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Another take on the FLDS situation in Eldorado

Listener: Tom
Category: General
Date: 22 Apr 2008
Time: 11:28:47 -0700
Remote Name: 66.140.100.171

Comments

Robert,

I'm a transplant from Pennsylvania, near both Hershey and the Amish country. I'm becoming increasingly alarmed at the news coming out of Eldorado. More and more, it sounds like a witch hunt.

First, I see many parallels between the FLDS and the Amish:

• They are unusual religious sects that have cast off outside influences.
• Their lifestyle is viewed as austere, backwards, or even severe.
• They live, worship, school themselves, and work apart from mainstream culture.
• Both are viewed as odd, unusual, and sometimes dangerous or suspicious.
• The sense of community is very strong with both cultures.
• They dress and speak differently, which is a way for cultures to immediately identify outsiders.

There are a few differences that apply to current events:

• The Amish live on small farms near the community, not in a separate ranch or compound.
• The Amish live and interact on a limited scale with "The English". They are well known to business partners and some neighbors.
• The Amish have roots going back to the colonies and sought the freedom of worship the colonies offered.

The two state governments have very different reactions to these separate cultures:

• PA has allowed and even welcomed the Amish to set up school houses separate from the local district.
• PA has granted exemptions for licensing unique vehicles, businesses, and construction.
• PA has never raided whole Amish communities.
• PA has willingly allowed colonies of Quakers, Amish, Mennonites, and more. To be fair, until recent years, Texas also allowed enclaves of various cultures to live as they will. (Then Waco and now Eldorado happened.)

After all this, what it my point? It's simple; Texas has failed to allow this sect to worship and live as they wish, simply because they are different. I don't agree with either the FLDS or Amish interpretation of the Bible, but it is their right to live as they wish, within the law.

If the state has evidence or probable cause, then by all means, handle things on a case-by-case basis. Usually, the government parades such evidence in press conferences. Unusual claims require unusual proof, but where is the proof that could justify such a large and unusual endeavor?

We're now wasting huge amounts of taxpayer dollars doing DNA comparisons in a high-tech witch hunt. Once the ages and lineage of the children and mothers have been nailed down, they can determine under-age conception, but that's backwards. Did they have probable cause? What evidence, besides suspicion and rumors, do they have?

If, as Robert has said on many occasions, the government were to raid a small town like Ropesville and separate all of the families and place the children in foster homes, the outrage would be huge across the state. In this case, you hear only a few voices that are drowned by the drum-beat of press making extraordinary claims.

If the women and children are the innocent victims in these supposed wide-spread crimes, why are they being punished by separation? Are we not doing more damage by separating the young from their mothers?

I urge reason - Let's demand that the government show the evidence that is worthy of disrupting a whole community and spending millions. If they lack that evidence, then at least reunite the women and children.

Tom