Source / Credit: CNN
San Angelo, Texas (CNN) — A Texas judge warned Warren Jeffs against calling “for the jury’s destruction” shortly after the polygamous sect leader said Friday during his sexual assault trial that those who prosecuted his church would face “sickness and death.”
The comments that precipitated the warning to Jeffs, who has been granted the right to represent himself, occurred around midday after Judge Barbara Walther had sent the jury out of the San Angelo courtroom.
“I, the Lord God of heaven, ask the courts to cease the prosecution of my holy ways,” Jeffs said. “There will be a judgment against all those who prosecute the church. … I shall let all people know of your unjust ways. I will bring sickness and death. Let this cease.”
Walther then told him that “if you call for the jury’s destruction” while the jury — who will decide if Jeffs is guilty on two counts of sexual assault on a child — is present, “you will be removed from the courtroom.”
The defendant responded by saying, “I am not threatening. I am releasing a message.”
The picture is of Warren Jeff’s wives.
Categories: CHRISTIANITY
It is important to note that the police is not prosecuting polygamy, but ‘under-age’ sexual activity and ‘forced’ sexual activity.
How beautiful is the Islamic teaching on marriage in contrast.
San Angelo, Texas (CNN) — A jury in Texas Tuesday sentenced polygamist leader Warren Jeffs to life in prison for sexually assaulting children.
Jurors came back with the sentence after 30 minutes of deliberations.
The life sentence came for Jeffs’ conviction for aggravated sexual assault of a child under age 14, and the jury also imposed a 20-year prison sentence for his conviction of sexual assault of a child under age 17. The judge ruled the sentences would be served consecutively.
The jury began its work Tuesday morning following brief closing statements by prosecutor Eric Nichols. Jeffs, who has argued that he and his faith are being persecuted, instructed his attorneys to deliver no closing statement. Jeffs chose not to be in the courtroom during Nichols’ statement, in which the prosecutor said Jeffs belongs in prison.
http://www.cnn.com/2011/CRIME/08/09/texas.polygamist.jeffs/index.html?hpt=hp_t2
The media should make distinction between polygamy, sexual assault, rape and incest. Whereas polygamy may be against the law but is morally acceptable, every thing else in this list is reprehensible.
Prophet Abraham and David and many other Jewish prophets were polygamous. So, one would hope that USA national media will make the distinction in describing Jeff Warren and not put every thing is the same basket.
Almost every male in the West now indulges in serial polygamy, by dating one person after another and of course does not commit rape and incest! Does it help clarify the distinctions here?
Lots of men in the West do not only indulge in serial polygamy (one ‘wife or partner’ after the other) but in fact actual polygamy (more than one at the same time). Just because they do not have a piece of paper (marriage contract) does not mean that they are not ‘de facto polygamists’.
I recall the answer of Hadhrat Khalifatul Masih IV in one of the questions-and-answers sessions. In his tours of European and American countries the question of polygamy of course came up very frequently. He answered it many times but sometimes got a bit tired of the same questions again and again. Once therefore when the question came up about ‘polygamy in Islam’ the simple and short answer was: “You are practicing it here too”.
Thank you brother Rafiq for your comment. We have a wonderful Op-Ed by Qasim Rashid on this issue also here:
http://www.themuslimtimes.org/2011/08/law/op-ed-american-polygamy-why-isnt-it-legal-yet%e2%80%8f
Ahmadiyya Muslim Community launches a new state of the art website, to engage Christian, agnostic and atheist readers.
Especially check out the Homepage and page about ‘Revelation,’ which is important as the secular world is in denial of it altogether.
Find the link in the Muslim Times or try: http://islamforwest.org/
Comments and suggestions are always welcome.
Nice To Know: NO:1 Big Lord’s Commandements and Guidance for mankind follows;
1. Eat of what is lawful and good in the earth (Quran Chapter2 verse 169)
2. Kill not your children for fear of poverty.(Qur’an ch17v32)
3. Commit not adultry(or fornication). It is evil way.(Qura’an ch17v33)
4. Punishment for adulteress and adulterer follows;
Flog each one of them (the adulteress and the adulterer) with a hundred stripes.
Note: Commiting adultry is prohibited in Islam for peaceful environment in the country. Eating good vs bad food is not prohibited in Islam. Killing children is prohibited in Islam. May NO:1 Big Lord Allah bless all mankind a fiathful, peaceful, happy, healthy and wealthy long life. Amen
“Almost every male in the West now indulges in serial polygamy and of course does not commit rape and incest! Does it help clarify the distinctions here?” – Zia, this is totally false. I live in the US and for us this type of thing is extremely frowned upon (marriage certificate or not).This is so far off base, stop spreading your biased ill-informed pipe-dream.
Dee, how many American males have you met who stuck to only one ‘partner’ for the whole life?
Tschannen sahib, perhaps Dee means that Americans practice serial monogamy rather than polygamy.
True, serial monogamy is more wide spread than polygamy. Polygamy in the Muslim world is practiced by up to 5% of the population only. In the West the percentage will not be less. It is just ‘human nature’….
Yes, there is a huge difference between “Mandatory Unlimited Polygamy” and “Conditional Limited Polygamy”. Their perceptions stand Oceans Apart.
Islam never permitted or encouraged any sort of Mandatory Unlimited Polygamy and condemned it to be a way of human life. Rather, it spoke of Conditional Polygamy as a redressal to certain chaotic social ways.
It might be interesting to note that EACH AND EVERY QURAANIC COMMANDMENT IS NOT FOR EVERY TIME. Many are “Time Bound and Conditional”.
This flexibility in Islamic Jurisprudence (Fiqh) is worth (at least) as much praise as is due for any other socio-legal domain(s). In fact it deserves much more.
Polygamy in Islam is permitted as The Second Choice (subject to the conditions defined in traditions and hadith – e.g. (crippling) sickness of the first wife, etc. The first ONUS however is given to Monogamy.
More than that – when the Need of the Time was:-
1. to CURB human trade;
2. to ALLEVIATE the institutionalized prostitution;
3. to FINISH the tribal tradition of Mandatory Unlimited Polygamy;
Conditional Polygamy was allowed – AND – society was set free from those attributes.
Before the inception of Islam the Institutionalized Prostitution had occurred and perpetually spread with the passing of time because the widows and particularly the war-widows and orphans were not permitted to marry or re-marry and the social system did not sustain them for their living;
The historical truth is that the institutionalized prostitution “STOPPED” for the first time in history (only) during the early period of Islam
It happened because all those individual(s); the unfortunate victims of the social order were slowly and gradually absorbed into families.
This is how “ISLAM” successfully erased an evil mark off the humane pride.
If conditions happen to exist (again) the same way, the same commandment provides the solution – AND – it is provisional and not one of those which have to be practiced by everyone and every day.
Generally I agree with what you said, but the I do not think the rules are all that restrictive as it would sound from reading your above explanation. Wars are still going on with hundreds of thousands of widows (Afghanistan, Iraq, to a lesser extend Syria and Libya), but besides that in the West we have hundreds of thousands of divorcees and even unmarried ladies who have difficulties finding a match.
There are two aspects worth a note:-
ONE:-
The Society as it was immediately before the establishment of FIRST ISLAMIC STATE of MADINA:-
The three prominent customs of that society, though vulgar but accepted as the “Glorious Norms” were:-
1. Human Trade;
2. Institutionalized Prostitution; and
3. The Tribal Tradition of Mandatory Unlimited Polygamy, even to take widow mothers in to the harems.
All these three ills were successfully eradicated (by the Islamic state) with Polygamy; for which providence of respectful family living was a prerequisite.
If Afghani, Iraqi and Syrians etc., do not care to act per Quraanic Teachings, who is at fault, Them or the Teachings?
TWO:-
The western societies (I am sure) do not consider themselves obligated to act upon the Quraanic Teachings.
ALSO; THE ORPHANS:-
In the pre-Islamic society; the toughest life (any one can imagine of) was of an Orphan.
Violence, Abuse and Usurping the properties, rights, inheritance and privileges of an orphan or many orphans was considered a triumphant act of a fantastic hero.
A female orphan faced much more than a male orphan; and was booty for the powerful section of the society.
Female orphans were declined any right to marry or re-marry.
They were the lowest segment of that society and (forgive me for the expression) society would just walk over their being.
Only Islam declared the orphans as human; as much human as any other citizen of the Islamic state.
It realised that they are the people in difficulty and taught its followers to protect the rights, privileges, properties and pride of the orphans and also assigned equal marital rights for them; and encouraged their marriages {POLYGAMY} to let them enter the asylum of a committed family structure.
You really don’t understand much of the West, do you? When you speak of “polygamy practised de facto” you mean extramarital affairs. Well, true, many married men have this kind of love affairs. Where’s the difference? The difference lies in the fact that not only men, but also women do it. So, whereas it is NOT legal to marry more than one woman (and one man), it is possible to follow one’s nature (if it is the case) with no difference between sexes (human beings are all equal in front of the law)
Following the nature is true for the animals in this time and age of civilization. But now when there is one religion of God exists and totally condemns these ways not to happen in future. Old testimony or new Bible both don’t allow modern prostitution, extra marital affairs and killing some one like abortion. We just don’t want to understand.
Interesting that this article keeps popping up among the ‘most read’ of the day or month. What is so fascinating about this topic?
It is high up in Google eyes for Jeff Warren. So, every time someone wants to know about Jeff Warren, he gets introduced to the Muslim Times.