Faithful followers of imprisoned polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs are making his apocalyptic writings available to the public through the ads, The Associated Press reported.
Where did they appear? In Friday editions of The Washington Post, The New York Times, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, The Salt Lake Tribune and other newspapers, including the Idaho Statesman. The ads will run again in the Statesman on Sunday.
Why publish them? “We did not make the decision to run this ad lightly, but we do support and believe in free speech and freedom of religion,” said Travis Quast, Statesman sales and marketing vice president. “While we may not all agree with this group and what they believe, we found nothing offensive in their ad that would have kept us from publishing it.”
How did readers respond? A dozen called or emailed the Statesman with concerns about the ad; two canceled their subscriptions.
Who is Warren Jeffs? The 56-year-old has headed The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints since 2002 and has long predicted natural disasters and destruction of the world. He was convicted in 2010 in Texas on sexual assault charges and is serving a prison sentence of more than 20 years. A message left for FLDS patriarch Vaughan Taylor was not returned Friday.
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