83岁的老头,娶了19岁的少女为妻,离谱吧?更离谱的是他一共已经有了六十多个老婆,有其父必有其子,他的儿子变本加厉,侵犯未成年少女,继承父亲的妻子,将同村人五六岁的孩子强行带走做童养媳,这可不是发生在什么远古时代或者上世纪的事,而是切切实实发生在21世纪的骇人听闻。

 

最近,网飞把这个令人胆战心惊的故事,通过纪录片《乖乖听话:邪教中的祈祷与服从》( Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey)的形式展现给了大众。

 

 

Chronicling the patriarchal horrors of Jeffs’s cult, this drama is a disturbing yet fascinating watch thanks to the care taken by its director, Rachel Dretzin.

这部剧记录了杰夫斯邪教的父权恐怖,由于导演雷切尔·德雷津的精心设计,这部剧令人不安却又引人入胜。

 

 

故事要从20世纪30年代开始说起,那个时候自由神学和人文主义公立教育里应外合,在19世纪攻陷欧洲,20世纪掳掠美国,而在众多教会中,有这样一支宗教,摩门教,作为美国第四大宗教团体,从19世纪末开始放弃了教义中的传统:一夫多妻制,但并非所有人都乐于接受,在摩门教中产生了一小部分的分支,不愿放弃这一传统,于是这部分分支便被逐出教会,自成一派,号称基本教义派的耶稣基督圣徒教会(Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints),简称FLDS。

 

 

根据维基百科的记载,FLDS教会内部封闭,外界无法得知教会人数总数,但保守估计在六千到一万人左右,起初在亚利桑那州和犹他州的边界处扎根。

 

 

对于那些教会的成员来说,出生在这个教会社区,就意味着自己和其他人都“不同”。从小就被洗脑:外面的世界都是被诅咒的人所拥有的;不能相信外面的任何人尤其是警察和媒体;自己是地球上唯一仅存的真正上帝子民。

 

那按理说这么离谱的事情,一万多个人没有人觉得奇怪吗?

 

 

关于这点原因有二,其一是他们的生活绝对封闭,深居简出,不能去看电影,不能去游乐场,不能参加任何形式的集会,妇孺们还不得与外人有任何接触,报纸,杂志,广播,电视,书籍,通通一律不行,除了基本需求,所有妇孺不得离开牧场,可以说是距离社会越来越远。

 

原因之二则是他们从小就接受了这样的教育,正如影片中的人所言:“当你生来就从父母那里学到一些东西,你相信他们,因为他们是你的父母,他们是你的家人,我做的事是他们教我的事。”诚然,如果从出生开始就一直被父母“熏陶”,那对于那些我们看来再离谱不过的事,可能也就当做是正常的了。

 

 

Why could this happen? Partly it was because the followers of the FLDS were isolated from the outside world. Jeffs controlled hearts and minds without interference: he decided what the cult’s children learned and what jobs they could perform. He even dictated what hairstyles women could have (elaborate french braids). Jeffs further manipulated his followers by preying on their fears about being ‘saved.” He declared himself to be the “one true prophet,” so that his word was literally the word of God. He told the members of his flock that — if they did not follow his every command — their souls would be damned, eternally. He often tricked girls as young as 14 into marriage by asking them, “Do you think you know better than the Lord?”

为什么会这样呢?部分原因是FLDS的信徒与外界隔绝。杰夫斯不受干扰地控制着人心和思想:他决定邪教的孩子们能学到什么,能做什么工作。他甚至规定了女人可以留什么样的发型(精致的法式辫子)。杰夫斯进一步操纵他的追随者,利用他们对“得到救赎”的畏惧。他宣称自己是“唯一真正的先知”,因此他的话就是上帝的话。他告诉他的教众,如果他们不遵守他的每一个命令,他们的灵魂将被诅咒,永远。他经常骗14岁的女孩结婚,问她们:“你认为你比上帝还聪明吗?”

 

 

作为真正的上帝子民,想要得到救赎的方式只有一个,那就是“多娶老婆”。

 

这样的救赎方式是由先知(教会的最高领导人)沃伦·杰夫斯带来的,再被信徒们灌输给自己的孩子们,据说对于FLDS的男性信徒们而言,能娶三个老婆,就可以在天国获得最高级别的荣誉。而对于先知来说,他可没有什么三个的限制,因为他就是所谓“神在人间的代表”,只要他看上了哪个女孩,只需告诉孩子家长,家长们就会乖乖的心甘情愿的将孩子奉上。

 

 

Dretzin’s documentary delves into a baffling question: why didn’t these cult members just get up and leave? The answer is conditioning and class: most had been raised with these beliefs since birth, and dissenters lacked the money, education, and know-how to survive in the real world. As one survivor puts it, she wasn’t aware of places that could help her become independent, such as women’s shelters. This confession is key to understanding what life under a dictatorship is truly like. (Ironically, Jeffs called himself a “benevolent dictator.”) Thus the importance of documentaries like this, which is not just about exploiting public interest in the bizarre — they explain how easy it is to strip away people’s freedom.

德雷津的纪录片探究了一个令人困惑的问题:为什么这些邪教成员不离开?答案是条件和阶级:大多数人从出生起就被灌输了这些信念,而反对者缺乏金钱、教育和在现实世界中生存的技能。正如一位幸存者所说,她不知道有什么地方可以帮助她变得独立,比如妇女庇护所。这是理解独裁统治下的生活的关键。(讽刺的是,杰夫斯称自己为“仁慈的独裁者”。)因此,这样的纪录片的重要性,不仅仅是利用公众对奇异事物的兴趣——它们解释了剥夺人们的自由是多么容易。

 

 

在这里,女性像是财产和货币,先知想要和谁搞好关系,就“送”他几个老婆。如果有女孩不听话,那就把她“送”给那些最不堪入目的人家。

这样的教会当然不可能逃过警察的耳目,但问题在于没有一个受害人愿意上报当证人,这对于警察的办案来说是莫大的困难。

At no point throughout the series does it feel like Dretzin is judging or exploiting her subjects. She simply lets them tell their stories and inserts archival footage and unreleased audio to support their statements. Investigators and one of the first journalists who helped expose Jeffs explain just how difficult it was to take him down. In addition to lackadaisical responses from the judicial system, many of Jeffs’ followers did their best to protect him. This loyalty is horrifying, but also remarkable, given that it dramatizes just how powerful psychological manipulation, when protected by isolation, can be.

在整部剧中,没有任何一点让人感觉德雷津在评判或利用她的主题。她只是让他们讲述自己的故事,并插入档案片段和未发布的音频来支持他们的声明。调查人员和第一批帮助揭露杰夫斯的记者之一解释说,扳倒他是多么困难。除了司法系统的不作为外,杰夫斯的许多追随者还竭尽全力保护他。这种忠诚是可怕的,但也是引人注目的,因为它戏剧化地展示了在孤立的保护下,心理操纵是多么强大。

 

但随着先知对于教会成员的管制越发严厉,不安的情绪也在教会之中蔓延开,为了安抚成员,先知不惜后买下了德州一处名为Yearning for Zion Ranch的农场,简称YFZ农场,号称真正的天堂,以此作为绝大多数教会成员们的总部。

这一次转移行动给了当局充分的理由,让其能够彻查这个组织。

 

 

但针对先知杰夫斯的指控并非一番风顺。

 

In 2005, Elissa Wall blew the whistle and told authorities how she, at the age of 19, was forced to marry her cousin, then aged 14. She also accused Warren of rape, something he was charged for but not convicted.

2005年,艾丽莎·沃尔揭发了这件事,并告诉当局她是如何在19岁时被迫嫁给当时14岁的表亲的。她还指控沃伦强暴,沃伦被指控但没有被定罪。

 

By the time 2006 came, there were multiple warrants out for his arrest across the US and he was listed on the FBI's Top Ten Most Wanted Criminals list.

到了2006年,美国各地发布了多份逮捕他的逮捕令,他还被列入了联邦调查局十大通缉罪犯名单。

 

 

In 2007 and 2008 respectively, he was convicted on two 'accomplice to sexual assault' charges but these were later overturned due to the victims opting out of testifying in course.

在2007年和2008年,他分别被判两项“性侵共犯”罪名成立,但由于受害者选择不作证,这些指控后来都被推翻了。

 

 

Then in 2011, he was convicted again on two counts of sexual assault and sentenced to life in prison. To this day, he remains incarcerated and will not be eligible for parole until 2038, at which point he will be 83 years old. Warren and the congregation, which still operates to this day, continue to argue his innocence.  

2011年,他再次被判两项性侵罪名成立,被判处终身监禁。直到今天,他仍然被监禁,直到2038年才有资格获得假释,那时他已经83岁了。直到今天,沃伦和他的教众仍然坚持认为他是无辜的。

"Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey" ultimately owes its strength to those who didn't obey and possessed the courage to break free, as well as outsiders working to expose what was happening -- no small task, since as is noted, building legal cases was especially difficult because most of the victims didn't want to testify.

《乖乖听话:邪教中的祈祷与服从》的力量最终要感谢那些不服从的人,以及那些有勇气挣脱束缚的人,以及那些努力揭露正在发生的事情的外人——这不是一项小工作,因为正如我们注意到的,建立法律案件特别困难,因为大多数受害者不愿作证。

 

对于大洋彼岸的我们来说,这样的影片可能只是一个猎奇的故事,但是那些对于邪教的盲目迷信,对于所谓先知的无条件服从,对于家长和孩子之间的教育与关系,对于那些不敢发声或是不愿发声的受害者,这些都还是值得我们静下心来好好思考的。

Women who were subjected to Jeffs’ reign of terror are still dealing with their own demons. But, by coming forth and telling their own stories, they regained control of their lives by understanding what they had undergone. They proved that “keep sweet” really means asserting your independence.

但是,通过站出来讲述自己的故事,他们通过理解自己所经历的事情,重新掌控了自己的生活。她们证明了“想要保持甜蜜”真的意味着坚持你的独立性。

 


今日词汇
literally  /ˈlɪtərəli/  adv. 按照字面意义地,逐字地;真正地,确实地;(用于夸张地强调)简直

interference  /ˌɪntəˈfɪərəns/  n. 干预,干预;(收音机或电视机受到的)干扰信号;犯规阻挡;抵触,冲突

benevolent   /bəˈnevələnt/  adj. 仁慈的,乐善好施的;(用于慈善机构名称)慈善的,救济的
baffling  /ˈbæflɪŋ/  adj. 令人困惑的;阻碍的;令人丧气的;变幻的   v. 使困惑;挫败(baffle 的 ing 形式)
psychological manipulation  心理操控