All of my books with St. Martin’s, WIVES AND SISTERS, BEHIND CLOSED DOORS, and the one I just finished, SAINTS AND SINNERS, are set in the Mormon culture. BEHIND CLOSED DOORS is already generating buzz and controversy because it opens with a scene in the LDS Temple. This, of course, is taboo. I am sure more than one Mormon is waiting for my house to fall down. But this is real. This is the CULTURE. You need to see it to understand it.

I have received lots of emails from Mormons asking why I could and can “not leave the Church” alone. That’s a common phrasing they use. “If you leave the Church, leave it alone.”

Of course, it’s okay if the Church does not leave ME alone. At least in their eyes. They can harass me to high heaven. And they do.

But that’s not the only reason I write about the Mormon culture. I write about it, because IT’S my culture. My father is a descendant of Mormon pioneers. My mother is a convert. I spent every Sunday for all of my childhood sitting in those hard pews. When I began to have doubts about its truth, especially the claims of being THE ONLY TRUE THING, I decided I better research it.

I think if I’m going to say I believe something is NOT true, I need to have proof to back it up. So I did, and the research just confirmed what my logic told me.

But I still live in Utah, and I still deal with Mormons every single day, and most of my family is deeply enmeshed in the Mormon culture and it comes up EVERY SINGLE DAY.

This is what I know.

There are good Mormons, and there are bad Mormons. There are Mormons who believe devoutly with all their hearts, and there are those who don’t really think it’s the “one true thing,” but hey, everyone else is doing it, and it’s what they’ve always known. It’s comforting. And there are those who do it for social reasons, because one can be ostracized if you aren’t believing. My friend Carlene was baptized as a child, because her mother didn’t want her to be left out. As children, we were discouraged from playing with or hanging out with non-Mormons–unless we were inviting them to Church.

I think this is not as big an issue today as it was back then.

Things have changed. And perhaps that is why so many Mormons are in an uproar over the linking of the mainstream LDS Church to the clan of Weenie Rat Face, pervert, pedophile, and evil dictator.

True Believing Mormons today are devout, faithful, and law-abiding. They do NOT practice or condone polygamy. They look with disgust upon those who do. They abhor the practice of marrying off young girls. I can understand why they do not WANT their name associated with Warren Jeffs and the FLDS clan.

My stance in the past few days is NOT one of Mormons are bad. It’s one of reality. Many, many faithful Mormons DO NOT REALIZE how strongly polygamy is enmeshed with their religion. They do not realize that WITHOUT PARTICIPATING IN POLYGAMY, the Doctrine & Covenants and Mormon Prophet Joseph Smith and others after him have said THEY WILL NOT BE ADMITTED into the Celestial Kingdom.

It’s a simple fact. But they don’t know about it.

Not only that, but they don’t KNOW that there has NEVER been a prophecy saying there will be no more polygamy. Oh no. Polygamy is still there. It has just been suspended, if you will, so that they can live the laws of the land.

Mormon polygamy was officially stopped by a manifesto. A manifesto is NOT a prophecy, and Wilford Woodruff was well aware of this.

As were those after him. And as are those presiding in leadership today.

Until there is an official “prophecy” banning it, it can be reinstated at ANY TIME.

Under the leadership of Gordon B. Hinckley, this will never happen. But Hinckley is quite ill.

I do not, honestly, believe that polygamy will be reinstated in my lifetime, at least by the mainstream Church. But it could be.

This, to me, is fascinating, as is the fact that there are more than 100 “sects” of believers in the Book of Mormon. The SLC church is just the biggest and most wealthy.

With the incredible history of Mormonism comes a wealth of intrigue and suspense, and MATERIAL. There is ALWAYS something to write about. I’ve spent my life here. I’ve lived in and among it, and it’s in my blood.

Good, bad, pretty, ugly, it’s all there. And I cover it all. Please don’t tell me there aren’t good Mormons in my books. There are. Do I spotlight abuses? Yes. Please don’t tell me there aren’t abuses. There are.

Don’t send me emails asking me why I don’t write about Catholics. I realize they have their own set of issues. But I did not grow up Catholic, and I am not surrounded by Catholics.

Don’t suggest I write about the Scientologists. Tom Cruise gives me hives.

I live here in Utah. I write about Utah Culture. All of it. I am well aware that “all of it” is not faith-promoting. That is not my concern.

Reality is rarely white, fluffy, happy and one non-stop party. Life is hard. People are weak. Human beings make mistakes. And human beings learn, too. And grow. And become real.

The Mormon world view is often narrow and the teachings are sexist and in the past, racist. I take issue with that, and I reserve my right to address it.

I also reserve my right to spotlight good Mormons, like my mom. I don’t always agree with what she does, and vice versa, but she is a good person. She does the best she can to live her religion in a tough world.

We’ve had some tough times, my mom and I, because my religious views do not align with hers. And she has always been taught that this affects MY eternal salvation. She wants the best for me. I don’t agree with her take on it. I don’t see her “best” as the reality and the right thing.

I remember once, when my father was admonishing me to return to the Mormon faith, he likened the religion to a Cadillac. “There are lots of cars out there,” he said, “but I want the best for my kids. I want you to have a Cadillac.”

One man’s Cadillac is another man’s Pinto.

Courtesy of syndicated artist, Tim Brinton.

(Natalie’s Note: This is a guest post from Arza Evans, author of The Keystone of Mormonism.)

Why do most of the people in Utah honor and revere Brigham Young and condemn Warren Jeffs? They both “reassigned” women and children from one man to another man who was more loyal to church leaders. They both forced young girls to marry men old enough to be their grandfathers. On April 7, 1861 Brigham Young said, “I am now almost daily sealing young girls to men of age and experience.” (Journal of Discourses, Vol. 9, p.37.)

What young girl will marry an old man as his forth or fifth wife unless she is told by church leaders and her own brainwashed parents that it is God’s will and that she will be sent to hell if she refuses? And once she has children, she is trapped. In order to leave, she would have to admit that her children are not legitimate and that she has been living in adultery.Also, she would probably lose her children, her family, and her friends. What woman could stand up to that much pressure? This is truly a scheme hatched in hell by Joseph Smith.

I condemn Warren Jeffs, Joseph Smith, Brigham Young, and anyone else who uses deception, force and fear to control the lives of their powerless followers.

Regular “Trapped” visitor Kris, who just happens to be a Mormon, has my upmost respect. Although we didn’t really start out on the best of terms, I believe we have grown to appreciate each other and our right to “disagree.”

She wrote something on my blog comments this morning, and I feel like I want to address it to make MY position clear.

Kris said:

If I had any reason, even slight, to belive that the LDS Church of which I am a member was in any way condoning polygamy but then turning around and saying it doesn’t, I would be out of here so quick. So far, I can’t buy into that conspiracy theory.

The LDS Church STILL teaches polygamy as a tenet. It is NOT, however, practiced today because of the LAWS against it. That doesn’t mean it isn’t a tenet, which of course means IT IS CONDONED. They practice it every day, in Mormon Temples all over the world.

Is it not hypocritical to criticize those practicing POLYGAMY when in fact, many of them (church hierarchy) are practicing SPIRITUAL POLYGAMY even today?

Dallin Oaks remarried and was sealed to his second wife. The sealing to his FIRST wife, who passed away, WAS NOT CANCELLED. He is a spiritual polygamist, and because of the Mormon belief that marriage is eternal, and going BY that belief, he will live in the Celestial Kingdom WITH HIS TWO WIVES as a POLYGAMIST.

That, Kris, is polygamy.

Now, do they condone polygamy practiced TODAY? No. But the roots are still there. They still BELIEVE in it. The only reason it is NOT practiced is because it is illegal. And the reason that the FLDS group and other polygamist groups have flourished for SO MANY YEARS is because authorities in Utah have been loathe to criminalize their behavior, realizing that their OWN ROOTS come down from polygamy. Our former Governor Mike Leavitt had grandparents that practiced polygamy. That wouldn’t make him real excited to come down hard on other polygamists, realizing it wasn’t that far removed from his OWN family.

It is PART of the LDS heritage. Up until the 1940s, polygamy was still practiced by some sitting on the highest benches in the LDS hierarchy. And that means it was condoned.

As for today, I believe the ONLY form of polygamy CONDONED by the LDS hierarchy is spiritual polygamy, which they practice on a regular basis. But it is an ESSENTIAL tenet of Mormonism, which means that you HAVE to connect the two. If you want to consider WHO is living the “TRUE CHURCH,” the one taught by Joseph Smith, Warren Jeffs is actually living it much closer than mainstream Mormons. Joseph Smith taught polygamy as the new and everlasting covenant. EVERLASTING. Strong word. Means it LASTS FOREVER.

Doctrine and Covenants, Section 132, deals specifically with polygamy, and it’s hard to refute, no matter HOW hard you try.

Here, in particular, is the section where God rebuked Emma Smith because she did not like Joseph Smith’s polygamous choices.

51 Verily, I say unto you: A commandment I give unto mine handmaid, Emma Smith, your wife, whom I have given unto you, that she stay herself and partake not of that which I commanded you to offer unto her; for I did it, saith the Lord, to prove you all, as I did Abraham, and that I might require an offering at your hand, by covenant and sacrifice.
52 And let mine handmaid, Emma Smith, receive all those that have been given unto my servant Joseph, and who are virtuous and pure before me; and those who are not pure, and have said they were pure, shall be destroyed, saith the Lord God.
53 For I am the Lord thy God, and ye shall obey my voice; and I give unto my servant Joseph that he shall be made ruler over many things; for he hath been faithful over a few things, and from henceforth I will strengthen him.
54 And I command mine handmaid, Emma Smith, to abide and cleave unto my servant Joseph, and to none else. But if she will not abide this commandment she shall be destroyed, saith the Lord; for I am the Lord thy God, and will destroy her if she abide not in my law.
55 But if she will not abide this commandment, then shall my servant Joseph do all things for her, even as he hath said; and I will bless him and multiply him and give unto him an hundredfold in this world, of fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters, houses and lands, wives and children, and crowns of eternal lives in the eternal worlds.
56 And again, verily I say, let mine handmaid forgive my servant Joseph his trespasses; and then shall she be forgiven her trespasses, wherein she has trespassed against me; and I, the Lord thy God, will bless her, and multiply her, and make her heart to rejoice.
57 And again, I say, let not my servant Joseph put his property out of his hands, lest an enemy come and destroy him; for Satan seeketh to destroy; for I am the Lord thy God, and he is my servant; and behold, and lo, I am with him, as I was with Abraham, thy father, even unto his exaltation and glory.

Pretty black and white. If you know Church history, you know all this. At which time, I would have to say your point is that that Jeffs is practicing a more vile, disgusting form of polygamy, and I agree. Even Jeffs father did not conduct himself in such an evil manner, and the FLDS Church really took a nasty turn when Jeffs took power. And yet if you compared him to Joseph Smith, I think you would be surprised to find how MUCH they have in common.

Or, even, how much he has in common with Brigham Young.

For example, one of the things currently being used to VILIFY Warren Jeffs is a quote of him making racist statements. A segment of those include this:

“You see some classes of the human family that are black, uncouth, or rude and filthy, uncomely, disagreeable and low in their habits; wild and seemingly deprived of nearly all the blessings of the intelligence that is usually bestowed upon mankind.”

Nasty words. But, see, Jeffs is not coming up with this on his own. He is QUOTING Brigham Young from the Journal of Discourses. No one bothers to MENTION THAT! It’s time someone did.

Kris, the LDS church teaches polygamy as a tenet and a belief essential to eternal salvation. They DO condone it. You can’t deny that.

Should I get your exit papers ready?

As most of the world knows, ED (Evil Dictator) Warren Jeffs, AKA Weenie Rat Face, has been captured. Ironically, he was caught near Las Vegas, Nevada. Maybe our friend Curtis, who mentioned I should be grateful my parents were at BYU Education Week and not “loosing” everything in Vegas, could have explained a thing or two to WRF. What happens in Vegas apparently does NOT stay in Vegas.

That said, we here at Trapped are ELATED at this capture.

Here’s the Des News take on the capture.

Ironically, unlike most of the other media outlets, the News (owned by the Mormon Church) did not find it necessary to staple the “these people are not affiliated with the Mormon Church” tag on their story.

The same cannot be said for the LDS Church, which put THIS up on their web page.

Stories by AP and CNN both noted that the mainstream LDS Church is NOT affiliated with the fundamentalists.

The Church statements says, “there are no Mormon fundamentalists, yada yada,” and ends by claiming that ONLY the mainstream Salt Lake City Church can be called Mormon–a NAME they were trying to shed not all that long ago. How odd.

Apparently, the AP Style Guide says it’s so, and that makes it truth. I didn’t know the AP Style Guide was God’s mouthpiece, but you gotta take ‘em where you see ‘em.

Here’s the Trib take on the story.

They also put the disclaimer in, but I like the way they phrased it. They make it CLEAR that originally, they were ALL one big happy Mormon family. I’m sorry, but the fact that the LDS Church must constantly deny association with the polygamists is more telling than anything else. If it HAD no connection, no denial would be necessary.

The Trib said:

The FLDS Church, which embraces polygamy, split from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints when the mainstream Mormon Church disavowed plural marriage more than 100 years ago.

I almost feel bad for ribbing them so ceaselessly about being the Des News II. Almost.