Comfortably Uncomfortable

Last night I tuned in to a reality television show called Breaking The Faith.  It is about young people who are trying to escape the FLDS community in southern Utah, led by the now jailed “Prophet”, Warren Jeffs, and their lives once they’re out.

Initially, I was struck by the overwhelming mind control these people are trapped in.  How can so many people blindly follow, what, to the outside world, is obviously crazy?

Once I got past the antiquated hairstyles and dresses they are forced to wear, I was able to listen to these girls and the beliefs they still cling to, despite having left.  They still believe that Warren Jeffs is the true prophet and he was wrongfully imprisoned.  Even when confronted with the truth about his marriages to underage girls, they defended him saying that he was only following God’s orders.  The girls were also uncomfortable in the safe house, which they deemed “strange” and most of the food in the kitchen, they disposed of, saying that those foods were forbidden by the prophet.  Within the community the members are not allowed to consume milk, chocolate, pasta, bacon or various other seemingly non-offensive foods.

As for the people who still live in the compound, I couldn’t help but ask, “Why do they stay there?  Why don’t they get out?”  The answer became clear as I watched last night.  It’s truly a wonder that anyone ever escapes at all, with the brainwashing and threats these people face every day from the day they are born.  There has to be something within a person, a sense so strong, that tells them that what they’re subjected to is wrong.  It has to be a sense so powerful that they are willing to risk everything they have always known, to get out of it and go into a completely unknown, strange world.

I came away from the show wondering, if I had been born and raised in the same circumstances, would I have been one of the few to escape?  I certainly hope so, but the truth is, I’m not so sure.  I was able to find my way out of religion, thankfully, but not for lack of years of church attendance and living in the Bible belt.  But, as an American, in a free society, I was able to read as much as I wanted and listen to all views and opinions and was able to come to my own conclusions based on what I learned.  These FLDS members do not have that luxury.

 How many of us allow ourselves to be trapped in situations because it’s what we know and what we’ve always been told is right and we fear the unknown?  Whether it’s a bad marriage, a job in which we are miserable, an overweight body, a religion that is lording over us and making us feel guilt for being human, a political party that tells us that to be a part of it we must agree with everything it does and defend it at all costs, there are countless situations that can hold us back and keep us from seeking the truth.  Oddly enough, many of us find some level of comfort within these negative circumstances.  We look at the FLDS polygamist cult and think, “How weird.  I could never be that way.”  But, in reality, many of us are more like them than we think, although we’re not physically isolated from the outside world.   I am impressed by these young men and women who escape the cult.  They are far braver than many of us would ever be.

I look forward to next week’s episode as they venture out into the real world. My hope for them is they find a welcoming society and they’re able to eventually find their truth.  As for the rest of us… well, I hope for the same thing.