Sunday, April 20, 2008

"Your Children Are Ours,"

Said the State of Texas regarding the 400-plus children of the Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints church.

I haven't blogged about this unfolding subject, but like many others here in Texas, my revulsion for the idea of 13-year-old girls married to 50-year-old men was topped by my horror at the State taking all the children from their mothers and planning to put those children up for adoption or parcelled out to foster care with little that resembles due process.

It's one thing to argue about individual abuse cases but another to make a wholesale accusation that separates children from both biological parents on abuse charges. In typical child abuse cases, the accused is separated from the family, but the family is left in tact because it is better for the children. That's not what is happening to the little cult on the prairie in Eldorado.

I'm not arguing that clearly abused children shouldn't be removed from abusive homes, but it is hard for me to believe all 400-plus children fit that category by virtue of being born into this sect. In short, this is yet another example of the overreaching of the state not terribly unlike the Branch Davidians or Ruby Ridge.

I don't agree with a lot of the anti-government rhetoric of this post, but he has a point that every parent should embrace:

The point has been made before, but it bears repeating now: If you want to avoid having your children stolen by the State, never, under any circumstances, let any child "protective" worker or police officer into your home without a formal warrant. This includes medical emergencies, unless they are immediately life-threatening -- and even then you're taking a severe risk if you permit agents of the State to have access to your home.