Summary: Polygamy & the Utah Attorney General What follows is a very interesting discussion I had a couple of years ago on the topic of modern polygamy in Utah with my guest was Mark Shurtleff, the Utah State Attorney General. Unfortunately, the digital recording failed and this comes from a rather poor tape recording made by one of my listeners. But, because of the topic's timeliness, I am posting this episode of the Mormon Miscellaneous Worldwide Talk Show to my podcast site. A.G. Shurtleff gives considerable information and insight into events which currently are widely discussed daily in the national news media regarding the recent raid by Texas law inforcement agents of the polygamous community known as the FLDS, or the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. More than 400 children were taken from their homes and families and placed in State custody. What will be their future and how Texas, Utah and other states will deal with polygamy and other forms of non-traditional illegal sexual relationships has captured the interest of Americans. Attorney General Mark Shurtleff and I were joined by callers in the discussion of: Modern polygamy in Utah; Utah laws regarding sexuality; Various definitions of statutory rape; Legal age for sexual activity; Legal age and conditions for marriage; The impossibility of aggressive prosecution of infractions by polygamists for religious reasons and those who break the laws, but without religious motivation; The issue of First Amendment guarantee of religious freedom verses the anti-polygamy laws; Which laws the State will enforce and which it will not; Differences among polygamists - independents and those in polygamous religious groups; The hypocritical public attitude toward polygamy in contrast to that of children who are the result of irresponsible promiscuity; The prospects of anti-polygamy laws being argued before the Supreme Court; The 90 page Polygamy Primer prepared by the Attorney General's office to clarify issues pertaining to modern polygamy in Utah; Warren Jeffs' abuses Warren Jeffs' distortions of polygamy as practiced by LDS Church members in the 19th century; Welfare fraud; Incest; Women desiring to leave polygamy. Talk Show host: Van Hale, LDS Official website: http://www.mormonmiscellaneous.com/ Podcast address: http://www.mormonmisc.podbean.com/ Talk Show Blog: mormonmiscellaneous.com/radioprogramblog This is the 20 August 2006 episode of the Mormon Miscellaneous Worldwide Talk Show, now in its 28th year. To listen to future Talk Shows live, go to http://www.k-talk.com/ Sunday evenings 5:00 - 7:00 pm MST. If you have a question or comment, your participation is invited, regardless of your point of view. Your voice will be heard around the world. Click to visit my eStore Catalog of Digital Articles related to some of my Podcast Episodes To make a comment, click on “Comment” below.
