I am wondering about the Powel family these days and their relationship to the LDS Church.

Back in 2009 it was reported that Susan Powel turned up missing when her husband returned with his two small boys from a camping trip in the dead of winter. At the time they were living in Utah, and in as much as Susan was from Puyallup Washington, which is about 25 miles from where I live, where I once lived for 7 years, and his home was about 4 miles from where I work, I took an interest in the story. Anyhow, when the disappearance of Susan Powel first happened, the local news reported that they were members of the Church of JC of LDS, otherwise known as the Mormons.

However, as the story unfolded, the fact that they were Mormons seems to have all but disappeared from the news. In fact, it appears that somewhere in the course of events, Josh Powel left the Mormon Church, for reasons unknown to me. I say this because he apparently wrote a letter to his pastor, a pastor Atkins by name, before killing his children with an ax, and blowing himself and his rented house up with 10 gallons of gasoline.  

It is also apparent that Susan Powel's parents are in good standing with the LDS Church, in as much as that is where the funeral for the two boys is going to be held this weekend.

I have nothing but grief in my heart for the two Powel boys and sympathy for their Grandparents... but I can't help but wonder about the bit about Josh Powel writing a letter (e-mail) to his pastor. Aside from mentioning it and the name of the pastor, the News Media has been silent about it. I understand or believe that Mormons do not refer to their leaders as "pastor." I think they refer to them as bishops instead... but I may be mistaken, which is why I wrote this thread.

I am interested to know if Josh Powel left the Mormon Church, and if so, when? Did he leave the Church before Susan disappeared? After, or when he moved from Utah back to Puyallup? He moved in with his dad, who does not sound like a very devout man to me, so it seems a bit wrong for Josh to move his family in with his dad... if he was still a devout Mormon. Of course, it seems like the wrong thing to me for him to move in with his dad, if he had become a Christian too. So I guess what I am asking, aside from being the No1 suspect in the disappearance  murder of Susan Powel, what kind of man was Josh, religiously speaking?

Does anyone know something I don't about this tragic story?

~ Theophilus

Josh Powell belonged to the Faith Bible Church of South Hill. His pastor was Timothy Atkins.  The Cox family (his wife's family) are LDS.

It is unknown whether Powell was under the influence of Sola Scriptura at the time of this tragedy.

Found this article this morning.

www.foxnews.com/us/2012/02/10/powell-had...

It doesn't say exactly what it is, kind of strange. As I read the article I was wondering if it was Powell who was abused by his father and that's why there was this odd relationship. 

Many religious men have secret files on their computers of a sexual or pornographic nature. Many non-religious men also have an affinity for such things... in fact it has been said, and I believe it, that one of the main things driving advancements in Computer technology & internet based software development is the porn industry. I know a young woman who recently decided to divorce her husband because he got into the internet porn thing, and rather than give it up when she confronted him, asked her to watch the stuff with him. They were married in their church and were both active in its music ministry...

The thing about internet porn is that its free, readily available, and watching it is easily hidden from other people, even people you're living with. Moreover, most heterosexual men have a built-in appetite for it... in as much as it feeds the darker sexual desires and fantasies of otherwise sexual repressed men. It takes real conviction to be involved in computing and the internet and stay away from this stuff.

Moreover, we probably all know guys who are into this stuff, but who otherwise live respectable lives, work hard, support their families, pay their taxes, and even go to church and give tithes. It's one of those things men think they can hide in the dark closets of their lives and enjoy in private. And the things is, I am willing to bet that most of them are otherwise good guys. When I told the guys I work with that the reason this woman I know was divorcing her husband, was because he was into internet porn, they all said things like, "who isn't? She's going to have to get used to that. That's just who guys are."  

So my point is, all this media and police flap about Josh and Steve Powell being into similar things, does not mean that they were inflicting their darker desires on the boys, what it means is that they were into things they were probably ashamed of, and would never think of exposing his children too, let alone doing unspeakable things to them. Admittedly, I am speculating here, but I've heard story after news story about the things the police found on these two men's computer, and I get the feeling they are being tried in the media instead of in court. Where does "presumed innocent until found guilty in a court of law," fit into this whole media spectacle driven feeding fest?

All these things have me wondering if the real story is being ignored... because its not politically correct. Of course I do not know what the real story is, but if I were to connect the dots, it might look something like this...

Josh Powell and his wife were Mormons living in Utah. They were having marital problems, problems caused by Josh Powell's relationship with his anti-mormon father, who was talking to Josh at length over the phone and internet, trying to get him out of the LDS Church. Steve Powell was getting through to his son, and Susan Powell feared that her husband was on the verge of leaving the Church. Their marriage continued to deteriorate because of very real religious friction, and eventually came to a head when Susan Powell decided to divorce Josh and take the kids, leaving Josh to his own devices.  

And so, according to my scenario, Josh could not handle being without his kids, so at the height of their conflict, he killed his wife, put her body in the trunk of their car, packed up his gear and took his kids on a winter camping trip... to get rid of his wife's body. And that is when the Powell cover-up began. Josh managed to avoid arrest because of the lack of a body or any other compelling evidence. However, Josh could not avoid the pressure he experienced from his Mormon neighbors and relatives.

I think this scenario best explains the disappearance of Susan Powell, providing a strong motive, and accounting for the things even the news media mentioned in passing. As for the events that followed.

Josh Powell and kids moved back to Puyallup to live with Steve, probably to get out from under all the negative attention he was getting from his Mormon neighbors and the Utah police and Media. Possibly so he could survive... can't imagine anyone could remain employed in Utah, when everyone suspected he killed his Mormon wife and was an apostate.

And this is when Josh met Timothy Atkins, the pastor of First Bible Church, who befriended Josh and his kids. Personally, from what little I have heard, pastor Atkins was working with Josh, trying to help him get over his life in the Mormon Church, and deal with his many emotional issues and grief... yes the man I saw on TV was a truly heartbroken man. I do not think Josh was a member of his Church, but he may have attended service there with his kids once in awhile.

Steve Powell was another mixed can of nuts, who on one side hated the Mormon Church, and on the other had some rather unhealthy sexual interests, possibly not fully known to Josh Powell. Even so, their lives continued to unravel under two years of media scrutiny, and because of the Cox family, and their desire to recover their grandchildren and raise them in the LDS Church.

While I bear the Cox family no ill will, I do believe they helped create the media feeding frenzy that I've witnessed over the past year or so, of course coming to a head when Josh killed his sons and himself. After Steve Powell and Mr. Cox got into a screaming match down town Puyallup in front of the Fred Myer, Mr. Cox all but accused Josh Powell of murdering their daughter; I heard Mr. Cox interviewed on the radio a few months back, going down a litany of reasons why he suspected Josh, and why he was working so hard to get full custody of his grandsons.

So the way I see the story... this was basically a religious war between the Cox and the Powell family, one involving murder and lots of stuff in addition to religious differences, that nevertheless boiled down to custody of the children. Josh could not imagine living without his sons, and could not stand that idea of his wife's parents raising them in the LDS Church, and so, over come with grief, depression and guilt, he took the only way out he could see... terrible and as tragic as it was, and he killed his sons and burnt himself up in his rented home.

I don't even know how to pray about this story, all I can say is... God have mercy.

~ Theophilus

Blaming the Church?

I could only do that if the Church was driving these things in some way. But to my knowledge, Josh was not excommunicated, nor did the LDS Church take any action against him during the difficult times in his marriage.

I do believe the LDS Church puts a lot of pressure, both directly and indirectly through family relations, on some people who, like Josh, leave the Mormon religion. I've seen that a number of times; even my sister, decades after leaving the Mormon Church, and years after becoming an Evangelical Christian, was eventually contacted by LDS representatives to discuss her being excommunicated from the Church. In my sister's case, she just never responded to the letter and never spoke to the local bishop about it. 

So, no Iron, I am not blaming any crime Josh Powell committed on the LDS Church. I believe that's all on him, I just don't believe the News Media is giving us the whole truth and so I am connecting the dots on my own.

~ Theophilus