L
LaMar
Guest
*About two months ago, my wife and I visited the Fundamentalist Mormon community of Colorado City, Arizona, the base of imprisoned leader Warren Jeffs. I had always wanted to see for myself how this community lives.
Arriving late in the afternoon, we went to the main supermarket, where tens of fundamentalist Mormons were out buying food with their families. They were understandably suspicious of these intruders and reluctant to engage us in conversation. After a while, the manager of the store came over to us and asked, with considerable warmth, if we had found what we were looking for. He politely confessed that the community was unused to outsiders and hinted that perhaps it was time for us to continue on our journey.
I told him that I was an Orthodox rabbi, that I had, thank God, eight kids, and that it was nice to see so many children in a community. I also told him that I had a long-standing relationship with the Mormon Church, and that I had always wanted to visit the Fundamentalist Mormons as well. He told me that if I was friendly with the official Mormon Church, then no doubt I had a negative view of their community - to which I responded that I tended to make judgments based on my own observations rather than on what I had been told. We spoke a little to some of the young mothers we met, although I could not say whether any of these women were younger than the age of consent. *
much more at: jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1208422651619&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
Arriving late in the afternoon, we went to the main supermarket, where tens of fundamentalist Mormons were out buying food with their families. They were understandably suspicious of these intruders and reluctant to engage us in conversation. After a while, the manager of the store came over to us and asked, with considerable warmth, if we had found what we were looking for. He politely confessed that the community was unused to outsiders and hinted that perhaps it was time for us to continue on our journey.
I told him that I was an Orthodox rabbi, that I had, thank God, eight kids, and that it was nice to see so many children in a community. I also told him that I had a long-standing relationship with the Mormon Church, and that I had always wanted to visit the Fundamentalist Mormons as well. He told me that if I was friendly with the official Mormon Church, then no doubt I had a negative view of their community - to which I responded that I tended to make judgments based on my own observations rather than on what I had been told. We spoke a little to some of the young mothers we met, although I could not say whether any of these women were younger than the age of consent. *
much more at: jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1208422651619&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
