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Datum: Montag, den 29. März 2004, um 2:33 Uhr

Betrifft: Texas kÃ¶nnte Ausweichniederlassung fÃ¼r FLDS werden

Don’t mess with Texas

Secrecy, compounded by ignorance, breeds fear. Just look at what is happening in the Texas hamlet of Eldorado, where rumors are flying that a group of fundamentalist Mormon polygamists from Utah may be preparing to relocate to a local ranch. The Texans, who know little of the Mormon subculture of polygamy, are afraid for their children and their small community.
The irony is that the polygamous sects that have broken away from mainstream Mormonism usually are fearful themselves. Their leaders often teach their flocks to distrust the outside world because it is sinful and to avoid it.
So the question might be which group of people is more afraid of the other, the Texans of Eldorado or the polygamists.
At this writing, it is not known if Warren Jeffs, the seldom-seen prophet of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, is indeed planning to move part of his community from his headquarters in the border town of Hildale, Utah, to the wide open spaces of west Texas. If he does, the people of the Lone Star State would be introduced to the peculiar institution of polygamy and the moral dilemmas it poses for the government officials who would attempt to regulate it.
The Texans also would learn, in all likelihood, that they have nothing to fear from the polygamists, for the simple reason that the FLDS people want to have as little to do with the outside world as possible.
Because polygamy is illegal, the people who practice it do not wish to call attention to themselves. Isolation, both physical and psychological, not only keeps prying eyes away but also makes it easier for the leaders of these sects to keep their followers in line. That might explain why Jeffs would consider moving part of his people to a 1,400-acre ranch in west Texas.
But if that is Jeffs’ plan, he may have miscalculated. Utahns know that thousands of people practice polygamy in this state. They may despise it, but they do not fear it. It rises to the top of public discussion only when something like the Tom Green or Kingston prosecutions breaks into the news.
But in Eldorado, polygamy is unknown, and therefore something to be feared.
In Utah, it is impractical to prosecute the state’s many polygamists under the bigamy law. Officials must content themselves with bringing charges only in those rare cases where it can be proved that child rape, incest or some crime other than polygamy by adults has occurred.
But in Texas, that may not be the case. Officials could decide to take a vigorous stand against polygamy itself.
Perhaps, in the end, it would be the polygamists who would have the most to fear.

Quelle