. Jeffs is following a long-established practice -- started by Smith 170 years ago -- of excommunicating those who do not strictly adhere to church leaders' commands. "Andrea's son, now 7, lives with his father, Jason Kingston--Andrea's half-brother--and Rosalind, his niece. Young denied that The Order was racist or taught any form of bigotry, and said he had people of all races working for him. 'And I've seen others that are totally laid out. Many of the souls interred here lived not longer than a day, some just two days, two weeks, or two years. Tarby recounts a conversation he had with a member of the Barlow clan in which he tried to explain why so much fumarase deficiency was occurring among Mormon polygamists. "Some of the kids can walk, but others have a difficult time even sitting. . . . . . Upon the creation of the LDCJC, most members of the DCCS . If you have as much as one drop of that blood in your veins, says Carl, youre cursed from holding the priesthood.. . More recently, the Kingston-owned Washakie Renewable Energy (WRE) agreed to pay a $3 million fine after it was sued by the federal government for raking in tax credits for biofuels it never produced. Since the natural male-to-female ratio is roughly 50-50, the ratio must be manipulated so that there are more females than males for polygamy to work. "The Kingstons are among a small number of family groups in the world who marry closer than first cousins on a regular basis. In the revelation, the Lord commands him to take virgins 'an hundredfold in this world' for the purpose to 'multiply and replenish the Earth' so 'they may bear the souls of men.' . Allison, a 17 year-old ex-Kingston member says not much has changed since Lu Anns day. I tell her I'm not sure, given the context. "Tarby said there could be hundreds of victims in coming generations. What were taught is to love our neighbor, that all people, all races no matter who they are deserve to be loved, he explained. That leads to problems." Ron Kingston says The Orders leadership has too much to lose for something like that to happen. Chapter 2: The roots of a tortured clan By Western standards, Mohammad Shafia is not an educated man; born in middle-class Kabul in. "It wasn't until I left the FLDS and moved away from the community that I realized I'd been to an unusually high number of funerals growing up in the Creek," says Alyssa Bistline over a crackling phone connection. We're sitting in Ron's large kitchen, eating a meal of homemade tomato sauce and sweet Italian sausage that his wife Geria retired marriage and family therapist originally from Hurleyville, NY, who he met six years ago on Zoosk!has prepared in a slowcooker. The FLDS believe they are practicing the one true religion as Prophet Joseph Smith intended it to be. "Another problem in polygamy is a mans breeding years are expanded sometimes into his 80s by the taking of new wives. "Of even greater concern was the fact that the recessive gene that triggers the disease was rapidly spreading to thousands of individuals living in the community because of decades of inbreeding. . That's the big problem.' on the history of the fundamentalist community. . Theyre basically the Utah Mafioso of the white power world, Browning told Intelligence Report. Connie Rugg [is] one of John Ortell's estimated 65 children and one of a handful of Kingston relatives who have fled the clan. "The leaders must also understand the ethical considerations of continuing behavior, he says, that is bringing children into the world who suffer tragic deformities. _____, --Petri Dishes of the Genetically-Destructive Effects of Mormon-Driven Polygamy: "Modern"-day Utah and Cross-Border Towns. The FLDS split off from the mainline Mormon (LDS) church in 1890 after the church denounced the principal of plural marriage. Blood tests showed the infant and 25 other children from numerous women were fathered by the same man, leading to one of the largest welfare fraud-settlements in Utah history. Because the Lord introduced it to his servants in a revelation given to Joseph Smith, and the Lord's servants have always practiced it. Just under eight miles southeast of Short Creek is an area called Cane Beds, Arizona. 'A lady comes in and helps her. . David was sentenced to 10 years in prison for the incest, but served only four before being paroled. . In their own words, as quoted in a sister article that asks the question, "Is Monogamy the Ruin of Civilization?" "Among the polygamous Kingstons, a number of children have been born with birth defects, among them one born with two vaginas and two uteruses but no vaginal or bowel opening. "The ultimate decision on marriages rests with FLDS Prophet Warren Jeffs. Some of these marriages will include parents who both are carriers of the fumarase deficiency gene, making it certain that more children will be afflicted with the disease. Blacks were the less valiant people in heaven who sat on the sidelines while others took sides, according to The Order. and cousins. Is it a requirement to gain the highest levels of heaven? "Victims suffer a range of symptoms, including severe epileptic seizures, inability to walk or even sit upright, severe speech impediments, failure to grow at a normal rate, and tragic physical deformities. . October 15, 2002: "There will be a viewing at father's house at 3p.m. They offer no support, no exit route and no programs for the people trapped inside polygamy endeavoring to escape these closed polygamous communities or compounds. "When [my cousin] died, my childish vow surfaced and I began to look into my family history for some answers. . Half and full siblings are marrying in religious ceremonies. [T]he one-wife system not only degenerates the human family, both physically and intellectually, but it is entirely incompatible with philosophical notions of immortality; it is a lure to temptation, and has always proved a curse to a people. . This nurse has a polygamous background, so does her husband. "Now 16, Rugg's sister was married to and subsequently left one of her half-brother's sons. "In May, the girl said she was belt-whipped by her father inside a Kingston-owned barn in Box Elder County for fleeing the marriage, and was abandoned in the home of another of John Daniel's wives. "There is too little empirical data of uncle-niece, half-brother/half-sister mating to draw firm conclusions about the IQ, survival rates, birth defects or longevity of their offspring, he says. Among the polygamous Kingstons, a number of children have been born with birth defects, among them one born with two vaginas and two uteruses but no Outwardly, she appeared to have no sex organs. . The stage was set for the appearance of the rare disease when their 12th child, Martha Jessop, married her second cousin, John Yeates Barlow, in 1923, according to LDS genealogy data and Colorado City historian Ben Bistline. 'They don't believe anything written about Colorado City [by outsiders, even medical experts] carries much truth,' Tarby says. The last infant grave marked in this cemetery is dated 2010; Warren issued an edict from prison banning sex in 2011, so few infants have been born since then (the few babies born each year are the product of institutionalized rape by cult-appointed seed bearers). when doctors pronounced us a special and important family. "If you look in the literature, you won't find another dozen cases in the world that have been reported," says Tarby. A simple urine test will reveal whether there is an excess of fumaric acid in the urine, if the other, more external symptoms aren't obvious enough. A fourth to half of father-daughter and brother-sister offspring have mental or physical deficiencies. Lucky was the first to die in my generation. It has become the subject of increased scrutiny. . They got married and contacted the . In 2003, Order member Jeremy Kingston pleaded guilty to incest for taking his first cousin, 15-year-old Lu Ann Kingston, as his fourth wife. These babies usually do not leave the hospital and die as infants. . There is also some overlap with Sovereign citizens, he contends. present a troubling scenario for law enforcement: these are crimes of a sexual nature committed in private in a closed society. Naming a father could expose the truth, unveil secrets of paternity and subject the clan to further scrutiny from those who don't approve of incest. In the polygamist cult of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, cousins were encouraged to marry in order to preserve certain bloodlines. Black blood was the worst thing you can have, Jessica said, particularly since the Kingstons consider themselves to be the whitest of the white, descended directly from Jesus Christ and King David, the Middle Eastern origins of both men notwithstanding. On the show's pilot, the trio bring a burly security guard along as they help a woman sneak into her own home to grab belongings for herself and her two young daughters. Jeremy was nearly 10 years her senior at the time. . . Those affected by the genetic disorder suffer grand mal seizures and often have facial feature deformities and severe mental retardation, with IQs as low as 25. . Eventually, she admitted she had married her half-brother and given birth to three children. "For Colorado City and Hildale to avoid more fumarase, polygamist leaders must use their authority to make sure that those potentially carrying the fumarase gene are not allowed to marry, says geneticist Aleck. Some outside the church have referred to the group as "the Kingston Clan" or the "Kingston Cult," although leaders believe that these terms are "inaccurate and derogatory." . . The adult residents of Short Creek todayboth those still in the FLDS and those who have left the cultare mostly able-bodied, seemingly healthy individuals. It's also still rape with a foreign object, I remind us both unnecessarily. Another significant group is the Kingston Clan, also known as "The Order" and officially the Latter Day Church of Christ, with about 2000 members scattered throughout Utah. Snow also remembered being taught end-time prophecies, with a cleansing wherein the streets of Salt Lake City would run red with blood. Nearly all the Mormon founding families were relatives, so the first polygamists enjoyed relations to different degrees when the divine experiment began. The defect might be caused by genetics, infection, radiation, or drug exposure, or there might be no known reason. These disturbing accounts offer a look inside the lives of some early Mormon descendants. . The Latter Day Church of Christ, is considered a Mormon fundamentalist denomination by some in the Latter Day Saint movement. 5, p. 22. . . Nothing has come of the raids yet, and the IRS refused comment on the matter when contacted by this publication. . Child life is destroyed. There was also testimony, during one hearing, that someone in the Kingston clan wanted to blow up the courthouse. Branches of the polygamist mans family left out of the genealogy will change the incidence of common ancestors and potentially mask the true disease risk and incidence in the community. 'I try in my own, quiet way and tell them to outbreed. [in order] to reduce competition for wives. . . These men are living freely in the Cane Beds area. 'Right away I asked the parents if there were any other children with the same problem.' Everyone knows it's happening, few talk about it unprompted, it just sort of..is. Meanwhile, as Mormons wait patiently and faithfully for multi-wifery's official return, the words of their founding Church fathers sound praise to polygamy past, present and future: --The Mormon God's Declaration of Righteous Genetic Combinations: Monogamy is a Christian Blight on Humanity, While Polygamy is the Lord's Way to Produce Fresh, Virile Men; Good-Lookin' Women; and Super Strong Stock to Carry Civilization Into Eternity. Ethnic jokes and stereotypes were commonly repeated. . ", -Prophet John Taylor, "Millennial Star," vol. "I know these people personally.'. . It's the kids who are disproportionately handicapped as compared to the demographics of any other comparably small town. . Two of her sisters married their first cousinsmen with whom they share the same grandfather; the sons of their father's second wife, who is their mother's full sister. Her disobedience incurred the wrath of her father Daniel, who took her to a family ranch near the Idaho border and savagely beat her. Isaac Wyler, a former FLDS member who was excommunicated from the church . "Nearly everyone in Colorado City, Arizona, and the adjacent town of Hildale, Utah, was a member of a fundamentalist Mormon sect that practices polygamy and had long encouraged multiple marriages between close relatives. "For the first time, the faith-promoting stories about my great-grandfathers heroism for defying the federal government when they outlawed polygamy interested me. "In polygamy . They predict the scale of the problem will increase dramatically in the future. . refuse to accept advice from any outsider, including doctors such as Tarby, who has treated their children for years. FOX 13 . And her ex-husband's parents, Merlin and Carolyn Kingston, were uncle and niece. Same family, second child, same period of life, a different fatal disease; was there a connection? "If descendants of polygamy do not look critically at the ideas of their ancestors, Utah children may be increasingly at risk. Fumarase deficiency, however sensationalized, is not the only genetic disorder found here. Dawna's younger sister has a little boy with two clubfeet. "'They are discouraging any new blood," historian Bistline says. "This gene cluster effect happens when people with common ancestors marry and bear children. . The baby survived, but has cerebral palsy. According to Mormonism's top leaders: "Since the founding of the Roman empire monogamy has prevailed more extensively than in times previous to that. As part of a plea bargain, Jeremy spent just one year in prison. Dawna's eldest son is now dating a Centennial woman whom he recently found out is a distant cousin. 'Her body tried to miscarry many, many times.'. . 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