Mothers’ Day came and went. I’m ashamed that I went through the day without taking a moment to consider and pray for the many mothers whose children have been unjustly torn from their arms by the State of Texas. As the facts unfold, many fair-minded people are beginning to wonder how this can happen in America, that an entire community would be raided and their children torn away, triggered by a hoax call that the State just can’t admit was a hoax – clearly a hoax.
I’m worried that some of us Latter-day Saints let our antipathy for polygamy and FLDS ways blind our eyes to brutal injustice against them. When I have spoken up for the Constitutional rights of the FLDS people, I’ve had fellow Latter-day Saints wonder why on earth I would defend them, as if defending basic human rights of others is somehow condoning whatever crimes and sins they may have committed. We treat illegal immigrants with far more dignity and concern for their rights. Good grief, we treat known gang members and drug addicts with more dignity.
Jeff,
Over half of the teen girls were or had been pregnant. That’s called “res ipsa loquitur” or the thing speaks for itself. That’s called rape on a widespread, systemic scale. That’s called willing complicity in the abuse of your own children. Those mothers failed to act as mothers and don’t deserve the title.
Anon, this is simply not true. Go read the SL Tribune’s excellent coverage of the topic and then come back and contribute to the discussion:
Jeff:
What you seem to be missing is that the “antipathy” felt by LDS people for the FLDS runs a little deeper than “antipathy.” Every time they are in the news, it reflects badly upon us, no matter how much we try to dissociate ourselves from them. I don’t know how they managed to incorporate as FLDS without a legal challenge from the church back in the ’50s. It’s hard for us to have sympathy for them when everything they do–EVERYTHING they do–makes life more difficult for us.
So just how annoying does a group have to be before we can ignore their human rights and Constitutional rights? Hey, I’m terribly annoyed by the FLDS. But my frustration with them does not justify tearing children away from mothers, and in some cases, innocent husbands away from adult wives.
It’s amazing how easily we stoop to defending child abuse and rape in the name of constitutional rights. All too often, the worst abuses have the noblest reasons.
How much farther must be fall before we defend same-sex marriage in the name of constitutional rights, or we defend pornography in the name of freedom of speech? How different is that when we defend child rape in the name of freedom of religion?
Mel, are you unable to discern the difference between promoting crime and providing due process for alleged criminals?
Does the alleged abuse of some children justify denial of basic rights for all in a community and the separation of all children from all parents?
Is being against the torture of accused terrorists the same as being pro-terrorism? Think about it.
That’s called “res ipsa loquitur” or the thing speaks for itself.
Hmmm. Turns out that out of these 400+ kids rescued from abuse and rape, there are around nine 16 or 17-year-old brides. Not the hundreds of abused 13- and 14-year-olds some were screaming about. In Texas, you can get married at age 16. So what’s the “res ipsa loquitur”?
Out-of-control authorities raid an entire community on the basis of an out-of-state call from someone who couldn’t even pronounce the name of the city right. They had to know was a hoax. The hoax call made accusations of one individual being abused. They rush in, seize everyone, deny due process, deny basic rights, and take away all the kids. You’re right: the thing speaks for itself. It’s abuse by the state. And what’s happening now isn’t getting any prettier.