52 girls removed from Texas compound - built by polygamist leader Warren Jeffs

[Beaverhausen]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080405/ap_on_re_us/polygamist_retreat;_ylt=AlhB7fuSKl0.hbpKdJPsSQ9vzwcF

52 girls removed from Texas compound

By MICHELLE ROBERTS, Associated Press Writer
1 hour, 21 minutes ago

ELDORADO, Texas - Child welfare officials are scrambling to find foster homes for dozens of girls removed from a secretive West Texas religious retreat built by polygamist leader Warren Jeffs after a 16-year-old living there complained of physical abuse.



Officials from Texas Child Protective Services, escorted by state troopers, took 52 girls, ages 6 months to 17 years, from the remote retreat on Friday afternoon.

By the end of the day, 18 were put legally into state custody, and CPS spokeswoman Marleigh Meisner said interviews would continue Saturday. A warrant has been issued for at least one individual.

The girls put in state custody were believed to be in danger, Meisner said. "Those are the ones we believe have been abused or they are in imminent risk of harm, and it would not be safe for those children to remain in the compound," she said.

Child welfare officials were looking for foster homes for the girls, most of whom have rarely been outside the insular world of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. They were being housed for now at a civic center, she said.

"We're dealing with children that aren't accustomed to the outside world, so we're trying to be very sensitive to their needs," Meisner said.

[annabanana]

1. This is a good thing.

And past time. How many young girls have been similarly treated by Jeffs over the course of the years?

[MADem]

2. Shocked, shocked....!!!!!

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

11. lol!!! I love Big Love!!!

[MADem]

17. All those little Rhonda Volmers are safe, for now anyway! NT

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

28. But the question is, was anyone safe from Rhonda??? lol!

[MADem]

30. Be careful--she'll steal your iPod! NT

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

31. With the evidence....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZnAdyxFWTw&feature=related

[goclark]

3. And Romney still is a LDS and not a whisper

Shameful.

Not shameful that it was not mentioned that much.

Shameful that not one other candidate was asked to denounce their faith or their minister.

[Beaverhausen]

4. Well, to be fair, its the FLDS sect that still practices polygamy

as in Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints. The LDS church itself rejected polygamy years ago. But there are fundie sects that still practice it.

on edit: read a great book on the topic recently- Under the Banner of Heaven by Jon Krakauer.

[goclark]

5. Thanks for the information

[kimmylavin]

10. Regarding the book...

I'll second the recommendation for "Under the Banner of Heaven".
It was infuriating, but still fascinating - and very well written.

[enlightenment]

15. That would be the standard

"Wink, wink, nudge" kind of rejection. Turning a blind eye to what's happening under your nose, which is what the LDS does in Utah, barely qualifies as rejection. To suggest that the LDS doesn't control what happens in Utah is naive - if they really cared about stopping the practice, they could go a long way toward doing it with just a little effort.

I don't have anything against polyandry (which is what this really is - polygamy refers to the general practice of multiple spouses) or polygyny between consenting ADULTS that were raised in an environment that offered them choices. This practice involves chilaydren in sexual relationships and fails to educate them in any meaningful way. It's no surprise that many of the wives in these communities defend it with their last breath - it's all they have ever known.

[Kitty Herder]

19. You're absolutely correct. nt

[riderinthestorm]

26. Unfortunately there are more than a few religions who deeply inculcate their patriarchy

And women raised in these environments are conditioned to accept their status and religious "traditions" within their cultures, thus perpetuating the cycle. While the kind of child abuse outlined in the OP is extreme, much religious brainwashing/conditioning is far more subtle yet still is deeply damaging to both women and men.

I"ll also say, it isn't just the religious practitioners of deeply offensive and patriarchal religious traditions who fanatically defend, you'll find more than a few DUers who will also defend crap with their last breath, bizarrely excusing stuff like the suppression of women with "religious tolerance".

[MADem]

21. I can't fucking STAND Romney. And I find his religion a bit fantastical and farfetched, frankly.

But that's an unfair slur at him...he's not a polygamist. Nor is his brand of Mormonism.

Thank GOD for small favors, I suppose.

He'd be populating the world with Robot Romney sons if he were one (he tends to shoot bullets of the Y variety)...the five he has are creepy enough!

He got enough shit with the magic underwear...and how is he supposed to denounce his religion, when he's one of the "bishops" as it were?

And last I heard, Obama wasn't doing any "denouncing"--'God Damn America' notwithstanding. And he doesn't intend to, according to pretty much everyone who has reported on the matter. IF he gets the nomination, that's going to be a TV commercial. Count on it.

[ColbertWatcher]

6. All cults do this.

When word gets out about their "beliefs", they can no longer recruit adults and have to make their own new members.

All cults do this.

[Kitty Herder]

23. That's why Mormons encourage their members to have so many kids.

And I'm talking about mainstream Mormons. There are two families in my neighborhood with more than ten kids and those poor kids are pretty neglected.

Hell, even the ones who do a fairly good job of taking care of their numerous children can't keep track of them all. My next door neighbors' sixth kid used to come over to our house when he was two and hang out with my dad who was usually barely conscious, because he was so lonely and desperate for attention. (My dad was a severe alcoholic, but he was great with kids even when he was drunk.) But I think it's pretty sad when you have so many kids that you don't know your two-year-old has run off next door to be baby-sat by someone who is drunk. And this family was one of the ones in our ward that handled their large family fairly well.

[ColbertWatcher]

24. And don't forget the $cientologists...

...they have those "schools" for kids raised in the cult.

Go to xenutv.com for all the gory details.

[Kitty Herder]

7. I think this is a good thing. I wish the laws regarding domestic abuse,

statutory rape, etc, were better enforced in Hilldale and Colorado City.

I used to live in Southern Utah I frequently saw these poor women, easily identified by their unique dress and hairstyles, with their sad, desperate eyes all the time. They seldom speak to strangers, but the eyes said it all. Many of them still looked like children, but were pregnant or being trailed by little ones.

Where does religious freedom end and the right of the individual begin? I would say it begins with a girl or woman's right to control her own destiny and her own body. NO religion should ever be allowed to destroy that freedom. Women's individual rights are as inviolate as a man's and religions should not be allowed to trample those rights. Religion is no excuse.

[Kitty Herder]

18. I have to add, I think this is one reason we need to pass the ERA. Mormons were one of the main

obstacles to getting it passed. I'm talking about mainstream Mormons. They were afraid they couldn't get away with making women second-class citizens by denying them the preisthood (given to all "worthy" men from age 12 on up) if unequal treatment were outlawed by an amendment to the constitution.

I would hope that such an amendment would help the women and girls who suffer under the rule of the FLDS as well.

[Kittycat]

8. It's sad knowing that they left all the boys behind.

:(

[Kitty Herder]

16. Yeah. The "lost boys" of polygamy need to be protected as well.

They are frequently neglected and turned out on of their homes, often ending up on the streets in Las Vegas. The reason is obvious. They compete with the creepy old men for the women. Many of the boys would never be able to marry in their own community. And I'm sure it's harder to get young girls to marry their old uncles if they're in love with a boy their own age.

[spanone]

9. wow, abusing kids with a tax-exemption from uncle sam....ain't that america

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

12. This is tragic. Once again, although a cult, human beings continuing to be

abused because they were born with XX chromosomes and not XY.

[kestrel91316]

13. Most of the boys are thrown away as excess (can't allow competition

for females in polygamy, can we??) when they hit their teens. Blatant child abandonment.

It's the males already in power who get all the girls.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

14. I'm sorry, I did know that and forgot about it.

In fact it is covered in the fictitious HBO show, Big Love. The main male character had been thrown out of a compound as a teen, left to make his own way in the world.

[Disturbed]

20. It was strange that the buses were from "First Baptist Church" .

TX doesn't have it's own buses?

[Kitty Herder]

22. I thought that was pretty weird myself.

Makes it look like one religion stealing children from another.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

25. Faith based busses.

[Kablooie]

27. 's always Texas.

[Dorian Gray]

29. Finally!

I always wondered how these communities flaunted the laws and existed.