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July 24, 2008 11:30:26 PM CDT

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Outside Sect, Life is Tough

Posted Apr 17, 08 6:00 PM CDT in Crime & Courts,  US 

(Newser) – Even for those women who escape the forced marriages and controlling patriarchy of polygamous sects like the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints, life isn’t easy. Many turn to drugs and alcohol to escape the mental burden, CNN reports. And some never leave because they’re programmed to think “it's not only physically dangerous … you're also risking your soul.”

One escapee and experienced rescuer put it this way: “When you're held down and can't have any freedoms, they go the opposite way when they get out: drinking, drugs, sex. They're going to hell anyway; they just jump headfirst in." For some, the risk is worth it. “The pain got so bad in heaven,” one said, “that I was willing to damn myself to hell to escape it."

Source CNN

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Sporting long prairie-style dresses, girls play separately from the boys at a private school in Hildale, Utah.   (AP Photo/Douglas C. Pizac, File)
"Richard" leans on a desk in his living room, underneath portraits of FLDS prophets.   (AP Photo/Keith Johnson, Deseret News)
"Monica," a member of the FLDS Yearning For Zion community.   (AP Photo/Keith Johnson, Deseret News)
Rozie, 23, walks out of a classroom in the school on the Yearning For Zion ranch as a sign placed on the door quotes Rulon Jeffs.   (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
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drugs  • alcohol  • polygamy  • Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints  • rescue  • Warren Jeffs  • FLDS  • cult  • programming


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