It started with one book, Escape, and my odyssey into studying the FLDS began. It has been therapeutic for me in dealing with my own issues with how those in the church, and other religious organizations treat women.
I was listening to, The Witness Wore Red on Cd while I was reading four of the other books on the FLDS. It was fascinating as I listened to the different accounts of some of the key players.
I think I was able to relate, on a personal level, to Rebecca's account the most. For some reason, I was surprised at how difficult things were for Rebecca and her sister Elissa after they escaped. I think because they escaped before they had children, I thought things would be easier than they were for people like Carolyn, who already had 8 children.
Yet, it makes sense that things would be so hard. They had been brainwashed and indoctrinated in a certain way for their entire lives. Also, something that Warren Jeffs and some of the other priesthood men knew, was that even without their own children, they had scores of loved ones in the FLDS that they wouldn't want to leave. And when you leave the FLDS, you can't just come back and visit relatives, because you are now an apostate and shunned by most of the community.
I was able to relate to Rebecca in her struggles to realize that what she was being taught about the roles of women was wrong. And also to her trying to survive financially on the outside world. She then had to deal with a husband who wasn't in the FLDS, but who still had some sexist views.
As I listened to the end of Rebecca's book, it gave me a lot of strength that I could face some of the things in my own life. She escaped oppression, yet in doing that, she was severely judged by many and told she was going to hell. We are by nature people pleasers, but sometimes doing what is right for us, will be judged by others, and that is okay.
Previous FLDS Posts:
The Treatment of Women
Carolyn Jessop--A Portrait of Courage
Triumph
Church of Lies
Studying the FLDS
When Men Become Gods
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