Yet another religious cult raided

[kandrathe]

I'm not saying Joseph Smith was a delusional sexual psychopath, although I'm sure he was delusional, at the very least. Or a liar.

But, to establish widespread polygamy, in the sense that the Mormons practiced it, requires a certain concept of the role of women, one which is incompatible with the idea that they are free to decide things for themselves. That kind of situation tends to bring out the worst in men with authority, and if Joseph Smith was innocent on the charge of sexual abuse, I'll give you dollars to donuts that a great many of his descendants were not, and I suspect the worst of them are the ones who refused to give up polygamy, and instead retreat to compounds in the desert, safe from the long arm of the law and free to practise whatever religious tyranny they liked.

-Jester

Egalitarianism and Complementarianism are concepts in great debate in many Christian sects, not just the FLDS. How do the Amish, Hutterites, Mennonites, Quakers, or the Southern Baptists treat their women? For that matter, how does Joe Sixpack from Scranton, Ohio treat his wife and children? My father was pretty adamant that "no wife of mine will work outside the home". As a society, our modern values are continuously changing, but for many people (especially those cloistered out in the middle of nowhere) the values are frozen back 200 years ago. Is it the government who should step into these communities and declare the people free, or maybe send the women to deprogramming so they can run around and have multiple sexual partners and children without marriage like the rest of us?