First, a chunk from this week’s Last Days:
FRIDAY, JULY 29 Nothing happened today, unless you count the trial of Warren Jeffs, leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, the Mormon splinter group that practices polygamy and, if the charges against Jeffs are true, child rape. During today’s court proceedings in San Angelo, Texas, defendant Jeffs—who is serving as his own lawyer against two counts of sexual assault of a child—addressed the court in the voice of God: “I, the Lord God of heaven, ask the courts to cease the prosecution of my holy ways,” said Jeffs. “There will be a judgment against all those who prosecute the church. I will bring sickness and death. Let this cease.” Following Jeffs’s one-man God show, CNN reports, Judge Barbara Walther warned Jeffs that if he again called for “the jury’s destruction,” he would be removed from the courtroom. On Monday, Jeffs will file a motion on behalf of God seeking the removal of Judge Walther from the case. The fun continues.
Now, an update on the trial published yesterday by ABC News (bolds mine):
In an audio tape played today at the trial of polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs, jurors heard the religious leader allegedly having sex with a 12-year-old girl and telling her to feel “the spirit of God.”
Prosecutors later played another clip of a different “training session” involving 12 girls, but Jeffs stood up and loudly spoke over the tape, talking about how a holy trust was being broken. The judge and jurors were wearing headphones to listen to the tape, and ignored Jeffs’ rambling. On the tape, they heard Jeffs telling the girls “you have to know how to excite sexually and be excited,” and telling the girls to shower and wear white robes when they come to him, as well as telling them to shave their pubic hair. He concluded by singing the prayer “Father, Son and Holy Ghost.”
So far, Jeffs entire defense seems to be based on the idea that these “sacred rituals” are beyond the reach of law in a country with alleged religious freedom. Good luck with that, you sick fuck.
It is too bad assholes like this are the public face of polygamy.
This is the unvarnished truth about religion and it’s origins.
Any morality included in holy texts is just whitewash. The purpose: get money, get sex, get power. There is no god, just assholes like this who use naive people.
The more I’ve read about this asshole, the more disgusted it’s made me. Seriously, it’s not enough for this fucker to spend the rest of his life rotting in prison. It’s really too bad we can’t go all medieval on him.
@3 I’m pretty much against the death penalty, but there’s something about this case that makes me want to bring a big ol’ New York cobblestone to the stoning. Now excuse me, while I go try and remind myself I’m a pacifist…
is anyone else wondering why the fuck he made an audio tape?
His one mistake was in not converting to Catholicism, where he would have the power of the Pope behind him to cover his tracks.
5: YES. I can only imagine it has to do with preserving the words of the ACTUAL PROPHET while he is with us on earth (and not yet in prison).
holy fuck.
No, not really, @5. I’m more surprised he didn’t videotape the sessions.
@9 – that’s the thing. if it was videotapes, i’d understand. there isn’t much porn value to an audio tape, so there must be another reason, at least in part. schmader’s probably in the ballpark @5…*shudder*
@5 He made these tapes himself? Oh, ew, gross. I thought it was some kind of law-enforcement thing. Eeeew. I’m done. Eating for the day, among other things.
The guy is clearly insane. He either literally believes he’s God, which makes him obviously nuts, or he’s just using the God thing as a cover for his little-girl jollies. If it’s the latter, the brazen (and transparent) nature of his subterfuge strongly indicates a sociopathy-based personality disorder (in addition to the pedophilia), and thus he’s still technically insane; it just derives from a different flavor of insanity.
Despite what an absolute fucking creep he is, I think the proper place for him is an asylum, not prison (or the gas chamber, as gratifying as that would be).
None of these girls had a gun-owning father? In that part of the country? Very disappointing that he didn’t follow Joe Smith’s example and get himself lynched.
Does anyone know if he cupped his hands over his mouth and spoke in deep tones when he invoked the voice of God?
It seems like it’d be more effective that way.
@13,
1. Most of his followers believe he’s a prophet and will happily turn over their young daughters to him. 2. Bitches ain’t shit in their philosophy. Who cares if they start being serially raped at the age of 12? 3. The Jeffs clan rules with an iron fist and quite literally murders anyone who gets in their way.
@13, what @15 said. It’s called a cult. Men or women, gun-owning or not, don’t give up everything to go live in a compound with a leader they have any intention of shooting.
This guy was on the FBI’s ten most wanted list. By far, he must be the single biggest pussy to ever be put on that list. Murderers and terrorists formally on that list should want to kill him on general principle alone.
If this is religious liberty, then religious liberty is highly overrated.
The FLDS has been getting away with the whole child raping thing for literally decades. The last crackdown prior to Warren’s generation was in the 50s and it was a public relations disaster for Nevada–it took them 60 years to go after them again.
This is not a “religion”, it is a corrupt criminal enterprise that practices “bleeding the beast” (welfare fraud) to pay its bills. I hope Jeffs does down for child rape, but the FED should go after the whole fucking thing for rackettering and hit them with RICO–TRIPLE DAMAGES!
@13 – what 15 said. Both parents attend and sign their child over to be raped in the name of religion. Its an honor for their daughter to be given to one of those in charge, plus they often get a higher status in the community. The sad thing is that there are actually a lot of Mormons here in Utah who secretly agree with that lifestyle, seeing it as closer to what Joseph Smith originally envisioned in his bizarre visions, and one that puts women in their proper place – as subservient breeding cows. I had the pleasure of overhearing just such a conversation in a small Southern Utah town just recently, where 3 men were discussing their disapproval of wives working outside the home and their thoughts on the proper role of women.
ABC sure got us the salacious details… like how he described his 14-year-old bride as “pure and innocent and willing to obey” and trained them in just how best to get his rocks off. I wonder how many pornos are based on this? And how many more are going to be made?
@19 – I think you mean AZ rather than Nevada. Arizona authorities entered what was then called Short Creek on the border of AZ/UT and removed hundreds of children in the 50s. That area is now Hildale, UT and Colorado City, AZ.
NOT INSANE. believes his own bullshit, yes. narcissist, yes. sociopath, yes. but not insane.
@1: i think you’re employing irony?
Men have always used religion to promote their sexual freedom and deny such to women. It’s called holding all the cards. But, today, they don’t hold all the cards. The government does. And enormous resentment is the result. All Jeff’s had to do was obey the law and he could have had all the wives he wanted over the age of eighteen (or whatever the age of consent is).That wasn’t what he wanted. He wanted children. Very much like the Catholic priests.
Where are all the libertarians now? Shouldn’t they be all over this defending Jeffs with slippery slope arguments?
What’s the Vegas odds on his aquittal, 1.000000001 to 1?
Ha! The verdict is in: GUILTY.
@22: Hildale! Crappers that brings back memories. Used to a do a lot of backcountry climbing/riding/hiking down in that area of the world. The relatively enlightened types around Zion and in Hurricane, would issue dire warnings about Hildale/Colorado City and basically anything along Rt. 59 between Hurricane and Colorado City.
That’s the land of the craziest of crazy-ass fundie Mormons.
It must be said. No one has sex with a twelve year old. One rapes a twelve year old.
The definition of a destructive religious cult is like alcoholism-if alcohol controls you instead of the other way around you are an alcoholic.
If they try to ruin your reputation and break up your family for trying to get out then they are a cult!
Please examine the Jehovah’s Witnesses pedophiles go door to door and come on our property.
Many court documents and news events prove that Jehovah’s Witnesses suppress evidence when a child comes forward with allegations of molestation within the congregation.Whenever you surrender your logic and reason to anyone who asks you to trust them because they know better it’s possibly a cult.
If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck….
–
Danny Haszard abuse victim -dannyhaszard(dot)com
The definition of a destructive religious cult is like alcoholism-if alcohol controls you instead of the other way around you are an alcoholic.
If they try to ruin your reputation and break up your family for trying to get out then they are a cult!
Please examine the Jehovah’s Witnesses pedophiles go door to door and come on our property.
Many court documents and news events prove that Jehovah’s Witnesses suppress evidence when a child comes forward with allegations of molestation within the congregation.Whenever you surrender your logic and reason to anyone who asks you to trust them because they know better it’s possibly a cult.
If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck….
–
Danny Haszard abuse victim -dannyhaszard(dot)com