Lost Boys of Polygamy are young men who have been excommunicated or pressured to leave polygamous groups such as the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS) or the Latter Day Church of Christ, churches that splintered from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints after 1890.[1] Most of the Lost Boys are between the ages of 13 and 21 when banished or pressured to leave.[2] Critics of the FLDS say that, given the fact that roughly equal numbers of boys and girls are born in any community absent sex-selective abortion, the practice of polygamy leads unavoidably to bride shortages and a surplus of boys. Lost Boys are the surplus boys who are removed from polygamous sects in order to reduce competition for wives, though they are ostensibly banished for misbehavior.[2] There are also young women[3] who have left or been pressured to leave because they did not want to be part of polygamous marriages.[4] One of the main difficulties that Lost Boys face is that they are raised not to trust the outside world. In fact, leaving their communities is considered a sin worse than murder.[5][6] These boys and girls are usually left with little education or life skills and must learn to live in a world about which they know little, while dealing with the deep psychological pain of being shunned by their families and believing they are beyond spiritual redemption. Dr. Dan Fischer, a dentist who was raised in the polygamous community of the FLDS, started a non-profit organization, Smiles for Diversity[7], whose three-fold aim is to 1) provide dental products to disadvantaged people, 2) to encourage acceptance of diversity, and 3) to help the Lost Boys. Fischer left the polygamist environment of the FLDS church.
References
- ^ Borger, Julian. "The lost boys, thrown out of US sect so that older men can marry more wives", The Guardian, 2005-06-14. Retrieved on 2007-02-14.
- ^ a b Henetz, Patty. "Krakauer still vexed by FLDS", Associated Press, 2004-07-31. Retrieved on 2007-02-14.
- ^ "Man Accused Of Assaulting Kingston Polygamist Daughter Appears In Court", KSL-TV News, 2006-06-24. Retrieved on 2007-02-14.
- ^ "Polygamy or abuse? Utah case stirs controversy", CNN, 1998-08-18. Retrieved on 2007-02-14.
- ^ Wagner, Angie. "Religious sect's outcasts caught between worlds", Associated Press, 2004-09-04. Retrieved on 2007-02-14.
- ^ Wagner, Angie. "Boys exiled from polygamist sect seek new life in the outside world", Associated Press. Retrieved on 2007-02-14.
- ^ Smiles for Diversity
Additional reading
- Krakauer, Jon. Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith (2003). A non-Mormon investigation into the ritual murder of a woman and child stemming from one man's prophetic delusions and his charismatic abuse of Mormon doctrine.
- Emmett, Andrea Moore. God's Brothel: The Extortion of Sex for Salvation in Contemporary Mormon and Christian Fundamentalist Polygamy and the Stories of 18 Women Who Escaped (2004). Stories of women who have lived on the inside.
- Bistline, Benjamin G. Colorado City Polygamists: An Inside Look for the Outsider (2004). A Colorado City historian presents the beginnings of the group and its original religious doctrine.
- Bistline, Benjamin G. The Polygamists: A History of Colorado City, Arizona (2004)
- Tracy, Kathleen. The Secret Story of Polygamy (2001). Centered around the trial of John Daniel Kingston, who was tried for assault on his 16-year-old daughter.
- Llewellyn, John R. Polygamy Under Attack: From Tom Green to Brian David Mitchell (2004)
- "Warren Jeffs' 'lost boys' find themselves in strange world", CNN, September 7, 2007.
External links
- Lost boys are the forgotten polygamy victims - Vancouver Sun article by Daphne Bramham
- Boys Cast Out by Polygamists Find Help - New York Times article by Erik Eckholm, Published: September 9, 2007
