Last night, ABC ran a special episode of PrimeTime Live, part of a sub-series called "The Outsiders." They focused on a group of Fundamentalist Latter-Day Saints (FLDS) that still believe the practice of polygamy (also known by the less offensive term). This group believes that Wilford Woodruff was wrong to write the 1890 manifesto against polygamy in the LDS church. (Disclaimer--the FLDS are NOT affiliated with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints based in Salt Lake City, Utah.)
Reading some of the comments that people have left (and leaving one of my own), it's really sad that people see this as something nice and wonderful. "Oh, look how loving they are! Look, none of the teens are having sex, etc." One comment made by the husband in the program was rather interesting. When John Quinones asked him about their arragned marriages, he said something like, "How well do other methods work?" And that's what the world sees when they look at Mormons: The shiny veneer. They don't see the struggles than invariably go on under the surface. And despite the reports that come out of Salt Lake City, the divorce rate among Mormons is close to the national average.
But, how much of what you saw was true? You need to consider this: When you first talk to a Mormon about their beliefs, or about their life, they're not going to give you the whole deal. Now, I don't think we should all be spilling out every detail of our lives. However, many Mormons that their life is so hunky-dory, and it's all because they read this book that claims (falsely) to be "Another testament of Jesus Christ". But in reality their life isn't so great, and that book is leading them to destruction.
