We’ve been pretty silent here at MoF about the recent debacle that’s going down in Texas. I was leaving it (partly) to John because he can at least speak from the standpoint of used-to-be-Mormon. I’m going to state upfront that these people are cultists and have perverted whatever religion they think they have their hands on. They are not affiliated with the LDS church (temple?), hierarchy, &c. &c. They stand on their own. Unfortunately, we cannot but talk about them in “Mormon” terms. I don’t know if it’s politically correct to do so, but I’m going to use the media convention of calling them “FLDS”. You may debate whether or not this is appropriate in the comments &, if I am convinced of your arguments (you must posit an alternative), I will change the post.
For those of us living in holes, law enforcement recently raided an FLDS compound in Texas, arresting most of the adults, and putting most of the kids into foster care. None of these people have yet stood trial for whatever it is they’re going to be charged with (apologies to Walkear, if he stops by, but Texas doesn’t seem like the kind of place where keeping women in their place is a legal offense).
The upshot is that many of the kids involved are also parents, many very, very young. Statutory rape is almost certainly going to come up in whatever courtroom this goes down in. And, in the meantime, everyone under 18 is being kept in government “protection”: not foster care, so one must assume this means orphanages.
My primary concern here is about the women and girls who have been exploited for the ends of the sick men in charge. I don’t really see any way that the women who’ve been roped into this did so under anything other than duress. Allowances must be made for the fact that (a) they are innocents in this and (b) they’ve already been traumatized. Separation from their children is not going to help anyone’s interests at this point. If the government wants their cooperation, further traumatizing them is not the first place to start. There has already been evidence of mothers claiming different ages to remain with their (sometimes very young) children. Does anyone know what, besides being a member of a cult, these women did that qualifies as child abuse? There is currently a case to this effect. There has been evidence of numerous broken bones in the children involved, but is it really standard procedure to remove the children from the only adults they currently trust before a trial? I know that we often keep accused people in prison before the trial, but doesn’t there have to be some standard of evidence of ongoing threat? Is there in this case?
2 responses so far ↓
1 wren // May 5, 2008 at 5:52 am
“Does anyone know what, besides being a member of a cult, these women did that qualifies as child abuse?”
Allowing your child to be “spiritually married” to some older dude who’s going to deflower her qualifies, I’m certain of that. But should any of the women be convicted? That I’m not so sure of. Those mothers had the same thing done to them.
I’m very troubled by how they hauled all the kids off. I agree that keeping them away from their mothers is a bad thing. At the same time, I’m certain their mothers would be a strong influence on them, making them feel compelled to protect the compound members.
Also of concern is who is watching the kids. Many of the busses hauling them away from the compound were from a Baptist church, I noticed. There is no love loss between Mormons (of any stripe) and Baptists. As much as I disagree with the FLDS doctrines, I hate to think of those kids being in either orphanages or foster homes of people who are likely going to tell them how wrong their families are and potentially how they’re going to hell unless they choose to follow the Lord their way.
Back to the role of the mothers, I remember feeling - and buckling under - indirect pressure within the regular LDS church. And I like to think of myself as rather independent. I didn’t do a lot of the things that I saw other women doing out of cultural or authoritative pressure. I can only imagine how difficult it must be for FLDS women.
And what started this all? Men claiming god told them the way things ought to be. This is the number one reason, IMO, that religion is suspect. We can believe in our heart of hearts that god wants us to do good works and someone else can believe in their heart of hearts that god wants them to kill in his name. Neither person has any proof of what this god wants other than a belief spurred on perhaps by physical sensations and feelings. Perhaps we give far too much respect to people’s faith. It’s all fun and games til someone loses an eye.
What the govt did is scary. They do such things on a smaller scale on a daily basis, it just doesn’t make the news.
2 xJane // May 5, 2008 at 6:59 am
You’re absolutely correct, “allowing” these kids to get married was a heinous crime. But…how much say did they have in the matter? If they had tried to stop it, what would have happened to them? I’m not trying to defend the marriage of children, I’m just trying to underline the fact that these “parents” were not in positions of power, although “parent” is generally presumed to be a position of power.
And it really is sick & twisted that the Baptists are involved; I really thought it was a straight-up government action. Certainly replacing one repressive religion with another will do no good to these kids.
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