Reply #10: Religion created the nightmare that is the community you describe

[SheWhoMustBeObeyed]

The Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints was disowned by mainstream Mormonism back in the late 1800s but continued to flourish, if you can call decades of inbreeding flourishing. It is currently led by "Prophet" Warren Jeffs, a fugitive who is on the FBI's Most Wanted List for his role in marrying underage girls to adult, already-married men.

Jeffs teaches that men must have at least three wives in order to achieve heavenly status. Men who pledge Jeffs their money and loyalty are rewarded with wives; wives and families are torn away from "undeserving" men, and all the other horrors you mention are commonplace. His community has spread from the Arizona-Utah border to Texas, South Dakota and other places where his followers build places for him to hide in. You can read much more about his cult here:

http://www.rickross.com/