"Big Love" Deep In The Heart of Texas

By now, I'm sure that you have heard about the raid on the polygamist compound near Eldorado, Texas a little over two weeks ago. Every news program is covering the story, so the public has been forced to look into these people's lives and make their own judgement. I believe that officials have done an outstanding job of emphasising that the reason for the raid is because of the safety of the children and not because of the religious sect. The Texas Attorney General was on the Today show this morning and I was very impressed by the way he handled the questions he was asked. When the possibility of the phone call, that led to the raid, being a hoax was brought up, he answered that it did not matter if the phone call was a hoax or not, the children were believed to be in danger and that is the focus of the investigation.

The press keeps reminding us that CPS officials have not determined the identity of the 16 year old pregnant teenager who made the call for help from the compound. It should come as no surprise to them that no one has stepped forward. Would you? Those children have been brain washed from birth to believe that their situations were okay. They have been told that the rest of the world is the enemy and is only out to hurt them. Can you imagine what those children are thinking right now? They have been told that "outsiders" are dangerous. A big group of outsiders came into the only home they had known, packed them up and took them away. All of the "moms" that came with the children were sent back to the compound, and now a bunch of strangers are tucking them in at night, asking them who they are, who their parents are, and what their lives were like. Those children have no clue what their future holds, and that 16 year old caller, probably believes that she would be harmed if not killed if she were to be sent back to the compound and her identity revealed.

Regardless of how I feel about the religious beliefs of the FLDS members, the children deserve a safe place to call home. The compound was not safe. I don't know what kind of care the mother's gave the children. I'm sure that many were good moms who loved their children and I feel for their heartbreak. The crime here is that the moms stood by and allowed their 13, 14, and 15 year old daughters to be married off to men who were in their 50's and 60's. They allowed and probably participated in the teachings that told children this was fine and part of their lives. The mother's allowed "unruly" boys to be banished from the compound and left with no money, no education, and no training in a world that they knew nothing about. The mother's allowed their sons to be taught that women were nothing more than machines that produce babies and that any way that men treated them was acceptable.

The men, who can be described as nothing more than pedophiles, who have thus far been able to use their religious beliefs to defend their actions, need to spend the rest of their lives in a prison that breeds criminal who don't appreciate people who hurt little children. Grown men do not marry and produce children with little girls who are barely teenagers. It is not acceptable and the courts should come down hard on them.

The poor victims here are the innocent children, born into a lifestyle that is unhealthy and unacceptable for them to grow up in. These children, while probably sad and confused, will hopefully be given the chance to grow up in a normal, healthy environment. But here is the scary part. The Texas Foster Care system is not known for always being a healthy environment. It is completely overburdened and children are added to the system daily. In one swoop, 416 children were added in a single day. There are some great stories of children finding families and their lives being turned around, but there are also horror stories of foster children when things go terribly wrong. Send a couple of those kids down here to South Texas, we have room!

My prayer is that God has a whole army of guardian angles over these children and that none have to suffer any more pain.