What every potential polygamist man and woman should know

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=90 BGCOLOR="#006699" TEXT="#080000" background="043fd5a3.jpg"> <div> <B>Polygamy Versus Common Sense  </B></div> <div>  <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Polygamy Versus Common Sense"><U>Home</U></A>     <A HREF="id18.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Infamous Polygamists"><U>Essays </U></A>    <A HREF="id22.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Essay Submission"><U>Essay Submission </U></A>  <I> </I><A HREF="id36.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Infamous Polygamists"><U>Infamous Polygamists</U></A></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=210 BGCOLOR="#FFCC66" TEXT="#080000" background="044d2b03.jpg"> <bR> <bR> <div> <I><B>What every polygamist man and woman should know</B></I></div> <div> <A HREF="id26.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Faith What is it?"><U><B>Faith: What is it?</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id31.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Who are the Heroes of Mormon Fundamental"><U><B>Who are the heroes of Mormon Fundamentalism?</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id32.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Freedom to be oppressed!"><U><B>Freedom to be oppressed!</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id33.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Are Organized Polygamous Groups Cults?"><U><B>Are Organized Polygamous Groups Cults?</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id34.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Doctrine Covenants Section 132"><U><B>Doctrine & Covenants Section 132, Fact or Fiction?</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id38.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Duplicity of Religion"><U><B>The Duplicity of Religion</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id39.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Celestial Bootlegging"><U><B>Celestial Bootlegging</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id40.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Tricked into Eternal Polygamy"><U><B>Tricked into "eternal polygamy"</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id41.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Damning Quotes!"><U><B>Damning quotes!</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id42.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Crime Corruption and Sexual Abuse in Pol"><U><B>Crime: Corruption and Sexual Abuse in Polygamous Groups</B></U></A></div> </td> <td valign="top" height=390 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <I><B>What every potential polygamist man and woman should know</B></I></div> <div> In my twenty-five year adventure as a practicing polygamist I tried to go by the book, and when that didn’t work, I improvised, trying to hold everything together. During the last few years of the adventure, I even pretended to believe all the propaganda shoveled out by Owen Allred and his gang of priesthood pretenders, because I knew if I rebelled it might cause division in my family, and I was right. </div> <bR> <div> As a member of AUB I was never really close to the leaders, I stayed pretty much to myself, and was never invited into the hierarchy’s inner circle. In fact, I was so busy providing for my family and keeping the peace that it was a long time before I discovered that there was an inner circle, an entourage of priesthood predators, like moray ells, lying low in wait of a victim to fleece.</div> <bR> <div> Plural marriage is not the bed of roses the theoretical polygamists would like you to believe, especially the Latter-day Saint intellectuals who purport to only have a scholastic interest in polygamy. Providing for two or more families, if you go about it right, is hard work that can tax your patience. Or you can be like some of the more devout polygamists who live off the priesthood and the labor of their wives, wives who are left to fend for themselves and their children. I’m talking about the women who supplement their diet by salvaging discarded food from behind grocery store dumpsters. </div> <bR> <div> I will not demean the women I lived with. They tried to go by the book also, but unless you are of exceptional character and are inclined to be submissive and dependent, plural marriage is a tough lifestyle to conquer. My wives were attractive, intelligent and very capable. They had minds of their own and were not adverse to expressing their opinions or pointing out my faults. Although I tried my very best not to show favoritism, it is the nature of women to suspect favoritism, especially where children are concerned.</div> <bR> <div> In reflecting back, I was so busy reassuring the wives, proving that I loved them and respected them, that I neglected the education and needs of my children. I was always being pulled back and forth by the wives until I just wanted to go up in the mountains and be a hermit, but of course I didn’t, because I had responsibilities. I loved my children very much and I needed to be there for them. Although I tried, and did a hell of a lot better than most polygamists, I still have a hard time forgiving myself for the neglect of my children. </div> <bR> <div> Speaking of children, there have been some very bright and productive kids come out of polygamist families. The mothers get the credit, not the fathers. </div> <bR> <div> I would take my sons fishing every chance I had. I would take their friends also because in many cases their fathers were to busy doing "priesthood business" to be bothered with the needs of their children. Some of these kids had never been camping or fishing, or to a ball game or movie with their father. He was just someone who came around occasionally to eat supper and get mom pregnant. Let me give you two real life examples:</div> <bR> <div> My son-in-law, Robbie, loved and admired his dad who was an influential member of Owen Allred’s apostolic priesthood council. Robbie set aside a special night for a patriarchal blessing, a night his Father would be available to give the blessing. This was an important event in the life of Robbie, who was one of over thirty siblings, a night when he would have his dad all to himself. This special event was to take place at my wife, Shauna’s home, who had prepared a wonderful meal to celebrate the occasion.</div> <div> You should have seen the pathetic look on Robbie’s face as we waited, and waited, for his important dad to show, but who never showed, or never apologized, because he was too busy doing priesthood work.</div> <bR> <div> This same father, Joe Thompson, was ostensibly kicked off Owen’s council for molesting his daughters, but the real reason is because Joe knew to much about Owen’s participation in the theft of Virginia Hill’s 1.5 million dollars, and because Joe had become a "law unto himself," not a team player. The excommunication caused a split in the Allred Group and consequently, Owen launched a campaign of "Thompson cleansing." In the Seventies Quorum, where Joe had a few loyal friends, all were required to submit to a loyalty oath. </div> <bR> <div> Like many religious and political leaders, Owen hide the real reason for dumping Joe and used the excuse he had molested his children. Although there was a lot of smoke in that direction, no facts were offered Joe’s unbelieving sons and daughters that actually prove Joe was a molester. The whole thing was a farce in the form of a mild AUB inquisition that separated the "blind believers" from the "free thinkers." The pro-Joe faction has since started up their own group located in Arizona. </div> <bR> <div> In the year 2000, Joe’s good friend, Dr. Joseph Ginat, an anthropology professor at Haifa University, Israel, put together a special tour of Israel and Jordan. Most of the tour consisted of Joe’s daughters, sons and grandchildren. My wife Shauna and I were also invited even though we were no longer members of AUB. During the tour we paled around with Ogden Kraut, a good friend, and Anne Wilde. We had a great time and saw parts of Israel not often seen by the average tourist.</div> <bR> <div> Joe had died a year or two prior to the tour. His memory and obstinacy still vexed Owen who often used Joe’s alleged infidelity as the text for sermons on loyalty to the priesthood. In Israel, Joe’s posterity planned a memorial for Joe, a traditional planting of a tree. When news of the memorial reached Owen, it grated on him as he didn’t understand that it was a simple planting of a tree in behalf of a deceased person, nevertheless, an important ritual in Israel. We felt honored that we would be permitted to participate in an Israeli tradition. I planted an evergreen sapling for my mother. </div> <bR> <div> Everyone except me, my wife, who was fast asleep in the bus, and one of Joe’s sons, Jacob, crowded around Joe’s twig-like tree. They sang songs, delivered eulogies and prayed. I asked Jacob why he wasn’t with the others. He replied sarcastically, "Why? Why should I be there for him, he was never there for me."</div> <bR> <div> Ladies, if you are normal, you are going to have fits of jealousy, no matter how hard your husband tries. Its going to hurt when your husband goes next door to spend the night with the other wife. And be prepared to deal with the vaginal infections your husband spreads from wife to wife, it happens in all the plural families. It can’t be avoided. If you don’t believe me, ask the women who have left polygamy.</div> <bR> <div> Have you ever thought about venereal disease as a punishment for immorality, Mother Natures way of discouraging promiscuity. I think there is a good argument that diseases spread by sexual contact go hand in hand with promiscuity, over indulgence and homosexuality. If true, what does that say for Mormon plural marriage? </div> <bR> <div> When I was in the Navy back in the fifties, while in Japan, I was surprised at how many virtuous sailors caught the "clap" from toilet seats!!! At the time it was Nippon Beer and the Japanese prostitute that held together the Japanese economy. The venereal disease was so rampant that we could not go on liberty without our ID Card, Liberty Card, a rubber and penicillin tablet. Although its off the subject, we thought the venereal diseases were Japan’s way of getting back at us for Hiroshima. </div> <bR> <div> When you marry a women in an organized polygamist group, you are marrying her at the pleasure and authority of the priesthood. She belongs to the priesthood and if you get on the wrong side of the priesthood, they believe they have the power to take her from you. It happens all the time. Some women have been passed around three and four times. </div> <bR> <div> Love and respect have little value in polygamist marriages. Consequently, men and women have a tendency to rush into the marriage before they really get to know each other. You may think it is love, children and mutual need that holds the marriage together, but if the woman is loyal to the priesthood, it’s the priesthood that is the bonding agent. I was legally married to the mother of my biological children. When I disavowed AUB in 1994, she divorced me, otherwise, I would probably still be a polygamist. The divorce occurred on friendly terms and I gave her what she wanted for the children’s sake. Unlike many polygamist men who are control freaks, I had put everything I owned in the names of my wives for their protection. </div> <bR> <div> So you men who think it would be a fun, sporty thing to have two or more attractive wives, think twice. Although I don’t apologize for my polygamist past, I was one of the lucky ones. In spite of the divorce, I came out of the experience better off than when I went in. But my sojourn didn’t last, it was an adventure, not a legitimate lifestyle, or an ideal environment to raise children, and the credits didn’t always exceed the debits. The only way you can make it work is to live an illusion, because that’s what Mormon fundamentalism is, an illusion, like Camelot, its based on fantasy, as I will demonstrate in the following essays.</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arrus BT" >Contact me at:  </FONT><A HREF="mailto:webmaster@polygamyversuscommonsense.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="mailto:webmaster@polygamyversuscommonsen"><U>webmaster@polygamyversuscommonsense.com</U></A> .                                                                            <FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arrus BT" ><B>Copyright 2004 John R. Llewellyn and Power Link ISP, Inc. All rights reserved</B></FONT></div> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <A HREF="http://www.powerlinkisp.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.powerlinkisp.com"><U><B><IMG SRC="06aaa220.jpg" border=0 width="682" height="34" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="http://www.powerlinkisp.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.powerlinkisp.com"><U><B>For hosting services and other fine products please visit our internet host </B></U></A></div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>