VIDEO National Geographic: Polygamy USA

On May 7th, the National Geographic channel premieres a new reality show called simply Polygamy USA.

nationalgeographic.com

This is not your cuddly, warm fuzzies polygamous family living large behind a gate in a Las Vegas cul-de-sac. This is the no nonsense, in your face polygamous community of Centennial Park AZ, just down the road from Colorado City/Hildale. where the wives live in one house and share a kitchen with their sisterwives. And the men work, fancy that.

Frankly, I think this group is not all that different from Warren Jeff's FLDS; I've always thought of Centennial Park as the Australia of the FLDS. Isn't it populated by the men who, for whatever reason, left or were drummed out of the FLDS and formed their own group? And like Colorado City/Hildale, there is absolutely no diversity in its population, but something tells me the viewer will not get a "Why some of my best friends are..." or "I've always had the highest respect for the..." excuse. You can tell by the man featured in the video that he is thinking "No rappers or long haired surfer dudes gonna mess with my Daughters of Zion!" And what's the deal with the boot?

Anyway, the series starts on May 7th. To get better acquainted with these 'folks', here are two short videos, and a companion background piece on Centennial Park.

I don't think the Brownhead fans are going to like this series.

This link will take you to the National Geographic's website where you can view the videos: Polygamy USA


About Centennial Park

How This Community Differs From Others

By Patrick J. Kiger


Centennial Park, a tiny community of less than 1,500 people residents nestled on the edge of Colorado City in Mohave County, Ariz., isn’t a place that stands out in most ways. The median household income of around $45,000 is a little below the statewide average but still respectable. The typical Centennial Park inhabitant is 38 years old, commutes to a white-collar job in a neighboring town, and lives in a household with children.

But there is one striking difference between Centennial Park and most of the rest of America. Almost all of its inhabitants are members of a breakaway Mormon sect that still practices polygamy, or plural marriage, in which one man generally has simultaneous relationships with multiple wives.

nationalgeographic.com

The word polygamy carries with it ominous connotations. For many, it may conjure up images of primitive tribes or ancient kings, or of lust-crazed cultists hiding out in fenced-in rural compounds with harems of teenage girls forced to marry against their will. But based upon various journalistic accounts, those conceptions seem to bear little resemblance to the staid, clean-cut lifestyle followed by the residents of Centennial Park.

"I'll just come out and tell you, I feel very blessed--this lifestyle is wonderful," one of Centennial Park’s residents, a businessman with three wives, told TV reporter Lisa Ling in 2007. "We bring these women into the home and they are treated incredibly. They have every convenience and every single thing that can be provided for them. So it's a very mutual relationship."

Richard’s wives, Ling discovered, turned out to be in agreement. “"It's our choice. We wanted to," explained one, who noted that nothing prevented them from leaving if they became unhappy. And the three were so comfortable sharing a husband that they had become close friends. So close, in fact, that if Richard ever died, they “probably” would simply search for a new husband for the entire trio.

They aren’t alone in their enthusiasm for plural marriage. Even though marrying more than one woman is technically illegal, researchers at Brigham Young University have estimated that between 30,000 and 50,000 Americans live a polygamist lifestyle, according to a 2010 Public Radio International story.

The polygamists in the Centennial Park community are a separate group from FLDS. They broke away from the main polygamist community in the 1980s after a leadership dispute, and resettled on land outside of Colorado City. For the past several decades, the two factions have lived side-by-side but pretty much avoided contact, according to a 2012 thesis by Southern Utah University graduate student Michael K. Ault, who spent extensive time interviewing families in the Centennial Park group.

nationalgeographic.com

Unlike the secretive FLDS, the Centennial Park group has chosen to interact with the outside world, appearing on TV programs and giving media interviews in an effort to improve polygamy’s unsavory reputation. A website maintained by an advocacy group in the community says that it is against the coercive practices—such as underage girls being forced to marry older men—that got FLDS leader Jeffs into trouble. Instead, Centennial Park says that its aim is “to achieve a political and social environment within which both polygamous and non-polygamous cultures may comfortably fit into an integrated society.”


You can read the complete article here:

About Centennial Park