Indeed, regardless of facing crushing federal government opposition to polygamous inbreeding, true-blue Mormons remain convinced that you can't keep a good man of God down To them, polygamy will be coming back some day, with sizable numbers of the faithful flock confident that its eugenic genetics will return by order of Joseph's Jesus. "', "'Joseph Smith was also selecting for the "obedience gene." The group has drawn legal attention before. "'My father manipulated and controlled people,' Rugg says. living in Colorado City and Hildale are blood descendants of the Barlows and the Jessops, says Benjamin Bistline, a lifelong resident of the area who has published a book . . The chickens are coming home to roost. Reading the ignorant responses of the polygs - particularly in the face of the evidence all around them - makes my blood boil. D. Michael Quinn, former Brigham Young University professor, states, 'The Mormon practice of polygamy enabled men to marry daughters, nieces, cousins, granddaughters and former wives of other General Authorities.'. "Some of the kids can walk, but others have a difficult time even sitting. The group sought to maintain Pure Kingston Blood by arranging marriages between cousins and other close relatives, and shunning relationships that werent between white people, the lawsuit alleges. . From the article, "Mormon Polygamy: Frequently Asked Questions": "[Mormon] Church founder, Joseph Smith, said he received a revelation from God, which is still canonized Mormon scripture as Doctrine and Covenants Section 132. . The Southern Poverty Law Center recognizes the Kingston clan as an " incest and white supremacy " group for its practices outlined in Escaping Polygamy, which include teaching children to not associate themselves with non-white people and, as mentioned by the lawsuit, marrying underage children off to family members of The Order. They are Utah-based, unlike the FLDS where the escapes are mainly Arizona-based. A fourth to half of father-daughter and brother-sister offspring have mental or physical deficiencies. Not one defect, but many. The groups, whose members believe polygamy brings exaltation in heaven, are offshoots of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. "Then, as generations of polygamous Kingston children have been taught, they demurred to questions about their father. . "'I knew I would have to marry my [half-] brother ever since I was 12,' says the woman. [39] The 2022 complaint was filed by attorney, Roger Hoole,[39] an attorney known for representing ex-members of the polygamous Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. They operate in Salt Lake Valley, Utah. A brief review of the accomplishments of the Co-op produces an impressive spreadsheet with assets in excess of $200 million. . And in 1999, David Ortell Kingston Jeremy Kingston's uncle was sentenced to the Utah State Prison for up to 10 years for committing incest with the 16-year-old niece who became his 15th wife. The Prophet Josephs priorities of missionary work, temple ordinances, proxy work for the dead, and feeding the poor appear to have been lost somewhere. One of the guilty pleas states they cycled fraud proceeds through a number of international partners and then back to Washakie's bank accounts, falsely claiming them as loans or profits. [43] Responding to child marriage allegations in September 2022, the organization told The Guardian that "current policy prohibits plural marriage for members under 18" and "once an individual has made a decision on who to marry, members are encouraged to seek the blessing of their parents, family and/or church leaders, but to say that one individual chooses or heavily influences who will marry who is entirely inaccurate". "An unknown number--but believed to be in the thousands--of Barlow/Jessop descendants carry the recessive gene that causes fumarase deficiency. Sally Kingston, a wife of one of the brothers, and. [10], According to his autobiography, Charles W. Kingston became disenchanted with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) in 1926 because it abandoned plural marriage. 100 years later, eugenics is a discredited science, yet some followers still believe. From her article, "Fatal Inheritance: Mormon Eugenics": "[My] cousin], [her sister] and I all grew up to marry and start families of our own. . With the dawn of the twenty-first century, lawsuits and education among Kingston followers would combine to create new obstacles, as leaders perpetuate this financially spiritual hybrid organization. . . present a troubling scenario for law enforcement: these are crimes of a sexual nature committed in private in a closed society. . ', "Aleck says the fact that so many people in the polygamist enclave are blood relatives of the founding Barlow and Jessop families 'shows the magnitude of the problem.'. "'My guess is this man had used some of these inbreeding practices in his herd so he was probably in the camp that believed superior genetics could be propagated in a particular line,' Green says. "Recovery from Mormonism - www.exmormon.org", http://www.lds-mormon.com/quinn_polygamy.shtml, http://www.i4m.com/think/polygamy/polygamy_summary.htm. . "Fumarase deficiency is caused by a lack of the fumarase enzyme, an essential component in a biological process called the Krebs cycle, which converts food into energy within each cell. The group also teaches its members that only those with so-called pure blood will survive the apocalypse, according to the lawsuit. . The Kingstons are a Mormon splinter group, founded in the 1930s by Mary's great-uncle Elden. In this regard, officially-canonized LDS scripture that currently endorses polygamy is not the only image problem for the Mormon Church (thank you, Warren Jeffs). "State investigators found no wrongdoing among members of the Davis County Cooperative Society, also known as the Kingston Group. "The same right of marriage approval was wielded by John Ortell Kingston, who began the incestuous lineage. The parents said their daughter had cerebral palsy. . Still, if children are caught up in an abusive or incestuous situation, Williams would encourage policing. "If descendants of polygamy do not look critically at the ideas of their ancestors, Utah children may be increasingly at risk. [23][36] These relationships are defined as incestuous according to Utah's Criminal Code 76-7-102 (2021), which states: "Related person" means a person related to the provider or actor as an ancestor, descendant, brother, sister, uncle, aunt, nephew, niece, or first cousin, and includes: (i) blood relationships of the whole or half blood without regard to legitimacy; (ii) the relationship of parent and child by adoption; and (iii) the relationship of stepparent and stepchild while the marriage creating the relationship of a stepparent and stepchild exists. . . "The baby, delivered at Johnson's home in 1983, was taken to Primary Children's Medical Center. 'They are totally helpless,' he says. Connie Rugg [is] one of John Ortell's estimated 65 children and one of a handful of Kingston relatives who have fled the clan. ". . . They are quick to point out to reporters that they no longer practice polygamy and excommunicate members who continue to do so. ", -Apostle Heber C. Kimball, "Journal of Discourses," vol. The lone man suing said three Order men raped him when he was 16 or 17 and that when he left the group and announced he was gay, was tracked down and severely beaten by a group of boys acting at the direction of the Order, the lawsuit alleges. Modern Polygamy and Mormon Fundamentalism, 2023 Modern Polygamy and Mormon Fundamentalism, Joseph Smith Restores the Practice of Plural Marriage, Plural Marriage Commanded, Permitted, and Not Permitted, 1920sPolygamists Coalesce into an Organization, Lorin C. Woolley and His Council of Seven Friends, Independent Polygamists and Fundamentalists. . Initially, she tried to conceal her marital relationship. "For Colorado City and Hildale to avoid more fumarase, polygamist leaders must use their authority to make sure that those potentially carrying the fumarase gene are not allowed to marry, says geneticist Aleck. . [7] Upon the creation of the LDCJC, most members of the DCCS became members of the church and most retain dual membership in both organizations to this day. . The FLDS already has moved several hundred men, women and children to the compound, many of whom very likely carry the fumarase deficiency gene. But women who are disobedient and fail to bear children including because they miscarry face ostracism, the lawsuit claims. _____. This practice has been attributed to "endogamous preference and the small size of the groups population" according to recent research from the University of California. , says he has firsthand knowledge of multiple fumarase deficiency children in each of the three families. _____, --Case Study in Mormon-Moored Mutation: Utah's Mormon Offshoot Kingston Clan. '90% of the community is related to one side or the other,' said Bistline, a former member of the sect, the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. "There is no cure for the disease, which impedes the body's ability to process food at the cellular level. . The records of the marriages sealed at the Nauvoo Temple before the general exodus to Utah in the 1840s, may be the most important ones of all; yet, these are . Meanwhile, as Mormons wait patiently and faithfully for multi-wifery's official return, the words of their founding Church fathers sound praise to polygamy past, present and future: --The Mormon God's Declaration of Righteous Genetic Combinations: Monogamy is a Christian Blight on Humanity, While Polygamy is the Lord's Way to Produce Fresh, Virile Men; Good-Lookin' Women; and Super Strong Stock to Carry Civilization Into Eternity. "If you look in the literature, you won't find another dozen cases in the world that have been reported," says Tarby. . . . Tarby asked them to bring the girl to him for an examination. "'We have and will have a continual output of children with this condition,' Tarby says. "While none of these can positively be linked to incest without DNA testing, geneticists say most of the conditions are exacerbated by incest. . The Doctrine and Covenants admonishes the Saints to look to the poor and the needy, and administer to their relief that they shall not suffer (D&C 38:35). . One brother, John Daniel Kingston, was taken to court for neglecting this children. . Nearly all the Mormon founding families were relatives, so the first polygamists enjoyed relations to different degrees when the divine experiment began. "Wyler said it's all part of the community's religious system. . The suit includes ten former members alleging the organization used marriages to "unlawfully make girls and their children religious martyrs and traffic them for sexual and labor purposes". . While engaged in that enterprise, he reportedly received an angelic visitation. 'They just don't worry about the effects of intermarriage.'. . She suffered from. Precisely where Elden obtained valid priesthood authority is a matter of dispute. He estimates the test would . The word dispensation refers to two processes. 11, p. 128, ". on a 1,600-acre ranch outside of Eldorado. . It didn't find any. Source: Twitter Jessica with her husband and three daughters. Same family, second child, same period of life, a different fatal disease; was there a connection? "Tarby says the disease could begin to show up in children at Warren Jeffs' new FLDS headquarters . Wyler's ex-wife's sister has had two babies afflicted with fumarase deficiency. "Ex-members' claims of incest are bolstered by court records claiming John Ortell 'failed either to support or acknowledge' three children by his niece, (Susan) Mary Gustafson. . ", "C250 - Senate Judiciary, Law Enforcement, and Criminal Justice Committee", "DCCS Self-Sustaining Policy, Contributions to the Community", "The Polygamist Accused of Scamming the U.S. Out of $500 Million", "Former WRE CEO testifies about money paid to DCCS Entities", "Jury Finds Los Angeles Businessman Guilty in $1 Billion Biodiesel Tax Fraud Scheme", "Polygamists Admit $512 Million Fraud for U.S. Fuel-Tax Credits", "CEO And CFO Of Utah Biodiesel Company And California Businessman Charged In $500 Million Fuel Tax Credit Scheme", "WRE Defendants arrested and awaiting trial", "Trial postponed for last defendant in fraud case involving members of the Kingston polygamous family", "Complaint and Jury Demand, Grant, et al. In their own words, as quoted in a sister article that asks the question, "Is Monogamy the Ruin of Civilization?" . . That apparently was John Ortell Kingston's intent, although most studies of first-cousin mating show their offspring test lower on IQ exams, Jorde says. However, the law of consecration has a purpose beyond self-sacrifice. Several charges of incest would eventually be leveled against various Kingston members. 3, p. 291, "I have noticed that a man who has but one wife, and is inclined to that doctrine, soon begins to wither and dry up, while a man who goes into plurality [of wives] looks fresh, young, and sprightly. . . ", (Greg Burton, "When Incest Becomes a Religious Tenet: Practice sets 1,000-member Kingston clan apart from other Utah polygamous groups," in "The Salt Lake Tribune," 25 April 1999, at: http://www.rickross.com/reference/polygamy/polygamy25.html 'I try in my own, quiet way and tell them to outbreed. From an "Associated Press" news report, "Doctor: Birth Defects Increase in Polygamy Community": "A rare, severe birth defect is on the rise in an inbred polygamous community on the Arizona-Utah border, according to a doctor who has treated many of the children. Cloudflare Ray ID: 7a302ff8194befb0 . Let's revisit the boastful words of Mormon Church Prophet John Taylor and Mormon Church Apostle Heber C. Kimball, both quoted earlier: -Taylor, "Millennial Star," vol. Consequently, genetic diseases and mutations have inevitably sprouted in many polygamous groups having this belief. And, "We cannot and will not condone or support anyone found to be engaged in any fraudulent behaviors. [40] In 2009, the then-Attorney General of Utah, Mark Shurtleff, claimed that child marriages within polygamous societies in Utah, such as the Latter Day Church of Christ, had "effectively stopped". "Among the polygamous Kingstons, a number of children have been born with birth defects, among them one born with two vaginas and two uteruses but no vaginal or bowel opening. . The Kingston sisters were able to help her escape although Ava wanted to stay with her family, she knew she couldn't give up her sense of self and continue watching the cycle of abuse continue. If both parents carry the gene, the likelihood that their offspring will be affected by the disease or become carriers of the gene greatly increases, medical experts say. "Of even greater concern was the fact that the recessive gene that triggers the disease was rapidly spreading to thousands of individuals living in the community because of decades of inbreeding. Had these defects clumped in my own family as it seemingly appeared to me? . Not enough of the fumarase enzyme can lead to severe mental retardation and physical deformities. Re: Polygamy's Patriarchy-Poisoned Bloodline: The Genetic Catastrophe That Has Sprung from Joseph Smith's "Divine" Breeding Program of Mormon Mutation . . 'And when you talk about the public interest, you have to consider who pays for the consequences. . Isaac Wyler, another lifelong Colorado City resident who was excommunicated from the FLDS in January 2004. And it is my purpose to provide for my saints, for all things are mine. This is the equivalent of a religious rationalization for the practice of incest. [39], The organization continues to publicly denounce the practice of child marriage,[41][39] and maintains that marriages within the group are not coerced. 'If you cross a Barlow and Jessop, you stand a high risk of getting this condition,' Tarby says. . . Upon Ortells death in 1987, leadership passed to his son Paul Elden Kingston. and Privacy Policy. Video unavailable This video. . He interpreted his dream to mean that God approved of his leaving the Church. "'I tried to get people to come, but nobody would listen,' says the mother, who left the group and her marriage after her sons were diagnosed with dwarfism. [12] In 1977, Elden's brother Ortell Kingston began to file for legal recognition of the church later organized as The Latter Day Church of Christ. They have been known for systemic inbreeding, child sex abuse, physical abuse, child labor, and tax evasion. [7] Members of the Latter Day Church of Christ are also members of the Davis County Cooperative Society (a separate organization and legal entity) which practices the law of consecration and United Order. They own many businesses and have ties with hundreds of businesses here in Utah and our neighboring states. Childbirth would be fraught with despair and guilt for me and for many family members. [49] As part of the plea deal and restitution, the company forfeits rights to a number of assets including their bio-fuel plant in Plymouth, Utah. Family members attribute the defects to the advanced ages of the mother and father -- he was 64, she was 45. [21][26], The Latter Day Church of Christ is based on a belief in Jesus Christ and the restoration of his gospel in these latter days. "It is important that Mormons fight the tendency to discount history and the actions of their leaders in favor of a faith- promoting history while neglecting important facts. "During this early period, polygamy was practiced secretly by the Mormon leadership, men who covertly preached and expanded polygamy while publicly deceiving the general Mormon population about the practice. It alleges sex trafficking, sexual battery and child abuse, and seeks a jury trial and unspecified damages. The Kingston family first embraced polygamy around 1931 when, according to author Max Anderson, Charles W. Kingston helped produce a pamphlet that contained a version of Lorin C. Woolley's claims that former LDS Church President John Taylor had set aside a select group of men to carry on polygamy even as the church publicly disavowed the practice. "Goodman soon made a startling discovery: Tarby's young patient was afflicted with an extremely rare disease called fumarase deficiency. "'I had never seen a patient with it,' Tarby says. "The ultimate decision on marriages rests with FLDS Prophet Warren Jeffs. requote from Steve's excellent post ! "He sent her to live in a coal yard with other polygamous wives and their many children in South Salt Lake, visiting her rarely and usually only to have sex, she testified. I think most people are made aware of the problems caused by inbreeding (a nicer word than incest) when they are still young teenagers. "This great-grandfather married two sisters which meant the 22 known children were double cousins or as genetically similar as brother and sister. _____, --Conclusion: Mormonism is Sick--and So (Genetically Speaking) Are the Faithful Followers of the LDS Legacy of Blood-Poisoned Polygamy. Members' financial holdings are believed to include: a 300-acre (1.2km2) dairy farm in Davis County; a 3,200-acre (13km2) farm in Tetonia, Idaho; a coal mine in Emery County;[24] 1,200 acres (4.9km2) in Terreton, Idaho; a cattle ranch and a discount store; Desert Tech Firearms; a grocery store; and a restaurant supply in many western cities including Tucson, Phoenix, Denver, Las Vegas, Boise, and Portland. That leads to problems." "The discoveries and research within my own kindred so alarmed me that I studied other descendants of polygamy to see if their families also suffered from crippling illnesses. The man's response was, "Up here, we are all related," Tarby says. The Kingstons represent an intriguing branch on the Mormon fundamentalist tree. "Although it is a felony under Utah law for close relatives to have sex, only one Kingston--John and LaDonna's fifth son, David Ortell--has been criminally charged with incest. 5, p. 22, "Brethren, I want you to understand that it is not to be as it has been heretofore. This is inadequate information for purposes of establishing the true incidence of consanguinity within a family or community. "This gene cluster effect happens when people with common ancestors marry and bear children. Even the few highly educated people there . . Believing that Elden received lost priesthood keys in 1935 also seems to contradict an 1837 scripture given to Joseph Smith stating that the priesthood had then (in 1837) been restored for the last time: For unto you, the Twelve, and those, the First Presidency, who are appointed with you to be your counselors and your leaders, is the power of this priesthood given, for the last days and for the last time, in the which is the dispensation of the fulness of times (D&C 112:30; see also D&C 27:13). 129-30, ("Is Homosexuality or Monogamy the Ruin of Civilization?," at: http://www.i4m.com/think/sexuality/homosexual_ruin.htm) This seemed to apply in my own kindred because those of us who left Mormonism and married outsiders are less riddled with the deleterious genetic legacy than relatives who married within the ancestral Mormon gene pool. "Farm Roots of Incest: Marriages in the Kingston clan must be sanctioned by [the] current head of the church . 'He wanted to control his children and grandchildren through genetics. 'Maybe it will just self-destruct,' historian Bistline says of the fundamentalist church he quit 20 years ago because of a dispute over religious doctrine and property ownership. Such a system was commenced by the founders of the Roman empire. "Dr. Vinodh Narayanan, a pediatric neurologist at St. Joseph's Hospital, says he is seeking funding to develop a test that would allow public health officials to collect voluntary blood samples from as many FLDS members as possible. The Cooperative itself was established in 1935. . [8][3] There are approximately 3,500 members,[9] some of whom are known to practice polygamy. . "Finally exposed in the news, the facts of life inside [the Mormon offshoot Kingston clan's] religious/cult compound are stunning Mormons, Utahans, the nation, and the world. Elden passed away from cancer in 1948 and was succeeded by his brother John Ortell Kingston (commonly known as Ortell). . Over the past decades, the Kingston Group has maintained extreme secrecy while developing an extensive cooperative system, with wealth in at least 50 corporations in Utah and scattered across the West. . "The only long-term solution to the health crisis is for Barlows and Jessops to have children with spouses from outside the polygamist community. "What was going on in my Utah pioneer family? 2023 NYP Holdings, Inc. 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The two Kingston brothers and their business partner, Lev Dermen, are in jail awaiting trial, scheduled to start in July and last six weeks. refuse to accept advice from any outsider, including doctors such as Tarby, who has treated their children for years. "Dr. Theodore Tarby has treated many of the children at clinics in Arizona under contracts with the state. . The couple had lived together since the age of 7, when the mother of the woman's half-brother died. "'You don't want to jump to the conclusion and say all of these are the result of inbreeding,' he says. "Intermarriage among close relatives is producing children who have two copies of a recessive gene for a debilitating condition called fumarase deficiency. it is the only popular religion there,", -The Prophet Brigham Young, "Deseret News," 6 August 1862, "This law of monogamy, or the monogamic system, laid the foundation for prostitution and the evils and diseases of the most revolting nature and character under which modern Christendom groans, .
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