I wonder why it has taken so long to do what seems to me to be necessary. What concerns me is what has been reported that Children had been taken from their Mothers. If this is the case I think that is wrong. If children are being abused by the Mother then that is another problem. But the trauma of being seperated from caregivers, parents, siblings or whatever can damage an individual for a long time, especially young children. I hope Texas has adequated counseling and backup of professionals to handel the psychological problems that can arise from such a tramuatic event in the lives of these children. Does Texas have resources to provide housing, jobs and on-going services that these children and adult women will need in the future? I would like to know if such planning was made and what will be done with all these individuals. There is no question in my mind that this life style is wrong. Men overpowering women is a historical theme. No doubt the men involved are damaged themselves and the cycle has continued for a long time. When someone attempt to control another it is a sure sign of their feelings of inadequacy. It is time for it to stop. If Texas has a good plan for these individuals then it was a good thing. If not, then it is a double tragedy!

I just spent a considerable amount of time reading every entry on this question. Some of the entries surprise me. For those of you who think that the Government has over-stepped its boundries - don’t you remember the outrage of the American public when the people in Germany sat by and watched the horrors of the holocaust and did nothing to step in and DO something about it? For those who think that there has been no proof that any abuse happened within the compound - what about the underage girls who walked out of the compound into buses who are pregnant? If that is not proof, I don’t know what is! For those who think that the adult women can “choose” to stay in the compound - have you ever heard of The Battered Woman’s Syndrome? These woman are not free to “choose” anything. Children are this nations greatest resource and as such need the protection of any and everyone who is in a position to protect them. Child abuse is rampant in this country and the abuse of women is also rampant. From my understanding (yesterday I read 100 or so newspaper articles on this subject) the women and children that were “held” within the compound are not even aware that they were being abused. They had no access to the outside world and believed only what they had been told since the time of their birth. When told they are to be wed to an older man for the purpose of having children, they don’t consider it abuse - they consider it their life. They are told that if they don’t comform to what the men are telling them that they will be condemed to hell. It’s all they know; it’s what they believe. When Katrina happened, people in this country banded together to help those who were in need. “We the people” should once again band together to assist, in any way possible, the women and children who have been imprisoned in the compound. Come on celebrities - hold a fund raiser so the CPS in Texas can obtain the resources needed to assist these women and children. I view the compound, any many other compounds around this country, as just another form of forced prostitution or sex slaves. It MUST be stopped!

It sounds like pedophilia to me too. I also wonder where they get the money to finance themselves. This looks like a pretty large compound and the temple building is very nice. I wonder if these cults qualify as religions under our tax law. It seems that should also make it the public’s business to monitor them.

A polygamous sect with a religious affiliation…. they go under various names, preach various things. Fundamentally, if one believes in God, the teachings of the bible, it states that “a man shall take a wife” and leave his parents to form a family of his own. There is no mention of having multiple wives. If one believes in the Koran, then polygamy was part of the religious fiber, as long as the man could provide equally to his wives. In regards to this current event, as one lady stated “It is all that they know and have been taught”. Polygamy may have had a genuine purpose back in a day where men were the caregivers and needed to protect women, but in the midst of all good intentions, many distort and manipulate these ideologies for their own selfish benefit. Polygamy, IF it were intended in such a way that a woman WILLINGLY wanted to share a spouse with another, then, who am I to judge ? Notice I said “woman”, not girl, therefore, of legal consensual age. Polygamy in this case is a clear form of abuse and control. It is, in my opinion, a very nice way for men (older men especially) to dabble in the beauty and youth of a young girl and to engage sexually with an abundant supply of young women, since they are continuously having children, for the “pleasure of the flesh”. They can put a religious stamp on it if they want, it’s bogus. This kind of story brings media attention, an outcry from people, but then I wonder if there is more hypocrisy from the “accepted” standard of matrimony, being that a marriage consists of one man and one woman, but men and women, in ALL religions often will have extramarital affairs. Well, that’s another subject … ;)

Sorry if I’m being “know it all-ish” but since I work for CPS there’s things on here I can provide info on. I wanted to respond about the taking of kids from moms. first of all we don’t know whether or not the mothers are perpetrators yet. But secondly one of the things the department and court takes into account in any abuse case is whether or not the non offending parent is willing or capable of being “protective”. My guess is that the tenants of the religion have put these women in the position of having beliefs that do not allow them to protect their children. For example: if the mothers religious belief means that she believes the 13 year old daughter should marry and have sex with a 50 year old man. then she isn’t going to be seen as protective. And let me tell you… being in this business it is not just men who abuse.

We are allowed to take children away from parents under set legal guidelines that have been devised and revised over many years. Taking these children away for a period of time for their safety is no different than taking away a child away from a drug addicted mother. We can’t let people hide behind a religion. All religions are not necessarily good or bad just like all people are not necessarily good or bad.

Does anyone think that it’s basically wrong to keep women and children in seclusion like this? Even if there were no sexual abuse or physical abuse of these children, is the isolation itself a form of abuse?

Absolutely agree. When there are children involved, they need to intervene before further damage is done. Again, we have a situation where religion is a facade for abuse of power against the most vulnerable.

It is disturbing that the FLDS compounds under Jeffs were largely “off limits” to law enforcement agencies, and “outsiders” in general, and that authorities (law enforcement and child protective services, etc, etc.) had done so little about it for so many years. Since much of their community’s wealth is derived from the public assistance funds, which the officially unmarried “spiritual wives” of these men can qualify for to raise their numerous children, we also need some new laws to protect the pubic assistance systems, as well. Many children of young, unmarried women also receive social security benefits if their children have chronic illnesses such as asthma or have residual health conditions as a result of premature births, for example. In some respects, Social Security has become the new welfare program, as is evident when visiting social security offices today—there are more single mothers with children in tow and undocumented aliens populating these offices than there are seniors in attendance. Clearly, the FLDS communities have not only made the most of creating isolated compounds to exploit women, female children, and male teenagers who are often banished from these communities when the elder men consider them as becoming a competitive threat to the lifestyle they’ve become accustomed to of “marrying” underage brides, but they’ve also exploited government public assistance, as well. Any community where men ride around in open jeeps with shotguns and demand “outsiders” leave, deserved a lot more scrutiny than law enforcement agencies and social service agencies brought to bear in these FLDS compounds in TX and other states.

they had better be somebody’s business…these secret enclaves house sex offenders(in this case pedophiles???), anarchists, general disagreers with the govt/politics of our country….’THEY’ are everywhere..you cant imagine the shock i got when i lived in the little town of glenrock, wyoming (pop. about 3000)there was a sect there who had completely cut themselves off from reality…lived like pioneers…there is no difference in what these people do than with any other separatist ‘sect’ in any other country, including iraq, iran, china, afghanistan, etc..we better be vigilant, folks…

Absolutely. Those who for one reason or another can not make decisions for themselves should have a government of the people to protect them. How could a country who claims to a religion that is following Christ’s teaching let this thing happen. Having sex with a minor is a Man thing. Not a Christ thing. How can they even call this a religious teaching. It is not a point of doing what you want as long as it is legal. Having sex with minors is illegal. Do Americans want a free society where everyone is respected and given a chance at having a good life for ourselves and children or a third world country where men only prevail. Oh, wait that is what the war in Iraq is about. Democracy for Iraq. Sorry. I forgot. We’ll win it for them. The heck with the women and children in our own land.

Gayle Turner 4/11/08 11:30am How can anyone sit around letting women and children be the subjects of demented, perverted, men. The young girl making the phone call definitely made the most dangerous decision in her life. If it takes years this group must be removed from our society —forever. Bless those who are making the effort. Ms. G.

The main concern should be the children. Plural marriages don’t bother me.

it is all very well to wax philosophic, this from the horses mouth: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/femail/article.html?in_article_id=…