The Turncoat
February 26, 2016 1:05 AM Subscribe
Burly and middle-aged with a mop of brown hair, Jessop spent more than a decade as security chief and spokesman for the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, a polygamous sect that split from the mainstream Mormon church at the turn of the last century. As head of the "God Squad," he was perhaps the highest profile FLDS member -- with the exception of its prophet, Warren Jeffs. 'Thug Willie' spills secrets of FLDS and its 'prophet' [autoplay video -- stop that and read the article]
Ann O'Neill provides a longread detailed, well-reported, and ambiguous article that doesn't quite go where you expect it to go.
Ann O'Neill provides a longread detailed, well-reported, and ambiguous article that doesn't quite go where you expect it to go.
How many more stories of human misery are going to come out of this organization? It's hard to believe it took Jeffs going to prison before anyone thought maybe this wasn't such a good idea.
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 5:17 AM on February 26, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 5:17 AM on February 26, 2016 [1 favorite]
It was a frustrating read. Some sentence constructions were unclear or confusing. Some passages seem to meander without purpose.
There is a very important perspective to be understood here. About closed insular groups, their impact on weak and poor and how they can be changed or integrated without violence. How we can protect women and children in such groups.
I loved the part where she talked about the children and how the school is changing them. i would like to read more about that and understand what works.
That understanding can be such an important lesson for dealing with other fundamentalist groups around the world.
I wish it would be rewritten or someone else would take an attempt at it.
posted by TheLittlePrince at 6:10 AM on February 26, 2016 [1 favorite]
There is a very important perspective to be understood here. About closed insular groups, their impact on weak and poor and how they can be changed or integrated without violence. How we can protect women and children in such groups.
I loved the part where she talked about the children and how the school is changing them. i would like to read more about that and understand what works.
That understanding can be such an important lesson for dealing with other fundamentalist groups around the world.
I wish it would be rewritten or someone else would take an attempt at it.
posted by TheLittlePrince at 6:10 AM on February 26, 2016 [1 favorite]
Rolling Stone's current issue also has an article about Willie Jessop and the FLDS. I haven't read it yet, but my wife tells me it's good.
posted by Jahaza at 7:23 AM on February 26, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by Jahaza at 7:23 AM on February 26, 2016 [2 favorites]
I thought it was well written, actually. It's all very clear and straightforward.
posted by Rainbo Vagrant at 5:44 PM on February 26, 2016
posted by Rainbo Vagrant at 5:44 PM on February 26, 2016
Everything I read about the FLDS is horrible. The abuse of women and girls, the abandonment of boys and shunning of men deemed as trouble-makers, the abuse of public funds, lands and laws; the list goes on and on. Why with all that does it seem so impossible to crack down on this cult. Is it because a lot of this is taking place in states where it is de facto condoned? You might remember that Mitt Romney's family has ties to FLDS communities in Mexico and they are high up on the food chain in the church and politically. Communities that, it is alleged, exchange their chattel, I mean young girls, with the FLDS communities in Utah, Colorado and Canada to encourage genetic diversity. Some might actually define that as trafficking.
posted by Belle O'Cosity at 4:42 PM on February 27, 2016
posted by Belle O'Cosity at 4:42 PM on February 27, 2016
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posted by oheso at 3:26 AM on February 26, 2016