LEADER OF CANADA'S LARGEST POLYGAMY GROUP HAS ESTIMATED 25 WIVES, 121 CHILDREN *** Jai Maharaj posts
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Canadian Group Says Polygamy as Moral as Other Lifestyles
By Juju Chang and Linda Owens
ABC News
Friday, February 5, 2010
Winston Blackmore, head of Canada's largest polygamist group, has an
estimated 25 wives plus 121 children. And despite criticism of plural
marriages, the group says polygamy is as moral a lifestyle as any
other, which it's determined to prove to the world.
Blackmore's 11th wife, Zelpha Chatwin, is the mother of his latest
child, Jedediah Mike Blackmore. She defended her fundamentalist
community.
"Having a sister-wife, it's like having the same relationship with
your husband, but it's just two women, or three women or four,
instead of a man and a woman," said Chatwin, who is the mother of
seven children. "I love these girls. & And I couldn't live without
them. I really couldn't."
Chatwin and her extended family will be featured in National
Geographic magazine and on the National Geographic Channel.
"Inside Polygamy" premieres Feb. 10 on the channel. There'll be more
on the story in the magazine's February issue.
The tight-knit polygamous community of Bountiful located near
Creston, British Columbia, faces a unique set of challenges.
Realities of Plural Marriage
Blackmore wouldn't confirm how many wives he has but Chatwin's
sister, Marsha, is his 10th.
The sisters became his wives on the same day. As for plural
marriages, Marsha Chatwin said, there's "definitely jealousy."
Blackmore's second daughter, Mary Roundy, said her particular family
didn't get a lot of time with Blackmore.
"But whenever he'd do things with us, it would be really special,"
she said.
Roundy is making her own life choices within the community that's
estimated at 500 strong.
She's in a monogamous marriage with a man who was also raised in a
polygamous family.
"Even with my father's children, most don't seem particularly
interested in living that lifestyle," she said. "I don't see it dying
out right away. Maybe a few generations. Who knows?"
Until 2001, Blackmore's group followed Warren Jeffs, the "prophet"
and leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day
Saints, or FLDS.
'Prophet' Jailed, Group Renounces Underage Marriages
But Jeffs is now in prison, serving multiple sentences after his
conviction connected to underage marriages, some to girls as young as
12. He is on suicide watch.
Texas Child Protection officials took 439 children into custody from
a ranch run by the FLDS in a 2008 raid, saying underage girls were
being married off to older men and that the sect's boys were being
raised to become sexual predators.
In the largest child custody case in U.S. history, the Texas Supreme
Court ordered hundreds of children from the sect, who had been held
in state custody for a month, to be returned to their parents,
agreeing with a lower-court decision that the state had not proved
that the children were in immediate danger of abuse.
Twelve FLDS men from Texas have been indicted on a variety of sex
charges, including assault and bigamy.
Sect leaders have promised there will be no more underage marriages.
"Inside Polygamy" premieres Feb. 10 on the National Geographic
Channel.
You can read more about the story in February's issue of National
Geographic magazine.
ABC News' Ryan Owens contributed to this story.
'Prophet' Jailed, Group Renounces Underage Marriages
But Jeffs is now in prison, serving multiple sentences after his
conviction connected to underage marriages, some to girls as young as
12. He is on suicide watch.
Texas Child Protection officials took 439 children into custody from
a ranch run by the FLDS in a 2008 raid, saying underage girls were
being married off to older men and that the sect's boys were being
raised to become sexual predators.
In the largest child custody case in U.S. history, the Texas Supreme
Court ordered hundreds of children from the sect, who had been held
in state custody for a month, to be returned to their parents,
agreeing with a lower-court decision that the state had not proved
that the children were in immediate danger of abuse.
Twelve FLDS men from Texas have been indicted on a variety of sex
charges, including assault and bigamy.
Sect leaders have promised there will be no more underage marriages.
"Inside Polygamy" premieres Feb. 10 on the National Geographic
Channel.
You can read more about the story in February's issue of National
Geographic magazine.
ABC News' Ryan Owens contributed to this story.
Click HERE for the magazine and HERE for the channel.
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/
http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/
Jai Maharaj, Jyotishi
Om Shanti
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P. Rajah
> Leader of Canada's Largest Polygamy Group Has Estimated 25 Wives, 121 Children
> Winston Blackmore, head of Canada's largest polygamist group, has an
> estimated 25 wives plus 121 children.
Jealous, Jay?
> Canadian Group Says Polygamy as Moral as Other Lifestyles
Allow me to bring your attention to something you posted today:
"Lord Krishna is believed to have had about 16,000 wives."
Looks like this Winston Blackmore has some ways to go yet.
Moorthy
> Jay "the jumpin' jackass jyotishit" Maharaj wrote:
>
> > Leader of Canada's Largest Polygamy Group Has Estimated 25 Wives, 121 Children
> > Winston Blackmore, head of Canada's largest polygamist group, has an
> > estimated 25 wives plus 121 children.
>
> Jealous, Jay?
>
> > Canadian Group Says Polygamy as Moral as Other Lifestyles
>
> Allow me to bring your attention to something you posted today:
> "Lord Krishna is believed to have had about 16,000 wives."
Krsna is a mythological figure and its just an interesting fairytale.
OTH, If accept Krishna as the Supereme Lord, as Vaishnavs do, who
lived 5000+yr, then you must accept that he expanded Himself into
16000 forms simultaneously, lifted Goverdhana etc, and resided with
all his queens in 16000 palaces. This character is neither
mythological nor Godhead.