| Arizona man opposes polygamist sect Excommunicated man says head of church must be stopped | |||||
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By Brian Haynes Las Vegas Review-Journal | |||||
COLORADO CITY, Ariz. -- The church tried to take Ross Chatwin's family. Now it wants his home. But the Colorado City man is not giving up without a fight. In an unprecedented display of defiance, Chatwin is publicly opposing the leader of his Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, a sect practicing polygamy that broke away from the Mormon Church. Surrounded by more than two dozen reporters from across the country, the 35-year-old father of six stood on his porch Friday and vowed to fight Warren Jeffs, a man known as the Prophet who controls the church and its holdings in the community on the Arizona-Utah border. "We are being told to leave our home, and we want to make a stand that we are not leaving," Chatwin said with his wife and children behind him. "We will stand up against Warren." Because Jeffs is leader of the church, his word is taken as the word of God. He has the power to expel members from the church, evict them from their homes, and reassign wives and children to other men. Most people in the community of about 6,000 people obey his commands without question because of their deep religious convictions and belief that Jeffs speaks for God. "They believe Warren Jeffs has control over their eternal salvation, and they live in fear," former church member and town historian Ben Bistline said. Since taking power in 2002, Jeffs has expelled close to 100 men from the church and separated their families, he said. The latest round of expulsions came two weeks ago, when Jeffs excommunicated Colorado City Mayor Dan Barlow and about 20 other powerful members of the community, which includes neighboring Hildale, Utah. Barlow, whose father founded the community in the early 20th century, and the other men have left town and have not been heard from, Bistline said. Jeffs expelled Chatwin from the church last year and ordered his wife, Lori, to leave her husband and take their children. But unlike most women before her, she stood by her man. "I'm supporting my husband," Lori Chatwin said. "I will not leave him. A lot of people have left their husbands, and they're hurt by it." Jeffs has ordered the Chatwin family to leave their home, which like most of the homes in Colorado City and Hildale sits on land owned by a church-controlled trust called the United Effort Plan. Some former church members have successfully fought their evictions in court, but many in the community still fear losing their homes, Ross Chatwin said. He said he took his fight with Jeffs public in hopes of rallying support against the leader he compares to Adolf Hitler. "Let's stand up for what's right, and let's stop this evil dictator from destroying any more families," he said. Since their expulsion, the Chatwins have been shunned by their community. Formerly close friends won't talk to them anymore. Ross Chatwin has seen a drastic decline in his stucco business. And people on the street either ignore them or tell them they are destined for hell. Ron Barton, an investigator with the Utah Attorney General's Office, was on hand to observe the conference in the isolated community about 160 miles northeast of Las Vegas. He said the community's fear of speaking out has hindered investigations into child sexual abuse allegations in the community where teenage girls are routinely married to much older men. "My hope is that people will follow Ross's lead and have the courage to speak out," Barton said. Bistline said Ross Chatwin's stand was the best thing to ever happen to the town. "This kid has got more balls," he said. "He's either dumb or brave." Amid recent fears of violence in the community and Ross Chatwin's unprecedented show of defiance, the Mohave County sheriff's office sent about six extra deputies to watch over the news conference. But Ross Chatwin said any fears for his safety were outweighed by his fears of Jeffs' continued reign. "I do fear that some overly zealous person from within the FLDS church might take it upon themselves to do something rash," Chatwin said. "But more than that, I fear what would happen if Jeffs was allowed to act unchecked." | |||||
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reviewjournal.com Originally published Saturday, January 24, 2004 | |||||
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