Product Description

"I know girls as young as 12 years old who have been forced to marry their stepfathers," Laura Chapman states in God’s Brothel. For the first time, the stories of Laura and 17 other former polygamist wives are being told in book form. Unique among books on this topic, God’s Brothel presents accounts from 10 of the 11 major Mormon polygamist sects and several independent families. This thorough coverage reveals patterns of physical, sexual and emotional abuse common to these groups.

In addition to the women’s stories, God’s Brothel presents a fascinating discussion of polygamy’s history in America. Moore-Emmett recounts the prosecution of polygamists and current freedom of religion arguments used to justify its practice. She also provides a coherent breakdown of the major contemporary polygamist groups and places U.S. polygamy in a world context. This background information greatly clarifies much of the confusion surrounding this complex issue.

Far from affecting only Utah, Mormon and Christian fundamentalist polygamist groups are found in 30 U.S. states, Mexico, and Canada. Conservative estimates place those living in polygamy in North America at 50,000 to 100,000 and growing. Recently, members of Utah’s Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (FLDS) moved to Texas to escape prosecution after first telling local officials that they were opening a hunting lodge. This event represents just one instance of polygamy’s spread across the country, a spread that could bring God’s Brothel to a neighborhood near you.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #23650 in Books
• Published on: 2004-06-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 240 pages

Review
"'Not a single woman I've ever known is happy,' one polygamous wife says. Reading 'God's Brothel,' you'll understand why." -- Denver Post, August 15, 2004

"... a stinging indictment of the hidden practice of polygamy, in which patriarchy reaches an almost unfathomable extreme." -- Patricia Ireland, former president of the NOW

"As God's Brothel makes clear, fundamentalist Mormon polygamy can lead to pedophilia, rape, domestic violence... incest and welfare fraud." -- Editorial, Salt Lake Tribune, August 15, 2004

"Reading [these stories] I felt like a curious spectator to a gruesome accident." -- Fred Silverstein, former producer, CNN, CNBC

"[An] illuminating new book..." -- CNN.com, August 1, 2004

From the Publisher
Until I received the manuscript for God’s Brothel, I had given little thought to polygamy, even though I had grown up in Utah and attended school with the children of polygamists. I thought, "Whatever. They don’t seem to be hurting anyone."

God’s Brothel changed my view entirely, with its reports of the women who escaped from polygamist groups and several independent families. The book describes a patriarchal world where girls from a very young age are treated as sexual objects and denied an education.  Sexual abuse and coercion are at the core of these chilling accounts of Christian and Mormon fundamentalist polygamy.   

The women’s stories told in God’s Brothel offer a rare insight into the complexities of polygamy in the United States. The book debunks any idea that polygamy as practiced in the U.S. is a "quaint lifestyle choice," or that the instances of abuse are rare.

From the Inside Flap
"It never made sense to me that God would make you marry someone you can't stand." - Stacy

A chilling indictment of contemporary Mormon and Christian fundamentalist polygamy, God's Brothel reveals the gruesome facts about Bible-based polygamy through the brave voices of 18 women who escaped from 10 of the 11 main religious groups as well as independent families. Their stories include rape, incest, orgies, and violence, making this form of polygamy more akin to sexual slavery than to any quaint religious or lifestyle choice.

Customer Reviews

Interesting Subject Matter, Not So Greatly Written
God's Brothel is a fascinating look at polygamy in the United States within the fundamentalist Mormon religion. According to Joseph Smith, the founder and first prophet of the Church of Latter Day Saints, he received a revelation that the "principle" of polygamy was to be followed, and they did. Years later, as the LDS church eventually settled in Utah territory, the big issue with attaining statehood was that they practiced polygamy. The reigning prophet of that time received a new revelation; polygamy was no longer to be practiced and the LDS Church threatened to excommunicate anyone who did so. Well, there were many followers who didn't accept this and saw this not as a true revelation but one that was "received" just to satify the United States government; they were unwilling to recognize this new revelation and
went on to form offshoots of the LDS Church.

God's Brothel is not a bad book but it's not a great one either. It attempts to give some background on some of the fundamentalist churches, the psychology of why these women stay and also includes a few personal stories of women who have left their respective churches. My biggest problem with the book is that it feels like the author was trying to fill up space with big print and many wasted pages with forwards and introductions and not enough content. There was so much more to say and the personal stories and background infomration could have had a little more depth.

There are much better books out there that give a personal viewpoint of what it's like to live (and leave) polygamy such as "Escape" by Carolyn Jessup who really explains why women just don't leave. Another good one is "His Favorite Wife" by Susan Ray. Again, this is not a bad book but kind of like a Reader's Digest version of the subject matter. It's not worth the money.

DON'T BOTHER - POORLY WRITTEN, WASTE OF TIME
While not many would argue that abuses happen in SOME polygamous families, most would also readily agree that the same alleged abuses occur in "normal" families (whether one parent or two). It seems that the writer has an agenda, and lets this color every sentence contained in this book. Unfortunately, she begins with an unconvincing legal analysis which can be likened to the decades of arguments supporting slavery, prohibitions on interracial marriage, and those forbidding same-sex marriage. Like it or not, some people may CHOOSE to live lives we don't all agree with. Fortunately, most of us take a live and let live attitude, and respect the right of the individual to be self-determinative - this is the essence of being an American. This is not true of Ms. Moore-Emmett who apparently knows best how each of us should live, after all she tells us throughout this book how things SHOULD be, and how we should and shouldn't be allowed to live - she's not exactly capable of an unbiased look at the subject. Furthermore, I was offended by the fact that she wrote about the experiences of the women as she interpreted them (complete with unnecessary commentary), rather than allowing these women to have and use their own voices. I would have enjoined hearing the storytellers' voices rather than the author's interpretation of what their stories meant as she heard them. This is particularly true because Ms. Moore-Emmett is NOT a great writer.
In addition to the poor writing, the muffling of the womens' voices, and the extraordinary bias, are the errors. For example, early in the book she tells us that Joel LeBaron continues as the prophet of the LeBaron group, but approximately half way through the book she quite correctly tells us Joel was executed at the command of one of his brothers. On pages 102-103 she tells a story of one man losing his job for stealing arms from a military base to prepare the Utah group for Armageddon, then on the very next page, she tells us they were stolen the arms to sell to Iran. Well which is it? Does the compound need to defend against the imminent Armageddon, or is the man aligned with terrorists? It seems the author will stretch the truth of the story to make it more interesting. This point brings to mind the confusing nature of the writing - several times I reread portions in an attempt to understand who had performed certain acts, or who was involved in certain transactions, and even with several reads it was sometimes impossible to be certain.
Overall, this book is a simplistic, conclusory, and biased look at a complex issue. There are many much better books on the market that allow the women of polygamy to speak for themselves, and these tend to represent a much more balanced look at the subject. While I have no interest in living polygamy or polygyny, I cannot confidently say we should have the right to interfere with the choices individuals make, except to the extent that they ask us to support it through various forms of public assistance. Perhaps the answer is not prosecuting polygamy since we have seen this fail several times, but to place restrictions or conditions on aid. I'm sure this action would also be met with arguments of privacy violations, but at the end of the day, I think most taxpayers would agree that some sacrifice for a handout that can be refused is fair.

GREAT TRANSACTION!

The book arrived in only a few days and was in good condition.
Would do business with this seller again!