Jane Blackmore is a mesmerizing speaker, not only because of her oratory skills, but because of her startling message: the existence of a third-world settlement where child abuse is rampant, in beautiful Bountiful, B.C.
Blackmore brought her personal story to the Coast on Wednesday, Oct. 7, as a guest of the Sunshine Coast chapter of the Canadian Federation of University Women and the Community Resource Centre. She spoke to a rapt audience of more than 150 women and men.
Blackmore's story is one echoed with small variations over and over in the Kootenays' town. She was an infant when her parents joined the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS) in 1957. What distinguishes this sect from mainstream Christian churches, including the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, is the practice of polygamy.
Men are encouraged to have multiple wives in order to achieve the highest realm of heaven. It is the women's lot to procreate and surrender themselves completely to the will of their prophet (the highest authority of the church and interpreter of God's wishes for the believers) and their husbands.
FLDS followers believe they are the most favoured of God, that they alone will withstand the cleansing fire preparing the Earth for the second coming of Christ.
The sect is ruled by secrets and ignorance. With few exceptions, education for FLDS members ends at about 14. At that time, the girls become prime candidates for marriage to men, in some case old enough to be their grandfathers, and the boys become collateral. Many of these "Lost Boys" end up either slaves, making a pittance working for the powerful men of the community, or outcasts thrown aside to fend for themselves with no education or social skills. Indeed, when prophet Rulon Jeffs died at age 93 in 2002, there were only four girls older than 16 who were unmarried and more than 35 unmarried young men in Bountiful.
Blackmore's only experience outside Bountiful were piano lessons her mother had requested before the older woman's death at 24 from heart disease. As decreed by the prophet, LeRoy Johnson, Jane married Winston Blackmore at 18, late by FLDS standards. He wasn't her choice.
"Although I had secretly cared deeply for a certain young man, and he for me, I did not trust that the prophet and I would receive the same revelation, so I decided I must test my spirituality," she shared. "I did not tell anyone that I was in love and waited to see if God's revelation to the prophet would confirm a blessing on my desires. As it transpired, the prophet and I received very different revelations. I was obviously not a spiritual young woman."
Jane's father, Dalmon Oler, was appointed an elder in 1975. In 1981, power struggles resulted in Oler losing his position and Winston Blackmore being appointed the first bishop of Bountiful. Winston also became trustee of the United Effort Trust Corporation, an entity designed to "ensure all people were equal with regard to material wealth," according to Jane. Her disgraced father went bankrupt; he ended up having to pay rent in his own home. When Oler died in 1997, Jane had 25 sisters and 19 brothers.
The 12 years prior to Oler's death filled the woman with sadness.
"I found it very difficult to be the wife of one man and the daughter of another, each of whom hated the other," she said.
Jane was early on given a "patriarchal blessing" which promised she would be a "mother of Zion," the ultimate reward for a woman. Her blessing also promised she would be called on to minister to the sick in the last days, which supposedly the FLDS flock were already living in. This blessing was dependent on her obedience to father, husband and prophet.
Because of this blessing Jane was constantly being asked for medical advice. When she requested medical training, the prophet said the time was not right. Eventually she decided, "God helps those that help themselves," and without permission, she registered in the Selkirk College nursing program. At age 28, with six children, she began her nursing education.
After receiving special training, Jane became Bountiful's midwife - a move that benefitted many since her husband alone had "at least 12 wives who were not eligible for medical coverage," because they were Americans.
"I have delivered or been present at the birth of over half of the more than 100 babies fathered by my husband," she said.
By the time her husband was 43, he had 26 wives.
"They were given to him one, two or three at a time. It was a great honour for the men of the community to have their daughter married to the prophet or bishop," Jane explained.
What bothered her most about this lifestyle was not how many wives there were, but the low esteem of the women involved. She said their most basic need - to love and be loved - was not being met. And the fact that the wives were so young and many not educated beyond middle school weighed heavily on her.
"Often [the women] had already suffered various kinds of abuse from their families of origin. My caring for these women during their child-bearing years was a responsibility I found hard to bear at times," she told the audience.
Many times she had to advise these women, some little more than children themselves, that their need for love would be best met by their own children. The women could expect little in that regard from their appointed mate, she advised.
Finally, Jane decided to leave the community and take her youngest daughter, Brittany, 8, with her. Before leaving, she told her husband she desired a divorce, whereupon he predicted both Jane and his daughter would go to hell. She responded that she was already in hell, but if the hell he was condemning her to included people such as herself and Brittany, then she thought she would be OK.
And Jane has managed since leaving Bountiful to not only "survive but thrive."
Now, in addition to a full-time job nursing in Cranbrook, she fills her time by helping her family and others who have joined her quest for freedom. One of the groups she is associated with is Atira Women's Resource Society (a registered charity able to give income tax receipts for donations) through which a "Leaving Bountiful" account has been opened. The proceeds provide education, legal and emergency funds for Bountiful women, their children and the Lost Boys.
Proceeds from the Oct. 7 presentation went to this organization. Although the mandate of the CFUW is bursaries for mature women, in this instance the group felt the money should go to Jane's cause. Donations can be made online at CanadaHelps.org or by mail to Atria Women's Resource Society, 101 East Cordova St., Vancouver, B.C. V6A 1K7.
