Ousted from sect, 'lost boys' start anew
 2 former believers offer helping hand
 
By Angie Wagner
The Associated Press
Chicago Tribune
 
SALT LAKE CITY -- Cast out by his religion, denied by his family and left with nowhere else to go, the teenager slept in a tool shed just steps from a company owned by relatives.

They went home at night while Tom Sam Steed stole bread and nutrition bars from a gas station to survive. He tried several times to kill himself, convinced, he said, that he was worth nothing.

His salvation came when he got a job cleaning carpets and finally left the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or FLDS, and its leader, Warren Jeffs.

The FLDS is different from the mainstream Mormon church, which has denounced the FLDS.

A scripted life

Former FLDS members describe a religion that thrives on domination. Every detail of their life, they say, was scripted -- from plural marriages to what they could wear, whom they could associate with and what job they could have.

In the past four years, more than 400 teenage boys reportedly have been excommunicated, many for seemingly minor infractions such as watching a movie or talking to a girl.

Former church members suspect something else is causing the banishment of young men. In a polygamous community, there are only so many women to go around. Older men don't want to compete for wives. The boys must go.

Now, they have been thrust into a society they have been taught is evil. They are homeless, uneducated, confused and unprepared for a world where they can make their own choices. They are lost boys.

In many ways, they are typical teenagers. They brag about souped-up cars and listen to Eminem.

But ask them how many brothers and sisters they have and it's clear these teens have had unusual lives. Seventeen brothers and sisters for one, 21 for another. Most of their fathers have at least two wives.

Almost all the 11 boys gathered on a recent day grew up in the "creek" -- the twin FLDS communities of Colorado City, Ariz., and Hildale, Utah, where most of the estimated 10,000 residents are church members.

Living in the creek, along the Utah-Arizona border, means total submission to the church.

"We're taught the only way into heaven is through this church," said Steed.

Some of the lost boys ran away. Others say they were ousted for violations such as wanting to go to public school.

Rod Parker, a Salt Lake City lawyer and spokesman for the church, denies that. Parker said it is hard to generalize about the lost boys, but said they are not involved with the church anymore because of choices they have made.

Three years ago, Shem Fischer and his brother, Dan, helped a few excommunicated boys find jobs and an education in Salt Lake City. Former FLDS members, the brothers knew the struggles the boys faced.

About six months ago the brothers started getting calls from others who had been kicked out and sometimes dropped off in nearby communities with just the clothes on their backs. Word got around that the brothers wanted to help, and soon more than 400 excommunicated boys reportedly had been identified.

There were so many, a non-profit foundation connected to Dan Fischer's dental products manufacturing business couldn't support them all. Now the brothers have turned to the public for help for the boys.

"I hope that they can see they are . . . valuable human citizens," Shem Fischer said.

When they are alone, the lost boys speak of a childhood stolen. Richard Gilbert, 19, said he wishes he could have played Little League baseball.

Six lost boys recently filed a conspiracy lawsuit against Jeffs and Sam Barlow, a former Mohave County deputy sheriff and associate of Jeffs', accusing them of "systematic excommunication" of young men in order to reduce competition for wives. The lawsuit also accuses them of assault, terroristic threats and child kidnapping, allegations Parker denied and said were "sensationalist."

Parker said the lawsuit violates the 1st Amendment because the church can excommunicate anyone it chooses. Efforts to reach other church leaders were unsuccessful.

Author is mentor

Steed already is getting a new start. He recently traveled to Boulder, Colo., to visit his mentor, Jon Krakauer, author of "Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith," a book about the FLDS church.

Steed said he no longer contemplates suicide and has been helping the other lost boys.

"When you come out of it, it's hard," he said.

"I'm actually going to maybe make something of myself."
 
chicagotribune.com
Originally published September 7, 2004
 
Back