Evil in God's Name

Warren Jeffs is a criminal. He was convicted two days ago of complicity in the rape of a fourteen year-old girl. Warren Jeffs is an evil man in my estimation, although he claims to be a deeply religious person. He is the leader of a breakaway Mormon sect in the United States that practices polygamy and arranges marriages for young women -- girls really -- with men who are often double, triple, quadruple their age. That is where the rape comes in. These girls have no choice about sexual activity or marriage. It is abhorent, but they support their convictions from the bible.

This is not just an American problem. There is an offshoot of this sect in the town of Bountiful, British Columbia. Unfortunately the bible can be tortured to say what the unscrupulous and the misguided want it to say. It can be used to subvert the message of love and replace it with prejudices and evil practices. It's strange, but many Christians fear that a secular, Godless society will soon condone polygamy. At this time the only practitioners in North America are religious.

I hope Jeffs and his cohorts go to prison for a long time.