Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey shocked audiences when it was released by Netflix on June 8, 2022. The documentary miniseries, directed by Rachel Dretzin, discusses the cult religion that is the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS), a fundamentalist Mormon denomination whose members practice polygamy, and the rise of its current leader Warren Jeffs.
While the semi-fictional Under the Banner of Heaven on Hulu details similar issues, Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey documents these events with unflinching authenticity, as Dretzin interviews survivors who tell the horrific tales of forced polygamy, arranged marriages, child brides, and their miraculous escapes.
Rulon Jeffs and the FLDS in Keep Sweet
Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey starts by giving you an understanding of life in the FLDS under Rulon Jeffs. Rulon Jeffs, known as Uncle Rulon to his followers, was president of the FLDS from 1986 until his death in 2002. Under his reign, the FLDS practiced polygamy and became a patriarchal system that modern Mormons find an “embarrassment” to Mormonism. As president, Rulon was considered the “Prophet,” who was believed to be a direct connection to God and the only one who could dictate God's will.
A former member, Wallace Jeffs describes how under the rule of his father it was believed that the only way for a man to get to the “highest degree of the Celestial Kingdom” was to have three wives while he lived on earth. Rulon’s followers believed he would never die and that he knew everything. The Prophet was the only person who could arrange a marriage, and families were supposed to present their daughters to Rulon when they were of marrying age.
In the documentary, Rebecca Musser, a survivor of the FLDS and former wife of Rulon, said they were taught to believe that they were the “one and only true people of God.” As Musser talks about her marriage to Rulon and the horrors she faced as one of his many wives, Dretzin smartly overlays photos of Musser's wedding day to the Prophet. Musser was only 19 years old when she married the 85-year-old leader and describes how naive she was to everything.
The women were kept isolated and raised to submit to their priesthood (the patriarchal figurehead of the family) with the phrase coined by Rulon, “Keep Sweet, Pray, and Obey.” This was used to show how women are meant to behave in their marriage and to always be in control of their emotions. The mantra was frequently sung aloud and verses like, “Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husband, as unto the Lord,” (Ephesians 5:22) were repeated.
The Subjugation of Women in Keep Sweet
Warren Jeffs was the son of Rulon and the older half-brother to Wallace. Wallace claimed Warren had a “holier than thou” attitude and was put on a pedestal by his father. Musser said of Warren, “I don't think he was liked much. He was the awkward son of a man with power.” She continued with, “Compared to his brothers, he was not anything to write home about.” When Dretzin asked if Musser knew what he would become when she met him, Musser simply states Warren understood what people wanted and knew how to manipulate them.
Warren exercised his authority vigorously as the principal of the FLDS school, Alta Academy, and created teachings specifically for women. Under Rulon and then later Warren’s rule, Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey shows how the FLDS was determined to keep their women obedient. Survivor Elissa Wall, Musser’s sister, says in the documentary:
“Warren had a saying, “Perfect obedience is led by a hair,” meaning a hair is so thin, and true obedience meant that you could be led by a hair, and you would not break it. So there could be absolutely no resistance to that obedience because any resistance would pop that hair.”
Through multiple interviews with survivors, the film explains how women were taught to have nothing in their brains but the Prophet’s will. They were explicitly told not to think about boys or have a crush because that would “clog the channel” to the Prophet. At this point, Warren was already beginning his extreme measures of grooming and the documentary stresses how blinded by faith the FLDS followers were.
After Rulon had a massive stroke, Warren saw his opportunity and stepped into his father’s shoes. At this time, Warren’s teachings began to grow dark as he started to talk of a judgment day coming. During Wall’s interview, she said they were taught, “If you didn't subscribe to FLDS belief system would be wiped off the face of the earth, so that it would be clean and pure for the righteous.” Warren was able to convince the entire community to sell their homes, give up their business, and move to Short Creek, Utah. When the rapture did not come, Warren said it was a gift from God to be more perfect. “We were never good enough,” Wall said while talking about the experience.
The Fall of Warren Jeffs
It was under Warren’s reign, which began in 2002 after Rulon’s death, that the FLDS truly became a cult. Warren began kicking out young boys and removing men of power who questioned him. He would strip these men of their wives and children and force them out with nothing. He enforced certain hairstyles and clothing for women that included long underwear and no color red.
It was during this time that underaged marriages became the norm. Wall discusses the horrors of traveling across state lines and being forced to marry her first cousin. Dretzin intercuts Wall’s interview with Musser’s, as Musser describes how hard it was even to consider leaving the FLDS, which very few people ever do. They knew leaving would cause their family to shun them, and they were taught that leaving would “seal you to damnation.”
It wasn’t until Warren began building his compound in Texas that his world fell apart. Reporters began investigating Warren and his movements, while Warren moved from underaged marriages, which he performed, to outright child abdications. Wall, who had escaped the church by that point, decided to work with prosecutors to bring charges against Warren, and in 2006 he was added to the FBI’s Most Wanted List.
Most people remember Warren’s arrest in 2006 and the traumatic trial that followed, but like any good crime documentary, Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey does not shy away from the raw and honest truth. The survivors’ emotional testimonies give audiences a real insight into how the FLDS brainwashed an entire community. Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey shows audiences how dangerous abject fundamentalism can become, how difficult it was for these survivors to escape from their prison, and the strength it took to defy the odds to put away a monster. Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey is streaming on Netflix.