Shedding Light
Some Observations of a Book Entitled 'Cult Insanity'
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This destructive nature and mental illness is what she desires to project upon the Church of the Firstborn of the Fulness of Times. The main objects of this projection, the two men she singles out as the culprits, are Ervil M. LeBaron and his brother Joel F. LeBaron. This does not mean that other members of the LeBaron family, their spouses and their children, and other members of the church are not attacked. The main culprit throughout the book, however, is Ervil. He is constantly pointed out, and put in the limelight, as the mentally ill, degenerate, power seeking patriarch. And all the other members of the church are, therefore, lumped together as mindless, sycophants blundering along after this mind controlling messiah. The question then becomes, “Who is more to blame for the actions of religious leaders, (i.e., the prophets and patriarchs so viciously attacked by Ms. Spencer in her book), the religious leaders themselves, or the masses of followers that relinquish their rights and power and give it to them?” Ms. Spencer admits to living among the LeBarons for thirty-three years, giving birth to and raising over a dozen of their children, being a member of their church (which she disparagingly refers to as a cult) for thirty-one years, and writes of her experiences (as portrayed in her “memoir”) which were bizarre, to say the least. Why did she not leave many years before? There was no one forcing her to stay. She does not state that she was a captive. She doesn’t use the term kidnapped anywhere. She relates of visits to her siblings and mother. Maybe, at the time, things weren’t quite as bad as depicted in her “memoir”. Somehow, throughout all those years, she was giving support to the very religious leaders she now so mockingly writes about in her book. She as a member of the church and community accepted, at least in form, the “divine revelation” and the “divine authority” for all those years. She should not, therefore, depict herself as blameless, which, in fact, she does do in many instances in her book.
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About the Book
A few brief observations written at the request of others to confront and counteract the obvious bias portrayed throughout Mrs. Spencer’s book, "Cult Insanity".
About the Author
Thomas James Liddiard was born on July 12, 1936 in Salt Lake City Utah. He completed a mission in France for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. He graduated from the University of Utah as a Mechanical Engineer. Later, Thomas joined the Church of the First Born of the Fulness of Times and moved to Mexico and became Church Historian. Thomas taught at the University of Chihuahua for 20 years, during which he often traveled to South America on school business. Here he obtained a MBA, served as Administrative Secretary for the Faculty of Agriculture, and established their first masters program. In El Paso Texas, Thomas worked in the Fort Bliss Civil Service Department as a General Engineer. Thomas raised a large family that he loved very much. He passed away on December 3, 2010.