We believed in Plural Marriage, and despite our best efforts, and the fact that my Dad had only one wife, the secret would slowly leak out. We were the odd ones, sectioned out, teased and name called by our peers, sniffed at by the adults, and in most cases blatantly talked about and snubbed.  This was true at the corner store, at the gas station, and for me, in school by my teachers, whom at first I was enamored with, but then as the coolness turned cold, I learned not to trust.

            It was not this treatment though that kept us quiet and secluded into our own home.  It was the threat of being found out for our beliefs. We had to watch every reference made in public and around our LDS relatives.  We could not let on to our religious leanings. My grandfather had been put into jail for the practice of Plural Marriage, arrested in the 1944 raid.  This a man I knew as a good and honest man, and if they could put Grandpa Dave into prison I wondered how would my Dad possibly be protected?  In fact when he was 12 years old he and his younger siblings were taken into court and called on to testify against their Dad. How would I ever, ever be able to do such a thing as that?

            I remember full well coming out of a “cottage meeting”, we dared not meet formally in a church, I was holding my father’s hand as we came down the gravel drive, when we spotted the men in black suits standing behind the parked cars taking down the license plate numbers in their little spiral notebooks. I don’t know for sure if they were FBI, or just spies for the Mormon Church.  I do know my father’s hand tightened as he stopped right in his tracks and I could feel the worry travel through him and into me. I knew at that point I would never talk, never share with my friends, my cousins, and associates who we were and how we believed.  No one was going to steal my Dad from me, no one. I would protect him the best I could and silence was that way.

            Well, that was the early sixties, and this is a new millennium, right?  Not so much. Fear still exists. With dealings such as the 2008 raid in EldoradoTexasthe specter becomes real, giving fear flesh and bone.

 Living with the shroud of being underground, secretive and not forthcoming cheats a person out of fullness, out of legitimacy and slants their life in unreasonable ways.  I don’t want this for my children or my grandchildren. I don’t want fear of raids, of separation, imprisonment haunting their lives. So, if I want change I must bring about that change…each generation is entitled to build their own institutions, and I am able to build upon the steps of those that have moved before me, aiming for a stronger foundation for the exercising of our rights for those that are our future.

~Written by A Woman’s Place~

The senior class is assigned to speak right now and I thought I would share with you our daughter’s talk. I found it as a pertinent reminder especially when I get feeling just a bit over confident about my achievements in life. Just click on the link below to read her talk. Enjoy.

God of Our Fathers

The State of Arizona selected Masada Charter School as the Title I Distinguished School for the state. On February 19th, a group from Masada went to San Antonio to participate in the recognition ceremony. A member of that group also participated on a panel presenting best practice strategies around “Professional Growth & Support”. This recognition establishes Masada as a model for designing and implementing school wide Title I strategies.   Way to go Masada!!

Now I sit me down in school
Where praying is against the rule
For this great nation under God
Finds mention of Him very odd.

If Scripture now the class recites, It violates the Bill of Rights.
And anytime my head I bow
Becomes a Federal matter now.

Our hair can be purple, orange or green,
That’s no offense; it’s a freedom scene.
The law is specific, the law is precise.
Prayers spoken aloud are a serious vice.

For praying in a public hall
Might offend someone with no faith at all
In silence alone we must meditate,
God’s name is prohibited by the state.

We’re allowed to cuss and dress like freaks,
And pierce our noses, tongues and cheeks..
They’ve outlawed guns, but FIRST the Bible.
To quote the Good Book makes me liable.

We can elect a pregnant Senior Queen,
And the ‘unwed daddy,’ our Senior King.
It’s ‘inappropriate’ to teach right from wrong,
We’re taught that such ‘judgments’ do not belong.

We can get our condoms and birth controls,
Study witchcraft, vampires and totem poles.
But the Ten Commandments are not allowed,
No word of God must reach this crowd.

It’s scary here I must confess,
When chaos reigns the school’s a mess.
So, Lord, this silent plea I make:
Should I be shot; My soul please take!
Amen

~Posted to the internet by an unknown author.

The Masada Charter School Junior High celebrated high achieving students today with an activity that included sidewalk art, hot chocolate, and caramel apples.

In order to get on the honor roll at Masada, students cannot have any grades below an A-. Thirty-five of the 98 students achieved this goal for the first trimester.

                The question being debated was “should the state prosecute polygamous parents and remove children from their homes?” Brooke Adams reported from Ms. Hamilton “failure to prosecute polygamists has created dangerous cults like the FLDS”, (“a failure she attributes to authorities be ‘timid in the face of specious claims of religious liberty’”

Question: I asked the students how they felt about the debate generally:

Jackie: The debate was not formally structured.  They both went off emotions and assumptions.

Joanna:  It seemed like they went of emotions. 

Marie:  Torgensen was getting so angry.  He said at the beginning that he wasn’t speaking for the Attorney General’s office; He could only speak from his own point of view. 

Question:  After reading the quote from Marci Hamilton that it is “undeniably true that not every case of polygamy includes sexual or physical abuse, the tendency is enough to make the assumption that a polygamous home is not a fit home for a child”, I asked the students to respond:

Joanna: She was totally going from her own assumptions.

Jackie: She has painted with a broad brush just like Torgensen said.  He said you couldn’t prosecute polygamists based on the assumption that every home is abusive.

Marie agreed, saying Torgensen was in a bad position because he couldn’t defend an illegal action.  He said it would be unconstitutional to prosecute on the basis of assumptions.

Question: I asked if they believed Torgensen was actually worried about defending our constitutional rights, or defending the actions of the office of the Attorney General.

They all agreed on the latter, saying it was against his oath of law to defend those who disobey the law.  He was being accused of being too lenient.

Question:  What interest does a law professor from the state of New York have in pressuring the state of Utah to prosecute polygamy?

Marie:  Other states were challenging the state of Texas to take action against polygamy.  It is Torgensen’s responsibility to prosecute illegal activity.  Utah and Arizona had to defend why they have not prosecuted polygamy.

(Someone interjected:  They got embarrassed in Texas.)

Jackie: The polygamy issue does affect what goes on in other states.  We discussed the fact that once a marriage is recognized by one state, other states that are in a compact agreement with the state are bound to recognize that marriage as well, which is the reason many states have an issue with the state of California legalizing gay marriages. 

Question:  What is your responsibility as a U.S. citizen regarding your practice of religion?

Marie: Be vocal and participate.  Respond to their actions ( when their actions aren’t constitutional).

Jackie: Fight for what we want.

Question:  How do we do that?

Jackie: Change the laws.  We go to the legislature and ask them to put it on a bill.

Question: How do we get someone to be sympathetic enough to our needs to have it put into a bill?

Joanna: We need to show them that we are educated, that children can choose whether they want this lifestyle, show them that we’re not abused. 

Question: Are we protected under the Constitution of the United States:

All replied: “Yes, We are”

Jackie: It’s illegal in the state of Utah and Arizona.

Question: How do you feel about Marci Hamilton’s position?

Marie:  She made broad claims; she used her own credibility

Ms. Hammon: She’s trying to sell her book.  Many people were in agreement with her. Many of the law students agreed with her.  Kirk Torgensen was put in an unfair position.

Question: I read a quote from the Prophet Joseph Smith regarding holding elected officials accountable, and asked how can we hold our elected officials accountable?

Jackie: Use the process of the election

Ms. Hammon: We trust these people to be objective and fair, and not bow to pressure beyond the scope of their job.  We trust them to act ethically.    

In September, U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings named Masada Charter

School as a 2008 No Child Left Behind-Blue Ribbon School.

One of 320 schools honored, Masada was selected as part of a national program to

recognize successful schools.

“These Blue Ribbon Schools are an example of what teachers and students can achieve,”

Spellings said. “Now our challenge is to help other schools follow their lead by continuing to

measure progress through No Child Left Behind, and by using the knowledge we’ve gained to

replicate effective strategies and help every student improve.”

The No Child Left Behind-Blue Ribbon Schools award distinguishes and honors schools

for helping students achieve at very high levels and for making significant progress in closing the

achievement gap.

The program honors public and private elementary, middle and high school students that

demonstrate dramatic gains in student achievement.

Located in Centennial Park, Masada ranks in the top 10-percent of schools in Arizona and

has been labeled as an “excelling school” within the guidelines of the No Child Left Behind Act.

The school has been invited to present at the Blue Ribbon Awards Ceremony in Arlington,

Virginia on Oct. 20 and 21. The presentation will focus on the significance of their actionresearch

program. Masada has trained a highly qualified staff and links student achievement to

continuing staff development.

“We are excited and honored to receive this award and wish to share this recognition with

our community. Masada’s program is the product of a highly skilled and committed staff, a

dedicated and supportive parent community, and an active leadership team that believes in

putting resources in the classroom,” said LeAnne Timpson, the principal.

The school is located on the Utah-Arizona border and has some 461 students in grades K

through 9.

 You may check out their website at: http://www.masadaschool.org/