UPDATE 05-22-08 APPEALS COURT "NO RIGHT TO SEIZE CHILDRN" ...

According to the Associated Press...

"In a ruling that could torpedo the case against the West Texas polygamist sect, a state appeals court Thursday said authorities had no right to seize more than 440 children in a raid on the splinter group's compound last month."

"The Third Court of Appeals in Austin said the state failed to show the youngsters were in any immediate danger, the only grounds in Texas law for taking children from their parents without court action."

"It was not clear when the children — now scattered in foster homes across the state — might be returned to their parents. The ruling gave a lower-court judge 10 days to release the youngsters from custody, but the state could appeal to the Texas Supreme Court and block that."

The decision is a procedural one: dealing with the "probable cause" that allowed the authorities to take action and does not provide any guidance with respect to religious freedoms. What the ruling may do, however, is to highlight the egregious action of the authorities -- possibly to pursue an interest of self-aggrandisement and publicity for political purposes.

Original blog entry ...

An important question for humanity...

If, as everybody often says, that the Freedoms expressed in the Constitution are God-given and absolute, why is the State of Texas interfering with a religious sect that appears to abide by its own rules and does not overtly appear to harm anyone outside their own community?

Collision of religion with secular law...

What happens when there is a collision between religious practice and secular law? Does secular law always win over religion?

From the Wikipedia...

"Religious practice may also conflict with secular law creating debates on religious freedom. For instance, even though polygamy is permitted in Islam it is prohibited in secular law in many Western countries. Does prohibiting polygamy then curtail the religious freedom of Muslims? The USA and India have taken two different views of this. In India polygamy is permitted, but only for Muslims, under Muslim Personal Law. In the USA polygamy is prohibited for all. This was a major source of conflict between the early Mormon Church and the United States until the Church amended its position on polygamy."

But it's to protect the children...

"It's for the children" is a phrase commonly used by liberals and loonies to justify their own egregious actions in exerting more political control on citizens or raiding their wallets. In many cases, the stories of abuse appear to be manufactured by those seeking to take action or increase their own personal prestige, power or profits. 

Do we see anyone punishing the Amish for denying their children access to educational computers and games. Or forcing them to labor long hours on the family farms?

For those who claim that the sect is mistreating children, there has been no credible evidence published to-date that would support the allegation or abuse. But plenty has been published on the supposition that there is a possibility that "children are being harmed and describing the State's ham-fisted handling of the case or cases as it may be.

According to the Associated Press...

"False abuse claim investigated in Texas polygamist raid"

"Officials say the Texas Rangers are pursuing Rozita Swinton of Colorado as a 'person of interest' regarding telephone calls related to the polygamist compound in west Texas.
Child Protective Services officials say they launched a raid on the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints compound earlier this month after receiving an anonymous tip from a 16-year-old girl named 'Sarah' who said she was being abused by her 49-year-old husband."

"The investigation of Swinton headed by the Rangers and disclosed by the Texas Department of Public Safety suggests that the phone call that initiated the raid may have been a false complaint."

And, as time goes on, law enforcement and the judiciary have a politically-vested interest in finding something, anything, to justify their somewhat egregious actions. On the other side, you can bet the attorneys have a vested interest in making the state wrong, so as to pocket large fees based on state incompetence and malfeasance.

Meanwhile the children appear to be suffering. And who knows what psychological manipulations are being exerted on young children? Just "say this" and "we will let you go back to your family" is a powerful motivation to create false accounts and memories against otherwise innocent adults.

Enter the psychiatrists...

"Earlier Friday a cult expert told the judge in the West Texas polygamous sect child custody hearing that the group's belief system is abusive."

"Psychiatrist Bruce Perry testified that teen girls don't resist early marriages because they are trained to be obedient and compliant.
Perry took the stand in a hearing about 416 youngsters removed this month from a polygamist compound near Eldorado and placed with Texas Child Protective Services.
Perry, who's an expert on children in cults, says while the teen girls believed they were marrying out of free choice -- it's a choice based on lessons they've had from birth.
Perry interviewed three girls removed during the raid."

"He also said that many of the adults at the Yearning For Zion Ranch are loving parents and that the boys seemed emotionally healthy when he interacted with them."

"But he says the sect's belief system 'is abusive. The culture is very authoritarian.'

Poor planning and even worse execution...

One need only to remember the egregious McMartin prosecution in Los Angeles where children were encouraged to create ever more fanciful stories to win the expert's approval and one child falsely identified a picture of Chuck Norris as a molester in court proceedings.

We should be thankful that Janet Reno's Department of Justice was not involved as the American people are unlikely tolerate another scene like those at Waco and Ruby Ridge.

But like both Waco and Ruby Ridge, it appears that the authorities could have spent a little time planning and interviewing the sect members prior to the wholesale removal and sequestration of the children. It is not a selective or prudent removal process when hundreds of children are rounded up and removed without the proper identification of both the child and the parents.

But why I did I choose this blog subject?

First, am I the only one who finds it absurd that the State of Texas was allowed to separate hundreds of children from those who claim parentage in an ill-planned venture with no planned objective or outcome? Especially when other means to interview individuals were available?

Second, and more importantly, I believe that this entire exercise could serve as a metaphor for the war on terror.  Do you see the similarity? An apparently abusive, authoritarian religious cult that indoctrinates children at an early age and who directly places children in harm's way. A comparatively massive outside force that seems compelled to act to protect the children.

So, I ask you, is this the path that Islam is treading and will the United States take action on a more global scale?

What can YOU do?

Ask yourself what are the bounds of religious freedom? Question whether or not these bounds are absolute or conditional? And ask yourself if the protection of a future generation of children (on both sides) would be worth the massive dislocations that may occur should further action be required?

Ask yourself, should a religion be required to change under the pressure of world opinion? Or just change its toxic leadership?

There is no doubt in my mind that the Texas situation is completely analogous to our much broader world.

What say you?

-- steve

Quote of the Day: "The conventional view serves to protect us from the painful job of thinking." --John Kenneth Galbraith

A reminder from OneCitizenSpeaking.com: a large improvement can result from a small change…

The object in life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane. -- Marcus Aurelius

Reference Links:

False abuse claim investigated in Texas polygamist raid