New York Times bestselling author and Edgar Award nominee Stephen Singular discusses his new book When Men Become Gods: Mormon Polygamist Warren Jeffs, His Cult of Fear, and the Women Who Fought Back.
One of the women profiled in Singular's book, Laura Chapman, a former FLDS member who escaped polygamy and was profiled recently on CBS' 48 Hours, also speaks at this event- Tattered Cover Book Store
Bio
Laura Chapman
Laura Chapman is a child services worker for the state of Colorado and an activist against polygamy.
She was raised in the Fundamentalist Latter-Day Saints community until she left with her five children.
Stephen Singular
Since 1987, Singular has published 17 more non-fiction books that reflect a wide range of interest and diversity of styles. Twice a New York Times best selling author, he's written three books about sports, including collaborations with NBA legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and controversial NFL superstar Terrell Owens, and biographies of Hollywood power players Michael Ovitz and David Geffen. True crime remained the focal point of his work, but he'd begun writing less about individual crimes and more about social crimes. His 1995 study of the O.J. Simpson case, Legacy of Deception, went beneath the media hysteria surrounding these murders and connected the violent bigotry of The Order with the racist corruption inside the Los Angeles Police Department. Singular's 1999 book, Presumed Guilty: An Investigation into the JonBenet Ramsey Case, the Media, and the Culture of Pornography, performed a similar role for the infamous child killing in Boulder, Colorado.
Marriage to more than one spouse at a time. Although the term may also refer to polyandry (marriage to more than one man), it is often used as a synonym for polygyny (marriage to more than one woman), which appears to have once been common in most of the world and is still found widely in some cultures. Polygyny seems to offer the husband increased prestige, economic stability, and sexual companionship in cultures where pregnancy and lactation dictate abstinence, while offering the wives a shared labour burden and an institutionalized role where a surplus of unmarried women might otherwise exist. The polygynous family is often fraught with bickering and sexual jealousy; to preserve harmony, one wife may be accorded seniority, and each wife and her children may have separate living quarters. Polyandry is relatively rare; in parts of the Himalayas, where brothers may marry a single woman, the practice serves to limit the number of descendants and keep limited land within the household.
I find it disturbing that a site such as FORA.TV, which claims in its objectives the goal of avoiding "spin" or issue "positioning" would support this video as consistent with its objectives.
The Speaker in the video (and indirectly FORA.TV for hosting it) support the idea that perceptions of outside viewers (the speaker and FORA) should be able to define a relatively large cross-section of America by the actions of a small group despite the larger group disavowing any ties or approval of any of the small factions actions.
If FOR A supports this course of action, I should expect to see the following video’s posted to the religion category as well:
1. Why all Catholics are Pedophiles base on the actions of Catholic Priests.
2. Find out about how every Muslim in the world believes that you should convert to the One true faith or you will be killed in the righteous name of Allah.
3. Be wary of All Southern Baptists, because they Bomb abortion clinics and kill doctors at their homes.
4. etc. etc.
The LDS Church and its membership have without equivocation but rather great consistency have public asserted that Warren Jeffs and his group of followers are criminals, heretics and not associated formally or informally with them in any regard. There is no tacit approval or support for their actions. Why does FORA determine it is fair to label the larger group base on a faction that while claims some common history from over a hundred years ago, but in actions today acts in a criminal and abhorable fashion?
And FORA.TV supports this and thinks this is appropriate?
I had enjoyed the content and materials provided by Fora.tv up until now. I had considered Fora a good source for accurate and unbiased reports on a large variety of important social, economic, and political topics. However, this piece that alleges that the FLDS Polygamous Sect and the LDS Church headquatered in Salt Lake are the same organization smacks of religious bigotry and bias (or at the very least poor and unprofessional journalism) that is too much to overcome and on top of that I heard that Fora has refused to acknowledge this mistake even after being confronted with this fact. I for one will never come back to Fora or recommend it to any of my friends and will in fact actively direct people away from Fora, unless Fora does something to correct this problem.
Claims that FLDS church members are "Mormon" are false and perpetuate bigotry against the LDS church. Members and leaders of the LDS church DO NOT practice polygamy and DO NOT condone the practices performed by the fundamentalist church.
By including this content on your website, you are perpetuating these untrue associations. I, for one, will no longer visit or support your site in any way, and I will encourage others to avoid it.
I won't be coming back to this site if you continue to push lies about my church. I am LDS and know that the FLDS is not a part of our church just like the RLDS is not affiliated with us. If you're just doing this to cause an angry discussion don't worry about future traffic from me. I'll also be advising as many LDS about this site as I can. The LDS are very well connected and not only will it be out to all LDS about this site but many of our non-LDS friends will be notified. You have a great site but not if you have to lower yourselves to this.
member. 
