This is a very dangerous precedent-setting case and America must wake up and look at what it could mean for everyone-all of us-each and every one of us. Sure Texas is the most egomaniacal state in the Union, but as a "bellwether" state, what happens here-will eventually happen there (where you are)too.
The whole 400+ FLDS children were removed from their mothers' (and fathers')custody on the basis of their being in a questionable and possibly hazardous "environment." That is what I heard on the News used to describe the legal reason for the removal. How many children are living in "less-than-optimum" circumstances? Does this precedent-setting case mean that children that are housed in "slums"-which are clearly "hazardous"-should be taken away from their parents as well? Don't answer too quickly here. Drive-by shootings have injured and killed how many children living on the wrong side of town?-right through their very walls? The vicinity was very definitely "hazardous." Shouldn't those children have been removed from their parents' custody for daring to house them in such a dangerous "environment"?
As a former Social Worker in Foster Care in another state (Federal Laws apply in all states), I came to realize the power that Child Protective Services agencies have. I also was educated as to how they came about their power. And I saw ways in which it was abused.
No voters ever voted to give Child Protective Services the power that they bear. I am quite certain that if they had, the laws against child abuse would not be so abusive of parental rights. (Oh wait a minute-we don't have any of those-parental rights?-nope-other than naming him/her) The laws prohibiting child abuse are not preventative, they are punitive. No child abuser is likely to have ever said, "It is against the law, so I won't abuse this child." No, only after the fact is the abuser called to answer. Accordingly, the "Social Work" that I saw was a glorified guessing game played according to the bias of the Worker in question. That is why there are so many kids hurt and killed in Foster Care and why so many are returned to their parents only to be killed. Child Protective Agencies would have us believe that the laws are all applied evenly and justly-but it just ain't so.
When I heard this case some to light, I knew. I KNEW that the phone call was bogus-it just gave them a legal "in" to get into the compound to get to the children. But the phone call did not truly establish "imminent danger" to the children there. There are reasons for the laws that Child Protective Agencies must abide by. Appalling as the specter of pedophiles hiding behind "religion" as justification for sexual deviance with immature girls is, should we give CPS authorities yet more power to abuse the remainder of us who are doing our best to raise children in a world gone crazy-with the kids close behind?
While the practices of the FLDS members should be called to question, should we all as Americans give yet more power to a faulty system that is already running amuck over all our rights? Isn't there a better way to provide for the prevention of cults' tendencies to abuse their members? What about High School parenting classes (too late for some already)? What about including a true-to-life segment in High School about religious fanaticism and cults and the likelihood that the members' rights would be abused?
The FBI and other agencies have-no doubt-already identified groups that have formed a "cult." Our legal agencies are already in place monitoring the day-to-day activities of these cults. Our officials are already aware of the practices which are employed to "brain-wash" cult members. Any group using these practices would/should be disbanded-because it is wrong to use such techniques. Can't we pass a law saying so?
Can we not establish an anti-cult agency to address groups that form whereby we can have a yearly "Speak-out" in which members are addressed and offered protection if they want to leave the group? All cults would be required to allow officers to come and address the ENTIRE group and see the members and their condition. No fanatic power on Earth would/could prevent a member wanting to leave from leaving if we made it so. There are ways that we can stop playing cat-and-mouse with these groups if we really wanted to do so. Make it all above-board and put an end to the guessing games-NOW-before parents are forced to justify their very existence before they are allowed to reproduce.-Don't laugh-that's next!