Saturday, January 24, 2009

What to get the man who has everything...

Happy 90th Birthday, Rulon Jeffs -Daddy just couldn't decide which one you'd like more. Mormon prophet and founder of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints--FLDS--with a present from one of his followers. Edna and Mary Fisher were his last two wives.

Perhaps he was slowing down a bit in his final years: it's estimated he had between 19 to 75 wives by the time of his death in 2002. It's hard to have an exact count as a) these marriages are not recorded in a legal sense b) it is considered bad form in the FLDS to talk to gentiles (non-FLDS)--in fact lieing is encouraged when dealing with government or outsiders in general--and c) the true number was probably known only to Rulon.

Along with being an enthusiastic supporter of celestial marriages, Rulon insisted the 1969 moon landing was a hoax (ironically he was a director of Hydrapak, the manufacturer of the faulty o-ring that cause the Challenger explosion in 1986) and so were dinosaurs.

After Rulon's death his son Warren married all but two of Rulon's surviving wives thus becoming, in the eyes of the FLDS, stepfather to his brothers, sisters (and, ah, himself...).

It's a fascinating world so stay tuned as I learn more about our own little bit of FLDS heaven here in BC, "Bountiful" and Winston Blackmore.