For the Journal, I need Journal 2 and Journal 3 to be completed.Topic: Social Constructs and CrisisIn August 2011, Warren Jeffs, the president and self-proclaimed prophet of the Fundamentalist Church

For the Journal, I need Journal 2 and Journal 3 to be completed.

Topic: Social Constructs and Crisis

In August 2011, Warren Jeffs, the president and self-proclaimed prophet of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS), was sentenced to life in prison by a Texas jury for sexually assaulting two young girls, ages 12 and 15. The older of the two gave birth to Jeffs's child. During the trial evidence was offered showing that Jeffs had sexually assaulted a number of young girls over the years, including his own niece when she was just 7 years old.

The case began when Texas law enforcement authorities and child protective personnel raided the FLDS compound in April 2008 after receiving a hotline tip that children in the compound were being sexually abused on a wide scale. Although the hotline tip turned out to be a hoax, police did see a number of young girls who appeared to be pregnant. Additionally, Jeffs's own journals were discovered in which he detailed his abusive practices, including the forced marriages of young girls to adult men. As a result of this evidence, over 400 FLDS children were removed from the FLDS community and taken into protective custody.

By all accepted measures, the FLDS was a cult. Its members lived in isolation from mainstream society and maintained their own system of beliefs and cultural practices, most of which originated in the mind of Warren Jeffs. In reality, the FLDS was nothing more than a criminal enterprise that provided a steady supply of vulnerable victims to a group of sexual predators under the guise of God-sanctioned marriage. Eventually, Jeffs and 11 other adult men would be charged with crimes relating to the sexual exploitation of children.

Just one month following the initial raid however, the Texas Supreme Court ruled that there was not enough evidence to support the removal of the children from their homes, and ordered that they be returned to their families within 10 days. Many came to the FLDS's defense over the issue, and even the ACLU stated publicly, “Exposure to a religion's beliefs, however unorthodox, is not itself abuse and may not constitutionally be labeled abuse” (2008). Unfortunately, those beliefs, in the case of the FLDS, included arranged marriages of young girls to adult males, and their subsequent sexual abuse, the extent of which would be sadly confirmed in the coming trials.

America has always been conflicted over its definition of “religion,” and thus the institutions of American society have typically erred on the side of caution when intervening in the affairs of a religious organization. The question must be asked whether the FLDS children were failed by people and agencies that turned a blind eye because they were unable to see the cult for the religion that shrouded it.

Discussion Questions (select one of the following questions and draft a response according to the directions outlined in the Assignments folder and Syllabus located in the Course Content section)

1.         Should the authorities intervene anytime children are found to be living in an isolated community, religious or otherwise, to ensure they are being treated and educated appropriately?

2.         Discuss your definition of “religion.” At what point do you believe a religious organization becomes a cult?

3.         For the FLDS, underage marriage was a tenant of their religious practice. For some Native American groups, the use of peyote, an illegal hallucinogen, is protected under the Constitution as a tenant of their religious practice. Both are illegal in mainstream society. Why should the use of peyote be al- lowed, but not underage marriage?