FLDS: A RELIGION, A FAMILY, A TRIBE, A NATION
Although most of the comments seen in the press about the FLDS discuss it in terms of it being a religion, it is really more than that.
It is a present day version of how tribes and nations were formed in the ages before modern mass transportation and before the current blending ideology of this present Dark Age.
Back then, people in small villages married each other and the villages sometimes grew and prospered. Eventually they became nations. Nations of closely related people. They often had one religion, one main world view and a sense of belonging to the group.
The FLDS is similar to that. They are linked by blood, belief and action.
The blenders don't like that. They want to tear apart the FLDS and not let them worship as they want and live as they desire.
There are very few family names among the FLDS and most of them are related in various ways to one another. It's probably safe to say that every member of the FLDS is, at the very least, a cousin to every other member
They are a very large family working together for the common good of the family.
And, they have their United Effort Plan in which they own most things in common as would be found in a family.
But, because of the size of the FLDS which has been given as having between 6,000 and 10,000 members, they are also a tribe and a collective.
They apparently see themselves as part of this collective, and value this over the overly rated individualism of our present day societies which have led to serious social and psychological problems among people who are alienated (and with good reason) but who are trying to accept the fiction that they are somehow one with people who are very different from themselves starting right at the genetic level. It's not working.
Our present day mad beliefs in hyper-individualism coupled with this false belief that we are one people in America because we have the same constitution or some sort of idea of freedom is absurd.
The FLDS model may be a good one for the survival of the genes of the members.
Will the blenders, the bigots, the haters be able to destroy the FLDS? Time will tell. It's been tried before with the FLDS and failed and it's been tried with other groups and also failed. But, it's been tried with weaker groups and succeeded. Again, time will tell.
Now, to be very clear about this: These are just my arms length opinions, and maybe I have it wrong. I'm not FLDS. Never even met anyone from the FLDS. FLDSers may disagree with me. I defer to them. They are the proper judges of who and what they are.
I have great respect for any distinct, peaceful people who just want to practice their faith or live their lives as they themselves see fit and who will not bow down to the wishes of the masses clustered under the center of the bell curve or to politicians, haters and bigots who want them to conform.
It is clear to me that the FLDS are being persecuted. Think about it. They were living their lives and not bothering anyone and now government bigots and private sector bigots have conspired to put everything they do under a microscope in the hope of finding something, anything, to destroy these peaceful people.
If there is a God in heaven, he is not happy with what is being done to the FLDS. And, hopefully, the FLDS will remain strong and true to their beliefs and won't change a single thing to please the haters and bigots, as some other churches and religions have done (and you know who we mean).
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