In recent years much has been said about same-sex marriages. Should any state succeed in allowing homosexual, same-sex marriages to become law, it is almost certain that polygamy will rush in on its heels. Should same-sex marriages become legal, there will be no moral high ground for the court to take. I can assure you that it will not be long before petitions come before our lawmakers demanding similar recognition for plural marriages.

Apparently I am not alone with this opinion. The late Mike Royko, columnist for the Chicago Tribune, expressed similar concerns in an article printed in the Salt Lake Tribune (12/15/96, pg.A5). Royko described a hypothetical situation in which he stated that all that would be necessary to get the polygamy campaign going is to have the media get behind it and start calling all those who disagree with the concept of multiple wives (husbands?) a bunch of mean-spirited "polyphobes." I have to agree since this type of tactic has worked so well in the past. With such a strategy, it may be only a matter of time before your 1040 form has multiple lines for "spouses" as it does for dependents.

How will the LDS Church react should polygamy become legal? It is hard to tell. It will certainly have a difficult time denouncing it since Doctrine and Covenants section 132 still encourages polygamous relationships. This could very well become a nightmare for the LDS public relations department. Should the LDS Church decide to go back to its teachings of the nineteenth century, I am sure that many of those Mormon fundamentalists will feel they have been vindicated.

The Eldorado Success has obtained audio recordings of Warren Jeffs, prophet of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The recordings seem to support claims by former FLDS members that Jeffs teachings are racist, especially as they concern African-Americans.

Janis Hutchinson recounts how she came into Christianity after first leaving the Mormon Church then entering a radical offshoot group called Mormon Fundamentalism.

[Flora] Jessop is one of few women of the sect who have successfully escaped, making her break about 18 years ago after the death of her beloved grandmother and earlier failed attempts. The picture she paints of her life with the FLDS, and the fear she still feels paint a horrible picture of religion gone awry.

After reading a recent article on Flora Jessop, a former member of the Fundamental Latter Day Saints who fled the sect and now devotes herself to “rescuing” others who are trying to make their escape, a woman who grew up in the faith broke what has been a pervasive silence by most members of the church to defend her faith and her beliefs.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, she agreed to answer several questions raised about the secretive church, a group scattered in several enclave communities from Mexico to Canada comprised of an estimated 10,000 to 12,000 members.

After reading an anonymous letter regarding life inside the FLDS, another member, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of speaking out, sent a long response, rebutting much of what the initial writer said and casting serious doubts as to the legitimacy of FLDS "prophet" Warren Jeffs and his teachings and casts an insider's look at the allegations against the FLDS, which has compounds in Arizona, Utah, Texas, Colorado and in Bountiful, British Columbia.

Flora Jessop was raised in the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints (FLDS), a group that long ago broke its ties with the Mormon Church, and under FLDS rules, she was forced to marry her older cousin when she was sixteen. The marriage proved to be the final straw. Jessop said she didn't run away from Colorado City, AZ because of religion, but because of abuse.

Polygamy, the practice of plural marriage, is alive and well in Utah and Arizona. Now it moves to Texas as reclusive Prophet Warren Jeffs relocates his Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints to the Lone Star State.