Porter wrote:Keep in mind the FLDS have different standards than the outside world. What you consider to be immoral differs from them. Look back when Joseph Smith was bedding teen girls... According to his defenders it was OK. Perhaps the FLDS still live in that simplistic age.
I don't think all of his defenders thought it was okay. They defended him in many things, but polygamy caused many apostasies. David Whitmer, Book of Mormon witness, was one of Joseph's greatest critics in this regard.
Polygamy Porter wrote:There is abuse in monogamous marriages also, so should we stop that as well?
But how many times is
this mentioned? And lo and behold, in
many non-LDS families. The worst offenders in Oz are Aboriginal men, in Aboriginal communities. Some of them are called "Elders". Domestic violence and emotional abuse is a serious problem in society-at-large. And what happened when the Catholic Church clamped down on sexually abusive priests? There was a "serious shortage" of candidates for the priesthood.
Polygamy Porter wrote:The mainstream LDS church does not seem to be too bothered by the allegations of abuse in the polygamous FLDS how much money and resources have they given to the cause?. Is that a sign it is fine or that they really don't care to clean up their mess? They seem more interested in the Mc'morman Mall of Amo'erica than stopping the supposed abuse within the FLDS.
I have written elsewhere I believe more could and should be done. In America I think you have a religious freedom clause. If this happened in Oz they would be outlawed, as was the "Little Pebble", a break away Catholic polygamist who was engaging in sex with underage girls.
His website:
http://www.shoal.net.au/~mwoa/
More about him:
http://users.bigpond.net.au/wanglese/pebble.htm
Bear in mind that the law in Oz prohibits sex with any girl under 16, even if the girl consents.