Two towns, Colorado City, Arizona and Hildale, Utah seem to be little more than fiefdoms within the domain of a polygamist sect called the “Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints” (FLDS).
FLDS is essentially like a totalitarian state ruled over by the Jeffs family. And in recent years the royal succession has passed from one Jeffs to another, who is apparently now involved in consolidating his kingdom.
Rulon Jeffs ruled over thousands of FLDS followers for decades, but he died in 2002, bequeathing the throne of his multi-million dollar domain to his son Warren Jeffs.
“King Warren” is now engaged in something of a purge, ejecting those of his subjects that he deems disloyal.
One such subject asked to “hit the road” was Dan Barlow, the former mayor of Colorado City reports the Salt Lake City Tribune.
Barlow promptly resigned as mayor after being essentially excommunicated by Jeffs, which should disabuse anyone of the notion that Colorado City was ever anything less than a theocracy, ultimately responsible to religious and not civil authority.
Many residents are fleeing the little FLDS fiefdom as a result of the internal power struggle and as usual they will rely upon the social service safety net provided by nonbelievers reports the Salt Lake City Tribune.
The sexual abuse and exploitation of minors as “child brides” within has been “dirty little secret” of Arizona and Utah.
But something that’s not so secret is that this thinly veiled theocracy is largely supported with taxpayer money. This is done through federal and state funding of schools, municipal improvements and social welfare programs.
In the current polygamist power struggle each faction claims its leader is the true “prophet” hearing from heaven and the other is only a false pretender reports the Desert News.
But regardless of who is supposedly hearing from whom, why should taxpayers keep picking up the tab for these polygamists?
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