A comment was added that was so eloquently put that I felt it was a MUST READ for anyone trying to decipher the Brown religion. This is what they believe, and teach their children. It's a must read, please do so. For many of us, it is also a very scary look into what the children are taught. It is not biased, it's a non partial straightforward viewpoint, so you can decide for yourselves without prejudiced what you feel about their belief system.
I knew nothing of this when I started writing this blog, I simply enjoyed the show. And I want this blog to stay impartial to a point- I'd love to hear from the Browns. You can like someone besides their belief system- however, how this affects the kids is mind boggling to me. How does it make you feel to read this?
I knew nothing of this when I started writing this blog, I simply enjoyed the show. And I want this blog to stay impartial to a point- I'd love to hear from the Browns. You can like someone besides their belief system- however, how this affects the kids is mind boggling to me. How does it make you feel to read this?
The Browns are former members of the AUB polygamy group, a sect of fundamentalist Mormons. Christine Brown has stated that they are independent Mormon fundamentalists at this time in a You Tube video. This means that they believe in the Mormon fundamentalism, but they do not recognize the spiritual leader or prophet of any one polygamy group (such as Lamoine Jensen, the high priest and prophet of the AUB) as their spiritual leader. Kody would therefore be considered their "prophet" or spiritual leader or "priesthood holder" for his family of independent polygamists. This is the equivalent of someone being an evangelical Christian, but not belonging to a particular denomination, and holding home prayer meetings / worship services in lieu of church attendance.
In Mormon fundamentalism, the husband of a family seeks to become a polygamist with a minimum of three wives. When three wives are obtained, a man obtains the rank of High Priest Apostle. He will become a god in the afterlife, ruling over his own planet, which will be populated by his wives and children, and his wives will be perpetually pregnant in the afterlife, bringing more souls into existence to populate their husband - god's planet. In Mormon fundamentalism, a woman is not worthy to "go beyond the veil" in the afterlife and enter the presence of God. She may only enter the afterlife if her husband calls her by a secret name assigned to her at the time of her "endowment ceremony" - only when her husband calls her beyond the veil may she enter the presence of God. If a woman does not live in polygamy she may be forever damned (See Mormon Scriptural Document Doctrines and Covenants Section 132) Mormon fundamentalist women usually wear long hair because they believe that a woman will wash their husband's feet and dry them with her hair, just as Mary Magdalene did for Jesus. Mormon fundamentalists teach that Jesus was a polygamist, having multiple wives, among them Mary Magdalene, Mary, and Martha. Mormon fundamentalists are taught that they should continue to have as many children as they possibly can, to fulfill the imperative to bring holy souls out of pre-existence into life, thus activities other than child bearing and child rearing are discouraged for fundamentalist Mormon women. No matter what they say, Mormon fundamentalist women are permitted, yet discouraged from attending college. If they do enter a profession, it is usually something traditionally female, such as nursing, midwifery, or teaching. Having children and having as many children as they possibly can have is their goal as fundamentalist women. (Courtesy of Friend of Flora commenter)
In Mormon fundamentalism, the husband of a family seeks to become a polygamist with a minimum of three wives. When three wives are obtained, a man obtains the rank of High Priest Apostle. He will become a god in the afterlife, ruling over his own planet, which will be populated by his wives and children, and his wives will be perpetually pregnant in the afterlife, bringing more souls into existence to populate their husband - god's planet. In Mormon fundamentalism, a woman is not worthy to "go beyond the veil" in the afterlife and enter the presence of God. She may only enter the afterlife if her husband calls her by a secret name assigned to her at the time of her "endowment ceremony" - only when her husband calls her beyond the veil may she enter the presence of God. If a woman does not live in polygamy she may be forever damned (See Mormon Scriptural Document Doctrines and Covenants Section 132) Mormon fundamentalist women usually wear long hair because they believe that a woman will wash their husband's feet and dry them with her hair, just as Mary Magdalene did for Jesus. Mormon fundamentalists teach that Jesus was a polygamist, having multiple wives, among them Mary Magdalene, Mary, and Martha. Mormon fundamentalists are taught that they should continue to have as many children as they possibly can, to fulfill the imperative to bring holy souls out of pre-existence into life, thus activities other than child bearing and child rearing are discouraged for fundamentalist Mormon women. No matter what they say, Mormon fundamentalist women are permitted, yet discouraged from attending college. If they do enter a profession, it is usually something traditionally female, such as nursing, midwifery, or teaching. Having children and having as many children as they possibly can have is their goal as fundamentalist women. (Courtesy of Friend of Flora commenter)
Comments? Thoughts?
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Somethings skewed with Meri. Is she not believing all of this? She cut her hair.
ReplyDeleteI am from the Utah state, I am not a Mormon, but have many Mormon friends and know relatives of the family. This is well written, however, the laws of today have varied greatly with the Independent Fundamentalists. To reach the highest level, yes, you have to follow the 3 wives rule. however, many DO NOT teach their children that they will go do hell if they don't follow. they simply say they might not reach the highest level.
ReplyDeleteVery well written. If they were asked, show do they respond to the question of: Isn't God the only one that can allow you into the kingdom?
ReplyDeleteTo look at Kody and the Brown women that's so hard to believe. I'd like to hear it out of their mouths.
ReplyDeleteDo the regular LDS believe their husband calls them? What if they get divorced, which husband gets to call them? It sounds so ludicrous, I thought polygamy was just having more than one wife. I see there's just so much more to it.
ReplyDelete"will be perpetually pregnant in the afterlife"
ReplyDeleteSounds like they are damned to hell?
There are three levels of heaven in Mormon fundamentalist theology - the terrestrial kingdom, the telestial kingdom and the celestial kingdom. The celestial kingdom is what all Mormon fundamentalists aspire to... In the Celestial Kingdom, a husband of a minimum of three wives rules over his own planet with his wives as goddesses. If the children of a polygamist do not follow the fundamentalist beliefs, they will not enter the Celestial Kingdom, they will earn entrance into the two lower levels of heaven and they will not be with their family in the Celestial Kingdom. Like it or not, if a Mormon fundamentalist woman does not consent to her husband's polygamous marriage, Mormon fundamentalist Scriptural document called Doctrine and Covenants Section 132 says "SHE WILL BE DESTROYED." Only her husband can call a Mormon fundamentalist woman beyond the veil into the presence of Elohim, the Mormon god, and only then will she rule a planet with her husband as a goddess, to be served by lowly monogamists who are THE SERVANTS OF POLYGAMISTS IN THE CELESTIAL KINGDOM.
ReplyDeleteWhere does that leave the "regular" Mormoms, like say, the Osmonds, left to serve the likes of Kody? Or have they rewritten that Doctrine to convenience themselves? How does that work?
ReplyDelete"Do the regular LDS believe their husband calls them? What if they get divorced, which husband gets to call them? It sounds so ludicrous, I thought polygamy was just having more than one wife. I see there's just so much more to it."
ReplyDeleteMainstream LDS teaching is that a husband calls his wife beyond the veil into the Celestial Kingdom. The husband, or Priesthood holder, calls his wife by a secret name given to her in a temple endowment ceremony that only the man, the temple worker, and his wife know.
If an LDS woman is divorced, she is without a "priesthood holder" and therefore she cannot enter the Celestial Kingdom on her own. This is why the mainstream LDS church performs posthumous marriages and baptisms for dead people, in particular, women - to "seal" them in "celestial marriage" to appropriate "priesthood holders" to guarantee the passage of these women into the Celestial Kingdom.
The mainstream LDS church has singles dances for divorced LDS women, and members of the AUB often attend those dances to "pick up" unmarried divorced women who need "priesthood holders" - often the women start dating the men and later find out that the men are Mormon polygamists - this is how the AUB attracts new women from the mainstream LDS church into their group to enter polygamous marriages. These men are looking for more wives to obtain the minimum number of three necessary to enter the Celestial Kingdom as a god.
Not a bit of this is in MY BIBLE. It is not God's word. Who made this stuff up?
ReplyDeleteHow can they say they follow the bible when they use this stuff? It sounds like Scientology - Celestial, etc. Who made the Mormom book, and why were they so revered? Sorry, Don't want to sound like a dummy, but new to all the material on this blog.
Hi cookie , I am a former mormon , if you hadnt looked it up as of yet go to mormon.org its got the whole history. my family and i left the church because of a pile of little things that became to much.
DeleteWell, I believe it. I think they are all a bunch of crazies, or have been so indoctrinated since birth they can't get out of it.
ReplyDeleteHonestly, no sane person could justify all this over the Bible. Even though I am a hateful soul on here, I am glad to see it spelled out without viewpoints so one can really understand what hell they are all going through
The originator of the Mormon belief system was Joseph Smith. Smith had a colorful history - he claimed that he had "a revelation" from an angel that if he did not engage in plural marriage he would be killed. His "revelation" occurred after he impregnated a 15 year old girl named Fanny who worked for his wife, and his wife threatened to leave him. He told his wife Emma that if she did not consent to his polygamous "marriage" to Fanny that Emma would be destroyed. A "revelation" of convenience if you ask me. I don't know how any woman could believe this trash unless she is brainwashed from birth.
ReplyDelete"Elohim, the Mormon god"...hmmm in my world, there is one god. Isn't that Blasphemy, what GOD talks about? I believe so.
ReplyDeleteElohim, the Mormon god, was once a man who had multiple wives and then became a god according to Mormon fundamentalist beliefs. The name of Elohim's planet is Kolob. Kody Brown and other Mormon fundamentalists seek to obtain multiple wives so that they can become "exalted" and received their own planet, like Elohim. Mormon fundamentalists also believe that Jesus and Lucifer were brothers.
ReplyDeleteThis just keeps getting worse, the more I read.
ReplyDeleteThere is no comprehenson in my brain that allows me to think that in this day and age, anyone in America, born in America, thinks there is another God other than G O D. In the most sincee way, we should all pray for their souls. Pray for them to see the right way, to ask forgiveness, and move on.
ReplyDeleteExodus 20:3,
Thou shalt have no other gods before me. ...
The First Commandment!
Everyone has a choice in America to religious freedom. It's what our country is based on.
ReplyDeleteThey are very nice people and GOOD people. Mistakes, sure, perfect, no, but say what you want, I like them
That's right merisnewneighbor ! This is America ! They have the right to brainwash their daughters from birth to believe that they are unworthy of entering into the presence of God without a male "priesthood holder." They have the right to tell a woman if she does not consent to her husband's polygamist marriage she will be destroyed ! A Mormon fundamentalist men has a right to have at least three wives, even if it means that two or more men will have no wife at all ! Two or more men with no wife, no family, no hope of ever entering the Celestial Kingdom to be with their parents and siblings ! It's all OK to have "lost boys" drinking, drugging, and committing suicide as a result of this ridiculous brainwashing cult, we are Americans !
ReplyDeleteThe use of prescription medication for depression in Utah is the highest in the nation - is it any wonder that this is true given the fact that these fundamentalist Mormon polygamy groups are based in Utah ? Smile - and pass the Prozac please.
Let's all chant the Principle Voices / Safety Net Committee mantra along with merisnewneighbor !
ReplyDeleteThe kids love the parents!
The parents love the kids!
They are good people !
The kids love the parents !
The parents love the kids !
These are good people !
Friend of FLora,
ReplyDeleteI'd just like you to know that to every man in on earth there are THREE women... Just sayin'.
No there aren't three women for each man on the earth. Your fundamentalist math just doesn't add up. The ratio of men to women in the population is 1:1, unless you are in China or India where there are more males than females due to selective abortion. You need remedial math.
ReplyDeleteHey now, be nice Flora. It doesn't require math, only a bit of research. According to the most recent US census, there are 97.8 males to every 100 females.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoy your insight here, but you have to stop getting all butt hurt when someone has a different opinion than you.
I wonder what sort of name is given behind the veil? Is is something mainstream, like Vanessa, or is it a Shaharazad kind of thing?
Kweed,
ReplyDeleteThat is approximately 1 female for every male in the US. Three women for one man does not work in the US obviously.
I'm willing to bet that I would disagree with just about every tenet of Mormonism, mainstream or fundamental, but religious freedom is a basic tenet of the United States. I don't see 'brainwashing' girl children to believe they have to be in a plural marriage in order to get to heaven any different than telling kids from birth on that they'll burn in everlasting hell if they don't follow their parent's Christian beliefs.
ReplyDeleteAbout the planet thing, though, if every man that has at least 3 wives gets his own planet & all his believer kids live on it, what happens if his sons have 3 wives or his daughters are married to their own 3 wife man? Won't they all live on their own planet, without their childhood families? The logic behind this belief escapes me.
I agree that we were based on religious freedom.
ReplyDeleteThe really disturbing part is that these children don't really interact with anyone besides their own faith, and the fear of being outcasted. They see, like Meri sad, how SAD it would be to think of the lowely family with just 3 in it. The fear of going a different path of your parents in this sense is much different than in a Christian Society, where you may ask for forgiveness and be accepted into heaven at any point. If you don't, your still loved and cared for.
Obviously, most of us have a belief in God; yet we've got an athiest uncle or the cousins that don't go to church. The fundamentally different part for me is the kids view and sheltered ways, and the obvious abuse of the women.
But, this is America, land of the free.
Remember folks, be respectful to each other!
People are free to believe whatever they like in terms of religion unless harm can be demonstrated as a result of the actual practice of their beliefs. In Hinduism, women were taught that they should jump on their deceased husband's funeral pyre. Should we permit that harm which results from the practice of their beliefs? The Lost Boys and child brides of polygamous Mormon fundamentalism and the coercion of young women to participate in plural marriage (like the case of Rachael Strong) are all evidences of harm which develops from the desire to fulfill the divine imperative to enter into plural marriage in order to obtain your own planet. When a man takes three wives to earn his own planet, two men are without wives. When a man seeks a quorum (7) of wives to earn an exalted status in Mormon fundamentalism, 6 men are without wives, and these Lost Boys must leave the group. Most of these boys have no skills and are poorly educated, and they become involved in drugs, crime, and drinking. Most Mormon fundamentalist groups have arranged marriages, there is no choice for the women. An older man announces that he has a "revelation" that a teenager is to be his wife, the head of the polygamous sect endorses it, and the teenager is informed that she must comply with the will of "God." She is told that she has "free agency," she can reject the decision of her spiritual leader regarding her marriage, but the teenage girl is usually poorly educated and has no skills. To reject the decision of their leader is to be made an outcast, and a girl without skills and education must go out and fend for herself, and she will be subsequently rejected by her family.
ReplyDeleteThese are the unfortunate realities of Mormon fundamentalism that you will not see on TLC.
Friend of Flora- posts like above should be a POST so everyone will read it!! GREAT job teaching us!
ReplyDeleteModerator- Please tell Friend of Flora I have a right to think and say what I believe. She shouldn't ATTACK me.
ReplyDeleteWell, as someone who's put childish mythologies in the "good story" column of my life, I find anyone who so devoutly believes in any "god" a bit wacky.
ReplyDeleteI think merisnewneighbor isn't a new neighbor in Las Vegas - she is an old neighbor from Utardia !
ReplyDeleteFriend of Flora, you sum up the problems well. Just one question, where exactly are the Browns stating that they are now Independents?
ReplyDeleteChristine stated it in a video which was posted earlier in this blog, Free and Clear.
ReplyDeleteThis is all so confusing. I appreciate those that understand and repeat themselves. To us in the Midwest, this is foreign a German to us.
ReplyDeleteSo the ONLY thing a woman is good for is having babies? And if they can't? Major complex? Whew! What about the women that don't want children, then have a gaggle of them, I bet there is much abuse.
ReplyDeleteI definitely saw women who were cracking under the strain, and still went on having babies year after year. I also saw children bringing up the children.
ReplyDeleteInteresting
ReplyDeleteWow, umm ya some parts of that were true but I have to say I am one of those "fundamentalists mormons" and I went to college. My "prophet" never, nor anyone else discouraged me from it, in fact it is encouraged for men and women to go to college, get a job, and be contributing members of society. I have never felt like I had to have kids to "excel" in my church or the hereafter. I wanted children because of love. I will not teach my children they will be damned if they don't marry more than one or two, it is their choice. I will teach my daughters that they are perfect just how they are, not IF they do what I say is right, nor any man. They will find their own way. I will raise them with my beliefs, just like any of you, and let them decide. If they decide something different, I will love them no matter what. I look at many other religions and think it is weird or odd but that is their freedom. We believe there is ONE God. I don't know where you got the idea there was more than one. Anyone can progress or not. We just want to progress. We decided this life to learn and grow and be better than our natural man. Kody Brown is just trying, nothing is set in stone, no matter how many wives he has, till he meets his maker and is judged accordingly. I will admit our church has its quacks, but what church or organization doesn't. I have seen so many good, honestly good people live this way and I have seen really sick people try to live it for the wrong reasons. It happens in the LDS church too people. Also, I have never been told to only have children, So many ladies go to work, go to school, pursue their dreams, expand their talents, wait to have children, never get to have children, lose their husbands and still stay together. There is so much more you wrote false about us, and you added things out of context and wrote things that were "not the norm", just for the reaction. Well good for you, keep it up. Either you came from a bad situation and are bitter, or you have no real personal knowledge of this religion. People don't need to understand it, I know my truth and you know yours, this is not yours so maybe you should stop acting like you know why, and what, and how. By the way I am my husband only wife, so I still have a choice and so does he.
ReplyDeleteNanaangel, I left an important message for you on this posting:
Deletehttp://sisterwivesblog.blogspot.com/2011/07/first-wife-meri-barber-brown-sister.html
Can you make a new post soon about a refresher course in Fundamental Mormon practices?
ReplyDeleteMormon scripture indicates that there is one supreme God, the one who created this planet. He indicated that of all the intelligences (or gods, if you will), that he is the most intelligent of them all. So, yes, there is a supreme God. This teaching is little different than the teaching of progressive divinization taught by some schools of Eastern Orthodoxy. The Bible itself says that at the end, "...we will be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is." What's so confusing about that? If God is indeed all-mighty, He can do anything including raising to the position of godhood. If someone proves worthy of such a gift, why should God not grant it?
ReplyDelete