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1. Posted by Concerned - 3 months, 2 weeks, 16 hours, 57 minutes ago

   I’m concerned that the government is taking too much intervention into people’s private lives. This is not right! This almost appears to be an attempt to convert them to “First Baptist Church” by kidnapping all the women and children and taking them hostage. Quite a forceful tactic to convert people if you ask me.

2. Posted by Lilathe - 3 months, 2 weeks, 16 hours, 34 minutes ago

   That is exactly what I thought in this “Baptist Bible Belt” , that the Baptists want to convert the Mormon’s. 
   Who is next? Pentecostols? I read a couple of articles that thought not cutting women’s or girls hair was child abuse. Another that thought no television was child abuse. Pentecostols do not cut their hair or watch TV. CPS will get your kids next I guess.

3. Posted by Lilathe - 3 months, 2 weeks, 16 hours, 31 minutes ago

   One other thing, how are they holding all the males at the compound without arresting them? I guess I didn’t realize Big Brother had that kind of power, to hold men that had yet to even be accused of anything.
   This SCARES me and it should every other person of any religious beliefs. The one man that was accused is in Arizona and his parole officer vouched that he had been there seven years.

4. Posted by AG1 - 3 months, 2 weeks, 15 hours, 8 minutes ago

   This is disgustingly sick. Thank God the government found these kids and took them away. Their taking them away from nasty old men who like to rape 16 yr old girls.

5. Posted by ashley - 3 months, 2 weeks, 14 hours, 25 minutes ago

   taking and kidnapping women and children? are you kidding me! These children are being raped and forced to have sex with mean 3 times their age. They are being held hostage and are being forced into marriage. The adult women were told they were more than welcome to go back if they wanted to and the police and social services said not one person asked to be taken back to that filth. They are not trying to convert these women and children they are trying to give them freedom and the chance to make choices on their own.

6. Posted by ddc - 3 months, 2 weeks, 13 hours, 40 minutes ago

   Lilathe,
   these children are not for men to have for their sexual pleasure. This shame of a “religion” is nothing but a pedophile sanctuary. And the adult women there are nutjobs to allow such treatment of their young daughters. Shame on all of you.

   What would Jesus do to these perverts who so abuse children? 

   You are nothing but a colony of perverts and rapists.

7. Posted by Lilathe - 3 months, 2 weeks, 13 hours, 5 minutes ago

   I have absolutely no problem with CPS investigating reported child rape, incest or child molestation. I agree that the rapist should be arrested and imprisoned.
   In this case they had a report from a 16 year old that the man she accused lives in Arizona and at the moment they cannot find the girl. I am just unsure how they went to arresting the man in Arizona that the girl accused to removing 416 children.
   They said several teenagers appeared pregnant. At our local middle school, many of the girls are either pregnant or already have one or two children. By the same rational, CPS should go in and remove every child in the middle school and take them into CPS custody.
   If any children make allegations, the allegation should be investigated. But I am not sure they should be able to remove your children if your neighbor or church memeber commits a crime.

8. Posted by ddc - 3 months, 2 weeks, 12 hours, 47 minutes ago

   First of all, the girl has been found. Found with broken ribs at the hands of the 50 yo pedophile..

   Second of all, documents were found that specifically state that girls entering “puberty” were being conditioned to avail themselves for “spirtual” marriages to these old men for sex. Read the current news articles.
   Thirdly, what kind of BS religion forbides freedom of movement? WHy the prision-like compounds? why the secrecy? Why the cover-up by members of that “church?”

   WHat kind of idiot are you that you would compare a FREE albeit ignorant HS girl making a mistake with her equally ignornat BF, to a case in which girls are forced into marriage and sexual subjugation by elder men? We arrest teachers for exploiting our young children, what makes the pedophiles of this “religious” prison compound above the law. Many women have escaped these pedo farms and revealed the treatment under which these men control all who live there.
   Additionally maybe ask yourself why anyone who have to want to use the word “escape” from someplace in the first place.  Why do these women when asked if they want to go back, decline?

   What kind of community do you live in where “many of the girls” are either pregnant or have already had 1-2 babies? YFZ?

9. Posted by Duke - 3 months, 2 weeks, 12 hours, 39 minutes ago

   First off Iam a decendant of great great grandfather and grandmother that practiced poligamy when the LDS still practiced the same. Now I do not think that the FLDS is right with having underage girls marry older men and actually I think that the law of the state as far as the age of consent should be followed to avoid this mess that they are in. I have no problem with what two adults consent to do in the bedroom. BUT what I have a problem with is that there is a complaint that there might be a criminal act in one household and an entire group of people are hauled off all women and children. I pose this question to you, if your neighbor was molesting his daughter would you stand for the authorities to come in and remove all the wives and children in a two block area because of the actions of your neighbor? We are watching just the same situation here. Also it was very concerning to me that the First Baptist Church buses were used to haul away the women and children....
   When my relatives were alive when poligamy was outlawed in Utah because they wanted statehood my grandfather who’s journals I have read loved his three wives and all his children so rather than break up his family he moved them to Mexico. In this case they can not even find the complaintant. Who is to say that this is not a set up. If the FLDS wants to be left alone remove the one item that is the problem and only allow marriage of women who are above the age of consent.

10. Posted by PeterThomas - 3 months, 2 weeks, 12 hours, 26 minutes ago

    Are your children safe from being seized by the government?

    Honestly, think about it.  There has been a massive raid by Texas government officials upon a religious group called the FLDS (Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints).  This raid is all based entirely on an *unverified* phone call claiming abuse of an individual on the YFZ Ranch.  Upon this single *unverified* phone call concerning 1 person, the government has gone in and with *no evidence whatsoever* they have seized over 400 women and children and immediately torn them from their homes and turned custody over to the state *before anything was proven*.  I thought that in America we are innocent until proven guilty?  They have stripped them of all their rights including taking away their cell phones and shutting off all forms of communications for them to get help.  This is all in the name of “protecting the children”, but read further.

    The women and children did not want to leave the ranch.  The women and children that were so-called “rescued” are now being held against their will by the state, and do not appear to appreciate the state officials tearing them from their homes.  The media and officials are hiding the fact that the women and children do not like the so-called “government rescue” at all.  They were forced into being “rescued”.

    Here are some quotes from a Texas woman (not FLDS) who was helping the state take care of the women and children:
    “The children were extremely well behaved.  Everyone was polite.  Everyone was nice, but they wanted to go home.  None of the girls at any age had a blemish on their face...” Did you hear that, they wanted to go home!  There are no signs of any abuse in any of the 400 women and children whatsoever.  Do you think you could randomly choose 400 women and children from homes within the US anywhere and find no blemishes of any kind on any of them?  To me, this indicates that the FLDS men take extremely good care of the women and children.  The quotes named are in videos recorded on CNN.

    When officials arrived to take away the children, the officers were heavily armed, but the FLDS carried no weapons.  Their temple is sacred, but the officials forced their way into the temple and stole sacred church records and things that are extremely holy and sacred to the FLDS.  Many news reporters have stated that the FLDS have never been violent at all to them.  If that is the case, why do they accuse them of being abusive people?

    This is religious persecution by government and is targeted directly at the FLDS faith.  Note: the buses that they hauled the women and children away in were labeled “First Baptist Church”...this is disturbing.

    I did a little research and found some very interesting information.  At the time the FLDS group moved into Texas, their marriage practices, however odd and contrary to other religions, were still more or less within the bounds of Texas law.  In September, 2005, a couple years following their move into the state, the Texas legislature passed a law modifying the marriage code. See http://www.legis.state.tx.us/tlodocs/79R/billtext/html/SB00006F.HTM
    Have a good look at article 4 of this amendment.  Nearly all the modifications attack directly at the FLDS faith.  Are these people really law breakers, or has the state of Texas violated the first amendment in enacting a law specifically against their religion?

    “First Amendment: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.”

    The polygamous hate groups will parade a few heart breaking stories to the media to justify persecuting polygamous groups.  Remember, there are heart breaking stories in monogamy, and in every other religion committing sex crimes.  Shall we brand as bad the whole because of a single bad incident?

    Think about it honestly.  If you want to know what real abuse is, go search on any internet video site, like MSN Video, YouTube, etc. and type “teen beating”.  Then I ask you, do the pictures and videos in those “teen beating” videos compare in any way to the pictures of the FLDS women and children?  NO!  They found no blemishes on *any* of the 400 FLDS women and children at all.

    It does not matter who you are, or what religion you are part of, stand up for your rights and freedom!  Don’t just give in to the lies being broadcast about these things, if you do, your rights are at stake!  If you want the truth, earnestly seek and ye shall find.  With government abuse like this, you and your children are not safe!

    Forward this to everyone that you know, and post it everywhere you can.

11. Posted by ddc - 3 months, 2 weeks, 12 hours, 21 minutes ago

    Duke

    How about allowing consenting adults decide whom they want to marry? What you have is forced marriages. And forced marriages to minors. Do you know why, these children are so brainwashed? Because if they knew they had a choice NOT to be forced into marriage - they wouldn’t. Since when does or should a “religion” take away the control a human being has over herself or himself? Why can’t these young men and women go to college? These religions are prisons. These children are indoctrinated for the sake of their control by another. Do you NOT see anything inherently wrong with this incredibly unconstituional treatment of women and children?

    Reading some of the people condoning this is simply unbelievable. How is YFZ any better than Muslim Sharia law? Same pedophiles, different costume. Neither of which belongs in a free and civilized world.

12. Posted by Deborah - 3 months, 2 weeks, 5 hours, 15 minutes ago

    Who ever posted the first comment sickens me !!! Claiming the government is taking too much action in people’s private life is obsurd in a situtation as this.  There is obvious mental, physical, and sexual abuse occuring in this polygamist sect and it is necessary for the government to take action and protect those that have been victimized and prosecute the offenders.

13. Posted by J.D. - 3 months, 1 week, 6 days, 22 hours, 27 minutes ago

    OF COURSE, if Janet Reno was still in control, she would have firebombed the entire compound and burnt all these girls to death, a la Waco.

    But it seems that the Bush White House is a little more compassionate.

14. Posted by Justin - 3 months, 1 week, 6 days, 10 hours, 58 minutes ago

    I read these reactions and I am truly sickened that there is more than one side to this story.  What was going on here is absolutely WRONG!  Women, forget the fact that they were minors, were being denied their constitutional rights.  14 year old girls were forced into mairrage and having children with men with multiple wives who are 3 to 4 times their age.  The story is like a sick, twisted, fairy tale where women are left uneducated and barefoot.  I guess that as long as you slap the “religion” tag on something, it doesn’t matter how wrong you are since it’s now your religious right.  Extremist muslims belive 9/11 was their religious duty (keep in mind, I said “extremist") so should we leave everyone who plotted that alone because they were following their religion?  Religion is a wonderful thing that provides hope, purpose, and direction to people who are true believers of any faith.  When you put any religious material in an evil man’s hand and give him followers bad things are bound to happen regardless if you are a mormon, catholic, muslim, jew, etc.  The focus here is not that it was their religious belief, it is that what they were doing was horribly wrong.

15. Posted by Stunned - 3 months, 1 week, 5 days, 22 hours, 5 minutes ago

    What in the world is wrong with some of you ESPECIALLY LILATHE any idiot that believes that middle school pregnancy can basically be compared and say that its pretty much the same as this raping has some SERIOUS issues.

    These girls were forced n jus like one of the other comments stated the middle school girls mad the ignorant choice.

    For the other who said that the government should basically mind their own business shame on you. SHAME ON ALL OF YOU THAT WOULD TRY TO GIVE SOME REASONNG TO WHY ANY PART OF THIS CRIME WOULD BE OK!!!

    maybe someone should put you guys on that ranch n then please by all means try n tell me you have the same pedophile view as the men who did this!

    sincerely from someone who is most likely a lot younger then all of you who tried to give this act some just and someone with much more common sense

16. Posted by Anne B. - 3 months, 1 week, 5 days, 19 hours, 22 minutes ago

    wrong is wrong....don’t try to hide behind some freedom of religion cloak to excuse this outrageous cult...Whenever children are at risk, in danger and abused mentally and physically, the government has an obligation to intercede and protect the minors--even if that means taking them away from their parents. Using 13, 14, 15 year old girls as baby making machines, and “marrying” them off to dominant men while adult women and mothers sit idly by brainwashed Manson Family psychos is repulsive! BY THE WAY: in Texas, polygamy, marrying a child under the age of 16, and statutory rape is a CRIME punishable by law.

17. Posted by Lilathe - 3 months, 1 week, 5 days, 15 hours, 46 minutes ago

    Our government should still not have the right to go in on an anonymous phone call alleging abuse by one girl by a man that has reportedly not been in the state of Texas for 17 years.
    I don’t this particular girl existed, I think CPS made the phone call themselves or a “concerned party” made the phone call. If it had of actully been a girl from the compound, she would have known that the man she accused lived in Arizona and had daily contact with his probation officer so basically proof he had not left the state.
    After they got in, and could not produce either the alleged victim or the man she accused, they stayed because they noticed several pregnant teenagers which gave them the “right” to another search warrant. I made the remark about schools because if that is all it takes is seeing pregnant teenagers, then search warrants should be a dime a dozen now.
    I do not like to see anyones constitutional rights ignored.
    I think that if there were “escapees” from the ranches, then the stories of the “escapees” should have been reason for a search warrant.
    Or if young boys were being kicked off the ranches, then one of their stories should have been reason for a search warrant.
    But i do NOT believe that an anonymous call accusing a man that had never even been in the state, should not result in the removal of 416 children.
    I personally am alright with the castration of any man that molests or rapes little girls. But I WOULD STILL respect his constitutional rights all the way through his guilty verdict and the later operation.  I would still expect my government to act within the law.

18. Posted by Danny Haszard - 3 months, 1 week, 5 days, 15 hours, 45 minutes ago

    The Jehovah’s Witnesses have settled lawsuits alleging church policies protected pedophile men who sexually abused children for many years.
    Frederick McLean is one of the most-wanted fugitives in the United States

19. Posted by CAlawyer - 3 months, 1 week, 3 days, 17 hours, 40 minutes ago

    There are 2 distinct issues here; 1) what constraints do the constitution place on government action under the 1st and 4th Amendments, as well as under Due Process and Equal Protection & 2) the place of a religious organization that is clearly out of step with contemporary American values in 2008.

    Setting aside the disagreement that I have with the beliefs and practices of the FLDS church, I must say that the Constitution expressly protects freedom of association, religious practice & expression and to be secure in your own dwelling from unreasonable search and seizure.  Warrants are required to be narrowly tailored and overbroad warrants are invalid.  The government is prevented from unlimited detentions.  HOWEVER, somewhere along the way, we as a society have permitted the state to expand its grasp on individual liberty under the guise of “protecting children.” Let me say clearly, that child abuse is a crime and abusers should be prosecuted.  The danger is that CPS, an arm of the government, is permitted to step over any number of constitutional hurdles to fulfill their “mission.” Unlike the normal criminal system, the due process rights of the accused are not honored.  There is no right to speedy and public accusation and proof of the crime being demonstrated.  No bail, no right to counsel, no right to silence (silence=non-cooperation=guilt).

    The true danger is that by permitting the government to suspend the rights of someone else, because we disagree with them/their actions/ etc. then we are necessarily giving the green light to a general cutting off of rights...and no that is not an alarmist view.  Either our rights are fundamental and exist independent of government will or they don’t.  There’s an old joke, a man asks a woman to sleep with him for a million dollars and she instanly agrees.  He then says how bout for $10?  “What kind of woman do you think I am?” she exclaims...he replies “we have already established that, now we are just haggling the price.” By selling out our liberty for a price that seems acceptable today, after all - we say to ourselves, these cultists are sick!  Where does the price haggling stop, and what will it end up costing us personally?  Who gets to decide that any one of us is an acceptable price?
    
    As for the 2d issue, I don’’t have an answer on what to do with religions that are out of step with contemporary American values.  I do note that as a nation we seem to have much more “tolerance” for fundamental Islam, women in veils and all, than we do for the little house on the prairie look.  Maybe its because American Muslims have better advocacy groups that have gotten their point of view mandated in public schools (California 7th grade curriculum standards), and have convinced the media that anything even broaching criticism is a hate-crime?

20. Posted by Doug Forbes - 3 months, 1 week, 3 days, 16 hours, 34 minutes ago

    Texas authorities better read the 1948 UN Genocide Statute before proceeding farther in the Eldorado FLDS case. The statute defines the means of genocide in several ways; including “transferring children from one group to another”. Just advocating genocide is punishable under international law. You can get away with it in the US because of the 1rst Amendment but traveling abroad can provide nasty surprises that range from being denied entry to arrest, trial and imprisonment.

21. Posted by Leroy Baylor - 3 months, 1 week, 12 hours, 51 minutes ago

    Underage arranged marrige is wrong, no question.  But a bunch of baptists taking some polygamist kids and teaching them to hate Jewish people and Muslims isn’t much of an improvement for the kids.  Why didn’t the goverment ever raid the baptist KKK neighborhoods in the south and take the kids out of that abusive situation where they were taught to kill and torture African Americans and basically every religion that wasn’t Calvinist?

22. Posted by Dan Wilson - 3 months, 3 days, 18 hours, 32 minutes ago

    Local, state and federal oficials are no more than jack booted thugs that need to be delt with most severely, the American people deserve what they are getting for being wilingly ignorant. It is the Christians who better wake up and fast because it is them they are preparing to come for.
    If there were a case of child abuse as was alleged then the invidual who is repsonsable should be delt with and not the whole sect. it is not my flavor of Chrsitianity but I will stand up for those without much strengh. All we have in government is tyranny once again.