Strengthen and defend families: fight polygamy and human trafficking

The LDS Church in America puts a lot of time, energy, and money into "strengthening and defending families" in the form of fighting tooth and nail against marriage equality for legally consenting adults and anything else which gives equality to LGBTQ people. After all, we can't have equal rights for the gayz, we might catch it and our marriages might fall apart and, and, and, because reasons. What we don't talk about nearly as much as we should is human trafficking and predatory polygamist groups. And when we do, it's usually us talking about it as "a problem that other countries have". Unfortunately, we are really good at overlooking the fact that polygamy and human trafficking are a problem right here in the United States. And for the Church, it's in our very backyard, in Utah, where our Church headquarters is located.

I have recently begun to be more aware of this issue as Lindsay Hansen Park has done some incredible work with fMh's podcast and exploring not only LDS polygamist history starting with the wives of Joseph Smith, but also the current practice. Lindsay has become something of a subject matter expert among MoFem and ProgMo circles as she has delved deeper and deeper into these issues. I am proud to call her a friend. Her podcasts and her FB posts have been extremely enlightening and educational.

Recently, she shared this Facebook post by the Sound Choices Coalition.

Ugh. Ugh, ugh, ugh. Child brides. Incest. Abuse. Predatory practices. Forced child labor.On and on and on. And they have their hands in everything in Utah. Right in our backyard. And here we are, fighting to keep legally consenting adults from being able to get married, adopt, and general have equal rights if they are LGBTQ, but we are ignoring this? We hear General Conference Talks about the threats to families and society, but we aren't including this kind of crap in that. We hear GC talks calling LGBTQ lives "counterfeit". We hear GC talks and talks in church all the time about the threats pornography, women's bodies, and LGBTQ people pose, but where are the talks about the threats and damage done by groups like the Kingstons?

We need to wake up. We need to stand up and fight against this type of thing. We need to fight the Kingstons and all their ilk. We need to fight the Warren Jeffs of the world. Yes, we will have to confront our own messy history of polygamy in the process, but it's time to shine light in the dark corners of our history and sweep away the cobwebs so we may help and love those who need us. We need to be a voice for those whose voices have been silenced, or who have never been permitted to have a voice. Lives are being LOST to the Kingstons, why are we sitting idly by? In our silence and inaction, we make ourselves complicit. Edmund Burke hit the nail on the head when he said "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."

Will you stand up and speak, nay, SHOUT from the rooftops? Will you join me in throwing off silence and comfort to be the hands of Jesus? 

If you are interested in ways to get involved, check out the following resources (and, of course, go listen to the fMh podcast to educate yourself more on the historic and contemporary practices of polygamy in America, especially Utah).

Holding Out H.E.L.P.

Sound Choices Coalition