Take a photo of a barcode or cover
caidyn 's review for:
Nobody was all bad, and nobody was all good. We were human.
My first real exposure to polygamy -- to put it more narrowly, polygyny -- was through TLC's show Sister Wives. Of course, I'd heard of the practice before since I was about 16-17 when I first watched it. Mostly, I'd heard it related to child brides and people being forced into it. That side of things, I didn't agree with, so with that as my only source for a construct about polygamy, of course I didn't like the practice.
Then, I watched Sister Wives.
I saw how they treated each other, how they honestly all wanted to be involved. How they said that they would never force their children into the practice, although they did want them to keep with that side of the religion. They all worked as a family unit, as it should be. That's when my mind ultimately changed. I can honestly say that I'm all for polygamy, whether that be polygyny or polyandry. Polyamorous relationships are something I'm all for as well. So long as all parties are consenting, then who cares? No one is being harmed. (Hence why I also feel that bigamy is a stupid law to uphold since, really, no one's being hurt by it so long as all parties want to be in that relationship and can leave with their children if they so want to.)
FLDS makes me sick. They represent everything that most polygamists aren't.
Women were forced to marry men they didn't want to. They had to have sex with them, whether they wanted to or not. And that was all before Warren Jeffs. After his father Rulon -- the author's husband, and she was his 19th wife -- had a stroke and then later passed away, it all changed with Warren Jeffs, who is the one who instituted child brides and all those things. In fact, Rulon even had some scruples about that when he was in his more conscious moments after the stroke.
All I can say is that Ms Musser is a brave, brave woman, and she has my utmost respect. I can't imagine testifying against my family, even those who were just related to by marriage. I honestly can't. Yet, she did it all for those poor girls who couldn't speak for themselves and were brainwashed by Warren Jeffs and his followers into believing what they were doing was right, i.e. raping and molesting children and forcing them to marry even when they were only 12. (I found it utterly fascinating, though, that 12 year olds marrying was started because they thought the Virgin Mary was 12 when she had Jesus. Had no clue about that since I've never really read the Bible.)
Ms Musser certainly didn't have an easy life. Her father's first wife was physically and mentally abusive, one of her half-brothers attempted to rape her, her husband raped her. The list could go on, but I'm not going to. It takes bravery to testify against people she honestly loved, and even more bravery to write a book about her life.
The book was very well written, and it had amazing insights into FLDS and just life in general. By the end of the book, I was almost in tears. I highly recommend this book to people who want to read an honest story about FLDS, and about a woman's triumph in life.
My first real exposure to polygamy -- to put it more narrowly, polygyny -- was through TLC's show Sister Wives. Of course, I'd heard of the practice before since I was about 16-17 when I first watched it. Mostly, I'd heard it related to child brides and people being forced into it. That side of things, I didn't agree with, so with that as my only source for a construct about polygamy, of course I didn't like the practice.
Then, I watched Sister Wives.
I saw how they treated each other, how they honestly all wanted to be involved. How they said that they would never force their children into the practice, although they did want them to keep with that side of the religion. They all worked as a family unit, as it should be. That's when my mind ultimately changed. I can honestly say that I'm all for polygamy, whether that be polygyny or polyandry. Polyamorous relationships are something I'm all for as well. So long as all parties are consenting, then who cares? No one is being harmed. (Hence why I also feel that bigamy is a stupid law to uphold since, really, no one's being hurt by it so long as all parties want to be in that relationship and can leave with their children if they so want to.)
FLDS makes me sick. They represent everything that most polygamists aren't.
Women were forced to marry men they didn't want to. They had to have sex with them, whether they wanted to or not. And that was all before Warren Jeffs. After his father Rulon -- the author's husband, and she was his 19th wife -- had a stroke and then later passed away, it all changed with Warren Jeffs, who is the one who instituted child brides and all those things. In fact, Rulon even had some scruples about that when he was in his more conscious moments after the stroke.
All I can say is that Ms Musser is a brave, brave woman, and she has my utmost respect. I can't imagine testifying against my family, even those who were just related to by marriage. I honestly can't. Yet, she did it all for those poor girls who couldn't speak for themselves and were brainwashed by Warren Jeffs and his followers into believing what they were doing was right, i.e. raping and molesting children and forcing them to marry even when they were only 12. (I found it utterly fascinating, though, that 12 year olds marrying was started because they thought the Virgin Mary was 12 when she had Jesus. Had no clue about that since I've never really read the Bible.)
Ms Musser certainly didn't have an easy life. Her father's first wife was physically and mentally abusive, one of her half-brothers attempted to rape her, her husband raped her. The list could go on, but I'm not going to. It takes bravery to testify against people she honestly loved, and even more bravery to write a book about her life.
The book was very well written, and it had amazing insights into FLDS and just life in general. By the end of the book, I was almost in tears. I highly recommend this book to people who want to read an honest story about FLDS, and about a woman's triumph in life.