BIG Love - Texas Style

Actually, the FLDS only recently migrated to the Lone Star State. For nearly a century, the obscure fundamentalist Mormon sect has been based in the state-bordered twin cities of Hilldale, Utah and Colorado City, Arizona where many of their members still reside.

I've been to Colorado City and Hilldale many times, and have personally known some of the polygamists who live there because, back in the nineties, I worked with an engineering firm who designed and surveyed many of the streets, and utilities for these communities.

With my t-shirt and long dark hair pulled into a pony-tail, I was obviously not from there, and a parade of local female driven automobiles rolled by throughout the day to view the spectacle of the long-haired surveyor standing behind a tripod. For lunch I sometimes dined with members of the community in the town cafeteria, or a little sandwich shop on the Hilldale side of town. I also frequented the local well-stocked grocery store, and purchased a couple of books from the used book store.

I felt comfortable discussing any topic with them, including their community. On most occasions, I was treated with respect by the citizens of these towns who seemed completely normal, except for the fact that they practiced polygamy, and wore funny clothes. Contrary to what the hyperbolic media would have one think, the women there weren't chained to any posts, and in fact exercised a great deal of freedom. They could be seen shopping as far away as Mesquite, Nevada and Saint George, Utah, doing whatever they wanted to do... with or without their husbands.

Welcome to Texas?

Fundamentalist Christians, especially Southern Baptists, HATE Mormons vehemently, so when members of this decidedly unsavory brand of Mormondom recently moved to rural Texas, the local family-values folks freaked out. Their anti-Mormon rhetoric was stepped up to frenzy level as presidential hopeful, Mit Romney, appeared as yet another Mormon threat to their uni-dimensional world-view. Big Love was destined to go down... Texas style!

Lone Star State Church

Recently, over four hundred children were taken into protective custody by the State of Texas. Southern Baptist Church buses wisped them speedily away to be re-brainwashed.

Does it bother anyone else that the state used Southern Baptist Church property to transport the children... or was it the church who used the state? In any event... what happened to separation of church and state in Texas?

"We did it for the children..."

What is most dis-settling about this whole ordeal, is that over 400 children have been taken by the state, and NO CHARGES HAVE BEEN FILED. Child Protective Services claim child abuse, yet have not produced any evidence that this heinous crime occurs with any more frequency among this singled-out polygamous sect than in the rest of society. Personally, I am a bit suspicious of their motives because abuse was one of the false claims used as leverage against the Branch Davidians which disastrously resulted in the death over one hundred innocent children at Waco Texas on April 19 1993.

Boycott Texas

The state which gave us George W. Bush, the assassination of John F. Kennedy, and the Waco fiasco, has recently been added to my boycott list. Mighty Mo and I had planned to go to Austin Texas this year for our 22nd wedding anniversary, but now, we don't want to contribute to a yeller state that victimizes innocent children. We'll go someplace nice instead... like Nevada.

Mess With Texas

Dark Side of the Pawn or Pawn of the Dark-Side

I have too many t-shirts. Most of them are industry shirts from the high-tech bubble days that have been collected from trade-shows from all around the world. They're all stored away in a box in the garage and I'll probably never wear any of them.

The t-shirt. It's really quite a strange concept when you stop to think about it. Gaggles of people, including myself,* behaving like walking billboards, providing free advertising for sports teams, rock bands, personalities, corporate logos, and etc.

I don't know when it became popular to put images and signs on the traditionally short-sleeved, upper-torso garment, but today, t-shirting is a multi-billion dollar global industry. The casual uniform of choice for the early 21st century.

I remember one particular T that I wore in grade school which featured an old looking, long-haired stoney-eyed hippie brandishing the dual-fingered peace sign. Across the image swept the groovily sculpted text, "I'm so far out that I'm in." I made it myself... with help from my mom, who actually did all the work of ironing the image onto a clean and wrinkle-free pale green t-shirt. No one could iron better than my mom. I remember how the toxic fumes rose up and permeated the room as she pressed the iron firmly against the paper side of the appliqué. The heat from the iron transferred through to the rubber-ish chemical substance on the other side of the paper appliqué which melted into the fabrique of the shirt, bonding permanently to the garment. We never considered that it might be harmful to inhale the fumes... we were in Tooele after all.

I had a good selection of concert shirts when I was in high school. I could wear a different T every day of the week. All of my shirts from that era are gone now except for my very extra special Residents Eskimo t-shirt which has recently been commandeered by my son. It's quite faded now, and way too small for me, but it suits him perfectly. Its funny to think that I wore it when I was about his age.

Currently, my favorite t-shirt features the unmistakable image of leftest-rebel Che Guevara as an Imperial Storm Trooper. I purchased it in Mexico a couple of years ago when I was vacationing during the holidays with the Mueller Clan. The artist was incredibly insightful to envision Che as a pawn of the dark side. Around these parts, Senor Guevara is renowned as some kind of folk war-hero/freedom fighter. Ironically, these are the same people who claim to be anti-war. One person's terrorist, is another's freedom-fighter.

* Sporting my Phil Hendrie Show T as I whapetty tap away at the keyboard.