Inside the World of Warren Jeffs: The Power of Polygamy

Inside the World of Warren Jeffs looks deep into the world of the Polygamist lifestyle exposing the dark side as never before. You are skillfully taken by the author through the everyday existence of the pluralistic family to endure the pain, suffering, cruelty and regimentation of singular male domination. A much overlooked fact about polygamy is that it can only work when there are more women than men in a society. Eventually, polygamy burns itself out because of natural selection. When the number of men equals or almost equals the number of women, there are no spare women to marry, and polygamy ceases. Only in the Fundamentalist Polygamist Groups do they keep the practice of polygamy alive, by abandoning a large number of their sons. These teenage boys are cast out into society to fend for themselves with little more than a sixth grade education, nowhere to go, no friends, and knowing they can never contact their mothers or family members again.

A father throwing away his sons effectively throws away his competition for young females to take as wives. Because women are considered prime property in the Fundamentalist Polygamist religions, and as the pool of eligible women shrinks, polygamist men look for younger and younger wives to fulfill their needs. Some men marry girls who are little more than children, or at least make contracts with a young girl s father for marriage at a later date. The usual age of marriage for polygamist girls, is between twelve and fourteen. By the time a girl is twelve or even younger in a polygamist culture, older males have already noticed her and are vying and negotiating for her hand in marriage with whichever prophet leads their church.