Daily Archives: April 24, 2009

Illegitimate by Brian Mackert

I saw this book listed on literary agent Rachelle Gardner’s blog. As some of you may know, I don’t read very much non-fiction. It’s hard for me to stay focused while reading a non-fiction book. However, I’ve always been interested in the subject of cults, and the description of this book intrigued me. I ordered it from Amazon and after I receive it and finish it – whenever that may be – I’ll post my thoughts about it. I posted the Amazon link on one of my loops and one of the loop members found the author’s testimony here. You should listen to the testimony if you have time. Makes you stop and think – I thought it was powerful…


Illegitimate: How a Loving God Rescued a Son of Polygamy (Hardcover) by Brian Mackert
Hardcover: 288 pages
Publisher: David C. Cook; New edition edition (October 1, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1434766918
ISBN-13: 978-1434766915
From Amazon.com
Product Description
The recent events at a Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS Church) compound in Texas have ignited a national dialogue on religious sects. Fundamentalist Mormon sects formed as splinter groups of the mainstream LDS Church exist in a world far removed from mainstream American culture: a world of abuse and twisted theology that seems too bizarre to be true.
Yet for Brian Mackert, life inside this sect was all too real. As a son in a family of one father, four wives, and 31 children, Brian experienced firsthand the devastating realities of polygamous cults.

Now Brian tells his remarkable story of tragedy and healing. Illegitimate takes readers behind today’s shocking headlines and inside the walls of this controversial sect. Brian reveals a world of loving mothers and abusive fathers, devoted children and sibling rivalry, deceptive religion and the truth eventually found in Christ–outside the walls of the FLDS. Ultimately, Illegitimate demonstrates the incredible love of God, and His ability to bring light into the darkest of places.

About the Author
Brian Mackert was raised in a splinter group of the LDS church that endorsed polygamy. He later embraced a true relationship with Christ and became a licensed Baptist minister and is dedicated to doing church plants in heavily populated Mormon regions. In addition to his profession as a telecom engineer, Brian regularly speaks to church groups about the realities of radical Mormonism.

Any of you read this book? If so, what’d you think?

~Cecelia Dowdy~