Answer Them Nothing: Bringing Down the Polygamous Empire of Warren Jeffs

by Debra Weyermann

The compelling story of the struggle by law enforcement and activists to dismantle the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS) is finally told. In 1953, when police raided the Short Creek compound of the FLDS, it soon became a political and publicity nightmare eventually costing the governor of Arizona his job. Thus began 50 years of skittish public officials turning a blind eye to heinous offenses such as child abandonment, kidnapping, statutory rape, and incest, as well as massive tax and welfare fraud. Warren Jeffs became the new FLDS prophet and president in 2002, and anti-FLDS activists watched in horror as he used his boundless authority and the resources of a tax-supported community to devastate thousands of lives on cruel whims. This exposé presents a detailed, chilling account of how a hostile, destructive group can manipulate the U.S. judicial system. It is a mesmerizing journey into one of the United States's darkest corners, a story that stretches over three states and deep into the history of the powerful Mormon Church.

Genres: Nonfiction, Religion, True Crime, Cults, Polygamy, Audiobook, Mormonism

304 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2011

Reviews

[♥Milica♥ · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was really good, although it felt a bit long. There was info here that I mostly knew already from other books, but I still enjoyed listening to it.

If you don't have time to read all the FLDS memoirs then this book could be a good choice. It cites Fawn Brodie, Eliza Wall, Brent Jeffs, mentions Flora Jessop, pretty sure there's bits and pieces of Sam Brower's book in here as well so when you put it all together it has a lot of sources collected, while also providing some different angles that I haven't seen covered in those books.

And it made me want to reread No Man Knows My History, so there's that.

[Ana Mardoll · Rating 5 out of 5]

Answer Them Nothing / 9781569765319

So you've read "Escape" and "Stolen Innocence". You've read "Under the Banner of Heaven" and "When Men Become Gods". And you came away from those books with a warm sense of relief: Warren Jeffs had been arrested and convicted, and the Short Creek area was being gently and carefully restored to a place of law, order, and peace.

But then, if you watched the news, you may have felt more than a little confused. The FLDS polygamists running the Short Creek police -- men who were terrorizing non- and ex-FLDS residents and physically barring young girls from escaping the community -- were not removed from their public jobs. Certain public officials seemed to withdraw their support for the non- and ex-FLDS Short Creek residents, even as they were being denied hospital access, public utilities, and being arrested for "trespassing" in their own backyards.

A federal judge attempted to wrest management of the financial trust trying to restore property rights to individual families (regardless of their "good standing" in the religion) and hand control of that trust to the FLDS leadership, despite the fact that numerous non- and ex-FLDS members would be evicted from their homes by the decision. The Utah Supreme Court reversed Warren Jeffs' rape conviction based on a bizarre technicality, apparently saying that the jury should have determined if the groom in an underage marriage was also in the "position of trust" that the Prophet was determined to hold.

The news was confusing and surprising to people who had come away from previous polygamist memoirs and historical analyses with a sense of hope. Now "Answer Them Nothing" cuts through the confusion to bring an book that is part history, part biography, and part current events (up to late 2010 in my edition), and all meticulously researched and laid out in searingly intense prose.

As much as I can enjoy a book like this, I enjoyed "Answer Them Nothing". There are very few happy endings in sight at the end of this book, nothing like the hopefulness that permeates the earlier FLDS books in my collection, but the fault is not with the author but with the world she documents. (Just to demonstrate how bizarre this universe is, Texas Governor Rick Perry is a rare good guy in this political and judicial saga because he ... bravely decided to prosecute a man who made a sex tape of him raping a 12 year-old-girl. That's a pretty low decency bar to hold our justice system to.)

This book isn't for everyone. As far as I can tell, the author seems not to draw a line between harmful religious polygamy and harmless consenting polyamory, but given the context of the book it's not always clear that denouncements of the one aren't intended as denouncements of the other. I didn't find the book problematic, but others might. The author also has a frustrating habit of occasionally using the words "crazy" or "schizophrenic" to describe things that are not; I would prefer more precise, less medically loaded terms like "unfathomable" or "inconsistent".

If you want a book that carefully wraps up the history of the FLDS, the biographies of some of its lesser known escapees, and the court battles that have continued well into 2010, I recommend this book. But be warned: if you care at all about welfare fraud, police brutality, child abuse, legal harassment, and the unwillingness of elected American officials to address these terrible injustices in our nation, then this book will leave you both sad and seething.

~ Ana Mardoll

[Sally · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I was 10, there was a Mormon girl in my grade school class. I didn't know much about her religion but somehow I believed that her father had more than one wife. At the age of 10, I knew what polygamy was. Since this was in England, her parents were probably monogamous but I was aware that this situation did exist in certain circumstances. I never really understood the fullness of the situation until I moved to Mohave County, Arizona, in 2002. During the three years I lived there, I gradually learned about the Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints of the twin communities of Hildale and Colorado City and how our school district suffered financially because of their actions of "Bleeding the beast." I cheered when Warren Jeffs was arrested.

This book stops short of Jeffs' conviction in Texas only because it hadn't happened before publication. Other than that, it is extremely detailed. Did you know former Arizona Governor (now Secretary of Homeland Security) Janet Napolitano let the FLDS go unchecked for years because she was worried any action might not help her career? Did you know certain Mormon lawyers and judges in Utah are sympathetic to their Fundamentalist brethren, often paying only lip service to cases? Did you know there are non-FLDS members living in the twin communities who are harrassed and physically threatened daily by their FLDS neighbours? Did you know that the FLDS is spending millions of dollars in frivolous lawsuits to tie up the Utah and Arizona legal systems?

This isn't about polygamy and wanting the religious freedoms to practice it. What other religion condones blatent child abuse? Girls as young as 12 are forced into marriages with old men who systematically rape them. There is evidence that Jeffs himself regularly participated in these rapes. The police in the twin communities are FLDS. They filter millions of tax dollars from public services to church pockets and return home girls who run away from their abusive homes. None of the children are educated, ostensibly so they can't rise up and oppose Jeffs and the other higher-ups. Young men are dumped in the desert with no money and no way to make a living, just because they're perceived as a threat to the older men in terms of marriage. After all, there aren't enough girls to go around. Sadly, I don't believe anything will change until Jeffs and this generation of FLDS leaders are dead. Jeffs still controls the sect from his jail cell.

Read this book, and open your eyes. I'm a conservative who believes strongly in the First Amendment. But can sexual abuse of children or fraud or tax evasion on a massive scale really be considered religious freedoms? I think not.

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's hard to believe this happens in amerika, every day for over 150 years!

Why aren't the FLDS cities disestablished and government functions taken over by the county or state?

Why are they still allowed to "bleed the beast": living off welfare, food stamps, Medicaid.

These men can't support 20 to 80 kids on their own earnings,
government welfare programs make it possible.

Why are most judges and politicians in Utah and Arizona turning a blind eye to a criminal enterprise that hides behind religion?

Are some people so stupid they can't tell the difference between religion and crime?

In 1878 the supreme court ruled that the 1st amendment doesn't provide cover for criminal activity.
Yet there are judges in Utah and Arizona that still don't get it.
They need to be impeached.

One person in Utah said the FLDS is worse than the Taliban.
I believe it.

And now we have 2 Mormons running for president,
have they ever taken a stand against bigamy and child rape?

Normally when I read a book like this, I go to Wikipedia to see the latest news,
For this subject, the kooks have written the pages there

"Good" Mormons turning a blind eye, "Lying for the Lord".

[Emily Wiersma]

I liked and disliked this book at the same time. Although very informational it was information overload, down to seemingly every last little detail. At times it made it very hard to follow and I almost didn't finish it. Of course I still learned a lot especially about about the people behind the scenes of bringing down Warren Jeffs and other people that were indicted for bigamy and child rape. What this book also did was bring together all of the other books I've read into one giving survivor summaries all in one book. I'd reccomend it if you want a very detailed book of the trials and the smaller details but if you want a more general view I would go with Prophets Prey.

[Ang · Rating 3 out of 5]

How do you rate this book with stars? It's obviously very disturbing. I certainly learned a lot. And I'm weirdly fascinated by the FLDS (isn't everyone just a little fascinated by the whole thing? I think yes.). But I'm not sure this is the best book to really get a sense of what the whole group is about. I'm going to look into reading some other things, just to see.

[Faith Burnside · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating and nearly scholarly work on the FLDS community.

[Katherine · Rating 2 out of 5]

Here's the thing...It's plain to see that Warren Jeffs and crew are disgusting and despicable. The author didn't need to add her dripping-with-malice commentary to every event she described. We're talking about a church that kept videos depicting the public rapes of children as young as 12-- just relating that fact should be enough to turn your stomach. Weyermann loses some credibility when she wastes time and what feels like whole chapters mocking these creepers. Still, if you want all the details of the legal cases, this book's got them. Well researched.

[Suzanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Extremely detailed and well researched.

[M · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating look at the history, social background and twisted machinations of FLDS and Jeffs in particular. Can be a bit heavy at times with legal background but worthwhile.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well documented

while perhaps the writing or research isn't as stunning as In the Banner of Heaven, it's a solid, well researched book.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

At risk of repeating myself: I was raised a Roman Catholic, which I lapsed out of as soon as I graduated eighth grade. Later on, I "joined" the LDS church, and was "active" for just short of 12 years. I noticed some disturbing trends in both churches, into which I shall not go, because that's not why I'm here. But Answer Them Nothing suggests that the LDS church only reluctantly let go of "plural marriage," otherwise known as polygamy, in order to smooth Utah's passage into statehood. I heard whispers that reflected the sentiment, "Wait until polygamy comes back." No one church can boast of entirely clean hands, but I found the seldom uttered pining for polygamy to be most distasteful. Answer Them Nothing details the excesses of the FLDS (Fundamental Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints) enclave ensconced in the Arizona desert just outside of Short Creek, AZ, under the demented thumb of its leader, Warren Jeffs.

Among these excesses:
--taking underaged women--girls, really--as polygamous wives, and repeatedly impregnating them;
--excommunicating males, some as young as thirteen years old but often older and more established residents, and banishing them into the desert from the only life they'd ever known;
--redistributing older men's families among the FLDS priesthood holders, who often were strangers to the scattered "families;"
--undercutting legitimate businesses with their own companies, which received free labor that often employed underaged FLDS young men
--siccing their bogus police department on all outsiders, who answered to Jeffs rather than the US constitution, to deliver the message that they were not welcome;
--draining the Arizona/Utah state coffers with bogus welfare claims;
--setting up public schools at which their students received nothing but religious indoctrination;
and--need I go on? At the slightest hint of outside intervention, Jeffs and his FLDS stooges screamed to the heavens (heh-heh-heh) of religious persecution, behind which they shielded their activites for a distressing amount of years. When committed public servants in the AZ/UT district attorneys launched successful legal rulings against the FLDS, the sect would bombard the AZ/UT courts with legal challenges that accomplished little beyond hopelessly clogging the legal system. And woe to anyone who tried to reclaim lost or abandoned property from the FLDS. Such action would invariably result in excommunication (for members) or harassment (for outsiders) by FLDS storm troopers.

I'm not sure I can classify this book as a "good" read, because the story is horrifying. It often hurt to see an unhinged leader inflicting dreadful abuses on his "flock." But author Weyermann has carefully researched and annotated her text, and the result is notably well written, in not altogether palatable. Warren Jeffs did his best to evade capture, but he now resides as a guest of the US government prison system, where one hopes he regularly encounters inmates who enact their rumored treatment of those who abuse children.

Further reading: "Under the Banner of Heaven," by Jon Krakauer, and "Stolen," by Carolyn Jessop.

[Asher J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

So—this is a good book. Well-written, well-researched, does a skilled and detailed job of addressing both the harm and trauma experienced by the most vulnerable people in this story, *and* the complexities of family and community relationships that sometimes still have good in them, the human moral ambiguity of even people who have been harmed or victimized. It doesn’t oversimplify or pull any punches.

It is also almost unreadable in some stretches—not because of any qualities of the writing, itself, but because what it’s describing is so brutal, and sometimes bizarre in a deliberately mind-twisting kind of way, and repetitive—and has often proven inescapable for the people trapped within it. Like… I read a lot of horror and dystopian fiction, and nonfiction insider views of pretty violent contexts, and… this was a lot, even in context with all of that. I’m writing this review almost 2 months after the fact, and I’ve still got a handful of scenes playing on sporadic repeat in my brain.

Plan for some rest and self-care during/after this one, especially if you’ve lived within any kind of rigid, controlling, and/or exclusionary religious environment, yourself.

[Jo Besser · Rating 4 out of 5]

For me this was a page turner!

I guess it was because I read all the other books about young people (Both woman and men) who were fleeing the FLDS "church." So I thought it was interesting to read what happens "behind the scenes." This book described the efforts of the lawyers, judges, etc that were trying to separate the FLDS from the people who had fled the FLDS.

At points it was hard to read, not because of what was being written (If you're familiar with the FLDS that is) but because the lawyers were struggling against a group that was not playing fair and thinking they were above the law.

If anything, I hated how it ended. I was left wanting to know if the lose ends were tied up. (Though I do know this book is a bit dated and was written about ten years ago.) However, if I come across a book that is a follow up to this one I will definitely read it.

If you have read other books by people who have escaped the FLDS church, I highly recommend reading this one as well.

[Mishon · Rating 1 out of 5]

As much as a dislike not finishing books, I just couldn’t keep reading this one. The subject matter is one that interests me greatly but the writing was driving me nuts. So juvenile.
“Ruth just knew it. She could die, he was so cute”
“When Ruth started thinking about leaving, she was sure glad she had Pennie for a sister”
“Her cigarette consumption soared to four a day”
“Carl wanted to marry Ruth as much as she wanted to marry him, and — this was the coolest part — Carl wanted a monogamous marriage just like her.”

I was 20 pages in and knew I couldn’t make the remaining ~340 pages and retain my sanity.

[Sanjana Rajagopal · Rating 2 out of 5]

Book 90/100 for 2022 was this dense tome on early Mormon history, FLDS legal cases, and the whole Warren Jeffs debacle. I liked the first half and it was readable enough, but the second half became exceptionally boring, even for someone who has now read 6 books on this cult. The author went into a ton of detail on the UEP (the United Effort Plan), how FLDS “blended the beast” by taking advantage of welfare and state resources, and all kinds of legal battles over money and home leasing in the Crick. None of that interested me as much as the actual stories of different people or the psychology and mass manipulation behind it all. Anyways! Only 10 books to go until I hit 100 for the year!

[Geoffrey · Rating 2 out of 5]

I would have given this a 3, but every 3rd chapter was paraphrased reporting of the happenings. The most interesting parts of this book were when the author reported in detail in their own words. This is a truly tragic tale that is likely never going to end. I feel for the lack of freedom that this individuals have. Even after they escape, their mindset never fully recovers. I will be thinking twice about going anywhere near these communities when I am in Utah.

[Mandi Ehman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sean and I lived in St. George, Utah from 2003-2005 and often drove through Colorado City, home to FLDS, on our adventures. We frequently encountered FLDS women at Walmart and knew some of what was happening then, but Jeffs' arrest several years later brought more of it to light.

I'm currently obsessed with memoirs and investigations into cults, and my personal connection to this one outweighed the length and (perhaps unnecessary) level of detail!

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

So...four stars for being immaculately researched, etc, but now I do see there is an art to writing this kind of book, creating suspense, making it read dramatically...which this book lacked somewhat. Felt too long, too much detail, without enough drama for what is actually a quite dramatic story. Also, just, holy shit, everything that happened. Any taxpayer should be apoplectic.

[Tracy · Rating 5 out of 5]

FLDS

A very informative book. I just wish these people would have to obey the law like everyone esle! It's a shame that nobody makes them!

[Anastaciaknits · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was just not a fan.

I felt the author jumped around a lot, was very repetitive in places, and sometimes went off on tangents in the middle of a chapter.

[Suzanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fascinating subject and engaging writing style. Marked it down a star for some odd organizational choices.

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have a home in Southern Utah and have always been supportive of the rights of the FLDS, except when it came to underage marriage and welfare abuse". It is always delightful to see the FLDS at Costco, Roberts Crafts, and dinIng out. I have read many books on polygamy and many of these books were cited in Debra Weyermann's book. As I started reading this book I felt it was the "same old, same old". I also felt there were times when Weyermann used great literary license, such as when she described St. George's bustling downtown. However, my critical eye overlooked that as I got further into the book and realized the atrocities that I "knew" about were even greater. The American system seems only to fit the FLDS, when it meets their needs! Where is the US government in this? And why hasn't the welfare and all other government benefits been stopped to these people? Where also is the National Guard whose job it is to protect the homeland and thus the former FLDS returning to Short Creek? I still support the FLDS people, but feel their religion must operate under the restrictions of the US government or be disbanded. If Weyemann is not exaggerating the claims against the FLDS, these people (the FLDS Hierarchy) need to be stopped in their tracks. And if these people can get away with the atrocities that they have, who else is out there doing the same, if not worse???? Thank you Debra, for an insightful and highly researched book.

[Kathryn · Rating 1 out of 5]

How to review this book. Not an easy task for sure. I rarely give a book that I read one star, but that is because I usually would have quit a book I did not like before completing it and therefore do not feel it is fair to rate it since it was not read in its entirety. I find books on the FLDS (Fundamental Latter Day Saints) fascinating and I have read several so far and have a few others still in my TBR list. Because of my interest in this subject, I kept on reading this book. Although there were some interesting information in this book, I found the great majority of this book extremely boring and tedious. Much of what interested me, I have read in other books on the subject or expect that I will in the other books I have and plan to read on this subject. This book was just painfully slow, oftentimes repetitive, and confusing in respect to the sheer number of names, especially trying to keep straight which attorneys were which as well as the other political figures in this book. I have not felt such relief in being done with a book and really wish I had quit reading it back at twenty to twenty-five percent. There are many better books on this subject and I cannot recommend this one at all!

[Kitty · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a page turner and a great example of truth being stranger than fiction. It gives a bird's eye view of the early LDS Church as well as the now FLDS. When it comes to accepting what their respective prophet says, no questions asked, they are both the same. And when it comes to polygamy and that practice, it is hard to see much of a difference between the Prophet Joseph Smith and Brigham Young, both LDS, and the FLDS Prophet Warren Jeffs. The LDS no longer practice polygamy and they don't want to address it in any form. (except to say they no longer practice it) It was illegal then and it is illegal now. Can't see how "freedom of religion" gives any sect the right to break the law. I just feel badly for the young girls that are treated as livestock in our own country and in this day and age.

As a side note, the author does repeat himself several times. Can you say better editing? But if the point is to educate and drill home the point, then redundancy is okay, I guess.

It is maddening to know that Jeff's, while in prison, is still calling the shots. So disturbing!

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even though a lot of this dealt with legal wrangling and court cases, lawyers, appeals and judges, the author managed to keep it interesting. I already knew quite a bit about Warren Jeffs because I've read books about him before – I've read a few memoirs from women who escaped polygamy (though none that were married to him) and a memoir about his nephew who was molested by Jeffs and then cast out of the sect when he was only a young man.And I also read a book by the main investigator who built the case against Jeffs, which was an excellent book.I had a good background to understand everything. I'm not sure if someone without knowledge of the Jeffs case would be able to navigate through all the many legal details in this quite so easily.I think this book is more for someone who is really interested in learning all the details about Jeffs, someone who just wants an overview of what happened and how he was arrested, what people went through who were in his cult, etc., would do better picking up something else. But for someone who really wants to know the whole story about Warren Jeffs and his cult, this is a good addition to other reading.

[Paula · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! Polygamy and members of FLDS have always intrigued me. Answer Them Nothing definitely gave me a better understanding of the religion and the people caught up in it. Warren Jeffs was a truly disturbed individual with leadership qualities on the level of Hitler. I found myself wanting to shake the women and children who believed everything he was saying....."Get out!!". For those wanting to know more about the sect and how they managed to get away with significant tax evasion, child abuse and rape, this is the book for you. Well written and cleverly organized, Debra Weyermann shines a light on the influential decisions that led to Warren Jeffs' arrest & conviction.

[Jamie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has a pretty detailed and comprehensive view of the take down of the FLDS, focusing mostly on the financial and property-driven attacks from outside of the cult. I really enjoyed the author's sarcastic tone, since after having read numerous other books about and by FLDS "apostates," I don't know how you'd talk about it without a little cynicism. My rating would be higher, except that the details about the white-collar crimes going on aren't as interesting to me, and I felt that I'd have liked some more information about Ruth, whom she opened and closed the book with. It's a good book, though, and if you're business-minded, this is the one for you.

[Sarah]

I can't seem to get through this, every other book I can usually fly through, this is probably my fifth on the subject, and I've never had this problem before.

I keep putting it down. I keep getting wrapped up in a different book.

Maybe the stories are too similar to the ones I've read over and over? Maybe it's her writing style?
Maybe I know too much about the FLDS already and there is nothing that surprises me?

I don't know..I desperately want to finish this book, but I'm sure it'll continue to fall on the back burner for months at a time.

[Gregory Klages · Rating 3 out of 5]

Weyermann offers insightful coverage of some of the events around Warren Jeffs empire. Too often, however, she becomes enmeshed in minutiae that left this reader wondering what, exactly, she was trying to resolve. This tendency became particularly tedious after the core points of Jeffs' corruption, contradictions, paranoia, and idiosyncrasies became obvious.

In short, a potentially good book that would have benefitted from a rigourous edit.

For selected quotes, see:
http://generationpositivecanada.blogs...