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7 Fundamentalist Church of the Latter Day Saints Jacob Shelton 1.4M views 18 items Follow The FLDS, or Fundamentalists Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, is an extreme fundamentalist offshoot of the Mormon religion that began in earnest in 1929, and quickly took on a cult-like nature. Members of the FLDS church are told what to wear, where to live, whom to marry, and even with whom they can have children. Not only is it a creepy atmosphere, but it s systematically built towards raising up a small number of men to the heights of kings, while they use their congregation to do their bidding. This was made national news in 2007 when FLDS cult leader Warren Jeffs was indicted for two first-degree felony charges of accomplice rape, as well as multiple counts of sexual assault of a child. Even though he s spending the rest of his life behind bars, it s been discovered that he s still leading the church while in Federal prison. Unfortunately, this is just one of the many creepy facts about the FLDS. When FLDS news pops up, it s always an interesting, but sick read. The church has a long and storied history of committing sexual crimes against children and women, often forcing young women to enter into marriages before they reach adulthood, and usually with men who could be their fathers (if not older). Despite their similarities in name to the Church of Latter Day Saints, the FLDS operates more similarly to a cult like Jonestown. If you ve never heard of the FLDS, prepare yourself for some horrific information, because these are the most disturbing facts about the Fundamentalists Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They Basically Run Two Towns and are on Trial for it The small towns of Colorado City, Arizona, and Hildale, Utah are basically one 10,000 person town cut in half by a border. Both are almost completely controlled by the FLDS, to the point where non-flds residents are routinely discriminated against and harassed by church officials and police in the pocket of the church. In 2015, the two towns were sued by the Justice Department, alleging numerous civil rights violations, and that the local police forces were more loyal to their religion than the law. The trial got under way in early 2016, and if successful, the towns will have to pay monetary damages, and possibly dissolve their police forces. While the FLDS itself isn't a party in the suit, the trial promises to blow the lid off secrets they've been keeping for decades.

8 Church Beliefs The Branch Davidians Their basic beliefs follow those of the Seventh Day Adventist church, with its emphasis on the imminent arrival of Jesus Christ, dietary rules, the inerrancy of the Bible, etc. They differ only slightly from many Evangelical churches. However, they have added a number of additional, novel concepts which were centered on themselves and their leader: God has provided a prophet whose pronouncements are to be regarded on a par with the Bible. Christ's death on the cross provided salvation only for those who died before 32 CE. People who have died since will only be saved through the activities of the current BD prophet. They believe that the "lamb" mentioned in Revelation 5:2 is not Jesus Christ (as essentially all Christians believe) but is David Koresh himself. The lamb is to open up the seven seals and trigger the sequence which ends the world as we know it. This belief caused a great deal of misunderstanding; many Christians believe that Koresh viewed himself as Jesus Christ, and was thus psychotic. After the breaking of the seals, Christ would return to earth. A battle would occur in which the BDs would play a major role. The BD members alone would ascend to heaven to be with God. Massive confusion developed within the BD during the standoff. Koresh apparently believed that the BATF raid was in some way related to the Book of Revelation's Apocalypse and the war of Armageddon. However details did not fit. Koresh taught that it would occur in Jerusalem in 1995, not in Texas during Church Practices The BDs at Waco led a communal, highly regulated and disciplined life: raising early, eating together, growing their own food, committing long intervals of time to Bible study, etc. Some members had jobs outside the community which contributed financially to the organization. They published a periodical "Shekineth Magazine"

9 They held conventions which were synchronized with the Jewish feast days defined in Leviticus 23:4-43. Following Koresh's "New Light" doctrine, he began to persuade married women within the group to join him as "spiritual wives." This involved sexual access. Couples were separated and their marriages dissolved. All but Koresh and his spiritual wives were required to remain celibate. There were rumors that Koresh was sexually and/or physically assaulting children in the community. Other rumors suggested that he had several "wives" who were in their mid teens. 1 This was supported by statements from disgruntled ex-cult members and by a father involved in a custody suite. Strong physical punishment was used in the compound for discipline of children. There are allegations that infants as young as eight months were beaten with a paddle. However assertions of actual sexual abuse of young children are of unknown validity. Several investigations were conducted by local Child Protective Services; they turned up no evidence of sufficient quantity or quality to justify a charge. None of the children who left the compound during the siege exhibited any signs of abuse. However Koresh did state in a videotape that he is the father of more than a dozen children with several "wives" who he allegedly impregnated at the age of 12 or 13. If he was telling the truth, then he certainly was guilty of statutory rape. During the standoff, the physical and sanitary conditions in the compound had seriously degenerated. The U.S. Justice Department reported that "It was unhealthy at best, and potentially life-threatening at worst, for children to continue, to be forced to live in such an environment." 1 They assembled large supplies of arms; one source estimated 11 tons of arms including antitank rifles. During the 1990's, all but one of the elements which are commonly found in doomsday cults were present at Ranch Apocalypse. Only one element that has been generally found in other destructive cults was missing. There does not appear to have been strict control of information in to the compound.

10 The Church Of The Lamb Of God 24+ deaths Led by neo-polygamist Fundamentalist Mormon patriarch Ervil LeBaron, this tribe of killers (many of them his wives and children) murdered at least 20 people -- mostly rival polygamists and other fringe Mormons -- over a 20-year period. LeBaron himself died in prison in 1981, but the killings were continued by his followers for years after his death. Aaron LeBaron became the sect's high priest after his father's death. Like father like son; Aaron soon got into trouble with the law. In June 1988, as a "blood atonement" ceremony for leaving the cult, Mark Chynoweth and his brother Duane Chynoweth were shot to death in Houston, and Edward Marston was killed simultaneously in Dallas. A young girl was also murdered for witnessing one of the slayings. According to Ervil's Lamb of God 510-page tome, anyone leaving the cult had to be killed before believers could inherit God's kingdom on Earth. In 1996 Aaron was arrested near the cult's colony in northern Mexico. A year later, on March 1997, he was convicted by a Houston court of directing the 1988 slayings of the three sect defectors and the girl. The jury also found him guilty of conspiracy to commit murder for hire, conspiracy to obstruct religious beliefs, racketeering conspiracy and racketeering. However, the murder-for-hire conviction was overturned. On June 13, 1997, Aaron was sentenced to 45 years in prison for the killings and the racketeering charges. LeBaron was also ordered to pay $134,000 in restitution to help pay for the victims' funerals. All in all it seems to us that Aaron got away with a light sentence for orchestrating four deaths. As Assistant U.S. Attorney Mike Shelby said after the sentencing, "His father created a monster called the Church of the Lamb of God, but Aaron LeBaron gave that monster direction." In a rambling statement in court, LeBaron said he wanted to get a degree in journalism while in jail and tell the public how to prevent crime. Three other cult members are already serving life sentences for their roles in the slayings. Authorities are still seeking LeBaron's half-sister, Tarsa LeBaron, who is believed to be hiding in Mexico or Belgium. Here at the archives we have recieved the following from Aaron's younger sister, Jessica lebaron: Hey, I am a survivor of the "LeBaron Cult". The thing was a nightmare, that both Aaron LeBaron and I were born into. Just like any other children we believed and tried to do what we were taught. It was not fun. Perhaps we are not good folks, but when all the bad things happened we had never been to school, were isolated on a ranch and have a family history of mental illness (treatable with medication) and other factors that contributed to extreme fanaticism.

11 As a little child I believed all the stuff the "church" did was right. We are not evil, even though what we did is really bad. I know that you all make your money with this sensationalism and rant about evil and all, but I just thought I'd let you know that (though we didn't act like it for a while there) we are human beings. Hey, did your ancestors keep slaves? Did your folks believe that Black folks are inferior? Where were you when lynching and mob violence and discrimination were going on in this country? A lot of folks don't have a choice of whether or not to discriminate,when they are little, but can grow up to change. We have grown up, just as many of the racists in this country have. Our bad ideas came about kind of like racism in this country did. It is not excused. We are sorry. Making all this adieu about evil?-well ask yourself. I don't think you are making the world a better place by writing this stuff. It is not accurate. As a cult member I didn't have qualms about what I was doing but decided to do it anyway. Do you have qualms about writing this stuff but do it anyway? As a cult member my conscience was clear. After I found out that what we did was wrong, well that was a different story. That was the hardest thing I ever had to do; realize what kind of person I'd become. It really sucked! It was worth it though. When he is not forced to lead a stupid church Aaron LeBaron rocks. I love him for helping us get out of the cult, for doubting it first, for opening his mind to the possibility of mental illness and seeing a doctor and tacking medication for manic depression. I love him for being brave enough to admit to me long before the cops got him that what we had done was wrong, when I was so shocked that it was wrong that I would not believe him. I admire him for getting rid of all my dads literature and replacing it with six copies of The New international Version of the Bible and suggesting that we read the New Testament. Recognizing that what you did is wrong is one of the hardest things that a human being can do. Yet, he went further and discovered that everything we had believed was b.s. as well. Twenty four is a young age to discover such difficult truths. Our deeds had been done before this and of course people were mad and prosecuted him. Society got revenge. You all got something to write about. But, the truth is a different story. If you are black madam or sir, what do you think about the white folks who are sorry that their folks were so ignorant and prejudiced, and got over it? Do you think that those folks merit compassion? I think that my brother and I merit compassion. Your LeBaron Cult story gives me a stomach ache so I wrote this instead of tacking pain medication. that's me, Jessica LeBaron