Lost boys (polygamy)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 This article has been nominated to be checked for its neutrality.
Discussion of this nomination can be found on the talk page. (May 2008)
The neutrality or factuality of this article or section may be compromised by unattributed statements.
You can help Wikipedia by removing weasel worded statements.

Lost Boys of Polygamy are young men who have been excommunicated or pressured to leave polygamous groups such as the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS).[1] Most of the Lost Boys are between the ages of 13 and 21 when banished or pressured to leave.[2]

Contents

[edit] Effects

Critics of the FLDS say that, given the fact that roughly equal numbers of boys and girls are born in any community absent of gender selection for female births, the practice of polygamy leads unavoidably to bride shortages and a surplus of boys. In particular, FLDS men are each required to marry at least three wives[1], which is demographically unsustainable. Lost Boys are the surplus boys who are removed from polygamous sects in order to reduce competition for wives. While some boys leave on their own, many are ostensibly banished for misbehavior such as watching a movie, [3] watching television,[4] playing football, or talking to a girl.[2] Some boys are told not to return unless they can return with a wife. There are also young women[5] who have left or been pressured to leave because they did not want to be part of polygamous marriages.[6] Warren Jeffs’ own niece, Naomi, left the sect at age 13.[7] While it is difficult to estimate how many boys have been thrown out, their numbers are estimated to be between 400 and 1,400. [1]

[edit] After leaving

The Lost Boys are raised not to trust the outside world. In fact, leaving their communities is considered a sin worse than murder.[8][9] These boys are usually left with little education or life skills and must learn to live in a world about which they know little, while dealing with the consequences of being shunned by their families and believing they are beyond spiritual redemption. The families of banished boys are told that the boys are now dead to them. [4]

Dan Fischer, a dentist who left the FLDS church, works to help young men who have left or who have been ejected from polygamist organizations in cities like Hildale, Utah or Colorado City, Arizona.[citation needed]

[edit] See also

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ a b c Borger, Julian. "The lost boys, thrown out of US sect so that older men can marry more wives", The Guardian, 2005-06-14. Retrieved on 2007-02-14. 
  2. ^ a b Henetz, Patty. "Krakauer still vexed by FLDS", Associated Press, 2004-07-31. Retrieved on 2007-02-14. 
  3. ^ Holstein, MD, MS, Ned. "Texas Polygamy Case: Don’t the Boys Count?", Fathers and Families, 2008-04-15. Retrieved on 2008-04-24. 
  4. ^ a b Kelly, David. "Polygamy's 'Lost Boys' expelled from only life they knew", Los Angeles Times, 2005-06-19. Retrieved on 2008-04-24. 
  5. ^ "Man Accused Of Assaulting Kingston Polygamist Daughter Appears In Court", KSL-TV News, 2006-06-24. Retrieved on 2007-02-14. 
  6. ^ "Polygamy or abuse? Utah case stirs controversy", CNN, 1998-08-18. Retrieved on 2007-02-14. 
  7. ^ Dr. Phil Now: Secrets inside the Compound
  8. ^ Wagner, Angie. "Religious sect's outcasts caught between worlds", Associated Press, 2004-09-04. Retrieved on 2007-02-14. 
  9. ^ Wagner, Angie. "Boys exiled from polygamist sect seek new life in the outside world", Associated Press. Retrieved on 2007-02-14. 

[edit] 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 around 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)
  • "Warren Jeffs' 'lost boys' find themselves in strange world", CNN, September 7, 2007. 

[edit] External links