For Fundamentalist Mormons

Join the safety of being with other women from the Fundamentalist Culture in a 10-week series discussing the following topics: human rights, parenting challenges, extended family issues, dealing with conflict, unhealthy relationships, self-care, boundaries, assertiveness, self-esteem, identity, roles, and the unique challenges of being a woman in the Fundamentalist Culture.

When: Every Tuesday night from March 10-May12, 2009

Time: 5:30-7:00 pm

Where: Riverton Library—(12877 So. 1830 W., library Auditorium)

Cost: Free

For more information contact Patricia Merkley, LCSW at (801)-487-7778 Ext. 1315

Sponsored by The Safety Net Committee and underwritten by The Family Support Center.

are sponsoring a LEGISLATIVE EDUCATION DAY for Fundamentalist Mormon families

Thursday, February 12, 2009

to be held at the Utah State Capitol Multipurpose Room, main floor
(just inside the north door)from 9:30 a.m. to 12 noon

* * * * * * * * * *
Welcoming remarks:
Chief Deputy of Utah State Senate, Ric Cantrell
Utah Attorney General, Mark Shurtleff
and/or A.G. Director of Communications, Paul Murphy

Orientation session
“How to Lobby,” Mary Batchelor

Tour of the Utah State Capitol
(customized for our group)

Observation of legislators in session
(Senate and House)

Lunch in the East Building cafeteria
(optional)

* * * * * * * * * *
Bring your families (age 12 and over) in a show of support . . . in an effort to educate.

Contacts: Anne Wilde (Anne@principlevoices.org) or Mary Batchelor (Mary@principlevoices.org)

Let’s demonstrate that in this era of diversity, we are entitled to full citizenship.

“We’re families, not felons!”

For Fundamentalist Mormons

Join the safety of being with other women from the Fundamentalist Culture in a 10-week series discussing the following topics: human rights, parenting challenges, extended family issues, dealing with conflict, unhealthy relationships, self-care, boundaries, assertiveness, self-esteem, identity, roles, and the unique challenges of being a woman in the Fundamentalist Culture.

When: Every Monday starting October 20, 2008

Time: 5:30-7:00 pm

Where: Family Support Center (2020 South Lake Street in Salt Lake City)

Cost: Free

For more information contact Patricia Merkley, LCSW at (801)-487-7778 Ext. 1315

Sponsored by The Safety Net Committee, underwritten by The Family Support Center, and approved by Principle Voices.

WOMEN’S TRAUMA GROUP

For Fundamentalist Mormons

Join the safety of being with other women from the Fundamentalist Culture in a 10-week Trauma Support Group dealing with the following issues of healing:

• Definition of trauma
• How trauma impacts lives
• Reactions to trauma
• The connections between violence, abuse, and trauma
• The world of feelings
• Mind-body connection
• The addiction and trauma connection

When: Every Thursday starting October 30, 2008

Time: 5:30-7:00 pm

Where: Family Support Center (2020 South Lake Street in Salt Lake City)

Cost: Free

For more information contact Patricia Merkley, LCSW at (801)-487-7778 Ext. 1315

Sponsored by The Safety Net Committee, underwritten by The Family Support Center, and approved by Principle Voices.

Pro-polygamy group educates inside, outside their community

By Ben Winslow

Deseret News

Published: Thursday, July 24, 2008 12:11 a.m. MDT

http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,700245458,00.html?pg=1

       In the face of the controversial topic of polygamy, an advocacy group is trying to build bridges between two worlds that inherently distrust each other.

       In the process, the pro-polygamy group Principle Voices has evolved into a political and educational force that is reaching out to people both inside and outside polygamous communities.

       ”When we first started speaking publicly, it was because nobody was speaking from our perspective,” said Mary Batchelor, the group’s director. “There’s a lot of diversity. There are people who are happy and functional and doing well, blended in society. There are some who are struggling. There are some having difficulty because they are on the receiving end of bias. There are some in abusive situations who don’t feel like they can turn to anti-polygamists. We came to the conclusion there was a need for Principle Voices.”

       The group most recently engaged in a public feud with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints over the term “fundamentalist Mormon.” The LDS Church has repeatedly objected to the use of the term. Principle Voices insists that they are, as they say, “fundamentalist Mormons,” with an unofficial census counting 37,000 people in Utah and surrounding states who consider themselves as such.

Origins

      The group was founded in 2000 after the publication of the book “Voices in Harmony,” a collection of essays by women who live in polygamy. The book attempted to counter a steady drumbeat that was anti-polygamy by offering the thoughts of those who are happy in the lifestyle.

      ”One thing led to another. We thought maybe by organizing, we’d have a little more credibility,” said Anne Wilde. “We could also provide an avenue for those in our culture to speak up.”

      So Wilde, Batchelor, Marianne Watson and Linda Kelsch sought to bring all of the area’s polygamous communities together. Many of the sect leaders were skeptical and fearful of what they were trying to accomplish, afraid that exposure leads to prosecution.

      ”They expected our heads to be lopped off,” said Kelsch.

      Through persistence, the women were able to persuade 24 leaders and representatives to meet.

      ”That was a thrill to see people who haven’t seen each other for years sit around in my living room,” Wilde said. “It seemed like up to that time, the groups stayed to themselves. They realized that we can do this, we can work together, we can make a difference.”

      Since then, meetings of Principle Voices have become so packed that their coalition had to be limited to a few representatives from each group.

      ”I’m seeing a great evolvement in my own community,” said Kelsch. “My hope is it will continue to grow.”

      Principle Voices has combatted negative stereotypes by showcasing the normalcy and diversity of polygamy. The group has fielded media requests from all over the world to talk to plural families. Some are willing, even going on “Oprah” to talk about their families. Still, many are not.

      ”Because of the fact that we are speaking up, it helps them be even more protected because they don’t have to and yet the message gets out,” Wilde said.

      Members briefly launched a magazine, and Batchelor still maintains a popular e-mail list of news items on all things polygamy.

      Over the years, Principle Voices has reached out to government agencies and social services workers. They have given presentations to domestic violence hotline operators, prosecutors, child welfare workers and others. Kelsch made an impassioned plea to the Utah State Legislature against an anti-polygamy bill.

      She later ran for public office but was defeated.

      Principle Voices has given the communities some political muscle, although Kelsch said there is still some hesitation for many polygamists to register to vote.

      Paul Murphy, who coordinates the Utah Attorney General’s Safety Net Committee (a coalition of government agencies, social service workers, activists and polygamists) calls Principle Voices an important liaison in maintaining a dialogue with polygamous communities.

      ”A lot of the problems have been created by isolation and a lack of dialogue and information going back and forth,” he said. “The polygamists weren’t talking to government; government wasn’t talking to polygamists. We wouldn’t have been able to solve a lot of problems and help a lot of victims had it not been for that open communication.”

      Anti-polygamy activists have accused Principle Voices in the past of sugar-coating a lifestyle they say lends itself to abuse. Tapestry Against Polygamy, the state’s leading anti-polygamy group, declined to comment for this story. Tapestry’s co-founder, Vicky Prunty, is Batchelor’s ex-sister-wife.

      ”There are adults who have chosen this freely — among consenting adults,” Wilde said. “It doesn’t work for everybody. That’s why you get the negative voices of those who had a bad experience. They have every right to tell their story as well. But our story wasn’t being heard for years and years.”

Educating within

      Principle Voices has also tried to educate its own. The group has held seminars and trainings on the law, child abuse and domestic violence, childhood vaccinations, health care and other topics. Child welfare workers, domestic violence counselors and others have been invited to speak to them.

     “Principle Voices has appeared to be more progressive in terms of opening up the communication pathways,” said Bonnie Peters with the Family Support Center. “We’ve always gotten calls to provide clinical services for polygamous communities, but not all of the polygamous communities knew of our services. More people have called us not only wanting services, but asking questions. That is wonderful.”

      Their seminars have been well received.

      ”If we don’t speak up, then people are going to continue to believe the lies and stereotypes,” said Rebekah Foster, a plural wife who said she is an independent fundamentalist. “They (Principle Voices) are responsible for pulling down those walls and those lies and fears.”

      The group has publicly condemned abuse within plural communities.

      ”We knew abuse existed,” Kelsch said. “It exists in every community, and we didn’t feel it served our purpose to deny any of that. But to be open and up front, it helped the communities stop hiding because of their fear of polygamy being blamed.”

      Principle Voices has pushed polygamous groups to raise their marriage age to 18, saying that by doing so they will be complying with the law and not abandoning their religious doctrine. Most recently, a coalition under the group’s umbrella said it is working to draft a formal statement from polygamous churches saying they do not condone underage marriages.

      There is still one law that won’t be followed.

      ”Polygamy becomes a gray area,” said Batchelor. “It’s against the law, but it’s one area they feel they have to break the law.”

      The Utah Attorney General’s Office has said it won’t prosecute bigamy per se, but instead focuses its resources on going after child abuse, sex crimes, domestic violence, and welfare fraud within polygamous communities. Bigamy is used in addition to those charges.

The raid

      The one group that still does not participate in Principle Voices is the Fundamentalist LDS Church, but Wilde and Batchelor have hope.

      ”We are willing to open that door,” said Batchelor. “They can educate us, and hopefully there’s things we can do for them.”

      FLDS member and spokesman Willie Jessop recently met with Batchelor and other Principle Voices members in West Jordan. A dialogue is beginning, she said. They also toured the YFZ Ranch and met with FLDS members in Eldorado, Texas.

      The raid brought many polygamous groups together. In April, Principle Voices staged a rally in Salt Lake City and sent representatives to Texas with care packages for the women and children.

      ”I’m excited to see some of the steps they’ve taken,” Batchelor said of the FLDS. “I guess they would also learn they need to do things differently. I’m excited they’re speaking publicly and defending themselves and giving their side of the story so people can have perspective.”

      For Principle Voices, their ultimate goal is decriminalization of polygamy. It’s not something government is rushing to help with.

      ”That’s not an area where we can come to an agreement, but there are areas where we can work together and we can agree,” Murphy said.

      Wilde hopes it will happen one day.

      ”I don’t know if that will happen in my lifetime or not,” she said. “But I’d like to see the community at large have more understanding and respect for our culture.”

      E-mail: bwinslow@desnews.com

1) Reid’s bill presupposes there are large numbers of women and children waiting to be rescued from polygamy. Not true.

Where there are cases of abuse, or where there are women who may wish to leave a particular family or community, there are already organizations in place to provide assistance and resources. Some victims of abuse do not wish to leave their families, communities, or faith, and services and resources should not be held hostage or made dependent upon a woman’s abandonment of her faith or family.

2) Reid’s bill and his anti-polygamy efforts are not focused on crimes but on a FAMILY ARRANGEMENT. He wants our families/communities treated like organized crime families. Utah and Arizona have both recognized that this type of aggressive prosecution of the practice of polygamy itself is ineffective and creates more harm than it proposes to fix.

Utah and Arizona have pledged to focus their prosecutorial efforts on welfare fraud, sex crimes against minors and abuse, NOT on consenting adult relationships and healthy polygamous families where no such crimes exist. Reid is threatening a way of life for all families in the culture, since all families will be targeted regardless of whether or not those families are guilty of anything but a belief in or practice of polygamy. Such aggressive state and federal action in the past served only to send these families underground, which cuts them off from larger society and the benefits of societal interaction, public/private education, social services, etc.

3) Reid’s approach endorses prejudice and encourages fear and distrust of government. Religious persecution is defined as

Reid has structured the Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing in a one-sided manner, proving that our families have little hope of receiving fair treatment. Had opponents to his petition been allowed to testify, they would have provided evidence to support happy, healthy families, dedicated to being law-abiding citizens, which includes taxpayers who contribute to the economy, and a desire to be self-sufficient rather than welfare dependent.

4) If Reid truly cares about women and children in polygamy, then he should HELP them, not hurt them. Driving them underground, casting them out of society and dismantling their families is NOT HELP.

Societal acceptance, openness and interaction is the only way to cultivate healthy families, and reach victims where abuse occurs.

Principle Voices strenuously objects to any effort to characterize our families as anything but what they are: FAMILIES. When Senator Reid, and others, are willing to acknowledge that fact, then and only then, can they truly help anyone from our culture.

****

The Las Vegas Review is reporting the following:

WASHINGTON — A bill to be introduced in the Senate today would establish a federal task force to combat polygamy-related crimes while offering grants to social service agencies that help former members of polygamous sects.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada was preparing to submit the bill and to promote it at a polygamy hearing the Senate Judiciary Committee has scheduled for Thursday at his request.

The “Victims of Polygamy Assistance Act of 2008″ would establish a task force to focus on abuse, extortion, witness tampering, embezzlement and other illegal activities suspected to be associated with polygamous groups, according to Reid’s office.

“The federal government has a duty to help fight the serious state and federal crimes committed by these groups,” said Reid, who is one of 16 Mormons in Congress.

“My bill will improve federal enforcement, create a stronger federal-state partnership, and help the victims of abuse get out of these situations so they can start a new life,” Reid said.

The legislation would offer $2 million in grants to state and local police agencies to pursue suspected crime links to plural marriage communities.

Another $2 million would be authorized to provide witness protection, housing, child care, mental health services and other services to people trying to escape polygamous relationships.

Reid has compared polygamous groups such as the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints to organized crime syndicates, and has called on law enforcement to approach them as such. The FLDS practices polygamy in Hildale, Utah, and neighboring Colorado City, Ariz., and at its Yearning for Zion Ranch outside Eldorado, Texas, which was raided by state authorities in April.

“As we have seen just this year, polygamy is not merely a ‘Utah problem.’ Recent enforcement efforts have shown that polygamists have set up shop in states around the country such as Arizona, Nevada, Texas and others,” Hatch said. “I look forward to hearing the witnesses’ testimonies concerning the tools and means they are using to effectively crack down on those who practice polygamy.”

The article continues: “The hearing’s focus is not on polygamy itself — but crimes associated with it. Prosecutors and ex-Fundamentalist LDS Church members will be among those testifying.”

Notice that Hatch referred to “those who practice polygamy”, clearly stating his support for a crack-down on the lifestyle itself, rather than abuse or crime.

Polygamy is FAMILY. It is a family arrangement. You cannot prosecute and destroy FAMILIES without horrendous repercussions. Does he really want to be responsible for shredding innocent families, or driving these families underground?

http://www.voicesforthechildren.org/viewpetition.php?id=3

The FLDS should have the right to answer allegations leveled at them during this hearing. Senator Reid has shown extreme bias against polygamy, and we are concerned that decisions will be made based on misinformation, partial facts/truths, or false allegations. This hearing specifically targets the FLDS church and its members, but Reid has made it clear that his intent is to pursue investigations and prosecutions of other polygamous communities as well, without any acknowledgment that consenting adult, healthy polygamous families should be left unmolested.

The Senate Judiciary Committee has the right to know the whole truth, not just pieces of the truth offered to the committee by dissidents (please refer to the FLDS website for further information regarding this testimony); it also has a responsibility to open the way for the truth to be told.

Please contact your Senators and make your feelings known about this travesty of justice. If you are from Utah, you can call or email Senator Orrin Hatch at:

Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT); Phone: (202) 224-5251
Email form:

http://hatch.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Offices.Contact

There are 18 other members of the Senate Judiciary Committee:

Sen. Jon Kyl [R-AZ]; Phone: Phone: (202) 224-4521

Sen. John Cornyn [R-TX]; Phone: 202-224-2934

http://cornyn.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Contact.ContactForm

Chairman
Sen. Patrick Leahy [D-VT; Phone: (202) 224-4242
Email address without using a form: senator_leahy@leahy.senate.gov

President
Sen. Arlen Specter [R-PA]; Phone: (202) 224-4254

http://specter.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Contact.ContactForm

Sen. Joseph Biden [D-DE]; Phone: (202) 224-5042

http://biden.senate.gov/services/contact/

Sen. Samuel Brownback [R-KS]; Phone: (202) 224-6521

http://brownback.senate.gov/CMEmailMe.cfm

Sen. Benjamin Cardin [D-MD]; Phone: 202-224-4524

http://cardin.senate.gov/contact/

Sen. Thomas Coburn [R-OK]; Phone: 202-224-5754

http://coburn.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=ContactSenatorCoburn.Home

Sen. Richard Durbin [D-IL]; Phone: (202) 224-2152

http://durbin.senate.gov/contact.cfm#contact

Sen. Russell Feingold [D-WI]; Phone: (202) 224-5323

http://feingold.senate.gov/contact_opinion.html

Sen. Dianne Feinstein [D-CA]; Phone: (202) 224-3841

http://feinstein.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=ContactUs.EmailMe

Sen. Lindsey Graham [R-SC]; Phone: (202) 224-5972

http://lgraham.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Contact.EmailSenatorGraham

Sen. Charles Grassley [R-IA]; Phone: 202.224.3744

http://grassley.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Contact.Home

Sen. Edward Kennedy [D-MA]; Phone: (202) 224-4543

http://kennedy.senate.gov/senator/contact.cfm

Sen. Herbert Kohl [D-WI]; Phone: (202) 224-5653

http://kohl.senate.gov/gen_contact.html

Sen. Charles Schumer [D-NY]; Phone: 202-224-6542

http://schumer.senate.gov/SchumerWebsite/contact/webform.cfm

Sen. Jefferson Sessions [R-AL); Phone: (202) 224-4124

http://sessions.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=ConstituentServices.ContactMe

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R; Phone: 202-224-2921

http://whitehouse.senate.gov/contact.cfm

“I really respect the church’s position on it, I really do, and I feel like I understand their need to distinguish themselves from those who choose to practice polygamy today.”

Mary Batchelor says that she is independent. She believes in the principle but she does not practice it, and she says, she’s Mormon.

“I think it’s ironic that the church feels comfortable telling people that they can’t be considered Mormon, when they themselves have experienced the same thing from Christian denominations telling them they can’t be called Christian, and they obviously clearly do believe they are Christian. I clearly do believe I’m Mormon.”

To watch the entire news clip, go here: http://www.abc4.com/mediacenter/local.aspx?videoid=84321@video.ktvx.com