 |
|
|
|
|
August 3rd, 2011
10:38 AM ET
Despite objections, jury hears tapes in polygamist sect leader's trialBy the CNN Wire Staff San Angelo, Texas (CNN) - The state of Texas is expected to rest its case Wednesday in the sexual assault trial of polygamous sect leader Warren Jeffs. On Tuesday night, the jury heard audio recordings that, prosecutors said, show Jeffs instructing a 14-year-old victim and his other young "wives" on how to sexually please him in order to win God's favor. Jeffs - who is representing himself - repeatedly and loudly objected to the playing of the recordings on religious grounds. Each time, Judge Barbara Walther overruled him. There can be "no claim of privilege, regardless of the religion, with respect to communications directly relevant to sexual assault of a child," prosecutor Eric Nichols said when the judge invited him to respond to Jeffs' outbursts. Read the full story here on the latested in the Jeffs trialWatch Anderson Cooper 360° weeknights 8pm ET. For the latest from AC360° click here.
Next entry »Big 'response' for Rick Perry?
« Previous entryMy Take: How I turned 'misery to ministry'
|
  About this blog
The CNN Belief Blog covers the faith angles of the day's biggest stories, from breaking news to politics to entertainment, fostering a global conversation about the role of religion and belief in readers' lives. It's edited by CNN's Daniel Burke with contributions from Eric Marrapodi and CNN's worldwide news gathering team.  |
|
|
|
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W5zylpNWxVo
TROLL ALERT – don't bother viewing this garbage, click the report abuse link to get rid of this piece of junk.
________________________________________________________________I think it would be good to find this man criminally insane, because I believe he is insane. He is crazy to think he is following God's teaching. ___________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________I really believe this man will be found guilty. What's the saying: You do the crime you do the time. Perhaps this man will re-read the Bible while in prision and come to his sences that he is not representing good but evil. _____________________________________
Mormons should read the whole Bible and stop being a cult.
Jeffs is a pedophile, but he's not crazy. The ones who are crazy are his followers.
This is truly unspeakable. "Forget the pain"???? No, remember the pain well and who caused it.
Jeffs is insane as was JC. JC's family and friends had it right 2000 years ago ( Mark 3: 21 "And when his friends heard of it, they went out to lay hold on him: for they said, He is beside himself.")
Said passage is one of the few judged to be authentic by most contemporary NT scholars. e.g. See Professor Ludemann's conclusion in his book, Jesus After 2000 Years, p. 24 and p. 694
Jeffs is no fool. He realizes and uses religion for what it is; power over people who are easily won over. But he's no different than any other person of authority in any of the other world religions. Religion is power and wealth and control.
Jeffs religion is no different than Islam or Catholicism or Judaism. They have just had many more years to develop their means of control and to gather their wealth.
Jeffs must be locked up forever to send a clear message to all these evil-doers.
@Kebos
'Thumbs up' !
Peace...
Fernace, you are spot on! Yes, a long long time ago, a girl was considered a woman when puberty was reached. You can't excuse his behavior because our life spans were once shorter. Anyone who does should have their head checked.
Jeffs clearly has a misconception of himself. Him defending himself is like watching a train wreck...this is going to be fun to watch. But hey he puts his faith in writings of men and magic genies in the sky. lol
Yes, these very narcisstic individuals see themselves as such special & priviledged people that they either start their own religion or, as Jeffs has done, use a defunct but established religion & tweek it to fit his twisted needs! Part of why he's such a danger is because he preaches that what he does is right & ordained by God! He feels he is beyond the scope of man-made laws! I have read some posts that point out that marrying young used to be the norm! To that I'd like to say, people also used to die at the age of 40 & kids also used to hold fulltime jobs, which is no longer allowed in our society & which is why we have child labor laws! A girl of 12-14 is not physically, mentally or emotionally ready to be a wife & a mother& an adult male who wants to engage girls in these activities is nothing but a dirty old man!!
One sick fu@k... Hiding behind "religion" to justify his pedophelia. I think the parents who allowed their 12, 14 year old children to marry this creep should also be charged with at LEAST child endangerment!
Ok so polygamy is part of Jeff's religion. Is it also part of his religion to take his wives from underaged children? What the heck is up with that? I don't understand. Are the other members of Jeff's group also practicing this religious molestation of children too? How much of it is they want to have se-x with children so they claim their religion says it's ok? And how much of it is their religion says it must be so, so they have se-x with children? I'm having a lot of trouble understanding how or why this is happening.
As are most people.
I think this is basically a personality cult, if that's the right term. Jeffs has built a cult around himself in order to serve himself. Freedom of Religion does not allow breaking the law and while I don't agree that polygamy between consenting adults is wrong, it is illegal. S.ex or marriage with children, I think, is wrong and it is illegal and this guy should be locked up for a long time, IMO.
@Frogist
Hey there -C.K. It's -S.M !!!
I totally concur with @Nonimus. And I would add or re-emphasize that 'religion' is used as a means or a tool to 'justify' many, many words, actions and behaviors in our society, under the guise of whatever religion and whatever 'spin' serves their purposes. Especially, for the crazy self-centered wing-nuts.
This is another case of someone with apparently some 'charisma'...? that has attracted and/or enslaved some people that just don't know any better, or do and for some reason can't escape this maniac due to threats, or even this life is all they know, etc... For some, it is the better to "know the Devil you do know than the one you don't "
I agree as well, it is very difficult to wrap one's mind around this sick and tragic cult and it's effects on others.
I hope again, per my post below... that Jeff's goes away for a very long time, and his followers/wives/children get the opportunity through counseling, etc... to begin to lead a normal, productive, healthy and happy life.
BTW Frogist... I hope that you are doing well !
Regards,
Peace...
But how do you tell the difference if everyone can call anything their religion and ask that it be treated as such? You could claim any religious leader is head or part of a personality cult. It's all personal interpretation anyways. Who is to say this isn't his religion? How do you tell someone who is using a religion for their own personal means from someone who really thinks this is divine mandate? I'm not sure I can tell the difference from the outside. And I'm not sure it matters so long as what he is doing is morally repugnant.
@Frogist
Ultimately, I believe regardless of what someone is calling their 'religion' etc... that we look critically at the behaviors.
It really doesn't matter, whether or not it is personal or a group dynamic, if they are breaking the 'law' and causing direct harm to another, then that is when our secular laws do step in to interfere with their 'religion' as it has done in this case... and rightly so.
That is a very short-hand and easy way to look at something critically, and remove the bull... and notice regardless of whether or not they are claiming it is their religion. Especially, it becomes important 'if' they are 'harming' others directly, and directly breaking 'laws.'
Easy call !
Regards,
Peace...
From the Article:
" There can be "no claim of privilege, regardless of the religion, with respect to communications directly relevant to se-xual assault of a child," prosecutor Eric Nichols said when the judge invited him to respond to Jeffs' outbursts. "
Translation- Ya' can't play the 'religion' card when it comes to direct harm to others.
Thank 'god' for our legal system here in the U.S. May not be perfect, but in this case it seems to be spot on, in my opinion.
This guy needs to go away for a very long time.
Regards,
Peace...
Amen, brother. Amen.
Cheers!
Christianity alone grants everyone's safety. America's sanity is only because of the Judeo-Christian values. The pre-christian pagan Europeans butchered children for demon-worship until Christians halted them. Atheists butchered children, both born and unborn.