Raid shines light on secretive polygamous sect (AP/CNN)

[eppur_se_muova]

ELDORADO, Texas (AP) -- Until the raid on their compound last week, the women and girls of the Yearning for Zion Ranch spent their days caring for its many children, tilling gardens and quilting, dressed in pioneer-style dresses sewn by their own hands.

But it was no idyllic recreation of 19th-century prairie life, authorities say. Since last week, they have interviewed members of the polygamist sect looking for evidence that that girls younger than 16 were forced into marriages with older men.

Five miles off the highway, beyond a double gate, the group's members live lives that are isolated even for the scruffy West Texas prairie. Their 1,700-acre ranch is like its own city, with a gleaming temple, doctor's office, school and even factories.

"Once you go into the compound, you don't ever leave it," said Carolyn Jessop, who was one of the wives of the alleged leader of the Eldorado complex, but who left the sect before it began moving to Texas in 2004.
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Jessop, author of the polygamy memoir "Escape," said the women dedicated so much time to raising children and their chores because the community emphasized self-sufficiency: Members believe the apocalypse is near, and they will have to start over when the world is destroyed.
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more: http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/04/08/texas.ranch.ap/index.html

Story includes two links to video.

Other CNN stories concerning FLDS: http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/04/08/texas.ranch.ap/index.html

Interview with Carolyn Jessup: http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1675126,00.html?xid=feed-cnn-topics

[Maddy McCall]

1. bookmarked...

I want to read this when I get back from lunch.

[Demeter]

2. Well, Looks Like They Get to Start Over Today

Their little world is now destroyed.