Ever had grits for breakfast? When I’m in the South, I love having them. You might be surprised to learn that I had Grits for Breakfast tonight, and while they were free, I enjoyed them so much that I did something I rarely do when eating at home: left a PayPal tip. And I suggest that you try Grits for Breakfast too – and you can do it anywhere, right from your laptop, thanks to Scott Henson, a former journalist turned opposition researcher/political consultant, public policy researcher and blogger.
With his ACLU background, and me being rather conservative and Libertarian, I bet we’d disagree on a let of issues, but I’m mighty proud of Scott’s patriotic and eloquent stance in speaking up for the rights of people with whom he vehemently disagrees. He’s doing an amazing job of documenting the travesty in Texas as heavy-handed CPS officials endanger the welfare of hundreds of small children who had the misfortune of living in the FLDS community. One of the best blogs I’ve seen covering that topic. And some other interesting material as well.
God bless you, Scott Henson.
Wow, what a read — and I only read a little.
The more things that come out about this debacle the more it appears to be just plain, good old-fashioned religious persecution to me.
Are there abused children? I’m sure there are but are all of them being abused? And is such treatment of these people (children and adults) necessary — I say not just “no” but … (you get the idea).
Go ahead, acuse me of getting on the “persecution bandwagon” but that is all it really is when you get past all the veneer.
I will admit I have not kept up with the FLDS mess. So I can’t say if it’s persecution or prosecution. But I have no sympathy for apostate groups. They broke the law. They have have people thinking all LDS men have sex with kids. I have heard stories for years how supposedly there is sex going on in our temples and then there are photos published of beds in the FLDS temple. I don’t care what they say as to why it’s there. It all comes back to us. All I can say is Bleep them and the white horse they rode in on.
Richard G.
Richard, I’m afraid that you’re attitude is exactly what I see as the danger. When it’s a group others don’t like, especially when the group is a threat in some way, as the FLDS are to us real Mormons, it’s so easy to say “bleep them” when they are abused by government. So easy to consent to tyranny with silence.
It’s how we got thrown out of Missouri and Illinois, if you’ll remember. We were trouble. We were threats. And so the good people of the Midwest were able to say “good riddance” when mobs came after us.
When tyrants kick in your door and drag away your kids one day, I hope there will be some good people left who, in spite of disliking Mormons, might be willing to so more than say “bleep Richard” and ignore the problem.
Jeff, maybe my attitude is bad. I’m just tired of fake Mormons and anti-Mormons. And I’m as leery of government as you are. Maybe more so. My government sent me to Vietnam in 1968 to prop up a corrupt South Vietnamese government. My oldest son spent time overseas during the First Bush Oil War and so far my youngest son has spent 26 months in Iraq in support of the Second Bush Oil War. Most of my life I have put up with stupid anti-Mormon comments. Anymore I just tell people it’s not 1844 and I’m not going to put up with their garbage. If they want to have a decent conversation fine but keep their stupidity to themselves. I don’t want the FLDS persecuted but if they’re harming children (marrying off 12 year old girls to 50 year old men)so be it.
Richard G.
Jeff thanks so much for the links, the kind words and the tip! One silver lining to this travesty is that I’ve been really impressed with the quality of voices speaking up in the blogosphere on the topic, and also the diversity and cross pollination of very different perspectives.
To Richard, it’s not 1844, it’s apparently 1692.
If I’d seen or heard the slightest evidence that FLDS was “marrying off 12 year old girls to 50 year old men” at the YFZ Ranch, I’d feel much differently about the matter. However when you get past the media hype, they found (allegedly) 2-5 16 or 17 year old brides. Women can marry at 16 in Texas with parental consent, but these were likely “spiritual marriages,” so the state won’t recognize their consent. Otherwise, there’s zero evidence most of those kids were abused or neglected at all – for the most part, quite the opposite.
Anti-Mormon bigotry is driving a lot of this in Texas, and if you think it’s just anti-polygamous Mormons, amigo, you’ve got another think coming! best,