Lately, I’ve been doing quite a bit of research about the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, otherwise known as the FLDS church. The FLDS church is not to be confused with the mainstream Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (LDS), which is not officially affiliated with the FLDS church. My research has led me to read several interesting accounts of what it’s like to live in and escape polygamy, which is a basic tenet of the FLDS church. I discovered Andrea Moore-Emmett while on a recent shopping spree on Amazon.com. The site has a very effective suggestive selling function. Since I had bought other books and a DVD about polygamy, Amazon.com recommended that I give Moore-Emmett’s book, God’s Brothel, a look.
Andrea Moore-Emmett is a journalist and native of Colorado who now lives in Salt Lake City, Utah. She published her book, God’s Brothel in 2004, having also been an activist against the abuses of women and children who are trapped in polygamous lifestyles. The first thing I noticed about my copy of God’s Brothel is that it’s very well written and informative; however, it also has a bit of a low budget feel about it. This book, published by the Pince-Nez Press, looks like it wasn’t meant for a huge audience. That’s too bad, because Moore-Emmett has a lot of important things to say.
God’s Brothel begins with a map that shows where Mormon and Christian fundamentalist polygamist groups exist. Readers might be very surprised to find out that these groups are located in almost every state in the United States as well as Canada and Mexico. Moore-Emmett differentiates between Mormon and Christian groups using squares and circles. I was surprised to see that Mormon fundamentalists appear to be even more widespread than Christian fundamentalists. As Moore-Emmett points out, many people assume that polygamy exists only among Mormons in Utah and that there is only one group. As it turns out, polygamy is everywhere, although in the U.S., it’s mostly concentrated in the western states. Moore-Emmett includes a helpful section that explains the better known sects that have been in existence for at least five years. Not all of the groups are Mormon, though Moore-Emmett’s book seems to concentrate mostly on the Mormon groups.
To some, polygamy is a religious practice that should be decriminalized because the government has no business telling consenting adults how to conduct their sex lives. But, as Moore-Emmett makes clear in her book, too many people living polygamous lifestyles are not consenting adults. And too many adult women who are living in polygamy live that way because they don’t have a choice. They were born into the lifestyle and are hampered by a lack of education, poverty, and having too many children. Indeed, many fundamentalist polygamist groups admonish the women to have one child per year and strictly prohibit the use of birth control. With a rule like that, coupled with the inability of many shelters to handle women with so many children, it’s easy to see how so-called consenting adult women can end up trapped in polygamy.
Moore-Emmett explains the basic history of the Mormon Church. She also discusses the political and social climate in Utah, tying it in with the trend of religious tolerance within the United States. Many Americans, at least on the surface, try hard to be tolerant of other peoples’ religious beliefs. Moreover, even though polygamy has been illegal in the United States since the 1800s, it’s very difficult to enforce the law against plural marriage because of the sheer volume of people who live in polygamy. According to Moore-Emmett’s book, there are 50,000 to 100,000 practicing polygamists in the United States today. Arresting and prosecuting that many people is a daunting task that would require enormous financial and law enforcement resources. Many polygamist colonies are concentrated in Utah, a state that was established by Mormons and is now heavily populated by people who descended from polygamists. Moreover, according to Moore-Emmett, there are members of the mainstream LDS church who are closeted polygamists and live their lives in such secrecy that not even their neighbors know about it.
One point Moore-Emmett makes about the relationship between the LDS and FLDS churches struck me as particularly revelatory. She writes on page 30,
While the Mormon Church itself no longer condones polygamy and continues to excommunicate members who are discovered to be living the practice, the attitude between Mormons and Mormon fundamentalist polygamists is that of kissing cousins with more similarities than differences. A certain amount of deference is shown to one another, while at the same time each side condemns the other as apostate, claiming it is acting without proper authority. They share the same religious genesis with Joseph Smith as the prophet and founder of the restored gospel on earth, as well as a belief in, and veneration for, early Mormon leaders. They sing the same Mormon hymns, pray in the same manner, and share the same scriptures, which include the Book of Mormon, Pearl of Great Price, and the Bible.
After explaining why polygamists are not likely to be prosecuted, Moore-Emmett goes on to discuss why polygamy is less of a religious freedom issue than a human rights issue. She discusses the American Civil Liberties Union’s (ACLU) position that laws against plural marriage violate constitutional freedoms of expression and religion, pointing out that the ACLU seems to have ignored the many civil and human rights violations against women and children who are trapped in polygamy. She also reminds readers that while many women living polygamous lifestyles are legal adults capable of consent, too many of those women never got the chance to choose their fate.
In the second part of God’s Brothel, Moore-Emmett presents the personal accounts of eighteen women who managed to escape polygamy against all odds. Moore-Emmett presents these stories in her own voice, but she still manages to capture nuances of each of the women’s individual voices. She explores how girls as young as nine years old are forced into arranged marriages with much older men they may have never even met. She reveals horrific child abuse and molestation that gets swept under the rug. She exposes the jealous, hurt feelings of the women who are forced to share their husband without complaint with as many wives as he wants. And she shows how the women who are brave enough to attempt escape face huge odds against success, especially if they mean to take their children with them. Even though polygamous sects break the law, they also know how to use it to get what they want.
Personally, while I found the first part of this book very informative and interesting, I found the second part more compelling. The personal stories of the women who escpaped polygamy are heartbreaking, yet hopeful and revealing. Moore-Emmett presents them with honesty and sensitivity. I was outraged after I finished reading, but glad that I’d taken the time to read God’s Brothel.
This book includes a very helpful glossary, which explains some of the FLDS lingo as well as concepts that may be foreign to those who have not had exposure to Mormonism. God’s Brothel also features a Book Club Guide, which includes discussion questions for those who might want to read and talk about this book in a reading group.
If I had to offer a criticism of God’s Brothel, it would be that the book claims to be about Mormon and Christian fundamentalist polygamy groups. However, it seemed to me that this book was really more about Mormon polygamy. Maybe it’s because the author is an ex-Mormon and lives in Utah. I did wonder about the differences between Mormon and Christian polygamous sects, though, and noticed that it didn’t seem to be discussed, which may be a weakness for those who are more interested in Christian polygamy.
In any case, I think God’s Brothel is a fascinating, well-written book that should be required reading for anyone who wants to know more about the downsides of polygamy. Andrea Moore-Emmett does a fine job of explaining why polygamy exists, why it’s so difficult to eradicate, and why Americans should care.
