A couple of days ago, someone was asking about a Genealogy of Warren Jeffs. Now, I didn't find a great one, but the video I put up yesterday, The Wives of Warren & Rulon Jeffs Polygamy PROPHETS, did have lists of the wives of Rulon and Warren Jeffs, and a Winston Blackmore. So I asked "Who is Winston Blackmore." I am brand new at all these Mormon sects, I am practically learning as I type them out. Without the help of Pretty in Pink (my mentor) and now Terrasola on the subject of polygamy sects, there would not be such interesting information on this site.
So, Terrasola had to fill me in:
Who is Winston Blackmore and how is he involved with Warren Jeffs and the FLDS?
Winston Blackmore is the leader of Canada’s largest polygamist group, located in the community of Bountiful, British Columbia (BC). For over 20 years, Blackmore was the Bishop of the Bountiful branch of the FLDS. There are claims that he has 25+ wives and 120+ children, but no one outside Bountiful knows for sure. Blackmore has accumulated considerable personal wealth to support his large family. He has business interests in British Columbia, Alberta and Idaho which include grain, cattle farming, forestry and transportation. His estimated worth exceeds $15 million.
Winston believed that Warren Jeffs illegally/immorally became Prophet and FLDS Church president after Rulon Jeffs, had a stroke in 1998. Winston began to express his opinion on this subject and was excommunicated by Warren Jeffs in September 2002. The community of Bountiful was split nearly in half; about 700 people continued to follow Blackmore, while about 500 followed the new Bishop appointed by Warren Jeffs (Winston’s brother-in-law). Winston is very well-spoken and has agreed to TV and print interviews, so he is well-known in Canada as the Canadian face of polygamy.
Section 293 of Canada’s Criminal Code makes polygamy illegal. However, Canada enacted a Charter of Rights and Freedoms in the 1980s, which guarantees Canadians the rights to: “freedom of conscience and religion; freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression, including freedom of the press and other media of communication; freedom of peaceful assembly; and freedom of association.” In addition, “every individual is equal before and under the law and has the right to the equal protection and equal benefit of the law without discrimination and, in particular, without discrimination based on race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, sex, age or mental or physical disability.”
Many legal experts, and Mr. Blackmore, believe that this section of the Criminal Code could not withstand a “Charter Challenge.” So in BC and Canada there was little/no prosecution of polygamy-related offences in the last 25 years. However, finally a BC Attorney General asked the BC Court of Appeal for a definitive ruling on whether this section of the Criminal Code is enforceable. Canadians wait for the outcome.
It may interest you to know that the 12 year old girl that Warren Jeffs was convicted of assaulting came from Bountiful and is related to Winston Blackmore.
WRITTEN BY TERRASOLA
Sources: Wikipedia
http://www.childbrides.org/
