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Lost boys (Mormon fundamentalism)

March 05, 2023

For other uses, see Lost Boys.

"Lost boys" is a term used for young men who have been excommunicated or pressured to leave polygamous Mormon fundamentalist groups, such as the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS).[1] Although sometimes officially accused of apostasy or disobedience,[2][3] it is thought that they are mainly pressured to leave by older adult men to reduce competition for wives within such sects,[2][3][4] usually when they are between the ages of 13 and 21.[5]

Background

Since boys and girls are born in approximately equal numbers, and women do not enter the community in large numbers, the pool of available women is not sufficient for all men to have multiple wives.

While some boys leave by their own choice,[6] many have been banished for conduct such as watching a movie,[7] watching television,[6][8] playing football,[6] or talking to a girl.[5][4][6] Some boys are told not to return unless they can return with a wife.[citation needed] One 2004 source estimated that more than 400 teenage boys have been ostracized from the FLDS Church for violating community rules.[9] Another article from 2005 estimated that between 400 and 1,000 boys and young men had been pressured to leave for such reasons.[1] Many young women[10] also have left or been pressured to leave because they did not want to be part of polygamous marriages.[11]

Boys in these sects are commonly raised not to trust the outside world, and that leaving their communities is a sin worse than murder.[12][13] With little education or skills applicable to life outside of their community of birth, they must learn to live in a society they inherently distrust yet know little, and as a result, some lost boys become homeless or end up in the criminal justice system.[6] They also must deal with the consequences[vague] of being shunned by their families, and believing they are beyond spiritual redemption.[citation needed] The families of banished boys are told that the boys are now dead to them.[8]

Specific incidences

The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (hereafter FLDS) is a particularly controversial fundamentalist sect which has repeatedly been connected with the concept of lost boys. As early as 1968, the church's home turf of Colorado City, Arizona had a peace officer whose responsibility was "to make sure that the boys would not associate with the girls.”[4] This officer's main police duties evolved over the next two decades to include "running the surplus boys out of town" so as to allow the "worthy" men of the community to live plural marriage by adding new, younger wives.[4] More recently, in the mid 1990s, a Colorado City police officer named Rodney Holm was one of a dozen men who attacked and assaulted a 17 year old named Robert Williams, because Williams had showed interest in a girl his age. The attack was organized by the girl's father, who was also Officer Holm’s brother. Afterwards, in February 1996, they pleaded no contest to simple assault.[4]

Some individuals, such as Dan Fischer, a dentist who left the FLDS Church, work to help young men who have left or who have been ejected from polygamist organizations in cities like Hildale, Utah, or Colorado City, Arizona.[5][14] The FLDS church was sued by six "lost boys" in August 2004 for "alleged economic and psychological injury."[15]

Brent Jeffs details his early life as the grandson to a FLDS prophet and his eventual excommunication as "very different".[16] At an early age Jeffs father decided to leave the church and take his family with him.[16] Upon hearing this news Jeffs decides to return to the church to make the decision on his own. During this time he experiences a social black-balling for his families history with FLDS, as well as getting romantically intertwined with a girl his age,[16] and removed himself once again from the church.[16]

In popular culture

In the HBO television series Big Love (2006-2011), the main protagonist is a former lost boy, having grown up challenging the elder who drove him out of their community as a teenager. The series portrays machinations of some senior men within a fundamentalist congregation to "reserve" young unmarried women for themselves.[citation needed]

The documentary film Sons of Perdition (2010) depicts the struggles of three real-life lost boys.[17]

The off-Broadway play Exit 27 (2013) dramatized the story of four lost boys struggling to survive in the desert outside Colorado City. Playwright Aleks Merilo based the script on interviews conducted with lost boys living in Hurricane, Utah.[18]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ a b Borger, Julian (2005-06-14). "The lost boys, thrown out of US sect so that older men can marry more wives". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 2007-02-14.
  2. ^ a b Bryant, Seth L. (2009). "Reviving the Millennial Kingdom: Mormons, Morrisites, and Massacre". The John Whitmer Historical Association Journal. 29: 115–139. ISSN 0739-7852. JSTOR 43200347.
  3. ^ a b Miller, Anne Catherine; Karkazis, Katrina (2013). "Health Beliefs and Practices in an Isolated Polygamist Community of Southern Utah". Journal of Religion and Health. 52 (2): 597–609. doi:10.1007/s10943-012-9593-x. ISSN 0022-4197. JSTOR 24485008. PMID 22438183. S2CID 28895834.
  4. ^ a b c d e Kent, Stephen A. (2006). "A Matter of Principle: Fundamentalist Mormon Polygamy, Children, and Human Rights Debates". Nova Religio: The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions. 10 (1): 7–29. doi:10.1525/nr.2006.10.1.7. ISSN 1092-6690. JSTOR 10.1525/nr.2006.10.1.7.
  5. ^ a b c Henetz, Patty (July 31, 2004). "Krakauer still vexed by FLDS". Deseret News. AP. from the original on 2010-07-31. Retrieved 2013-12-11. [...] Fischer has housed the castoff children and given them jobs in his company, Krakauer said.
  6. ^ a b c d e Wright, Stuart A.; Richardson, James T. (2014). "The Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints after the Texas State Raid: Assessing a Post-Raid Movement Trajectory". Nova Religio: The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions. 17 (4): 83–97. doi:10.1525/nr.2014.17.4.83. ISSN 1092-6690. JSTOR 10.1525/nr.2014.17.4.83.
  7. ^ Holstein, MD, MS, Ned (2008-04-15). "Texas Polygamy Case: Don't the Boys Count?". Fathers and Families. Archived from the original on 2013-06-24. Retrieved 2013-06-20.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  8. ^ a b Kelly, David (2005-06-19). "Polygamy's 'Lost Boys' expelled from only life they knew". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2008-04-24.
  9. ^ Nielsen, Michael (2009). "Opinions Regarding Polygamy Among LDS Church Members: Demographic Predictors". Archiv für Religionspsychologie / Archive for the Psychology of Religion. 31 (2): 261–270. doi:10.1163/157361209X427788. ISSN 0084-6724. JSTOR 23910032. S2CID 143499720.
  10. ^ "Man Accused Of Assaulting Kingston Polygamist Daughter Appears In Court". KSL-TV News. 2006-06-24. Retrieved 2007-02-14.
  11. ^ . CNN. 1998-08-18. Archived from the original on 2007-02-11. Retrieved 2007-02-14.
  12. ^ Wagner, Angie (2004-09-04). "Religious sect's outcasts caught between worlds". Associated Press.
  13. ^ Wagner, Angie. "Boys exiled from polygamist sect seek new life in the outside world". Associated Press. Retrieved 2007-02-14.
  14. ^ . Archived from the original on 2018-03-15. Retrieved 2019-01-06.
  15. ^ Watson, Marianne T. (2007). "The 1948 Secret Marriage of Louis J. Barlow: Origins of FLDS Placement Marriage". Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought. 40 (1): 83–136. doi:10.2307/45227157. ISSN 0012-2157. JSTOR 45227157. S2CID 254401041.
  16. ^ a b c d "From Polygamist Royalty To FLDS Lost Boy". NPR.org. Retrieved 2022-11-09.
  17. ^ Rosanne Colletti (24 April 2010). "The Sons of Perdition in Person". NBC New York. Retrieved 1 May 2010. External link in |publisher= (help)
  18. ^ Clarke, David (2013-10-27). BWW Interviews: Aleks Merilo Talks EXIT 27. Broadway World, Wisdom Digital Media, 27 October 2013. Retrieved from http://www.broadwayworld.com/off-off-broadway/article/BWW-Interviews-Aleks-Merilo-Talks-EXIT-27-20131027#.

References

  • Krakauer, Jon. Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith (2003).
  • Emmett, Andrea Moore. God's Brothel: The Extortion of Sex for Salvation in Contemporary Mormon and Christian Fundamentalist Polygamy and the Stories of 18 Women Who Escaped (2004).
  • Bistline, Benjamin G. Colorado City Polygamists: An Inside Look for the Outsider (2004). A Colorado City historian presents the beginnings of the group and its original religious doctrine.
  • Bistline, Benjamin G. The Polygamists: A History of Colorado City, Arizona (2004)
  • Tracy, Kathleen. The Secret Story of Polygamy (2001). Centered on the trial of John Daniel Kingston, who was tried for assault on his 16-year-old daughter.
  • Llewellyn, John R. Polygamy Under Attack: From Tom Green to Brian David Mitchell (2004)
  • Dan Simon & Amanda Townsend (September 7, 2007). "Warren Jeffs' 'lost boys' find themselves in strange world". CNN.
  • Main Street Church. Lifting the Veil of Polygamy (2007). A documentary film on the history and modern-day expressions of Mormon polygamy, including numerous testimonials.
  • Jeffs, Brent & Maia Szalavitz, Lost Boy, Broadway Books, New York, 2009, 241 pp. First person account of life and exile of Brent Jeffs, nephew of "prophet" Warren Jeffs of FLDS Church.

External links

March 05, 2023
lost, boys, mormon, fundamentalism, other, uses, lost, boys, lost, boys, term, used, young, have, been, excommunicated, pressured, leave, polygamous, mormon, fundamentalist, groups, such, fundamentalist, church, jesus, christ, latter, saints, flds, although, s. For other uses see Lost Boys Lost boys is a term used for young men who have been excommunicated or pressured to leave polygamous Mormon fundamentalist groups such as the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints FLDS 1 Although sometimes officially accused of apostasy or disobedience 2 3 it is thought that they are mainly pressured to leave by older adult men to reduce competition for wives within such sects 2 3 4 usually when they are between the ages of 13 and 21 5 Contents 1 Background 2 Specific incidences 3 In popular culture 4 See also 5 Notes 6 References 7 External linksBackground EditSince boys and girls are born in approximately equal numbers and women do not enter the community in large numbers the pool of available women is not sufficient for all men to have multiple wives While some boys leave by their own choice 6 many have been banished for conduct such as watching a movie 7 watching television 6 8 playing football 6 or talking to a girl 5 4 6 Some boys are told not to return unless they can return with a wife citation needed One 2004 source estimated that more than 400 teenage boys have been ostracized from the FLDS Church for violating community rules 9 Another article from 2005 estimated that between 400 and 1 000 boys and young men had been pressured to leave for such reasons 1 Many young women 10 also have left or been pressured to leave because they did not want to be part of polygamous marriages 11 Boys in these sects are commonly raised not to trust the outside world and that leaving their communities is a sin worse than murder 12 13 With little education or skills applicable to life outside of their community of birth they must learn to live in a society they inherently distrust yet know little and as a result some lost boys become homeless or end up in the criminal justice system 6 They also must deal with the consequences vague of being shunned by their families and believing they are beyond spiritual redemption citation needed The families of banished boys are told that the boys are now dead to them 8 Specific incidences EditThe Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints hereafter FLDS is a particularly controversial fundamentalist sect which has repeatedly been connected with the concept of lost boys As early as 1968 the church s home turf of Colorado City Arizona had a peace officer whose responsibility was to make sure that the boys would not associate with the girls 4 This officer s main police duties evolved over the next two decades to include running the surplus boys out of town so as to allow the worthy men of the community to live plural marriage by adding new younger wives 4 More recently in the mid 1990s a Colorado City police officer named Rodney Holm was one of a dozen men who attacked and assaulted a 17 year old named Robert Williams because Williams had showed interest in a girl his age The attack was organized by the girl s father who was also Officer Holm s brother Afterwards in February 1996 they pleaded no contest to simple assault 4 Some individuals such as Dan Fischer a dentist who left the FLDS Church work to help young men who have left or who have been ejected from polygamist organizations in cities like Hildale Utah or Colorado City Arizona 5 14 The FLDS church was sued by six lost boys in August 2004 for alleged economic and psychological injury 15 Brent Jeffs details his early life as the grandson to a FLDS prophet and his eventual excommunication as very different 16 At an early age Jeffs father decided to leave the church and take his family with him 16 Upon hearing this news Jeffs decides to return to the church to make the decision on his own During this time he experiences a social black balling for his families history with FLDS as well as getting romantically intertwined with a girl his age 16 and removed himself once again from the church 16 In popular culture EditIn the HBO television series Big Love 2006 2011 the main protagonist is a former lost boy having grown up challenging the elder who drove him out of their community as a teenager The series portrays machinations of some senior men within a fundamentalist congregation to reserve young unmarried women for themselves citation needed The documentary film Sons of Perdition 2010 depicts the struggles of three real life lost boys 17 The off Broadway play Exit 27 2013 dramatized the story of four lost boys struggling to survive in the desert outside Colorado City Playwright Aleks Merilo based the script on interviews conducted with lost boys living in Hurricane Utah 18 See also EditOperational sex ratio Population dynamics YFZ Ranch Ex MormonNotes Edit a b Borger Julian 2005 06 14 The lost boys thrown out of US sect so that older men can marry more wives The Guardian London Retrieved 2007 02 14 a b Bryant Seth L 2009 Reviving the Millennial Kingdom Mormons Morrisites and Massacre The John Whitmer Historical Association Journal 29 115 139 ISSN 0739 7852 JSTOR 43200347 a b Miller Anne Catherine Karkazis Katrina 2013 Health Beliefs and Practices in an Isolated Polygamist Community of Southern Utah Journal of Religion and Health 52 2 597 609 doi 10 1007 s10943 012 9593 x ISSN 0022 4197 JSTOR 24485008 PMID 22438183 S2CID 28895834 a b c d e Kent Stephen A 2006 A Matter of Principle Fundamentalist Mormon Polygamy Children and Human Rights Debates Nova Religio The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions 10 1 7 29 doi 10 1525 nr 2006 10 1 7 ISSN 1092 6690 JSTOR 10 1525 nr 2006 10 1 7 a b c Henetz Patty July 31 2004 Krakauer still vexed by FLDS Deseret News AP Archived from the original on 2010 07 31 Retrieved 2013 12 11 Fischer has housed the castoff children and given them jobs in his company Krakauer said a b c d e Wright Stuart A Richardson James T 2014 The Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints after the Texas State Raid Assessing a Post Raid Movement Trajectory Nova Religio The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions 17 4 83 97 doi 10 1525 nr 2014 17 4 83 ISSN 1092 6690 JSTOR 10 1525 nr 2014 17 4 83 Holstein MD MS Ned 2008 04 15 Texas Polygamy Case Don t the Boys Count Fathers and Families Archived from the original on 2013 06 24 Retrieved 2013 06 20 a href Template Cite news html title Template Cite news cite news a CS1 maint multiple names authors list link a b Kelly David 2005 06 19 Polygamy s Lost Boys expelled from only life they knew Los Angeles Times Retrieved 2008 04 24 Nielsen Michael 2009 Opinions Regarding Polygamy Among LDS Church Members Demographic Predictors Archiv fur Religionspsychologie Archive for the Psychology of Religion 31 2 261 270 doi 10 1163 157361209X427788 ISSN 0084 6724 JSTOR 23910032 S2CID 143499720 Man Accused Of Assaulting Kingston Polygamist Daughter Appears In Court KSL TV News 2006 06 24 Retrieved 2007 02 14 Polygamy or abuse Utah case stirs controversy CNN 1998 08 18 Archived from the original on 2007 02 11 Retrieved 2007 02 14 Wagner Angie 2004 09 04 Religious sect s outcasts caught between worlds Associated Press Wagner Angie Boys exiled from polygamist sect seek new life in the outside world Associated Press Retrieved 2007 02 14 The Lost Boys of Polygamy Archived from the original on 2018 03 15 Retrieved 2019 01 06 Watson Marianne T 2007 The 1948 Secret Marriage of Louis J Barlow Origins of FLDS Placement Marriage Dialogue A Journal of Mormon Thought 40 1 83 136 doi 10 2307 45227157 ISSN 0012 2157 JSTOR 45227157 S2CID 254401041 a b c d From Polygamist Royalty To FLDS Lost Boy NPR org Retrieved 2022 11 09 Rosanne Colletti 24 April 2010 The Sons of Perdition in Person NBC New York Retrieved 1 May 2010 External link in publisher help Clarke David 2013 10 27 BWW Interviews Aleks Merilo Talks EXIT 27 Broadway World Wisdom Digital Media 27 October 2013 Retrieved from http www broadwayworld com off off broadway article BWW Interviews Aleks Merilo Talks EXIT 27 20131027 References EditKrakauer Jon Under the Banner of Heaven A Story of Violent Faith 2003 Emmett Andrea Moore God s Brothel The Extortion of Sex for Salvation in Contemporary Mormon and Christian Fundamentalist Polygamy and the Stories of 18 Women Who Escaped 2004 Bistline Benjamin G Colorado City Polygamists An Inside Look for the Outsider 2004 A Colorado City historian presents the beginnings of the group and its original religious doctrine Bistline Benjamin G The Polygamists A History of Colorado City Arizona 2004 Tracy Kathleen The Secret Story of Polygamy 2001 Centered on the trial of John Daniel Kingston who was tried for assault on his 16 year old daughter Llewellyn John R Polygamy Under Attack From Tom Green to Brian David Mitchell 2004 Dan Simon amp Amanda Townsend September 7 2007 Warren Jeffs lost boys find themselves in strange world CNN Main Street Church Lifting the Veil of Polygamy 2007 A documentary film on the history and modern day expressions of Mormon polygamy including numerous testimonials Jeffs Brent amp Maia Szalavitz Lost Boy Broadway Books New York 2009 241 pp First person account of life and exile of Brent Jeffs nephew of prophet Warren Jeffs of FLDS Church External links EditLost boys are the forgotten polygamy victims Vancouver Sun article by Daphne Bramham Boys Cast Out by Polygamists Find Help New York Times article by Erik Eckholm Published September 9 2007 The Hope Organization dozens of news articles 2004 2010 The Diversity Foundation https archive today 20130415203503 http www smilesfordiversity org cod php Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Lost boys Mormon fundamentalism amp oldid 1142378790, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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