Deja Group?

When I was growing up in the AUB polygamist group I was certainly aware that our belief system was different and even though I was raised on a basic “mormon” belief foundation, I also recognized that I was quite different even from the official mainstream LDS church.   My parents taught me that our fundamentalist beliefs were not something to be shouted from the roof tops but they were also not something to be ashamed of.  In fact, my parents encouraged me to invite friends to church if they were so inclined.  Because of this group-wide mindset it was not unusual for visitors, investigators, or maybe even curiosity seekers to be sitting in an AUB pew in Pinesdale or Bluffdale.

For years the AUB group stood apart from the other more fanatically inclined fundamentalist groups by attempting to stay underneath the eves of the main stream LDS church.  This thought process was not without heartache of course as the LDS Church tried to distance itself from polygamy and the AUB group felt like a bastardized child no longer wanted.  However, that feeling of kinship with the Church, whether the Church reciprocated or not, kept the AUB group relatively sane in comparison to other apostate polygamist groups. 

The AUB was not run by a one man prophetic-despot gathering and assigning wives.  Instead they were governed by a council of men which for the most part allowed an open exchange of ideas and dialogue.  The AUB did not dictate who could marry who or what style of clothing had to be worn.  They were certainly zealous in their beliefs and practices but far from dictatorial.  For the most part, they were able to stay out of the spotlight of the media and away from the scandalous headlines of fanatical fundamentalism.  Consequently, they were able to grow in numbers not only from within but also from a small but fairly steady trickle of fringe mainstream LDS members looking to get back to what they viewed as the fundamental set of early Mormon practices.   

Those days of growth are now in the past for the AUB as their leadership is in the process of closing their doors.   The recent financial, doctrinal, and sexual abuse scandals have ripped the AUB group apart starting in 2014 with the death of LaMoine Jenson and the appointment of Lynn Thompson.  The AUB group in Pinesdale has been particularly affected with the seismic shift in the leadership shakeup.   The community is split with two different “wards” now that are seemingly a grand canyon apart from each other.  The result is a new era of distrust and bitter feelings that are pulling families apart as they search for solid ground in the wake of a faith splitting earthquake. 

The AUB is now willingly and purposefully engaged in separating the wheat from the chaff.  Instead of trying to heal the wounds of division wounds the leadership of the AUB - like a drunk to his bottle -cannot seem to pull away from the destructive path they are on.  It seemed for a while that the dust was settling and that maybe the new “Non-Denominational Mormon Fundamentalist” group or “Three O’Clockers” would be allowed to peacefully coexist under the benevolent thumb of the new AUB leadership.  However, having doctrinal and leadership separation was not enough for the AUB.  They needed more.  They needed to make a stand.  They needed to not only make a stand but just as importantly they needed to expose the riffraff from within bowels of their sinking ship.   They have now started to enact policies to separate the pure in heart from the apostates. 

The AUB is now looking to enact a new policy of requiring a signed recommend to be able to listen in on the dial-in conference number.  For years, regardless of where someone was they could dial in and hear sacrament meetings via phone conferencing.  All you needed was the number which was readily available to all.  However, the AUB leadership’s fear and paranoia has begun to take hold and they are starting to shut things down in order to protect themselves from the evil bloggers and would be naysayers.  How long will it be before a recommend will be needed in order to attend a church service?  After all, listening to a meeting over the phone surely isn’t as dangerous as showing up in person.

This Protectionist policy is not the first nor will it be the last policy implanted by the AUB that will have long lasting consequences.  There will be signs to look out for along the way.  First, their growth from the outside which has been severely limited over the last few years anyway will now be completely shut off.  Like a pond no longer supplied by a trickle of fresh water they will become stagnant and pungent.  That stagnation and putrid smell brought on by their own fear based policies will only set the stage for further destructive measures of measures of purification.  Second, the marrying of cousins which was once frowned upon within the AUB will become common place because of the diminishing amount of new blood and worthy males.  Third, they will begin to see spies within their own ranks and will begin to develop a distrust of anything that is not sanctioned or approved from their leaders.  This will create a slow boil technique of not realizing how hot and dangerous the water has become as their prophet can increasingly turn up the heat of purification.   And fourth, ever smaller circles of the “Lord’s chosen” will gradually emerge becoming the “religious aristocracy” who are chosen to usher in the second coming of Christ. 

The AUB is well down the road of transforming from a historically inclusionary group to an exclusionary group which is dead-bolting their doors to growth.  Consequently, their purification process must only come from within now.  The AUB has decided the answer is within their own box they have built which they are barricading themselves behind.  The resulting religious zealotry will eventually entrap their blindly servile population. 

Something in the back of my mind keeps nagging at me, like I’ve seen this before…