More than 400 children were removed from the compound of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints earlier this month by the Texas Child Welfare organization. My question is, "What took so long?" We can not let people corrupt something as beautiful as religion for their own sick beliefs. People have hide behind religion as a defense for a long time. Did we not learn anything from David Koresh and his followers in Waco. I really feel like break away sects and cults are a serous problem in Texas.
Just today Prakashanand Saraswati,(the founder of the Hindu temple Barsana Dham in Hays Co.) was arrested on 20 child indecency counts going as far back as 1993. What the hell is going on here? Does the state of Texas just give child molesters a free pass if the live on a "religious compound". Are we so afraid of offended someones religion in order to let innocent children be abused. Here is an idea. Children are not allowed to live on a religious compounds, period. You have to be 18 to live there. It might seem harsh to tell a parent that a child can't live with them. But too bad. Leaving children alone with men is just a bad idea. I don't know how else I can put it. Thank you Texas for trying to clean up the problem. But every time we bring another child abusing religious sect down, another one takes it place.
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I agree, we should not allow people to corrupt something as beautiful as religion.But unfortunately people have been hiding behind religion as a defense mechanism for thousand of years know(since the Catholic church began).Bringing down religious sect down will not help solve the problem.not as long as priest are still allowed to molest children (especial boys) under their care.
WOW! WOW! WOW! Herdeman's posting on his blog "Herdeman's Texas Government Blog" entitled "Texas finally made a move" sure is a mouthful. I understand that he feels strongly about the allegations, but I am troubled by some of his arguments. First, let me say that my position on sexually abusing a child is that this act deserves nothing less than the severest of punishment. Second, thank God for the constitution that offers you me, and the FLDS church the right to a fair trial. Herdeman asked, "what took so long?", referring to the raid and removal of over 400 children on the suspicion of sexual abuse of minors. What took so long is probable cause. Herdeman also compared the Yearning For Zion compound to the David Koresh compound that was in Waco, Texas. This comparison is apples to oranges from a legal standpoint. David Koresh and the Branch Davidians were stockpiling large amounts of weaponry and the FLDS in El Dorado, Texas were farming the land; at least that is what it looked like. Was David Koresh a complete wack job? Yes he was and Warren Jeffs is just as big a wack job, but that doesn’t mean that the government can go around kicking in doors without probable cause, and being Mormon isn’t cause enough.
As for the idea of children under the age of 18 not being allowed to live with their parents on a religious compound; that won’t work. Freedom of religion is one of the core ideas that this country was built on. Hell, many ethnically dominated neighborhoods could be compared to compounds. What would work is mandatory monitoring of home-schooled children by the school district they live in. The children would have to attend a class on some type of regular basis to monitor their academic progress. A session as short as one hour a week could easily provide the interaction necessary to evaluate a student’s educational progress. This would be a regular adult interaction outside their environment that would serve as system of checks and balances and provide a line of communication for children who might otherwise be isolated.
I won’t even comment on how wrong the idea that children shouldn’t be left alone with men is. Oops, I just did. This idea perpetuates stereotypical ideas about abuse, gender and the abuser. The idea that Texas gives anyone a free pass to molest children is absurd and if Herdeman has ESP, we should elect him the Attorney General so could perform psychic crackdowns on child molesters. There are lots of great dads and some of them are even religious. I think that we should sign Herdeman up to be a big brother with Big Brothers and Big Sisters of America; maybe he would see how vital it is for boys and girls to have a male role model in order to have a healthy perception of family, community and life in general.
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