Bravery Amongst Cultists
April 9th, 2008Affidavit: Fearful 16-year-old bride made late-night call - CNN.com
I think this story is far from over.
One of the most interesting things to watch, here in Utah, is how the media asks questions. Not about the safety or the well-being of the kids, but about the possible violation of civil rights. While this is a valid and interesting part of the story, where were these same questions when habeas corpus was suspended under the Bush/Cheney regime?
The obvious lack of morals and troubled history around polygamy in Utah is becoming more obvious as the strong response by Texas continues to reveal. This story also underscores a Utah conservative paradox; Bush is awesome, but wait, they are violating human rights here. Fascinating. o
Tags: FLDS, polygamy, religious nutburgers
April 9th, 2008 at 12:51 pm
Did you catch Rebecca Walsh’s column in the Trib yesterday. She thought they’d “gone too far”. Eh? If there are teenage girls being forced to marry men, have sex with them and have babies, I don’t think they’ve yet gone far enough. Period.
April 9th, 2008 at 12:54 pm
Here’s a link to a column from the Dallas Morning News about the whole thing. I thought she had an interesting take on the local response.
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/localnews/columnists/jfloyd/stories/DN-floyd_08met.ART0.State.Edition2.463651f.html
April 9th, 2008 at 1:11 pm
Seems to me, from what I’ve read and followed that the “civil” rights of the perpetrators of statutory rape really don’t matter that much… It’s the 401 CHILDREN who have suffered, who received limited protection, were forced into marriage to men who could have been their grandfathers, well, it’s those individuals who matter in this case.
No matter what side of the political spectrum you are on, the basis of the FLDS, polygamy, is wrong and is harming children. What parent could protest?
What I find scary, though, is the question, “What happens now?” There is no answer. The fate of over 400 children is hinging on the answer.
April 9th, 2008 at 1:13 pm
I agree with Mrs Pop - if the plural marriage was entered into by consenting adults, that’s one thing. (What can I say? I adore Big Love)
This? A disgusting display of child-rape, abuse, and control. I cringe, yet again, at the hurt visited upon people in the name of religion.
April 9th, 2008 at 1:53 pm
I agree with MontanaJen…it would be different if these married couples (primarily the female) were of age (18 in the majority of states) to get married…fine. But these are girls who are age 14+. That….is sick. A 14 year old girl does not need be marrying a 50 year old man. Those men have no right to be protected under civil rights laws.
April 9th, 2008 at 2:00 pm
I’m assuming this is the story:
http://www.sltrib.com//ci_8847466?IADID=Search-www.sltrib.com-www.sltrib.com
It’s hard for me to even follow the whiplashes in position, but I’m sure I could write something as inchoherent about evangelical Christian theology. I’m just blown away by the “one person” has been harmed rhetoric in the article.
I can’t even fathom how this will be resolved. Has there even been a cult deprogrammed on this scale? It seems like in the past this sort of situation has always ended with mass deaths that prevent us from having to figure out how to use social services to get help for hundreds of women and children.
That said, I think their mistake was in choosing Texas. We have a reputation for a very strong libertarian streak, but that’s a myth. We have pretty strong gun laws for a southern state, and conservative Christianity has legislated all sorts of morality laws. Plus, our social service system has been under extreme scrutiny as late, so they are going to make sure to dot every ‘i’ and cross every ‘t’. And I’m sure the legislature will jump on any legislation that will prove popular with voters and distract from the Craddick mess. They’ve already proven willing to pass legislation targeted at the FLDS church when they upped the age of consent for marriage from 14 to 16.
That said, I’m honestly somewhat optimistic that this will end well.
April 9th, 2008 at 2:08 pm
This whole thing is scarey. Children born into a lifestyle that is so demeaning. I just can’t believe this is even going on in this century. If there is a God, I don’t believe he or she meant for people’s lives to be lived like that. I wonder how much interbreeding there is there and what kind of mental illness they are breeding. What do those people do all day, make and raise babies? I don’t normally like the government intervening in people’s lives, but it seem very necessary here.
April 9th, 2008 at 2:54 pm
The scary thing for me is knowing that for every one of these cults they find, there are others they haven’t found yet, and more that will be created in the future.
Most of these cult members are so cut off from society and hidden from it that it’s difficult to know what exactly is going on behind those closed doors. I really feel for the kids involved.
April 9th, 2008 at 3:20 pm
Is “nutburger” the technical term for religious crazies? Sounds good to me!
I share in your confusion about Utah conservativism. I also wonder what Utah would be like with out the LDS church telling (But we don’t do that!) its members how to think and vote.
April 9th, 2008 at 5:05 pm
Your pointing out of the Utah paradox is right on: Nobody in the land of Zion questions the suspension of civil liberties so long as it doesn’t affect people who look like we do.
April 9th, 2008 at 7:51 pm
Alas, it is not only a Utah paradox; it is a religious nutburger paradox (Jon, thank you so much for introducing that phrase to me). Some of my Southern Baptist relatives had no problems with the suspension of civil liberties… but I guarantee that if one of their own (someone who looks like them, to paraphrase Danny) were impacted by our disappearing civil rights, you can bet they’d be crying foul.
I just want to cry for those poor kids in Texas. What they’ve gone through is tantamount to sexual slavery.
April 9th, 2008 at 8:36 pm
Yup, you’ve got the point.