Parenting
Monday, November 30, 2009
Tally of kids in polygamist sect grows to 401 -- how does this happen?
editor
The news of
the polygamist ranch in Texas is a few days old. But the fact that 401 children were part of this religious sect still baffles me. I haven't seen a breakdown on their ages yet, but
the photos say it all. It's so tragic that even while the sect's leader, Warren Jeffs, sits in jail
for incest and other sexual misconduct with minors, he
still is
wreaking havoc on the lives of other kids and women through this ranch.
Reports indicate the children aren't saying what happened within the walls of this so-called retreat. You have to wonder how long it will take for them to feel comfortable enough to talk about their lives. Or how they'll react if they are pulled from their families.
Here's my other question...how does something like this happen in a town without anyone reporting it? I'd like to think that if a compound with 400 kids and more than 100 women were located in a nearby city, residents would notice and report it, no?
What's your take?
Related: polygamist sect, parenting
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Posted by Nichelle M Tue Apr 22, 2008 2:08pm PDT
Ok! I, know that I, might be wrong for voicing this but who chose the women clothing? And how can someone look at those drabby dresses and find them sexy? Why do the women look as if they are all hungry?
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Posted by semora Wed Apr 23, 2008 4:12am PDT
Brainwashing? Indoctrinating the children? I'm sorry. Isn't that the entire point of religion? To convince you that their way is the only way and everyone not following it is wrong and evil? I grew up in a religious household, and trust me, indoctrination, was the way it was done. Granted i had parents who tried to instill in us a mind of our own minus the religious indoctrinations, but that is what religion is!! Removing children because there exists a possibility of abuse? Are we saying the government now can raise our children better than we can? These women were NOT being held at gunpoint. If they wanted to leave, REALLY wanted to leave, they could have. They chose not to. And, not that i am condoning marriage of young women to older men, but traditionally, for THOUSANDS of years, that is precisely what happened. Fourteen was considered a normal age for a girl to get married. Yes, we no longer do that, in this country at least, but how precisely is it wrong morally? Because we have decided it is? I'm sorry. While i may not like the lives these people chose to live, it sets a scary precedent in my mind if the government or whoever is able to destroy lives because they do not like the way it is being lived. Freedom? not anymore.
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Posted by semora Thu Apr 24, 2008 1:54pm PDT
People are continuing to ask how the residents of Eldorad, TX couldn't know what was going on in the compound. The answer is straightforward and sad: the only members of the sect who were free to come and go from the compund were the men. The group isolated itself from the nearby community. They had their own school (with classes taught by members of the sect), hospital (with nurses and doctors who were members of hte sect), they had their own concrete factory and other factories, the place was pretty darn near self-sufficient so there was no way for the neighboring townsfolk to really know everything that was going on in respect to the women and children. I read today that the cell phone call that triggered the warrants and investigation has turned out to be a hoax made by a woman in Colorado who had nothing to do with the cult. It is only serenditpity that the situation was what the hoaxer had reported. It is utterly sad that there are 14-year old girls being forced to marry and bear children and that teenage boys are being thrown out of the only community and culture thye've ever known. I only hope that things get straightened out soon.
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Posted by DevonY Thu Apr 24, 2008 3:12pm PDT
I have a major problem with organized religion in general. Where does it say that you have to gather in large groups and do weird things to have a relationship with God? On the other hand I have no real issue with multiple spouses, if it is between two consenting adults. What I do have a problem with is the systematic brainwashing, lying, and rape of these young girls.
I hate to say it, but I think all men, left unchecked, would live like this....
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Posted by shekinah Thu Apr 24, 2008 11:08pm PDT
Isn't one of the main foundations this country is built on the freedom of religion?? Or has it only come down to it being mainstream beliefs? What happened to separation of church and government? What happened to being able to worship as you desire or is it only if you believe like those around you do?
I do not agree to forced marriages or forced sex however, for most of the history of man, women did not have any choice who they married. Even at the turn of the 1900's it was still common to find girls being married at 12, 13, 14, 15 years old... and they were often married to much older men. It was not thought of as being strange back then, only in the past 50 years or so, if that long.
While I am not as close to God as I would like to be, I do not find anything wrong with a group of people choosing to show they are separate from the world by dressing in a manner that is different from the world. Do I agree with that particular fundamentalist group? No, but, I applaud those who are willing to step forth in faith and show the world they are different even if the world eyes them with suspicion. I am not much on religion but I stand strong for faith.
Why is it people seem to have no problem with the kids of today dressing extremely provocatively while being bombarded with sexual innuendos and openly sexual messages and images in their music, tv, movies, etc.? Why are people not acting horrified about children being sexually active at earlier ages? Why is the government not taking away the children who have been proved to have been sexually abused in their homes or the children who are having babies at 12, 13, 14 yrs old? Why do people only act concerned when it is a "Religious" group that might have something like this going on?
I have a greater problem with the government being able to invade them and take their children before having any proof than what was going on in their homes. Who will they come for next?
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