SUNSTONE

REVIEWS sympathy for their peculiar and at times paradoxical lifestyle. Even while arguing from a feminist point of view, Bradley dis- agrees with Governor Pyle's characterization FUNDAMENTALIST POLYGAMY: of the women of Short Creek as "white slaves." Quite to the contrary, Bradley main- tains that fundamentalist women had ful- TOLERATING THE INTOLEMBLE filling relationships with both their religion and their husbands in a patriarchal setting. "Paradoxically," she writes, "it could be main- KIDNAPPED FROM THAT LAND: tained that fundamentahst women tri- THE GOVERNMENT RAIDS ON THE umphed by accepting limitationsn (111). SHORT CREEK POLYGAMISTS Another important point Bradley makes is by Martha Sonntag Bradley that fundamentalism was not-and is not University of Utah Press, 1993 today-about plural marriage alone. In fact, 260 pages, $29.95 she offers a detailed analysis of Short Creek's peculiar economic communal organization, the United Effort Plan, and explains its simi- larities with early 's social experi- ments. It is also true that fundamentalist groups exist that do not practice plural mar- - riage, such as the Aaronic Order, which has been described in sociological terms by Hans Reviewed by Massirno Introvigne Baer in his important book Recreating Utopia in the ~esert~Like Baer's book, Bradley's analysis confirms that fundamentalism is a HE SHORT CREEK, Arizona, raid of ists in the Salt Lake area, and the raids by larger phenomenon that cannot be stereotyp- 26 July 1953 is the most notorious Arizona and Utah authorities culminating in ically reduced to polygamy Fundamentalists T episode in the story of the post- the 1953 raid. The 1953 raid is usefully maintain a number of features of nineteenth- Manifesto confrontation between U.S. au- placed within the context of both United century Mormonism that disappeared after thorities and Mormon polygamous States and Arizona politics of the 1950s, with the Manifesto and the "Americanization" fundamentalists. Martha Sonntag Bradley's an outline of the political career of Arizona of Utah. Ultimately the dialectics between Kidnapped from That Land is the first book- Governor Howard Pyle, a close associate of the fundamentalist groups and the mainline length treatment of that infamous episode Barry Goldwater, and the prime mover be- LDs church are the well-known tensions be- within the general context of the story of hmd the raid. Although an evangelical tween community and society, gerneinschaft Mormon fundamentalism. The first section Protestant, Pyle kept the Mormon church in and gesellschaft, which has been observed in of the book offers a short overview of pre- Salt Lake fully informed concerning the raid, many communities, particularly during Manifesto polygamy from 's rev- and his project was warmly endorsed by the crucial passage from the nineteenth elations to 1890, although a reader some general authorities in Utah. The book to the twentieth century It was, in a sense, unfamiliar with Mormon history might want offers a detailed chronicle of the raid and of unavoidable that Mormon community to consult Richard S. Van Wagoner's Mormon subsequent events, including a number of developed into Mormon society Fundamen- polygamy1 and Carmon Hardy's book Solemn different legal cases. Finally, Bradley reports talists-whether polygamists or not-did covenant2 in order to understand the histor- on her own visits to what was once called not accept this passage, but elected to keep ical complexities of the subject. Bradley also Short Creek (now the twin villages of their small gemeinschaft, in a desert society explains the roots of modem-day fundamen- Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Arizona) real (Short Creek's) or psychological (clan- talism and the history of the pioneer settle- and surveys the current status of the funda- destine life in metropolitan ). ments in the Short Creek area. The largest mentalist community in 1992. Two appen- There is little doubt, according to Bradley, portion of the book is devoted to a descrip- dices include a list of the families involved in that the raid itself was an ill-fated venture tion of the fundamentalist community in the 1953 raid and the full text of the state- and a political disaster for Govemor Pyle and Short Creek, its relations with fundamental- ment by Governor Pyle, a typical piece of other state officials. It was also ultimately em- 1950s patriotic rhetoric exposing the funda- barrassing for Mormon authorities and the mentalists' activities of "insurrection within press who initially endorsed it. It did not MASSIMO INTROVIGNE, a Roman Catholic, is [Arizona's]own borders." achieve any of the intended results (more director of the Center for Studies of New While describing the lifestyle of the than forty years after the raid, polygamy is Religions (CESW, based in Torino, Italy. He polygamous families in Short Creek and the alive and well in Utah and Arizona), and it is the author or editor of eighteen books on mi- 1953 drama, Bradley is at her best. She ex- brought unnecessary suffering to men, nority religions and contemporary magic, in- hibits impressive command of primary women, and children, which is movingly cluding I Mormoni (The Mormons), published sources and considerable literary skills. detailed in the book. Apparently, however, in 1993 by Libreria Editrice Vaticana, the Although Bradley clearly does not share the the lesson of Short Creek has not been VaticanS press, in co-edition with Interlogos of fundamentalists' theology or world view, she universally understood. The publication of Schio. has obviously developed both respect and Bradley's book coincided with raids very sim-

PAGE a JUNE 1994 SUNSTONE

ilar to Short Creek. In 1992 assaults against and that there was no evidence of sexual cases are still pending in Argentina and colonies of The Family a religious group that abuse of children. The only allegation that France (with a parallel case in the United traces its origins to the Children of God, oc- remained was polygamy and the charge that Kingdom), it is clear that the political careers curred in Australia and Spain and the fol- older men took juvenile wives. Although this of the authorities involved in the raids will lowing year in Argentina and France. The may have been true in some countries, public suffer and that the support of some of the Family was accused of perpetuating a way of opinion did not react as the authorities may mainline churches of the raids against The living typical of the early Children of God, have expected. Instead of being shocked by Family was misguided. including polygamy, child abuse, and the use The Family's polygamy, the public reacted The similarity between these recent of sexual advances by female missionaries to negatively against reports and photographs events with the scandal of Short Creek is secure converts ("fllrty-fishing"). In the of children being taken from their mothers striking. The raids involving The Family 1992-93 raids, hundreds of children were and placed in foster homes or public institu- demonstrate that Bradley's book not only ad- taken from their mothers in these four coun- tions against their will. Before the end of dresses an historical episode, but also tries and made temporary wards of courts. 1993, all children were returned to their touches sensitive issues still important and Further investigations revealed that the noto- mothers and to their religious communities relevant in the 1990s. The rhetoric of "pro- rious "flirty-fshing" had been discontinued in all countries involved. Although legal tecting children" and the idea that child

THE WORD BAZAAR

Also, reprints of early LDS classics. EBORN ship in the Mormon History Association. You'll -OF 'A'' EDIT1ONs 1 OUT - 11 BOOKS. P.O. BOX 2093. DEPT. B. PEORIA, AL also receive the association's quarterly newslet- LDS BOOKS BOUGHT & SOLD ter. One-year memberships: regular, $15; stu- dent, $10. Mormon History Association, P.O. We pay top dollar for out-of-print, used, and rare Box 7010, University Station, Provo, UT 84602. LDS books. Thousands of LDS books (new & WOMEN'S PUBLICATIONS 099 used) for sale. Out-of-print book search avail- able. Call, write, or visit our shop. Open Mon.- EXPONENT I1 THE BEEHIVE Frl.. 10-6, Sat., 10-4, BENCHMARK BOOKS, 331 Exponent II, a volunteer organization, publishes The Beehive newspaper, the largest FREE LDS RIO GRANDE, STE 300, P.O. BOX 9027, SALT LAKE a quarterly newspaper addressing women's is- newspaper, is now available at over 300 loca- CITV, UT 84109-0027, 8011532-3100. 100 sues in an LDS context. For 20 years, this per- tions in Utah. The Beehive is always looking for COMPLETE DIALOGUE SET sonal essay format has provided a forum for qualified salespeople and writers (8001200- women to exchange life experiences in an at- 4LDS). 095 I have a complete set of Dialogue: A Journal of mosphere of trust and acceptance. Past issues Mormon Thought that I am interested in selling have discussed drug abuse, authority, the so- ARE RUSH LtMBAUGH for $1,000. Contact Alan Canfield, P.O. Box cialization of young women, and the Mormon AND HOWARD STERN 3842, Salt Lake City, UT84110 (8011461-3393). male. Regular columns by Judy Dushku, Emma the two latter-day witnesses in Revelations 11, 095 Lou Thayne, and Laurel Ulrich. Edited by Sue who "tormented them on the earth" for 1,260 COMPLETE SUNSTONE SET Paxman. For a subscription, please send a days, and will destroy their enemies like "fire I have a complete set of SUNSTONE that I am check for $15.00 ($4.00 per issue) to: Exponent proceedeth out of their mouth?" (Time maga- interested in selling for $1,000. Contact Alan 11, P.O. Box 128, Arlington, MA02178. 099 zine cover, 1 Nov. 1993). For a free report, send Canfield, P.O. Box 3842, Salt Lake City, UT name & address to Witnesses Newsletter, P.O. 84110 (8011461-3393). 095 Box 8191, Bonney Lake, WA98390. 095 LIMITED EDITION STUDENT REVIEW B. H. ROBERTS BYU's unofficial student magazine is now in its A SCRAP BOOK I1 eighth year! Examine the life anc! issues at BYU ADAM-GOD This volume is limited to 500 copies and is 528 through essays written by students and fac- Adam-God by Craig Tholson. Most complete pages long, with all materials previously uncom- ulty--humorously, sometimes critically, but al- treatment of the Adam-God doctrine to be pub- piled. Only $50 per book plus $3.50 for shipping. ways sensitively. One-year subscriptions, $15. lished in this dipensation. Hardbound. Order Send your order today to: LYNN PULSIPHER, P.O. Student Review, P.O. Box 2217, Provo, UT from Publishment, P.O. Box440507, Aurora, CO BOX 1607, PROVO, UT 84603-1607. AREA CONFER- 84603. 099 80044-0507. $30. includes shiDDina... - 095 ENCE REPORTS and select out-of-print books also available. Send your want list. Phone: 8011377- The Coming of the Holy One of Israel, new from BQ~K~~&&~&%w. " " ' 3046. Please leave a message. 097 Crais Tholson. This shockina new revelation will @,€I?perllne* mbbumof4 lines at$l?-OD. rockthe world of r or monish and its traditional H~adlina%yes- munts as ttm C?s, &ines - ' belief about the second coming of Jesus Christ. ssWed at 7se~e~~.narSLs peg lha Qther Never-before-published informaiton. A MUST I NEWSPaPERS & MtlGAZDJES 1 hM$iw titit&' are r!~q&iabk&, ssuch a6 READ for all Latter-day Saints. Hardbound. Or- JOURNAL OF MORMON magezihe sub~ori@tl:ws,gt&ttiag sealcee~ der from Publishment, P.O. Box 440507, Aurora, auragraM 1i~tt.e~~~Wks %a&& ,pa$- CO 80044-0507. $30, includes shipping. 095 HISTORY men? must k@m2iaii~Urs biq-we *&hdf Keep up with the best, ground-breaking articles tai& FGL I~QE~?inf~tw&s--c~~e@i$J&k-, EBORN BOOKS - MAIL ORDER on Mormon history by getting the semi-annual 6SSi; .- .‘, 3;~.5 -e Free catalog of thousands of used LDS books! Journal of Mormon History with your member-

JUNE 1994 SUNSTONE

abuse is unavoidable in fringe communities with unorthodox beliefs is still promoted by A CASESTUDY OF A secular anti-cult and evangelical counter-cult movements, and lies behind the grossly exag- MORMON WARD gerated charges of "ritual" sexual abuse of children, which are advanced (but almost never proved) against occult, neo-pagan, and MORMON LIVES: A YEAR IN various New Age groups. Both the legal and theological aspects of THE ELKTON WARD the raid are exceedingly complicated. Bradley by Susan Buhler Taber offers a useful summary of legal cases in- University of Illinois Press volving the Short Creek polygamists, and 376 pages, $27.00 emphasizes the importance of the Vera Black case (1954). Readers of the book may not clearly understand why Vera was allowed to keep her children, despite her anticipatory breach of her 1956 pledge renouncing polygamy Readers not familiar with Arizona law (and perhaps Arizona politics in the 1950s) may wish to consult Ken Driggs's ar- ticle ''Who Shall Raise the Chldren? Vera Reviewed by Gordon Shepherd Black and the Rights of Polygamous ~arents.~As far as the theology is con- cerned, the reader may have asked for more information about distinctions between the CCORDING TO AUTHOR Susan scholars Richard and Claudia Bushman, who Short Creek community and other funda- Taber, Mormon Lives "is primarily an were themselves members of the Elkton mentalist polygamist groups who separated A attempt to portray what it is like to Ward. Their idea was to collect an extensive themselves from the Mormon church. be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of set of documentary materials about the func- Although Bradley at times leaves the impres- Latter-day Saints at a particular place and tioning of the ward and its members to serve sion that the separation between Short Creek time" (4)-what it is like, that is, to be a as a data base for future historians and and other funhamentalist movements oc- modem Mormon living in the contemporary scholars of community life to analyze. curred primarily because of leadership ques- United States. Bushman, who was then the Elkton Ward tions, there were also differences in theology The time depicted by Taber is circa 1985, bishop, obtained permission from Church which should be considered in future re- while the place is not the Mormon heartland headquarters to organize a year long data- search. D. Michael Quinn addressed some of of Utah or its Rocky Mountain environs, but gathering project, which included a member these issues in his article "Plural Marriage the Elkton Ward, a smallish LDS congregation attitude survey, numerous written accounts and Mormon ~undamentalism,"~but a com- in Newark, Delaware. Thus, in part, the lives of special ward events, minutes of meetings, plete survey of the many different groups and of these particular Latter-day Saints must be personal journals, and oral histories taken subgroups of Mormon fundamentalism re- understood as unfolding at a time and place from over 100 ward members. As a member mains to be completed. where they are not the complacent majority, of the Elkton Ward's "Record Year Bradley's book proves that history of con- but a distinct religious minority Ths posi- Committee," Taber agreed to develop inter- troversial episodes can be rescued from mere tion, of course, is still the rule and not the ex- view protocols for the oral histories. legend and analyzed with appropriate schol- ception for most Mormons throughout the Eventually, it was these oral histories, su- arly tools. Her masterful treatment of Short world. To live as a religious minority can perbly organized and edited by Taber, that Creek will not onlv become a standard refer- strengthen members' sense of camaraderie became the substantive focus of Mormon ence for students of Mormon polygamy, but while simultaneously, and ambiguously, in- Lives. The project's entire collection of mate- will also be appreciated by a larger audience tensifylng commitment challenges to remain rial has been deposited in the as a much needed lesson on cross-cultural faithful. This is especially true for new University archives. understanding and religious tolerance. P converts to a missionary church that requires As in most good case studies, the richness unstinting lay participation at the congrega- of ethnographic detail in Mormon Lives is NOTES tional level in order to function. The concur- achieved at the expense of confident and pre- rent sacrifices and rewards of Mormon lay cise statistical generalizations based on repre- 1. Richard 5. Van Wagoner, Mormon Polygamy (Salt Lake participation, in conjunction with the de- sentative samples. Is the Elkton Ward a City: Signature Books. 1986). 2. Cannon Hardy, Solemn Covenant Ihe Mormon Polygamist mands of daily life in modem society, emerge reliable microcosm for comprehending the Passage Wrbana & Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1986). as the leitmotif of this book. nature of Mormon life at other times and 3. Hans her, Rmraring Utopia in thc Desert (Albany: State University of New York hw,1988). Momon Lives had its origins in a unique places? No doubt it is not in many respects, 4. Ken Driggs. Who Shall Raw the Childred Vera Black project (for Mormons) of congregational self- but, impressionistically at least, there are cer- and the Rights of Polygamous Parents," Ufah Historical Quarterly (Winter 1992): 27-46. examination, initiated by well-known LDS tain consequences of Mormon organization 5. D. Michael Quinn. 'Plural Marriage and Mormon and belief that appear to be experienced Fundamentalism." in Fwulnrnentalisms and Society: Rnlairning the Sciences, he Family, and Education. ed. Martin E. Many and R. GORDON SHEPHERD is professor of sociology more or less universally by participating Scott Appleby (Chicago: University of Chicago hess. 1993). at the University of Central Arkansas. members, whether they are in Provo, Utah;

PAGE 64 JUNE 1994

.-- - SUNSTONE

Mexico City; or Newark, Delaware. In my of Latter-day Saints throughout the world. ries of additional congregational studies, judgment, many of the oral history accounts The way to test this ~mpression,as well as to controlling for regional and national differ- given by members of the Elkton ward res- identify group patterns that are particularistic ences. Official Church reluctance to sanction owein varyiw deaees with the experiences and not universal, would be to conduct a se- such studies by independent scholars who

PAGE 65 SUNSTONE

wish to publish their results, however, makes power of the LDs lay priesthood are espe- Bushman concludes: an extended undertaking of this sort unlikely cially important to them as vehicles for at- I believe that a calling is redemp- It also makes Taber's book all the more valu- taining supernatural aid and comfort in times tive. 1 see this [for example] in able as a pioneering achievement. of trouble or crisis. women who will lose patience with As an organizing format, Taber introduces Parallel to the reiteration of these basic their chlldren at home, but in readers to her subjects' personal accounts in beliefs, many ward members allude to the primary class they are marvels of the context of their participation in particular dilemmas of exercising personal conscience patience', Inndness, and under- ward events or lay callings during the record and individuality, virtues celebrated by cer- standing. Learning to act that way year of observation. Thus, for example, there tain LDS scriptures, in an authoritarian orga- provides an anchor and a place to are chapters organized around baptisms, a nization that places a premium on orthodoxy refer back to. For me, having to marriage, a stake temple excursion, choir re- and conformity Through their oral histories counsel people, having to say hearsals and performance, a missionary we, in fact, see revealed the diversity of active something in difficult situations farewell, fund raising and welfare projects, members' personal beliefs, motives, and reli- that will be useful and kindly has ward conference, personnel changes in the gious attachments. We are drawn to the deeply affected my personality and bishopric and auxiliary organizations, youth proposition that the LDS religion appeals to a character. . . . One of the primary activities and Primary childrens' events, testi- fairly broad range of individuals, who come reasons that the church is powerful mony meeting, the persistent problem of in- from many walks of life and possess differing in peoples' lives is that it compels active members, priesthood meeting, Relief levels of educational attainment; who often them to move into a role where Society socials, and so on. One important re- selectively emphasize those aspects of they have to act for God (180). sult of rhis format is that we clearly begin to Mormonism that are most congenial to their Bm sociologist Larry Young recently cited see ward members not merely as individuals own intellectual dispositions or existential Mormon Lives as a notable exception to the but as social actors, whose experiences are needs, while they pragmatically ignore or de- current dearth of Mormon congregational mutually shaped by their interlocking roles emphasize the importance of other tenets studies. According to Young, congregational in the religious community One begins to andlor practices of the faith. studies offer a potentially critical analysis to get a good sense of the demanding yet sup- Significantly, ward members frequently Mormon scholarship because they typically portive-oftentimes encapsulating-charac- speak of striving to balance the structural "address questions of leadership, policy, and ter of Mormon group life. strains and satisfactions of Mormon commu- power. Frequently they provide models that In each chapter the spotlight falls on three nity life; of the need to accommodate the explain differential rates of performance to ten ward members whose oral history in- competing demands of work and family with across ~ongre~ations."~Certainly leadership, terviews have been selectively transcribed the insistent claims that lay callings impose policy, and power emerge both directly and into seamless monologues. Those inter- on their time and resources. A fair amount of indirectly as highly important topics of con- viewed talk about how they came to be ambivalence is expressed by both men and cern for ward members in many of Taber's in- members of the Church, about their religious women toward the changing status of terviews, but she does not attempt any and secular backgrounds; their families, oc- women in society, espec~allywomens' tradi- systematic critique, nor does she formulate cupations and working lives; their church tionally subservient roles in a church domi- any explanatory models of Mormon power callings and lay involvement over time; their nated by priesthood hierarchy The principal arrangements. Her book is almost entirely beliefs, priorities, and aspirations; their per- concerns of Elkton parents, however, tend to descriptive. It lacks an explicit theoretical sonal concerns and struggles in life. The revolve around the religious development of framework and has no rigorous thesis to book's success ultimately depends on the their children. For them, religious loyalty argue beyond: (1) the basic methodological clarity and insights offered by these mono- and intensive family activity in LDS programs premise of the book that, assembled in suffi- logues. Collectively, they make for engrossing typically are justified as the best way to pro- cient quantity and appropriate context, oral and, at times, poignant reading, as members tect their children from the moral chaos histories shed light on the meaning of of the Elkton Ward speak with simplicity and of the outside world. Many members, of Mormonism as experienced by ordinary apparent candor about their lives in the course, assign a priority value to their church members themselves; and (2) Taber's state- Church. As they tell their stories, a constella- involvement because it keeps them in sus- ment in the introduction that "Mormon be- tion of basic themes gradually emerges. taining contact with a supportive commu- lief and activity in the church require the Like adherents of other faiths, Elkton nity Lay participation in an LDS community working out of a dialectic between two of the Ward members find transcendent meaning provides them with a social identity, a sense religion's fundamental principles-free and comfort in the teachings of their church. that they have a meaningful place in the agency and obedience to authority . . . I have At the same time, Mormon doctrines seem to world, that they are contributing personally tried to portray how members confront and offer them not just pious abstractions, but to a great cause. It appears, however, that it is resolve this dialectic" (6-7). It is primarily common sense solutions to the problems of more diicult for single adults to maintain verstehen, or empathic understanding, that everyday existence. They are attracted by the their communal attachments with the ward Taber has sought to achieve through the LDS concept of a personal God, a literal father than it is for those participating together as a voices of her subjects, not critical analysis. V who watches over them daily and cares for family them individually; a father in heaven who, For at least some ward members inter- NOTE they believe, entrusts them with sacred lay viewed by Taber, lay activity, with all the at- 1. Lawrence A. Young, "Confmnting Turbulent responsibilities in the only true church, in- tendant demands and sacrifices it entails, Environment: Issues in the Organizational Gmwth and spires their leaders through revelation, and clearly functions to satisfy their moral long- Globalization ol Mormonism." in Contemporary Mormonism: Social ings to purify themselves in the service of Science Perspective, ed. Marie Cornwall, Tim 8. Heaton. and guides them in making life decisions. Trust in Lawnce A. Young (Chicago: University or Illinois Press. 1994), the efficaciousness of personal prayer and the others. Thus, in his interview, Richard 350.

PAGE 68 JUNE 1994