Why Is Religion So Sexy?

[Lightning Rod]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com

Why Is Religion So Sexy?
for release 04-17-08
Dallas, Texas
by Lightning Rod

Have you ever wondered why we see again and again this unholy connection between religion and sex abuse?

Perhaps this is because people who are willing to accept a religious bill of goods hook-line-and-sinker are also perfect victims. If a person is willing to surrender all judgment and scrutiny in favor of a belief system, why shouldn't they be willing to surrender their bodies as well? Sheep are easily led in any direction.

Perhaps it is because religion(ideology) and sex are both classic means of control.

In one way or another most religious cults use sex as a means of control. Whether they lean toward the hedonistic--Charles Manson, Aleister Crowley or the repressive--The Puritans, the Shakers, or a mixed bag of control and executive privilege such as Jim Jones and David Koresh or Warren Jeffs, in all of these cases sex was used as a method of control.

Most cults and religions use mind control techniques in order to subvert the judgmental capacity of adherents. These control techniques are designed to cause the believer to place more value in the beliefs of the leadership rather than to rely on his own good judgment.

Religion is the perfect playground for a predator. Churches of all colors are supposed to be havens of trust and love and understanding and acceptance. There is a very small step between trust and love and understanding and, 'let me put my hand here. God wants me to.'

What causes The Poet's eye to be glancing at this tired subject is the fact that the Pope is visiting this week, and the backdrop of his visit is the case of the Warren Jeffs cult bust in which 400 kids were confiscated by the State of Texas. One of the Pope's objectives in his first visit to our country seems to be to offer some kind of official apology for the embarrassing priest-on-altar-boy scandal. Good luck, Benny. You got a lotta 'pologizing to do. Try losing the Herman Goering accent, it will make the sale easier.

In the meantime, the mothers of the 400 kidnapped kids in Texas are all aflutter. Why shouldn't they be? Their kids have been snatched for reasons that are dubious at best. We are about to witness the custody battle from hell. There aren't enough ad litem attorneys in the State of Texas to represent all of those kids. This litigation will underscore the fact that there is no situation that legal action can't make worse.

I'm not defending the insular and secretive lifestyle of these people, but I think I have a better solution to the problem than shattering these relatively functional families. I say give the moms a makover. Have you seen these poor women? It's no wonder it takes twenty of them to satisfy one man. Ugly. Ugly. Ugly. Let's let Oprah get them into a salon and to Hot Topics. Get them some makeup, ferchrissake and some century appropriate clothes.

The Poet's Eye sees that there will be exploitation and abuse as long as there are wolves and sheep in this world. Preachers and Suckers.

'There's one born every minute."
falsely attributed to P.T. Barnum

[Jenni Mansfield Peal]

Interesting wrap-up, LR. Thanks for being unique. Thanks also for some pithy and accurate perspective (as is typical of you.)
JMP
P.S. Are you in D? Come to Free Dallas Music! Songwriter's Open Mic tonight (you know where.)
All other interested readers: http://www.myspace.com/freedallasmusic

[mnaz]

Have you seen these poor women? It's no wonder it takes twenty of them to satisfy one man. Ugly. Ugly. Ugly.

That one will get you in trouble at some point.

But this column is another example of your (ruthless?) razor insight (the "eye"). I concur with just about everything you said here, and you don't waste any space-- straight to the point, each point. The wholly trusting vulnerability of "the flock" to a belief system power structure is probably the key factor that enables abuse, but other dynamics contribute too, depending on sect. E.g., sexually repressive dogma seems to invite trouble and risk-taking among the clergy...

[sooZen]

To each his (or her) own and as tired as that adage may be, it still holds true. As I watch this whole thing in Texas as it plays out for our viewing pleasure, it destresses me a whole grand bunch.

I happened to work with a gal back in my waitressing days from Mexico (she was anglo) that had fled with like minds from the oppression she and her bunch had felt from the laws of our 'free society.' She was a plural (sic) wife whose husband had three other wives. She came to the states so she could make a little dough to buy herself a washing machine and a few other modern contraptions she had been wishing for but not absolutely necessary for survival. Doris was a fine friend to me and very circumspect in her demeanor.

Her lifestyle, although shocking to some made perfect sense to me. Her husband had to prove with each and every wife that he could support them, provide each with their own home and care for any and all children and then all the other wives must approve of any new spouse that he wedded or the deal was off.

He only came around once or twice a week when she cooked him dinner and did what wives do otherwise he was making the rounds, making sure doors stayed on the hinges and the windows didn't stick or working in the fields or stuff like that. It seemed to me that the women had it all over the men...the poor guys worked their asses off, especially if they had more than two or three gals to support. Doris said she was happy to see him and happy to see him go... Sounds pretty ideal to me, some sisters to share your childcare and friendship, a man that doesn't make himself a pest and demand all your time and energy. Sex was great and although Doris was quite a modest woman she was not stupid and was quick to point out that her husband was a lusty fellow and she'd was glad of the weekly respite from him.

What those cowboys in Texas have done is criminal to me. It is like saying "there is a child rapist in our community, let's arrest all the men, tear all the children away from their mothers and solve this problem!" Pluralism is frankly not what I consider a "cult." It is not like James Jones handing out poison laced kool-aid or blindly following someone into a cave while waiting for a savior from outer space...

Those folks have always been persecuted for their beliefs as long as there has been a US of A and all they want to do is live in peace, doing what they think is right. That is all any of us want but because "we" don't approve of their lifestyles...well, send in the troops.

And as for their children (and btw, my Grannie was married at 15 which wasn't considered sexual abuse in that day), they are surely gonna be scarred by what is happening to them right this moment. Dragged away from their families, interrogated, scattered into foster homes...yeah, that's the ticket, we'll show those men and women how to really live and make examples of them and their little heathens as well!

Sorry my friend, but this whole issue is a sore spot for me. I can hardly bear what we civilized folks are doing to these people. I think of sweet Doris, her children, her sister-wives and her poor hard working husband and it makes me sad...

As for the Pope...screw him...it's only fair...besides we already have our own gestapo here in Texas.

[mnaz]

Sooz, I heard that these folks were fundamentalist Mormon (LDS) types, and it's true that no one could ever accuse the LDS faithful of not working hard. They settled some of the most difficult desert land in the West through sheer guts, hard labor, and community effort.

To each their own. I used to think of fundamentalist LDS polygamist outposts in this way-- still do, up to a point. But the reality is that they are prime territory for child abuse. The FLDS sect seems quite dangerous and insidious to me. The "prophet/seer" of each enclave has absolute authority over all aspects of community life, and at times may coerce girls as young as 13 to join the plural marriage of some town "elder". To me, this is not freedom of choice, or free will.

If I'm not mistaken, young girls have even been kidnapped to try and fulfill this purpose-- see the Elizabeth Smart case. Are some of the wives happy with the arrangement? Probably. Then again, these communities are so insular and programmed with dogma that many living within don't know any other way of life.

[stilltrucking]

It works out good if you are an old man but what happens to the boys born to those spiritual marriages?

the sect expels young men at a prodigious rate. After all, if Warren Jeffs, Barlow and the other 'elders' are to have many wives, they need to get rid of young men. Boys as young as 13 have been regularly dumped at night in neighbouring communities.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/w ... 709067.ece

Clay you must be joking

There aren't enough ad litem attorneys in the State of Texas to represent all of those kids.

At last count there are 250 lawyers in court defending the children against CPS.

Why do you think the US is a super power? We graduate more lawyers every year than engineers, scientists, and mathematicians. Nobody will fuck with the usa cause they know we will sue their asses off.

But basically this is a chance for CPS to show what a good job they are doing after all their black eyes they have got the past few years.
I think last year only nine children were beaten, scalded or starved to death in San Antone. Children who were supposedly being monitored by CPS.

[picasso]

why they went in there in the first place. they recieved a 911 call from a 16yr old young woman who was claiming the women were taking her baby and holding her down while the man beat and raped her. all in the name of the lord i'm sure. (how is this any different then the priests and young boys?)

is this what the other children have in store for themselves? i don't think it's right the way they are going about it either however i certainly think something needs to be done to make sure these children and women aren't in any danger.

soozen, i have a difficult time with your comparison of a kind mexican woman with 3 sister wives to a cult compound made up of 90% women, 300 children and a handful of men (that are no where to be found). they are obviously two very different ideas of poligamy. in your story, doris wasn't forced into her marraige, beaten or raped and that seems to be the case here in texas.

and LR is correct when he correlates control with religion. the DA said " she was concerned about how the children and women followed the orders of the church's prophet, identified as jailed leader Warren Jeffs. The children reported that if the prophet heard from the Heavenly Father that they were to marry at any age, they were to do that. If the prophet said they were to lie, they were to do that,"

these girls are having babies as young as 13 and while it was okay for your grandmother to marry at 15, i feel that this is a case of that was then and this is now. nobody spoke up about domestic violence back then either. i don't think comparing modern times to the 30s,40s and 50s gets us anywhere but backward.

and let's not forget whey their "prophet" warren jeffs is in prison. he was convicted of being an accomplice in the rape of a 14 year old girl in his cult. accomplice. meaning there were more than one of them. this is what the authorities are dealing with. gang rape. not doris and her husband that comes once a week to fix the leaky faucet, get laid and give her money for groceries. but women who are being beaten, raped and forced to breed. similar to the underage sex trade. just under the guise of religion.

again, i don't think taking these children away from their mothers and putting them in foster care is the best way to approach it either, however i do believe that there is something very sick and wrong going on there and that something needs to be done to put a stop to it.

[sooZen]

Hi Mark...you must remember that we see and hear what the poobahs want us to.

Yes, I am sure there are the examples you state but from my firsthand experience (granted limited but still from the horse's mouth) women had a great deal to say about what goes on in those communities even if and though they don't have the titles men adore. Prime territory for child abuse exists in every neighborhood in our country and the example you cited of E. Smart doesn't apply as that was not any sectarian but his own craziness. There are nuts everywhere, in all walks of life...and just because these people are painted with a broad black brush does not mean all you hear and read is true.

One of the justifications that the first Bush gave for Desert Storm was Iraqi's throwing babies out of incubators in Kuwait...it just wasn't a true story but made all the national news at the time just to engender enragement and prove that 'we' were in the right. We are going to hear the worst of the worst and that still won't justify what is happening to those children and their parents right now, most of whom are totally innocent. I know from raising teens that they get disgruntled and sometimes tell tales and maybe that is not the case here...maybe there is a real reason for alarm but then again, maybe not.

Besides, if you think those children are safe in the hands of foster care and the government then you are sadly mistaken...history has and will prove that out.

As my Moma would say, "Whatever the news, take it with a grain of salt." I surely do. And if what you say is true about their "community life" then maybe we should invade the secular communities in Pennsylvania and get them to give up their beliefs about living away from the evils of the modern world and having the men rule the roost...do you see where this could lead if we pick some evil (that exists everywhere) and try and destroy those that believe in something different that what society dictates because we think otherwise? Tribal societies are all run exactly like what you rail against. One thing I do believe is that real change never comes from force it only causes those at the raw end to hide out even more until acceptance comes.

Ask the women in India or Arabia, or Nubia or even my own household growing up if Daddy didn't have a great deal to say on whom was appropriate for us. You can't change the nature of the beast but we women know how to tame his heart.

Excuse the rant.

[sooZen]

Picasso..hi there. Please read my reply again. Doris was an American anglo whose community fled to Mexico.

[mnaz]

why they went in there in the first place. they recieved a 911 call from a 16yr old young woman who was claiming the women were taking her baby and holding her down while the man beat and raped her. all in the name of the lord i'm sure.

...i certainly think something needs to be done to make sure these children and women aren't in any danger.

... very different ideas of poligamy. in your story, doris wasn't forced into her marraige, beaten or raped...

the DA said " she was concerned about how the children and women followed the orders of the church's prophet, identified as jailed leader Warren Jeffs. The children reported that if the prophet heard from the Heavenly Father that they were to marry at any age, they were to do that. If the prophet said they were to lie, they were to do that,"

these girls are having babies as young as 13...

and let's not forget whey their "prophet" warren jeffs is in prison. he was convicted of being an accomplice in the rape of a 14 year old girl in his cult. accomplice. meaning there were more than one of them. this is what the authorities are dealing with. gang rape.

again, i don't think taking these children away from their mothers and putting them in foster care is the best way to approach it either, however i do believe that there is something very sick and wrong going on there and that something needs to be done to put a stop to it.

Excellent points, picasso. Sometimes it's hard to know exactly where the general truth of "to each his own" must yield to some type of intervention to protect basic human rights.

[stilltrucking]

why they went in there in the first place. they recieved a 911 call from a 16yr old young woman

So far no one has been able to locate the girl that called.

She seems to have gone missing.

[stilltrucking]

Texas officials interview Colo. woman in polygamist probe

Jessop won't comment on whether she believes Swinton made the telephone call that triggered the Texas raid.

"I'm not going to speculate," she said. "I'm going to trust that the Texas authorities are doing their job."

Authorities in Colorado confirmed Swinton has a history of making false reports.



"The investigator ... was surprised at her age because she sounded like someone who was in mid to late teens even thought she was 30," Ernst said.

http://www.examiner.com/a-1349056~Texas ... probe.html

[sooZen]

Jack, thank you. Here is another article from that paper on the goings on.

A witness for the parents who was presented by defense lawyers as an expert on the FLDS disputed that the girls have no say in who they marry.

"I believe the girls are given a real choice," said W. John Walsh. "Girls have successfully said, 'No, this is not a good match for me,' and they remained in good standing."

But Dr. Bruce Perry, a psychiatrist who has studied children in cults, testified that the girls will not refuse marriages because they are indoctrinated to believe disobedience will lead to their damnation.

The renegade Mormon sect's belief system "is abusive. The culture is very authoritarian," he said.

Perry acknowledged that many adults at the ranch are loving parents and that the boys seemed emotionally healthy. When asked whether the belief system really endangered the older boys or young children, Perry said, "I have lost sleep over that question."

He also conceded that the children, taught from birth to believe that contact with the outside world will lead to eternal damnation, would suffer if placed in traditional foster care.

"If these children are kept in the custody of the state, there would have to be exceptional and innovative programmatic elements for these children and their families," he said. "The traditional foster care system would be destructive for these children."

CPS spokeswoman Marleigh Meisner said the department was pleased with the judge's ruling and believes that the children will now be safe.

It's not clear how quickly the children might be moved from the coliseum and fairgrounds where they are staying on cots into foster homes or other temporary housing, but they could be placed with family members if CPS determines the children will be safe, Meisner said.

Four women testified Friday, and all said they were free to make their own choices. They also said they would do whatever it took to get their children returned to them.

"We're a peaceful people," Lucille Nielson said. Life on their 1,700-acre gated ranch "is very peaceful. You can feel the peace when you are there. Very loving. We raise our children in a loving environment."

But the women also acknowledged that girls get married at ages younger than the state allows.

Some of the women bowed their heads when the judge issued her order to keep the children in state custody. They left the columned courthouse stoically, ignoring questions shouted by reporters.

They'll face more hearings, and some could be required to take steps to prove to Child Protective Services that they should be allowed to regain custody.

I still think this is a travesty and it may be that it was brought on by a woman now in Colorado who doesn't even live in that community and never has who is known to make false reports about the LDS plural communities.

It is fine and dandy to get indignant or up in arms about child abuse and believe me, I have no sympathy for abusers but I try and keep in mind that our reactions in this fine country of ours tend to be overreactions. Seems the baby has been thrown out with the bathwater...

[mnaz]

Admittedly, I never saw the "false report" coming.

Still though, there is plenty here that seems amiss.
Please don't give Warren Jeffs and his ilk a free pass.
That would be wrong. Am I allowed to say wrong?
Probably not.

[sooZen]

That would be wrong. Am I allowed to say wrong?
Probably not.

Why Mark...you can say whatever you want, afterall this is a free country.