Controversy warning
I am somewhat horrified by the spectacle taking place in Texas right now. This whole thing with the Fundamentalist church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints is a bit creepy. Not for the reasons one might suspect though. I find myself shocked that an entire community can be stripped of it children on the basis of one unsubstantiated phone call. It has been know for ages that if you want to destroy a society or a culture you take their children. That is what is happening in Texas right now. The whole “child abuse” thing is a cover, an excuse to steal the children from a group of people who defiantly refuse to live by what the majority consider to be acceptable behavior. I have long been f the opinion that if you hear a politician, (or worse, an activist) say something is “for the children” you should hang on because someone is about to get screwed. This is a prime example.
Now, let me be clear, IF children were being abused there then those children should be taken from that situation. But frankly, I am not convinced. The lascivious allegations that the news bimbos at Fox so eagerly describe with wide eyed delight and quivering voices are pretty much the same thing that has been said about any repressed religious minority throughout history. In the middle ages these same claims were made about the Jews (and any random schismatic sect) by the Christian authorities. Identical claims were made against the main line Mormons in the 1800’s when they were being hounded for polygamy too. As I recall child abuse was one of the reasons given for assaulting the Branch Davidian Compound in that great Charlie Foxtrot. I have heard Protestants from South America make much the same claim about the Catholic Church and you can hear a multitude right wing radio opinionators referring to Moslems as Pedophiles and abusers of children and women everyday on the radio. Perhaps this is just my paranoia speaking but I find it somewhat suspicious that they have been unable find the girl who supposedly made the phone call that kicked this whole mess off. I personally wouldn’t be surprised if she didn’t exist. If the call was made by one of the “escapees” from the religion who are out to bring it down.
I just twitch when I hear the news bimbos saying that these children need to be taken and deprogrammed. I guess I am a bit bothered that it is WRONG for a man to marry several women but it is ok in this society for him to knock up as many as he wants. For a teenage girl to get married and have a child is apparently a crime but if she becomes a “baby’s mama”, as they say, she is given support, helped, and even admired in some circles. If this religion was some sort of 60’s style free love commune they would catch less hell than they do for multiple marriages.
Just remember. If society can take these peoples children on the basis of an unsubstantiated call in the night, they can take yours too.
"The trouble with fighting for human freedom is that one spends most of one's time defending scoundrels. For it is against scoundrels that oppressive laws are first aimed, and oppression must be stopped at the beginning if it is to be stopped at all."
-H. L. Mencken
Now, let me be clear, IF children were being abused there then those children should be taken from that situation. But frankly, I am not convinced. The lascivious allegations that the news bimbos at Fox so eagerly describe with wide eyed delight and quivering voices are pretty much the same thing that has been said about any repressed religious minority throughout history. In the middle ages these same claims were made about the Jews (and any random schismatic sect) by the Christian authorities. Identical claims were made against the main line Mormons in the 1800’s when they were being hounded for polygamy too. As I recall child abuse was one of the reasons given for assaulting the Branch Davidian Compound in that great Charlie Foxtrot. I have heard Protestants from South America make much the same claim about the Catholic Church and you can hear a multitude right wing radio opinionators referring to Moslems as Pedophiles and abusers of children and women everyday on the radio. Perhaps this is just my paranoia speaking but I find it somewhat suspicious that they have been unable find the girl who supposedly made the phone call that kicked this whole mess off. I personally wouldn’t be surprised if she didn’t exist. If the call was made by one of the “escapees” from the religion who are out to bring it down.
I just twitch when I hear the news bimbos saying that these children need to be taken and deprogrammed. I guess I am a bit bothered that it is WRONG for a man to marry several women but it is ok in this society for him to knock up as many as he wants. For a teenage girl to get married and have a child is apparently a crime but if she becomes a “baby’s mama”, as they say, she is given support, helped, and even admired in some circles. If this religion was some sort of 60’s style free love commune they would catch less hell than they do for multiple marriages.
Just remember. If society can take these peoples children on the basis of an unsubstantiated call in the night, they can take yours too.
"The trouble with fighting for human freedom is that one spends most of one's time defending scoundrels. For it is against scoundrels that oppressive laws are first aimed, and oppression must be stopped at the beginning if it is to be stopped at all."
-H. L. Mencken
posted by exMI | 06:26
6 Comments:
I spent a good deal of time in my practice in Indiana working with parents whose kids had been taken away. It is scary. Gotta love those "dirty house" cases.
The frustrating thing is how the process works:
1) The anonymous phone call is placed.
2) The social worker drops in, unannounced.
3) The parent is having a bad day, and doesn't kiss butt.
4) The social worker decides, hey, this person *must* be a bad parent because they're not kissing butt.
5) Kids taken away
6) Hearing in front of the judge -- at which the judge, who has
6a) never been to the house, and
6b) perhaps has experience with these parents from earlier divorce/paternity cases, or maybe criminal cases,
6c) vaguely remembers them and since they've been in court previously, they're probably bad apples
6d) and figures that the social worker ought to know best, after all, they're out there on the front lines, aren't they?
6e) and the social worker always seems so dedicated to children -- they're always in court, but on the good guys side
6f) and who in the world would be a social worker and make such a recommendation if they didn't honestly want what's best for the kids?
7) so the kids get taken away.
When you throw in the cultural issues like in the case you're talking about, it's inevitable.
I have heard social services here argue that we *have* to keep the kids away from their parents, even though it's been 4 months already, because we just don't know if they (the parents) will go back to their mj habit, even though they've been clean all this time already, and 4 months isn't long enough to know, and besides, that's the only way we have to punish them. Birthdays? Christmas? Well, they should have thought of that before that roach, dang it!
The ol' gag reflex got a workout that day.
And don't even get me started on Kentucky.
I haven't been following this closely, but what I have, I haven't thought about what you said and what you said should definitely be considered.
I've always said that whenever a politician or group says "it's to protect the children," there goes another freedom.
Well said, Exmi.
I had thought to post about this myself, probably from a little different angle, but you saved me from a rant.
I can't really think of anything nice about the Jef's disciples, but I swore that if I heard one more Texan witness say "Those kids don't even know what crayolas are" with such a quaver in the voice that one would think crayolas are the be-all and the end-all of the universe, I was going to throw something at the TV.
You have the point. What they can do to them, it only takes a little while till they can do it to you and yours.
Heh. What did I tell you. They are now investigating a 33 year old women in colorado springs on the suspicion that she may have made the initial phone call that set this whole Texas thing off.
So Brad, will that affect the cases?
Sorry, I hadn't checked back in a while. I think your question has already been answered, though -- nope. Apparently it won't affect the cases one bit.
It's all for the children, after all.
(*screams, and bangs his head against desk*)
oooo sarcasm alert.....
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