Religious sect and townspeople square off over discrimination

[CopyBoy]

PHOENIX — The case is supposed to be about religious discrimination: The question is, who’s discriminating against whom?

The U.S. Department of Justice claims that a polygamous sect called the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints controls the Arizona-Utah border towns of Colorado City and Hildale, and that it denies housing and police services to non-church members.

During opening arguments in U.S. District Court in Phoenix Wednesday, Justice Department attorney Jessica Clarke said that non-FLDS members in the two towns are denied “some of the most basic rights of democracy … freedom to live in a city governed by the laws of the land, not by the laws of religion.”

But attorneys defending the so-called “Twin Cities,” which share utilities and a police force, say, “This case is about whether Colorado City and Hildale treat people fairly.”

“The federal government wants to make this case about religion,” said attorney Jeffrey Matura, who represents Colorado City, Ariz.

“The federal government wants to eradicate this religion,” Matura said, to find the cities guilty of “the sins of the church.”

religionnews.com/2016/01/21/religious-sect-and-townspeople-square-off-over-discrimination/

 

[kozlosap]

religionnews.com/2016/01/21/religious-sect-and-townspeople-square-off-over-discrimination/

I can’t imagine why anyone not part of this evil cult would want to live in either one of those two small towns. If these communities were located in Nevada or California there would be no problem because the police department would not be under the direct control of the so-called Prophet of the FLDS. Utah is a state that is literally run by a religion.