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A slight twist to one of Alexander Pope’s famous quotations would seem to describe well the sort of misinformation presented to the social workers, psychiatrists, and scholars attending the conference of the International Cultic Studies Association in Philadelphia:

To err is human, but to really louse things up, call in an “expert.”

 

According to the Salt Lake Tribune of June 29, 2008, Marci Hamilton is a professor at Princeton and Yeshiva University’s Cardozo Law School, a practicing attorney, and “a leading church/state scholar.” The title to the Tribune article refers to her as a “cult expert.” Considering the standards of academic research, and critical thinking stressed in most universities, one has to wonder if the sensationalized distortions she fed her audience in Philadelphia are indicative of the content of Professor Hamilton’s own university law classes or how she would grade a student who attempted to characterize a cultural group with the stale stereotypes she dishes up in her diatribe.

 

Ms. Hamilton paired the Texas Supreme Court decision to return the YFZ children with a recent ruling that denied damages to a teenage girl for injuries suffered during an exorcism.  “When you add yesterday’s decision to FLDS,” she said, “the state of Texas has just sent out an engraved invitation to any group who wants to abuse children.” 

 

In an attempt at tongue-in-cheek humor, Hamilton takes a few additional pokes at the FLDS and also reveals her own callous indifference to the very real abuses they suffered at the hands of the Texas authorities. Having the children in state custody “put them in really terrible straits,” she said. “They had to eat pizza. They had to learn to ride bicycles. They had to live in a universe where abuse is not normal. They saw a window of information they would have otherwise not gotten.”

 

The Tribune article gives only a few of the highlights of Ms. Hamilton’s address, but it would appear that the sort of evidence she gives for her accusations amounts to little more than an appeal to the ingrained prejudices of her audience—a sort of unstated, “We all know that’s the way these people are.”

 

Immediately after the raid on the YFZ community, CPS tried to portray the FLDS children as victims of abuse just as Hamilton does, but each of their accusations has proven to be false. Has Professor Hamilton been reading any of the unbiased news accounts of the last three months, or does she get all of her information from watching the Nancy Grace show? The dozens of underage mothers that CPS “visually” identified have since proven to be adults. The shockingly high percentage of broken bones among the FLDS boys was actually less than the percentage among the general population. CPS has not shown a single example of real child abuse, although hundreds of mothers and children could fill a volume with stories of abuse they suffered at the hands of the Texas CPS.

In regard to the unfounded allegation that the FLDS force young girls into marriage with old men, consider the following from a letter by a former FLDS member:

 

“I left the FLDS three years ago when I was 23. I had a very happy childhood free from television, drugs, and abuse. These are some of the things I personally witnessed:

”When a girl thought she was ready to get married, she would tell her father that she was ready to move on. Her father would turn her over to the prophet (Rulon or Warren Jeffs) to be placed in marriage. I saw Rulon many times tell the girl that she needed to be 18 before she was married, and I saw some girls ask to be married anyway, and sometimes he would give in to their request. It was not a common thing to see a girl younger than 15 get married, but if they did, it was always the result of her father putting a lot of pressure on Rulon or Warren to do something about their daughter. No one was ever forced. I saw several girls tell the prophet that she didn't want to marry so and so and that was the end of it (I know this because word really got around). Rulon and Warren always asked a girl if she had anyone in mind before she was placed with someone. Sometimes they would ask for an older guy with several wives already.”

 

Force is not a part of FLDS belief in regard to marriage or any other area of life, and in spite of what Marci Hamilton may say, abuse is anything but normal. (See “Underage Marriage.”)   

 

Professor Hamilton implies that the FLDS do not value education. Nothing could be further from the truth. The YFZ Ranch had its own private school, which followed a well-structured academic curriculum. College education is not being stressed at present as much as in the mainstream culture, but it definitely is not unheard of in FLDS society. We have doctors, nurses, nurse practitioners, a pharmacist, engineers, architects, and teachers. Those living at the YFZ Ranch planned the streets and public utilities and designed the homes, the temple, and other buildings. They built a modern dairy facility equipped with an automatic milking system engineered and constructed by members of the community.

 

It should be noted also that formal schooling is not the only way to become well educated; young people in the FLDS culture learn trades and human-relations skills in the school of life. Could observers have passed through the YFZ community unnoticed prior to the raid, they would have seen young men engaged in framing walls, applying and finishing drywall, wiring homes or other buildings, and constructing cabinets and furniture. Young ladies might be found caring for the homes, cooking the meals, caring for the children, sewing the clothing, or helping to upholster the chairs, sofas, and recliners manufactured in the community’s own furniture shop. Responsibility is learned at an early age, and who is to say that these young people are deprived by not spending their evenings vegetating in front of the TV or their Saturdays wandering the mall?

 

Some of the real “experts” on the FLDS culture are those who have worked with and observed this people firsthand. The following is from a letter written to Governor Perry of Texas by a construction supervisor living in Cedar City, Utah: 

 

“I have no association with the FLDS faith. Although I do not know any of these children personally, I have had close association with many of the children of the FLDS community here in Utah. Several FLDS families lived on a large mountain subdivision project over which I acted as supervisor. They stayed in this picturesque setting during the summers as the men worked with their construction equipment to build the roads and install the infrastructure for the subdivision. I ate lunch with them daily. I observed the interaction of the men with the women and children on a daily basis. Men and women were respectful and kind to each other and to their children. In three years of almost daily contact with these good people I have never seen any kind of abuse. To the contrary I have seen loving parents teaching enduring values of industry, honesty, respect for family and nation.”

 

From a second letter to Governor Perry, here are the words of an eye physician who has worked with the FLDS people for many years:

 

“I am an eye physician in the City of St. George, UT, which is located very near the twin cities of Hildale/Colorado City where the FLDS have traditionally been headquartered. I am not affiliated with their group, nor do I sympathize with their religious beliefs. I have taken care of their families in my clinic for over 10 years. I know them as intimately as any outsider can ever know them—and I personally know a great many of the people who have been taken into custody during the raid on the FLDS community.

 

“I wish to state for the record that in my observation, the things they are being accused of are simply not true. The abuse that happens in the FLDS community is very isolated. They are a remarkably good people—guarded and shy perhaps, but rightly so considering their unusual culture and history. I have never ever seen signs of mind control or brainwashing. I have also never witnessed an underage girl who is pregnant from their community—which unfortunately I cannot say about my own community. It may happen, but it is uncommon.”

 

Finally, here is an excerpt from a comment posted at the end of a Salt Lake Tribune article on June 23, 2008:

 

“I have talked with and seen some of these kids work and I can tell you they do not suffer from the extended adolescence of the general public. The 17 year olds are more responsible than the general public's 25 year olds.”