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Aug 15 2008

Patterns of Polygamy - Religion the ‘controlling force’ inside Kingston clan

Posted by: in Biblical Family

Source: clippertoday.com

WEDDING of David and Sharli Kingston, 1984.For many, living a polygamist lifestyle seems almost impossible to comprehend. For former members of the Davis County-based Kingston clan, however, it was simply the structure on which most of their lives have been based. “You don’t just give up your religion all of a sudden,” said former Kingston member Christy Tucker, who left with her husband and children in 2001.

For members of the Kingston clan, which started in Bountiful in the 1930s and has since spread to other parts of the state, religion is the controlling force in everyone’s daily life. Behaviors are determined by what group leaders call heavenly “directions,” and can cover everything from marriage to schooling to the foods that members eat.

“You already know what you can and can’t do — it’s been ingrained in you since birth,” said Rowenna Erickson, a former Kingston member who is now leader of Tapestry Against Poly-gamy. “You struggle, but you think you’re sacrificing so you can gain eternal salvation.”

Money and food are common subjects of the directions that come from church leaders. According to Brian C. Hales, noted Davis County author of several LDS books and books on polygamy, the leaders retain tight control over their members’ finances.

“We all turned in money we’d earned, even if we were only five years old and it was only five cents or a penny,” remembers LuAnn Cooper, a former Kingston who left the group 10 years ago.

This financial focus is sometimes reflected in the cost-consciousness in the approved menus. An example of this is an emphasis on raw oats, which can be bought cheaply and in large quantities and can feed a large group of children for quite some time.

“The church leader’s favorite wife would get up in church and say that you can feed your children two meals of raw oats and one normal meal, and they’ll do just fine,” said Tucker with a laugh. “Now my kids won’t eat oats on principle.”
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