Another outstanding What Love is This? discussing the UNLV Panel Discussion - and gives us a plug!
Showing posts with label "lost boys" polygamy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label "lost boys" polygamy. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 2, 2013
Sunday, August 5, 2012
Joe Darger and His 3 Wives - UPDATED! Sister Wives Blog
Joe Darger and his 3 wives interviewed by Time Reporter TIME writer, Belinda Luscombe, learns what life is like for the outspoken, polygamist family, the Dargers.
A little different than most I've seen, interesting thoughts to comment on. Time interview with the Dargers hit the newsstand Aug. 6.
THOUGHTS on this Tweet??
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
Judge questions dismissal of 'Sister Wives' lawsuit challenging Utah bigamy law
SALT LAKE CITY — A federal judge wants to know whether Utah County's assertion that it would not prosecute the polygamous family featured in "Sister Wives" is a ruse to avoid a legal challenge of the state's bigamy law.
U.S. District Judge Clark Waddoups' blunt questions had a state attorney on his heels for much of a 45-minute hearing Wednesday as he tried to defend Utah County Attorney Jeff Buhman's recent policy change regarding the statute.
"Is the act of the Utah County attorney simply an attempt to avoid the issue of what consenting adults can do constitutionally?" Waddoups asked assistant attorney general Jerrold Jensen.
In May, Buhman said in court documents that his office had adopted a formal policy not to prosecute the practice of bigamy unless it occurs in conjunction with another crime or if a party to the marriage or relationship is under 18.
The change came about 18 months after Buhman's office said it was investigating and might prosecute Kody Brown and his four wives under Utah's bigamy law. The Browns later filed a lawsuit, claiming the statute violates their constitutional rights to due process, equal protection, free exercise of religion, free speech and freedom of association.
Jensen contends that because the Browns won't be prosecuted, their lawsuit is moot and should be dismissed.
"Is the act of the Utah County attorney simply an attempt to avoid the issue of what consenting adults can do constitutionally?"
–Clark Waddoups
Calling it an "important issue to many people," Waddoups took the case under advisement and said he would rule as soon as possible.
The judge noted that other than in court documents, Buhman did not publicly announce the change and there's nothing to preclude him or a future county attorney from enforcing the law. "That goes to the sincerity of this policy," he said.
Jensen said Buhman, who did not attend the hearing, should be taken at his word.
"I don't think you can question the sincerity of the adoption of this policy," Jensen told the judge.
Jensen said after the hearing that he would call Buhman to the witness stand if the ruling goes against the state.
The Browns' attorney, Jonathan Turley, said the "faux" policy does not repeal the bigamy statute and that Buhman still considers it constitutional and enforceable. He never explains the reasons for not prosecuting people for bigamy, but is willing to do so if it's connected to another crime, Turley said.
"It's clearly an effort to avoid a ruling in this case," he said.
The law, Turley said, still "dangles like a Damocles sword" over the Browns.
Brown, who did not attend the hearing, filed a court declaration Tuesday saying despite the "policy" change, his family still feels threatened and that Buhman has never withdrawn his statements labeling them as criminals.
"We continue to suffer harm as a result of the criminalization of our plural family and the public attacks made against my family with reference to this law," he wrote.
Please read the rest at:
http://www.ksl.com/?sid=21406358&nid=148&title=judge-considers-dismissal-of-sister-wives-lawsuit-challenging-utah-bigamy-law
(Written by Dennis Romboy, KSL.com Utah)
Thursday, July 5, 2012
A.U.B. Wife Speaks Out Against Polygamy - Kristen Decker
Randi Kaye talks with a former polygamist who says, polygamy is not an option.
Kristen Decker, tells of her life in “Fifty Years in Polygamy: Big Secrets and Little White Lies”. She is now the president of the Hope Organization.
That "makes us better people" Sister Wives talk about may be for a higher level later on. Kristen Decker talks about how she felt throughout her time in the A.U.B.
To hear more of Kristen, you may go to: http://kpcw.org/2012/06/community-voices-june-14-2012/ and download the audio.
Also in the download a discussion about the Lindbergh kidnapping.
Recently, Charles Lindbergh was discussed as a possible polygamist.
We posted about it:
http://sisterwivesblog.blogspot.com/2011/09/aviator-lindbergh-fathered-children-by.html
http://sisterwivesblog.blogspot.com/2011/09/charles-lindbergh-polygamist.html (Clip Courtesy of CNN Newsroom online) Sunday, July 1, 2012
Biography Channel Tonight - "Warren Jeffs Fallen Prophet" Deadly Cult.
Warren Jeffs: Fallen Prophet He was the "President and Prophet, Seer and Revelator"--the highest ranking official in the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-Day Saints. As the leader of a radical polygamous sect, Jeffs led by example; among his 70 wives were his own stepmothers as well as teen and pre-teen girls. When called to account for allegedly arranging illegal marriages between his followers and underage girls, Jeffs fled, landing on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted List. Caught in a routine traffic stop, Jeffs began a five year journey through the judicial system. Today he is serving a life sentence for aggravated sexual assault of a pre-teen girl and 20 years for the sexual assault of a young teenager. But from his prison cell he's promised to cast doom upon America in a torrent of apocalyptic storms and earthquakes. (Courtesy www.biography.com)
Want more? Google Warren Jeffs on this blog, many posts!
Thoughts?
Want more? Google Warren Jeffs on this blog, many posts!
Thoughts?
Monday, June 25, 2012
5. Newest Comment Area for Sunday's Shows
"I just fell in love, and then I fell in love again," Kody says. "And then I fell in love again."Riiiiggght.
3. Additional Comment Area for Sunday Night's Shows!!
Additional Comment space here for Sunday's Big Two Parter!
DISCUSS!
Sunday, June 24, 2012
1. Comment area for Leaving the Nest
As high school graduation nears, Logan finally decides on which college he will attend. Meanwhile, Kody and the wives are on the verge of fulfilling their dream of bringing the family back together. Will they finally make their dream come true?
My favorite line from the show this year was Logan saying he could be good and bad! Yes, Logan, you are right, it's a time to find yourself, and you don't have to play their game of perfect life anymore!
My favorite line from the show this year was Logan saying he could be good and bad! Yes, Logan, you are right, it's a time to find yourself, and you don't have to play their game of perfect life anymore!
Sunday, December 18, 2011
All Posts discussing Kody Brown and Family Lawsuits so far....
I'm putting together little "reviews" from our blog.
From time to time I will do listing like this to help you go through and find the posts pertaining to our discussion!
Here is a list of all posts - starting with the eldest - that pertain to The Browns and
the Lawsuits so far.......
http://sisterwivesblog.blogspot.com/2011/12/sister-wives-stars-fight-for-right-to.html
From time to time I will do listing like this to help you go through and find the posts pertaining to our discussion!
Here is a list of all posts - starting with the eldest - that pertain to The Browns and
the Lawsuits so far.......
http://sisterwivesblog.blogspot.com/2011/12/sister-wives-stars-fight-for-right-to.html
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Rockin Robyn!!
(Oh yeah! You knew it was comin')
Twitter Twitter Tweet Tweetly Tweet
Twitter Twitter Tweet Tweetly Tweet
She's eating bon bons all day long
Flapping her gums and singing this song.
All the sister wives on their very own streets
Can't stand to read her Twitter tweet tweets.
Rockin' Robin Twitter tweet tweet.
Rockin' Robin Twitter tweetly tweet.
Go Rockin' Robin 'cause Kody's comin' over tonight.
Every single member of the Brown family
The newborn baby Solomon
Must crowd around to see.
(He IS newly born, you see).
Rockin' Robin Twitter tweet tweet.
Rockin' Robin Twitter tweetly tweet.
Go Rockin' Robin 'cause you're really gonna "rock" tonight.
She's passive aggressive and very sly.
If you don't like her, she'll start to cry.
She's manipulating Meri - good at it too.
Watch your back or she'll come for you.
Rockin' Robin Twitter tweet tweet.
Rockin' Robin Twitter tweetly tweet.
Go Rockin' Robin 'cause Kody's comin' over tonight.
Written By: TERRASOLA!
Saturday, December 10, 2011
Sister Wives from a Feminist Perspective
Sister Wives from a Feminist Perspective
My thoughts on Sister Wives are complicated. I’m a sucker for feel-good stories about big families with cute kids, so my first reaction to the show was positive. Sure, I thought, polygamy is patriarchal—but so are a lot of things. I wrote on the feminist blog a few months ago,
For me, what it comes down to is that almost all women (and men, too) make decisions that are rooted in sexist or patriarchal ideals. For example, I refuse to leave my house without at least mascara and foundation on, I diet, and I wear high heels. I recognize that these norms stem from sexism, and are, perhaps, sexist in nature, but I'm only one person, and this is my life and my body. At the end of the day, I'm going to keep shaving my pits and watching my weight. I'm not going to fool myself into thinking that these things are empowering or that "I do them for myself", but there are only so many battles I can fight.
As feminists, it's definitely important that we recognize the patriarchy/misogyny inherent in and reinforced by our and other people's actions. But that doesn't mean judging people-- especially women-- on an individual level for the choices they make…The Sister Wives are simply choosing to live a certain lifestyle for themselves-- they're not actively pushing it on other people. Even though I would never make the decision to be in a polygamous marriage myself, and I definitely don't think it's empowering (in fact, it has a tradition of commodifying women), I'm hesitant to typecast the Sister Wives as brainwashed or stupid. Like wearing a hijab, dieting for aesthetic reasons (as opposed to for health), or shaving your pubes, being in a polygamous relationship is just another choice women make. It is what it is.
Who am I to call out other women for buying into sexist ideals and traditions? Am I so liberated? The Wives seem smart and aware, and I wasn’t arrogant enough to assume that I knew what was best for them. I grew more impressed with the Brown family in the recent episode in which they go to Boston for a panel discussion on polygamy. Their acceptance of the gay college student, George, was, frankly, heartwarming. I have immense respect for their ability to accept other “alternative” lifestyles.
All that being said, it would be absurd to analyze Sister Wives from a feminist perspective without pointing out some of the obvious flaws in their marital structure. First and foremost, the absurd double standard of Kody being able to marry multiple wives while the wives can only have one husband. As I wrote a few weeks ago,
What disturbs me…is the rhetoric of suffering with which Meri, Janelle, and Christine talk about polygamy. Meri, in particular, and to a lesser extent Janelle, consider the understandable jealousy they experience a sort of test of faith. As Janelle put it, "It makes us better people. We overcome ourselves." They express anger at Kody for playing favorites with his newest wife, Robyn, but temper it with a sort of "Well, I'll learn to get over it" attitude. They dismiss their jealousy as selfishness, a hurdle to conquer.
Suffering is a big part of many religions. From fasting during Yom Kippur to self-flagellation, denying oneself pleasure or inflicting pain on oneself is seen as an act of holiness. It is a testament to one's faith. Both men and women participate in these types of activities. But the type of suffering that comes with polygamy is reserved for women only. Ultimately, it is the wives, not Kody, who have to overcome themselves, suck it up, be happy.
The obvious difference between, say, self-flagellation and the Sister Wives' struggle is that the former is done with the explicit intention of hurting oneself, whereas jealousy and heartache are just bi-products of polygamy. And yet, these bi-products become in themselves a means of proving one's faith, such that discontent within a polygamous marriage (at least the Browns') is framed as simultaneously an undesirable outcome and, when conquered, a good thing. It makes the wives "better people." It is almost solely the wives' responsibility to do the conquering. To be a woman is to suffer.
Hearing Meri, Janelle, and talk about how they need to suck it up and get over their jealousy makes me sad. Life is so hard already. Why make it even harder? I'm not denouncing their lifestyle, but I reject the notion that people-- especially women-- need to suffer in order to perfect themselves. To be human is to suffer, yes. But why should this be any more so for women?
Unlike many of the commentators on this blog, I don’t think that only brainwashed women with low self-esteem would enter into a polygamous marriage. I do, however, concede that the amount of self-sacrifice it takes on the part of the wives to preserve the marriage is enormous and, yes, unfair.
Ultimately, Sister Wives has failed to convince me that polygamy is good for women. Sure, the wives aren’t underage girls living in compounds, but the demands placed on them are absurd. That being said, part of being a feminist, for me, is allowing women to make their own decisions—even if I don’t agree with them. Autonomy comes with a price, and I respect women enough to believe they can handle it.
Written by: Jacqueline
Friday, December 9, 2011
Warren Jeffs’ Batty New Writings from Jail
Polygamist leader Warren Jeffs, who seems determined to single-handedly keep the beleaguered U.S. Postal Service alive, has sent out his third mass mailing of “revelations” from God this year. The latest set of writings tend toward the apocalyptic, predicting that “consuming fire,” earthquakes, and illness will soon sweep the world.
“I shall cause the waters to boil, volcanoes, earthquakes, storms, the desolating sickness of an overflowing scourge, also pestilences of disease, and other destructive powers shall soon be felt by all peoples, nations, tongues, kindreds, and governing powers,” Jeffs wrote, quoting God, in his October 31 “Revelation of the Lord.”
The revelations are written in the same archaic and incoherent style that Texas Monthly’s Katy Vine noted Jeffs favored at his trial. “Let the nation humble themselves who are thus of a persecuting zeal against my holy Celestial Law of Celestial Marriage of Plural revealing,” Jeffs wrote.
As in previous writings, Jeffs took time to muse on world affairs, instructing Turkey to stand with Israel against Iran.
Jeffs, who stood trial in San Angelo, made sure the Tom Green County Commissioners received the packets. “We’ll just have to wait and see,” Commissioner Ralph Hoelscher told San Angelo Standard-Times’ Matt Waller of Jeffs’ revelations.
Jeffs, serving a life sentence in Palestine’s Powledge Unit for child sexual assault of his underage brides, has turned his prison cell into a makeshift office where he is churning out religious texts at a record clip. In mid-November, FLDS faithful sent out thousands of copies of a different set of Jeffs’ rambling revelations, some of which wound up in the mailboxes of Texas judges, according to Harvey Rice of the Houston Chronicle.
“I looked at this and thought, either they sent this to every judge or I got some bad stuff coming my way,” Galveston County District Judge Susan Criss, who received the 247-page packet, told Rice. The Galveston County Sheriff's Office took the writings and considered conferring with a terrorism-focused FBI Task on the contents, Rice reported.
The Utah Attorney General’s Office seemed less concerned. “The threats according to Warren Jeffs seem to be coming from God . . . and there is nothing I can do about that,” a spokesman for the Utah Attorney General told Rice when asked whether his office would investigate.
Back in February, Jeffs sent a threatening letter to Obama, promising that the lord would send “great destruction” to Illinois if Jeffs were not freed, the San Angelo Standard-Times reported.
Curious if Jeffs marked your corner of the world for destruction? Back in November, the Salt Lake Tribune’s polygamy reporter Lindsay Whitehurst plotted out “the areas slated for God's wrath” on a handy (and hilarious) Google map.
Those interested in purchasing their own (keepsake?) copy can do so on FLDS.org, where Jeffs writings are listed by ISBN number. Christmas is just around the corner.
(Source: http://www.tmdailypost.com/article/religion/warren-jeffs-batty-new-writings-jail Written by: Sonia Smith Dec 8, 2011)
Thursday, December 8, 2011
O Brown Wives Three "Sister Wives"
Please click, then scroll down.
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O Brown Wives Three
(sung to the tune of "O Christmas Tree")
O Brown wives three! O Brown wives three!
Thy peeves are so unchanging.
O Brown wives three! O Brown wives three!
Thy peeves are so unchanging.
Not only mean when Robyn's here,
But also when each other nears.
O Brown wives three! O Brown wives three!
Thy peeves are so unchanging.
O Brown wives three! O Brown wives three!
Much pleasure do you give us.
O Brown wives three! O Brown wives three!
Much pleasure do you give us.
How often have the Brown wives three
Given viewers greatest glee.
O Brown wives three! O Brown wives three!
Much pleasure do you give us.
O Brown wives three! O Brown wives three!
Polygamy has harmed thee
O Brown wives three! O Brown wives three!
Polygamy has harmed thee
Thou bidst us true and faithful be,
While Kody bonkest all of thee.
O Brown wives three! O Brown wives three!
Polygamy has harmed thee
(sung to the tune of "O Christmas Tree")
O Brown wives three! O Brown wives three!
Thy peeves are so unchanging.
O Brown wives three! O Brown wives three!
Thy peeves are so unchanging.
Not only mean when Robyn's here,
But also when each other nears.
O Brown wives three! O Brown wives three!
Thy peeves are so unchanging.
O Brown wives three! O Brown wives three!
Much pleasure do you give us.
O Brown wives three! O Brown wives three!
Much pleasure do you give us.
How often have the Brown wives three
Given viewers greatest glee.
O Brown wives three! O Brown wives three!
Much pleasure do you give us.
O Brown wives three! O Brown wives three!
Polygamy has harmed thee
O Brown wives three! O Brown wives three!
Polygamy has harmed thee
Thou bidst us true and faithful be,
While Kody bonkest all of thee.
O Brown wives three! O Brown wives three!
Polygamy has harmed thee
Saturday, December 3, 2011
The Kingston Group - Now this group, you could say, "goes weird"!
Kody Brown is a Fundamentalist Mormon.We here at SWB have delved into learning about the Fundamentalist Mormons. We've looked at the F.L.D.S. - The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints; and the A.U.B. - The Apostolic United Brethren; and had a few posts about Blackmore Group and Centennial. This article starts us into the "crazy and sick" world of the Kingston Group. All of these groups believe in the same basic tenets- // Mormon fundamentalism (also called fundamentalist Mormonism) is a belief in the validity of selected fundamental aspects of Mormonism as taught and practiced in the nineteenth century, particularly during the administration of Brigham Young, an early president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). Mormon fundamentalists seek to uphold tenets and practices no longer held by mainstream Mormons (members of the LDS Church). The principle most often associated with Mormon fundamentalism is plural marriage, a form of polygyny first taught by Joseph Smith, Jr., the founder of the Latter Day Saint movement. A second and closely associated principle is that of the United Order, a form of egalitarian communalism.(Source: Wikipedia)
When Incest Becomes a Religious Tenet
Practice sets 1,000-member Kingston clan apart from other Utah polygamous groups
Written by Greg Burton
The Salt Lake Tribune, April 25, 1999
On a dilapidated dairy farm at the end of Redwood Road in Woods Cross, the late John Ortell Kingston, would-be Utah dairy king and self-anointed leader of one of the largest polygamous clans in America, fancied himself a geneticist.
In breeding stock, he looked for high milk production. At home, the desired traits were his own. "My father experimented inbreeding with his cattle and then he turned to his children," says Connie Rugg, one of John Ortell's estimated 65 children and one of a handful of Kingston relatives who have fled the clan. Faced with the forced marriage to an uncle, Rugg left the Kingstons.
"All my life, my family told me I had to marry a Kingston," says Rugg. "I could choose, but it had to be a brother, uncle or cousin."
While the clan shares many of the beliefs of other polygamous groups in Utah, incest, for many of the Kingston leaders, is their indelible difference.
Incest draws members inward. Fear of exposure fosters a culture of distrust, some of which is directed at members who work in Kingston-owned businesses, live in Kingston-owned homes and worship in Kingston churches.
Many Kingstons -- even those who share preferred lineage from John Ortell and LaDonna Peterson, the second of his 13 wives -- live in run-down shacks at a coal yard, above warehouses near the dairy farm and in ramshackle apartment buildings and trailers.
If female, they are married off to the few, powerful prominent males: incest is the fate of many teen-age girls. If male, some of these same "worker bees" marry only once.
"My father manipulated and controlled people," Rugg says. "He wanted to control his children and grandchildren through genetics. He believed he had superior bloodlines."
Kingston clan leaders declined requests, including letters by registered mail, to comment on this story.
The church sprang from the ideas of John Ortell Kingston's father and was founded by his brother, Charles Elden Kingston, in 1935. John Ortell Kingston was the first Kingston to experiment with incest, marrying and bearing children with two half-sisters and two nieces, according to numerous ex-members of the clan.
Ex-members' claims of incest are bolstered by court records claiming John Ortell "failed either to support or acknowledge" three children by his niece, (Susan) Mary Gustafson. In an effort to recoup $15,679 in welfare, the Utah Department of Social Services filed an order declaring John Ortell the father of three of Gustafson's children.
John and Charles' brother, Merlin Barnum Kingston, married and had children with four nieces and a half-sister, say ex-members, including one of his own daughters. At least six of Merlin's incestuously conceived children in turn married half-siblings, couplings that subsequently produced children with various deformities, says Rowenna Erickson, an ex-member who left her polygamous husband.
"It makes you sick; it turns your stomach," she says. "And yet nobody wants to do anything about it. Nobody, from the police to [Utah] Gov. [Mike] Leavitt, cares that these children are abused from conception to marriage." Today, six sons and two daughters of John Ortell and LaDonna have married at least 20 half-sisters, nieces and first cousins, giving birth to a family tree that twists and tangles, and, at times, withers with children born of genetic deficiencies.
A seventh son, Hyrum Dalton Kingston, is a polygamist but has not married incestuously, according to ex-members.
Although it is a felony under Utah law for close relatives to have sex, only one Kingston -- John and LaDonna's fifth son, David Ortell -- has been criminally charged with incest.
Last year, a 16-year-old daughter of John Daniel Kingston was forced to marry her uncle, David Ortell Kingston, criminal charges allege. In a secret church ceremony conducted on the 15th day of the month, the girl became her uncle's 15th wife. He later gave the girl a ring with 15 diamonds, she testified.
He sent her to live in a coal yard with other polygamous wives and their many children in South Salt Lake, visiting her rarely and usually only to have sex, she testified.
In May, the girl said she was belt-whipped by her father inside a Kingston-owned barn in Box Elder County for fleeing the marriage, and was abandoned in the home of another of John Daniel's wives. The girl's father and mother, Susan Nelson (one of John Daniel's many wives) are half-sister and brother. They purportedly have 10 children, the girl told police.
Her subsequent recounting of the ordeal is the centerpiece of a pending trial on sex abuse and incest against her uncle, David. Her father pleaded no contest April 21 to third-degree felony child abuse and faces zero to five years in prison at his June sentencing.
Salt Lake County prosecutors' initial charge of incest against David Ortell Kingston was kindled by the victim's story of manipulation and molestation.
The clan's other numerous incestuous couplings among consenting adults, though, present a troubling scenario for law enforcement: these are crimes of a sexual nature committed in private in a closed society.
Farm Roots of Incest: Marriages in the Kingston clan must be sanctioned by Paul Kingston, current head of the church, although ex-members say Paul's brothers, Daniel, David and Jesse, exert influence over who marries whom.
The same right of marriage approval was wielded by John Ortell Kingston, who began the incestuous lineage. While building his polygamous empire, John Ortell raised pigeons and Holsteins, prized black-and-white milk cows.
"I know people who bought livestock from them because they had quality animals," says a federal investigator. "Usually the women did the milking. When an inspector would show up they'd disappear and pretty soon two men would show up."
Today, the Kingston dairy is a shamble of littered fields, slouching homes and a gray-brown barn where a few cows still roam.
It was here, on the flat hay fields that stretch from the edge of Woods Cross to the crusty shores of the Great Salt Lake, that John Ortell Kingston studied the genetics of in-line breeding. "It would have been unusual if he wasn't using artificial insemination in his herd, and by virtue of that, was probably using semen from some bulls that had been inbred," says Dennis Green, a professor of beef cattle genetics at Colorado State University.
"My guess is this man had used some of these inbreeding practices in his herd so he was probably in the camp that believed superior genetics could be propagated in a particular line," Green says. "The downside is that if you don't start with good genetics, and if there is baggage in the genes of the individual, inbreeding will uncover that baggage. When you pair up those undesirable genes, something strange will pop out."
Among the polygamous Kingstons, a number of children have been born with birth defects, among them one born with two vaginas and two uteruses but no vaginal or bowel opening. Outwardly, she appeared to have no sex organs. The girl, born to John Ortell and Isabell Johnson, was not the product of an incestuous marriage. Family members attribute the defects to the advanced ages of the mother and father -- he was 64, she was 45.
"My mother should not have produced another baby," says Rugg, also Isabell and John Ortell's daughter and the baby's full sister. "Her body tried to miscarry many, many times."
The baby, delivered at Johnson's home in 1983, was taken to Primary Children's Medical Center. Blood tests showed the infant and 25 other children from numerous women were fathered by the same man, leading to one of the largest welfare fraud-settlements in Utah history.
John Ortell Kingston paid the $200,000 settlement, but denied paternity. The settlement was reached after prosecutors obtained a judge's order to sample John Ortell's DNA to compare with the 26 children's.
Now 16, Rugg's sister was married to and subsequently left one of her half-brother's sons.
Another of Rugg's full sisters, Andrea Johnson, died in 1992 of complications of pre-eclampsia, a condition of pregnancy that was not treated until after the young girl, swollen with toxic fluid, was rushed to the emergency unit at University Hospital. The baby survived, but has cerebral palsy.
On Johnson's death certificate, attending physician James B. Burns wrote 15-year-old Andrea must have exhibited signs of hypertension "at least two weeks" before her death.
Rugg says the group feared taking Andrea to the hospital because members did not want to explain the child's troubling paternity.
Andrea's son, now 7, lives with his father, Jason Kingston -- Andrea's half-brother -- and Rosalind, his niece.
Genetics of Incest: Pre-eclampsia is a condition that can be traced genetically from one generation to the next and is prevalent among some Kingstons, Rugg says.
Several Kingston offspring of incestuous couplings also have been born without fingernails, a disease that could be linked to a number of genetically caused abnormalities, although an exact diagnosis is impossible without closer study of medical records. Since most Kingston children are born in homes under the scrutiny of trusted and secretive family midwives or clan leaders, documentation of medical abnormalities is rare, but not unprecedented.
In 1996, the now 31-year-old Kingston mother of two slow-growing children sought explanations at Primary Children's Medical Center. Initially, she tried to conceal her marital relationship.
"I didn't dare talk about it," she says. Eventually, she admitted she had married her half-brother and given birth to three children.
Two years later, a pair of geneticists from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, Md., flew to Utah where they hoped to stage a seminar for Kingston family members about the dangers of incest and birth defects, and, presumably, gain permission to study the clan.
Two minor members of the clan attended the NIH seminar, conducted in a Woods Cross hotel room -- not far from the Kingston dairy. Disappointed more family members did not attend, the scientists left.
"I tried to get people to come, but nobody would listen," says the mother, who left the group and her marriage after her sons were diagnosed with dwarfism. She says her parents, Merlin Barnum Kingston (John Ortell's brother) and Joyce Fransden, were uncle and niece. And her ex-husband's parents, Merlin and Carolyn Kingston, were uncle and niece.
"I knew I would have to marry my [half-] brother ever since I was 12," says the woman. The couple had lived together since the age of 7, when the mother of the woman's half-brother died.
The rate at which Kingstons marry each other is "frightening," she says. "It's a bomb that's going to explode."
Her half-brother is still married to another half-sister (whose parents also were half-sister and brother) and are still members of the Kingston's order.
Other possible genetic traits include: microcephaly, a malformation of the skull in which the infant has a small head (ex-members say two children with microcephaly have died and eight others are institutionalized); blindness; spina bifida; Down syndrome; kidney disease and abnormal leg and arm joints.
While none of these can positively be linked to incest without DNA testing, geneticists say most of the conditions are exacerbated by incest.
Some genes linked to conditions like microcephaly and dwarfism are "autosomal recessive," and are found among the 22-linked pairs of chromosomes that do not include the X and Y sex chromosomes, says Lynn Jorde of the University of Utah's Eccles Human Genetics Institute, a leading genetics research center.
"You don't want to jump to the conclusion and say all of these are the result of inbreeding," he says. "But just on general principles, the offspring of uncle-niece, or half-siblings have an elevated level of genetic disease. There is no doubt about that at all. So when you see all of these diseases occurring in the children, it's possible some are the result of inbreeding."
Of all the arguments against incest, says Jorde, the likelihood that genetic abnormalities will be passed to succeeding generations is the most persuasive. "We do know there are biological hazards. A fourth to half of father-daughter and brother-sister offspring have mental or physical deficiencies. It gets pretty bleak when it gets that close."
Global Incest: Worldwide, mating among first cousins is somewhat common and sometimes encouraged. First-cousin mating doubles the chances that genetic abnormalities will be passed along. Roughly 3 to 4 percent of children from couples who aren't relatives are born with genetic defects. The rate of genetic birth defects for first cousins is 6 to 8 percent.
Stillbirths and infant deaths also are much more likely when blood relatives mate. A Norwegian study published in the April issue of the American Journal of Public Health found the risk of stillbirths and infant deaths was at least 70 percent greater when parents were first cousins rather than unrelated.
Yet in many countries, the study noted, more than one-fourth of parents are related by blood. Those countries include Pakistan, the United Arab Emirates, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Kuwait.
Including Utah, 37 states outlaw first-cousin marriage. The 1996 Utah Legislature approved first-cousin marriages, only after age 65, or age 55 if the couple cannot conceive children.
It is possible that positive genetic traits could be passed along through human inbreeding. That apparently was John Ortell Kingston's intent, although most studies of first-cousin mating show their offspring test lower on IQ exams, Jorde says.
There is too little empirical data of uncle-niece, half-brother/half-sister mating to draw firm conclusions about the IQ, survival rates, birth defects or longevity of their offspring, he says.
"So often when you have an uncle-niece, or half-brother-sister, you have a situation where abuse is going on," Jorde says. "And when you talk about the public interest, you have to consider who pays for the consequences. If these couples are . . . mating in a way that increases genetic diseases, that the public ends up supporting, it becomes a matter of public interest."
The Kingstons are among a small number of family groups in the world who marry closer than first cousins on a regular basis.
"Incest as a policy or routine practice is rare," says Melvin Williams, a professor of anthropology at the University of Michigan and a leading expert in the study of kinship systems.
Many cultures, he says, marry outside the family in order to attract the wealth of a neighboring family or to promote alliances among warring factions.
While not discounting the prevalence of genetic anomalies, Williams says modern society's aversion to incest is, to a large extent, arbitrary and prudish. A brother's aversion to courting his sister has more to do with romance than social stigma.
"It's hard to fantasize about someone if you grew up watching them go to the bathroom," Williams says. "Living with them makes them unattractive as living partners. Humans also have decided not to [commit incest] in order to distinguish themselves from other animals. Humans put a grave prohibition on incest." Social ostracism, he adds, is not necessarily a good thing.
Of the Kingstons, Williams says: "There is not much you can do about them. The notoriety will just make them zoo specimens. People are always trying to find people who are inferior and brand them as such."
Still, if children are caught up in an abusive or incestuous situation, Williams would encourage policing. "Children should not be victims of such programs."
A Secretive Refrain: On Bountiful's bench, in a wooded and fenced complex that overlooks the Great Salt Lake, Mary Gustafson, John Ortell's niece and third wife, lives with some of her children, one who is legally blind, and grandchildren.
One recent morning she defended her complicity in arranging her daughters' marriages to their half-brothers, sons of John Ortell and LaDonna.
"Those boys are the most moral, upstanding and wonderful people I know," she said, clutching a grandchild to her thin hip. "Most of what you print is lies, lies, lies."
From the porch of Gustafson's home, there is a view of fields where cattle and ponies graze, and the remnants of the Kingston dairy.
John Ortell, who died in 1987, never met the grandchild Gustafson was holding. Or two more that scampered around her feet as she talked, pleasantly but guardedly, about the Kingston clan.
When asked, a little boy and girl at the home acknowledged who their mother is.
Then, as generations of polygamous Kingston children have been taught, they demurred to questions about their father. Naming a father could expose the truth, unveil secrets of paternity and subject the clan to further scrutiny from those who don't approve of incest.
"We don't have a dad," the little boy said. Then he scooted away, smiling, aboard a plastic toy car, his feet smacking the sidewalk.
(Source: http://www.rickross.com/reference/polygamy/polygamy25.html, picture: http://steelturman.typepad.com/thesteeldeal/2006/10/freaks.html)
***Thanks to a commenter who sent this to me!
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