This is NOT a "mormon" sect, peeps. Not, not, not. Not a breakaway, not a fundamentalist, NOT Mormon in ANY way. Period.

well, it's certainly not catholic. not lutheran. not baptist. not islamic. not buddhist. are you thinking it's a pastafarian sect, then? oddly enough, and historically, this sect split from, derived from, and adheres to, fundamentally LDS tenets - which the orthodoxy recanted on over a century ago to earn statehood. so it would seem they are indeed "mormon," just not orthodox LDS.

Warren Jeff's father, Rulon Jeffs, was a Morman Fundamentalist. Warren wrestled the leadership of that "sect" away from his siblings when his father died.

Read 'Under the Banner of Heaven' by Jon Kraukaer. It will all make sense to you.

Under the banner of heaven has, by several credible sources, as lacking in facts.

While they did break away from the LDS church, it is misleading to call them Mormon. The term Mormon is generally assossiated with the original LDS faith, and so many are confused. They think that it is our faith that has done these things, and it is not true. We simply say they are not Mormons as a clarification to those who do not know better.

Actually you broke away from the original LDS chruch.....

Sorry to burst your bubble, but they are Mormon because they believe that the Book of Mormon is divinely inspired (rather than a work of fiction as I believe). They may have broken off from the more mainstream LDS church, but that does not make them non-Mormon. In fact, most people view the entire LDS movement as a cult (whether or not it is fundamental, orthodox, etc.). To say that members of the FLDS church are not Mormon would be like saying that the Lutheran church is not Christian because they broke away from the original Christian (Catholic) church.

Besides that, I thought that most of the people we call "Mormon" actually prefer to be called "Latter day saints".

"They're not Mormon because we say so." Well, the LDS church is the institution that started the polygamy movement in the United States, defied the federal government for a long time, and only gave in when it became clear that Utah would never gain statehood until the LDS church renounced polygamy. I realize modern polygamists are an embarrassment to the LDS church, but there's a historical and doctrinal connection between the church and various fringe movements that official denials can't erase.

There is no such thing as a polygamous Mormon. This sect separated from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (often referred to simply as Mormons by lazy journalists) when said Church discontinued polygamy a CENTURY ago. This group calls themselves Fundamentalist Latter-day Saints, a crucial distinction, especially for me. Loose, casual descriptions and fictional TV like Big Love have made it so that my sons (who I am raising as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) apparently will never be able to be president. At least get it right so that my sacrifices for my faith are respected. See lds.org for more information. Unlike most (maybe all?) other religions mentioned, we Mormons have a central authority which all true Mormons defer to and thus have the ability to truly excommunicate someone from our church. You are not Mormon simply because you believe in the Book of Mormon or any other single tenet of our faith, or even because you SAY you are. Single congregations don't vote on what they decide they will believe: it all comes from our headquarters in Salt Lake. See lds.org for more information.

And, by the way, my husband and I both descend from separate polygamist Mormon families (when this was still possible), several generations ago. I am proud of their commitment to their faith, in spite of how uncomfortable it makes me feel now and how repulsive polygamy seems to me personally. They were escaping serious persecution in the Mid-West to worship as they saw fit, a constitutional guarantee that was not extended to them even PRIOR to instituting polygamy. None of these feelings or history excuse the FLDS sect in Texas, nor their mistreatment of children and women involved.

I never disagreed. I simply stated that, for the sake of clarification, it would be better to refer to these groups by their official acranim, FLDS. I would also prefer the original church being refered to as LDS instead of Mormon.

The term Mormon was originally used by the mobs that persecuted the saints. It was meant in a derogatory way. It is very similar in origin to the term NIgger.

I made a simple, and polite, request so that those who do not understand the difference between the groups would not get confused.

This statement is completely false. The original church was, ans is, headquartered in Salt Lake Utah. The line of presidents can be traced through the laws of seccession back to Joseph Smith. We are the original faith.

This reminds me a lot of the "No True Scotsman" fallacy.

These people are mormons the way Fred Phelps and his cult are baptists: they've taken a perfectly fine religion and bastardized it to meet their own wants.

As you mention, the LDS church didn't come up with polygamy until they became established in Utah. Originally, it was a special deal for high ranking church officials. Of course, once it got going, it spread to the general membership. Do you consider polygamy part of the "commitment to their faith?" Given the way polygamy rose and fell within the church, the divisions it caused among the faithful, and the opportunistic nature of the practice, it looks like plain old fashioned hypocrisy to me.

You have misunderstood my post. Members of the LDS church call themselves "Latter Day Saints" or simply "Saints". The term "Mormon" simply means someone who believes that the Book of Mormon is divinely inspired. It seems that there are a number of groups that have splintered off from the LDS, of which the FLDS is but one. There are also individuals who believe that the Book of Mormon is divinely inspired, but are not members of any church. The LDS only has the authority to excommunicate its own members. It has no authority over those who do not recognize its authority and I am pretty sure that the FLDS does not recognize the authority of the LDS (probably believing it to be corrupt).

I am not disrespecting your faith. I simply believe that your faith is in error.