"History is repeating itself, man," said Homeless Jack. "Back in 1844, Joseph Smith, the founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, more commonly known as the Mormons, was thrown in jail on a phony pretext and then was murdered by a mob that had been inflamed by some disaffected church members.

"We're seeing the same thing now with the persecution of Warren Jeffs the head of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in St. George, Utah.   

"The FLDS is one of several groups that practice what many people consider to be true Mormonism.  In other words, these folks still follow the teachings of Smith--unlike the larger and better known Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Salt Lake City (the one with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir) which seems hell bent on becoming as plain wrap and trendy as many of the other blender churches and religions in existence today.

"Some say that the Mormons in Salt Lake City are now trying to do a PR thing  by asking members to downplay the use of the term 'Mormon' to identify themselves.  Also, it seems to me that I'm hearing a new and somewhat heavy handed emphasis on 'proofs' as to why the church is really a Christian church and not some fringe cult with strange beliefs as some other Christians claim. 

"Now, this new emphasis makes sense if you don't mind a church that is willing to jettison original beliefs--supposedly from God--in order to be acceptable to as many humans as possible, and to get more members, but what if Joseph Smith's original teachings really were from God and what if God really did want them to stand for all time? 

"Could it be that if there is a God, He really does want things the way He wants them and that He expects humans to conform to His will, not the other way around? What if the big guy in the sky actually believes that the whole damn universe really is His and  that He really is the creator of it all and that we're just short term renters?

"Should any church try to modify itself and remove the rough edges that some humans don't like with convenient new revelations in order to fit into the larger society of humans or should it hold to its original teachings that are supposedly from God?

"I mean, does God first say this is for all time and then change His mind fifty or a hundred years later as though He can't make up His mind and just wants to be in tune with the latest human trends? Are his commands like bell bottoms that are now out of style?  I don't think a real God would do that, man. And, I suspect those in Jeff's group also don't think a real God would be that wishy washy either.

"I think Joseph Smith would be turning over in his grave over this stuff if he could see what's happened to his teachings outside of groups such as the FLDS.  Smith lost his life because of what he taught, but his teachings seem to be slowly changing a little at a time by some main stream Mormons, while those who hold to the original teachings, such as the FLDS church, are turned into demons in the press. 

"Jeffs was convicted Tuesday of being an accomplice to rape because he performed a wedding for a 19-year-old man and a 14-year-old girl. He hasn't been sentenced yet, but he faces life in prison over that 'crime.'

"My guess is that most people, who are aware of how some in power appear to have tried  to destroy the FLDS over the years, don't believe that this trial was really about Jeffs performing that marriage.  They'd probably tell you that in their opinion that was just the cover story. They'll probably also tell you that It was just another attempt to destroy the FLDS. 

"And, will  church destroyers succeed? Will those who want all churches and all religions to be just right pablum, succeed in destroying the FLDS?  It's doubtful.  They may just be creating more martyrs.

"Back in the '50's, government officials took all the children away from their parents in the FLDS to try to reeducate them.  That failed.  That move was similar to what the Australian government did to the Aborigines when it took  Aborigine children away from their parents and put them in white families. It was for the children, you see.  It was to help the Aborigines. Baloney. When will people ever learn to leave others alone?  When will the phony do-gooders mind their own business and let people be as they want to be and stop trying to force them into a one size fits all mold?

"You know, man, this also kind of reminds me of the persecution of Gypsies and the attempts by various governments to have them blend in and be destroyed.  Such attempts have always failed and the Gypsies remain a separate sub-culture. It also reminds me of the attempts to destroy the Jews by having them blend in, back in Babylonian days. Same thing with the American Indians. There are many other examples of this. The Puritans and Pilgrims who came to America are two more groups that others tried to destroy. You could fill books with such examples, man.

"You know why I'm beating this so much, man?  It's because it's almost a perfect metaphor for the situation that white people, as a whole, find themselves in on this dark planet. We are the minority, man. We're the few. We're outside the masses clustered in the center of the bell curve. The masses exert a force to pull those who move beyond, back in.  The masses 'want' to destroy that which is different. They want to absorb the particles that have separated.

"Ironically, it's almost always white people who are the do-gooders in these things.  We not only destroy other distinct peoples and religions, but we also destroy ourselves and our own religions that don't conform to what some think is the right way. We have too many small minded  bigots among us, man. Their bigotry may change targets with the times, but it's still bigotry. They just can't stand to let people be different. Don't tell me that this is just a white characteristic, man.  It's not. At least, I hope it's not.

"The individuals in the masses may not ever consciously form these thoughts about blending all back in, but that doesn't change things.  It's just nature. It's like gravity.The larger body attracts the smaller body and wants it to be the same as the larger body.

"The masses ' want' us to conform genetically and religiously and in all other ways.  Right now, not many white people have a higher consciousness that lets them understand this.  They don't see themselves as a distinct group and thus many are being drawn back into the center of the bell curve of existence and are disappearing. It's going to take strong religious beliefs and a struggle against persecution for whites to stay on the right path to their highest possible destiny, man.

"Back to Jeffs. Did Christianity die when Jesus was persecuted and killed? Nope.  It just got stronger. It may have gotten lost over the years, but Jesus also lost a court case after facing  charges from those who didn't believe as he believed. That's often the way haters of  others work, man.  They use the law to try to destroy people who don't conform to their views and who believe things that the haters don't believe.

"Whenever you see people of one race or one religion or one nation persecuting or demonizing people of another race or religion or nation, you can be pretty sure there's more to the persecution and demonization than the surface stories that are told about why it's happening. Dig a little deeper in each case for the truth, man. Do it with this Jeffs' case--dig a little deeper and don't accept biased news stories--and you may be outraged at what's happening to him and those in his church.

"Who should have been on Jeff's jury?  Who are his peers?  Why, those in his religion. I'll bet there weren't any FLDS members on that jury, man. That alone should tell you something about his trial.

"Change the facts a little to make it clear about the wrong that has been done to Jeffs. Suppose there are people who don't like Orthodox Jews and want to destroy them. One thing that could be done would be to charge some of them with breaking laws against animal cruelty when they slaughter animals in accordance with their religious laws. Then, fill the jury with people who don't like Orthodox Jews and with people of other religions with other sensibilities.  Do you think the Orthodox Jews would get a fair trial? Maybe it'd be fair as far as secular society goes and thus be lawful. But would it be just, man? It would most certainly be unfair as far as their own religion goes.  Same thing with Jeffs, man.  Same thing.

"I read the demonizing press reports leading up to this conviction, man.  They were mostly just silly things about Jeffs riding in a red car (apparently red cars are a no no with the FLDS) and having a certain amount of money with him, blah, blah, blah. It was all very silly stuff, but people are gullible, man.

"People buy into the demonizing propaganda like well conditioned rats.  The masses just don't seem capable of critical thinking.

"Some suspect that Jeffs and his followers have also been targeted by some haters--who push blending--don't like the teachings of the FLDS church which bar interracial marriages.

"Those who hate white people and want them to be blended into the non-white masses and disappear from the planet probably also aren't very happy that the FLDS members produce many white children as a result of their practice of  polygamy and arranged marriages. 

"I'll bet if the FLDS promoted homosexual marriages, abortion, miscegenation and policies to not have children, the church would be accepted as a wonderful part of American society. Church leaders would probably even be invited to the White House to get awards.

"Now, what about this bride being 14-years-old, man? That's not as odd as it might seem if you overcome your societal conditioning and your own beliefs that may have you believe that you're not an adult until you're 18-years-old.  The members of the FLDS apparently believe (but I don't want to put words in their mouths, and these aren't their words, but it is what Arman teaches), that God has set the clock and the law within all living things that determines when one is of a proper age to mate and bear children, and they apparently reject the artificial man made laws in this regard. 

"If I understand them correctly, man, I think they believe that God didn't say, go forth and multiply but only when some people who do not believe as you believe come up with an arbitrary age that they say makes one an adult. And, again, if I understand them correctly, they don't believe that God said go out and mate with people unlike you so that you can produce people who aren't like you.  Instead, I think they believe that God meant that you are to make more people like yourself.  

"Now, don't get me wrong about this stuff, man, I'm not a Mormon. Never have been. I think Arman's way is the right way. And, as you know, Arman's way is different from any other religions. But, as with others who think Arman's way is the right way, I believe in justice and fairness.  I believe in truth.  I believe in freedom to follow one's own conscience. I believe in self-identification and self-determination. I believe that unless religious people get way out of line, that they should be left alone. The  FLDS does not appear to be way out of line, man.  They harm no one.  No one is forced to stay in their communities or in their church.  In fact, the FLDS church apparently boots people out who don't want to follow their ways. In our country, government at all levels should tred very lightly when it deals with religions. This country was founded by people who were out of the mainstream and who didn't follow the then current orthodoxy.  It should remain that way.

"Of course, it's not just the FLDS that is being persecuted these days. We could talk about many other examples, but another one that has been in the news lately is the persecution of the Scientologists in some European nations. And, as with Jeffs, the persecutors in those cases also appear to be using  trumped up charges and demonizations to try to destroy the organization of the believers.

"However, the Scientologists have lots of money and they almost always return lick for lick with those who are trying to destroy them. They also don't try to stay out of the limelight as does the FLDS, and this helps the Scientologists sway public opinion in their favor.

"But, this business of staying out of the limelight is part of the reason why this business with Jeffs and the FLDS is so galling, man.  These people mostly live in a couple of desert burgs way off the beaten track in the state-straddling twin towns of Colorado City, Arizona and Hildale, Utah. They don't bother anyone and just want to be left alone.  To even find them, you have to go out of your way.

"How bizarre is our modern world, man?  Well, homosexual marriages, which do not produce children--and thus violate the command to go forth and multiply--are accepted as normal, but polygamous marriages which produce many children, are considered to not be normal and are outlawed.

 "Why is the former accepted and the latter not? It's because homosexuals became militant and demanded to be allowed to do as they want, while the polygamists remained silent.  If you sit on your rights, you lose your rights, man. You have to struggle and you have to love the struggle because it is eternal. If you don't struggle, others will zap you and force their ways on you. That's what's happed to Jeffs.

"Of course, if the FLDS members want to stop being persecuted--if, in fact, they are being persecuted--and don't want to struggle, they could just do what the main stream Mormons have done--cave in to pressures from those of other religions so that they're more accepted.  But, let me ask you this, man.  If you truly believe there is a God, and if you truly believe He has said things for all time, would you change to be trendy or to avoid persecution by human beings or would you follow your conscience and do what you believe God wants?

"There's a larger issue in all of this, man.  And, that's why I'm talking about it. This isn't a new story.  It's been going on since there have been humans on the planet. One group is always trying to force their beliefs, their mores and their ways on others. It's the conformist and blending stuff of the bell curve. 

"Those who promote conformity and blending are always trying to harm those out on the legs of the bell curve and make them conform to the masses clustered under the center of the bell curve.

"Some of us have different beliefs, man. We don't want to blend.  We don't want to conform to whatever is happening right now. We don't think a one size fits all society is the best way to our highest possible destiny. We want to remain separate and distinct. Some of us  believe that we are commanded to do so by God. 

"We think the FLDS members have the same right, man, and we think they should be left alone.

"Live long and multiply right. May your 23 chromosomes join with 23 like chromosomes as often as possible so that your family becomes a tribe and then a nation."