Wide eyes. Blank expressions. One dropped jaw.
It was a hot, sticky, July day in Provo, Utah, but for the seven students that sat before me, the oppressive heat, the BYU culture they found rather annoying, or the newness of America no longer mattered. For the moment, these seven students’ minds were transfixed with thoughts of women dressed in long, homespun dresses, girls married to men as old as their grandfathers, and a prophet-leader behind bars. On that July day, I had just taught my English as a second language (ESL) students about a religious practice that they had no prior exposure to: polygamy.
Before this lesson, these seven Korean students thought that Utah Mormons were foreign and freaky. Now, compared to the The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (FLDS) polygamists, the sober, sweet, and smiling BYU students they had been surrounded by for the past three-weeks seemed as normal as the thought of having a kimchi pancake for breakfast.
As an ESL teacher, I wanted to challenge my fairly advanced ESL students, and to take their language learning beyond just memorization, recitation, and summarization. I wanted to make them think, to open new corners of their mind, to create new synaptic connections. I wanted them to remember learning English in Provo, Utah, U.S.A.. So, naturally, creating a memorable learning experience consisted of a week-long discussion about freedom of religion, freedom of the press, and freedom of speech. We started by discussing freedom of religion.
Our lesson began as footage of two teenage boys driving down a dark, dirt road filled the screen. We were watching an episode from Breaking Faith, where two of Warren Jeff’s (the FLDS prophet-leader behind bars) sons were returning to R17, one of the many desert fortresses of the sect, to rescue woman that were ready to “break” their faith, stop “keeping sweet”, and ultimately, be excommunicated and driven from the only place they called home.
Breaking Bad and many other television shows, documentaries, books, and articles have cropped up in the news media and pop culture since 2008, when Texas law enforcement raided the FLDS desert ranch Yearning for Zion, separating mothers from children and sending fathers into hiding. In response, the FLDS heralded their anthem of “Keep Sweet” even more loudly to hundreds of women and girls who had a story to tell, but who would face dire consequences if they opened their mouths.
After viewing a few clips and reading a few articles about polygamy, the FLDS, and the raids, I was ready for a discussion about the newness of what the students had just been exposed to. All the unbelieving eyes were now looking at me. I posed two questions: did law enforcement officials violate the basic tenets of freedom of religion by removing FLDS children from their homes and families based on scanty evidence of sexual crimes? Or, on the flip side, should this religious sect have the freedom to practice a religion that seems so ludicrous to the mainstream world?
I was very impressed with my students’ responses. Many recalled articles that they had read about various groups in Korea who committed mass suicides, believing that the world was ending the following day and related these to freedom of religion in their homeland. One student introduced further discussion about the difference between religion and cult, and was not ashamed to posit she believed these polygamist Christians acted more like a cult than a religion.
After three hours, class time ended. Our discussion had replaced the wide eyes, blank expressions, and utter disdain, with inquisitive expressions and solemn pondering. Now, more than just another hot, sticky day in a foreign country, this July day had become a day of discovery, where Korean ESL students were not only exposed to a new culture, but new ways of thinking about freedom, religion, and how maybe Mormon BYU students weren’t so bad after all.
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