Arkansas Blog

Seriousl - who f***** this up so that these children get to go back to being brainwashed and victims of untold of sexual and mental abuse? This is absurdity to the highest degree.

It was absurd to seize 430 kids apparently with no actual evidence of wrongdoing -- not that I'm saying something wasn't amiss. Some damn fool just thought he could big dog it instead of finding out what was really going on. Incidently, if a tidbit I read when this fiasco started is true, Texas young'uns could legally marry at 14 with their parents' permission until these folks moved over from Arizona and Utah. Then somebody got busy in the state legislature. Can't say I agree with a 14 year old marrying (or a 16 year old for that matter), but how come it was just fine before the polygamists came to town?

Didn't you hear??? Some of the children had evidence of BROKEN BONES!!! Can you imagine a parent that somehow doesn't protect their child from broken bones? The children should be taken out of their families, away from their only support structure, and made wards of the state. The state always knows what is best for children.

Hey look what I found! It's an article with some pesky "facts":

"The justices based their ruling on an appellate court's finding last week that no evidence has yet been presented showing that the children really were being abused -- physically or sexually."

"Texas officials claimed at one point that there were 31 teenage girls at the ranch who were pregnant or had been pregnant, but later conceded that about half of those mothers, if not more, were adults. One was 27."

"The girl who made the complaints has not been located."

I'm a little concerned about how the state of Texas can get away with confusing someone who is 27 with a teenager. I'm a bit more concerned with "no evidence" leading to the seizure of children. I'm greatly bothered by all this happening due to someone with unknown motives making the accusations. But what disturbs me most is the AT blog's mention that underage girls are going back to marital beds. I can't find mention of this anywhere. Then again, the blog writers probably still think those Duke lacrosse players raped that woman. I can always count on Max to never let a lack of evidence get in the way of the story he wants to report.

http://www.kutv.com/content/news/topnews/story.aspx?content_id=a949061f-608b-4586-baaf-ec6c15faa975

"The girl who made the complaints has not been located."

I thought this was some semi-whacked lady in Arizona who faked the whole thing, and has been involved in other 'schemes' to discredit this sect!

Regardless of the polygamy issue, etc. it is refreshing that there are SOME limits to what "the man" can do, and there is accountability when they go outside established LAW. Too bad we don't have similar protections here...AND I don't pretend to understand why JUST the (illegal) polygamy can't pass muster in the courts - but it hasn't yet.
|

AND another thing...the Mormons want nothing to do with these people so calling them "Mormon children" is offensive to both. Dang, you guys totally screwed up this entry.

"Texas officials claimed at one point that there were 31 teenage girls at the ranch who were pregnant or had been pregnant, but later conceded that about half of those mothers, if not more, were adults."

So what about the other half who weren't? Was it a matter of them not being able to prove the girls ages or were none of them minors?

"later conceded that about half of those mothers, if not more, were adults"

And what about the half that were NOT adults???? That's about 15 underage mothers. It would take DNA tests to prove who the fathers are, whether they are older men or teen boys around the same age as the mothers, which would be expensive and require a court order. However, just the number of teen mothers in such a closely monitored environment would seem to justify the assumption that some of the underage girls are being returned to "marital" beds.

Ironfortified,

What a crock! Thousands of children have broken bones every day despite the best efforts of even nutty over-protective parents.

". . . During 1996, 2463 new fractures occurred in 2399 residents yielding a fracture rate of 36.1/1000 children. Fractures were more common in boys than girls and increased with age in both groups. Sports and leisure activities accounted for 36% of fractures, assaults for 3.5%, and road traffic accidents 1.4%. Fractures of the radius/ulna were most frequent (36%). . . ." Wales, Great Britain

Similar statistics exist in U.S. Populations. My Mother allowed me to play softball as 10 year-old in school. I broke my toe tagging first base in a hurry to stretch a double. Thank God, you and your ilk weren't around to incarcerate me in Texas foster care.

Get some perspective or actually raise a child without confinement to a carbon fiber-reinforced plastic bubble. Your biased bigoted drivel is reminiscent of Bush's never ending lies or "shaded truth" to stampede the Bushevik lemmings away from intelligent thought. It is also the same type of Republican illusion of truth and thought that deluded, egotistical, ignorant, Texan, bigot attorneys into illegally taking 437 children away from their parents.

Trying thinking for a change instead of exposing massive bias and stupidity or cupidity . . .

doc, is your sarcasm detector busted?

And the next time a Child Protective Services worker has some small doubt about whether or not a child is in danger, he or she will think of this case and hesitate. That child may not be 27, legally married or out of danger. Were they hasty? Maybe. Were they trying to protect VERY young girls from rape? Uh yeah. How many of you would rather they just "let it go" if it were your 12 year old daughter some 50-something man was raping?

Mormon children sent home

Now if we can get our children home from Iraq, it might be a good year after all.

Seems to me it's all about Checks and Balances.

Protective services sometimes have to move quickly, on partial evidence. Too many times ironclad facts arise out of broken or shortened lives. But (genius of our forebears) the Courts act as a check against overzealous action, and with a view toward the big picture and rights of citizens beyond this particular case.

It's a huge thing for The State to interfere with the parent-child relationship. It's a huge thing for The State to stand by while children are abused. There will be some mistakes one way or the other. Maybe the best we can hope for is a system of Checks and Balances that tries to advance all good interests.

Ironfortified,

Yep, too many encounters with the clueless Bush-0-blivious today. People ticked off about the entire situation today, but exhibiting the conditioned Rovian response of blaming it all on all the "Fox New bogeymen, etc, etc, ad infinitum.

You just sounded too much like some of our self-righteous . . . in any case, you were in the line of fire.

The actions taken on the FLDS church and children are fascinating for how far secular law enforcement can and cannot intrude on religious freedom.

The beliefs of the FLDS are common knowledge to anyone interested. Polygamy and underage marriage of girls, but not boys, are among them.

Warren Jeffs, "Prophet" of the FLDS, was convicted (for child rape, among other charges) and is imprisoned for practicing his "beliefs." He was not just a "prophet," he was President of the Corporation of the President of The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Inc., until forced to resign.

He was raking in the coinage.

When Jeffs was stopped in 2007 from fleeing the law in a $60,000 Escalade by Las Vegas police, police recovered:

# 15 cell phones

# Walkie-talkies

# A police scanner

# Laptop computers

# Wigs

# Sunglasses

# Credit cards

# At least $54,000 in cash

Sound like a respectable religious leader standing tall for his beliefs to you?

Or a criminal?

Based on that phone call (bogus or not) and full knowledge of the sect's beliefs and practices, law enforcement acted in the best interests of the children.

But "religious persecution" won out and the high court ruled the children's removal was unwarranted.

So with this ruling, men everywhere can convert to FLDS, move into one of their remote secured compounds and wait for the "Prophet" to reward them with a 14 year old virgin bride!

But not women. No 55 year old women marrying 14 year old boys in the FLDS holy book.

Because Granny - Grandson sex is yuckier than Grandpa - Granddaughter sex, in the eyes of the frigging (male, of course) "Prophet."

So rejoice, male hetero pedophiles! Have I got the church for YOU!

(Male homo pedophiles? Oh, I don't know. The Catholic priesthood?)

I remain very concerned about the babies in this story. I don't like seeing children taken from parents for other than the most serious reasons, so I was concerned when these kids were seized. The prospect of babies crying in the night for their mothers is not a pretty sight to think about.

On the other hand, I remain worried that very young girls are forced to marry whomever the "elders" decide upon. I find that idea more than disgusting and we've had numerous young women who have escaped or left who testify to the truth of this allegation.

I tend to feel it was good for Texas to seize the babies and stupid for them to do it without all their i's dotted and their t's crossed. They should have built a case and then acted, not the reverse. The officials in Texas blew it.

"MORMON children sent home" ??

I'm guessing you don't have many friends in the LDS church.

The State overstepped it's bounds.

The FLDS was a target for action because of theis religious beliefs.

Sex between Adults and Teenagers is not limited to those in the FLDS.

All Churchs rake in the coinage - tax free.

NEXT!

No, Wellwood. "The State" didn't overstep its bounds.

To anybody who can read, the FLDS religious dogma is perfectly clear. Men are entitled to, and will get, as many underage girls as they want to "marry."

!2? 13? 14? 15?

"The State" of Texas just caved to "religious freedom" and sent these female children back to the sect without regard for their well being.

That's right, Chipmunks. FLDS old men are allowed to marry and fuck pre-teen girls in the name of God.

That's really ugly. That's really criminal. That's really abusive.

These are girls with their lives ahead of them. Clamped down. Killed in the name of religoius dogma, fear and threats. Married off in their pre-teens and teens. DOA.

Speak out! Drive these people back under the rocks from whence they came.

This isn't "religious freedom."

It's child abuse protected by "faith."

How can anybody abide with this?