Wives & Motherhood -- The New Thought Crimes

How is it, in a country wrought with teen pregnancies and gang members, we are so consumed with the idea that a sect (religion) is preparing their daughters to become wives and mothers?

But state authorities are supposed to keep the children in their homes unless "a person of ordinary prudence and caution" believes there's a continuing and immediate danger to their safety.
"There was a systematic process going on to groom these young girls to become brides," said CPS spokesman Darrell Azar, noting that the state had no way to protect from possible future abuse if they stayed on the ranch.
"Removal is always the last option," he said. "In this case, there was no other choice."
CPS officials have conceded there is no evidence the youngest children were abused, and about 130 of the children are under 5. Teenage boys were not physically or sexually abused either, according to evidence presented in a custody hearing earlier last week, but more than two dozen teenage boys are also in state custody, now staying at a boys' ranch that might typically house troubled or abandoned teens.

This is a story that cannot be allowed to fade into the background because we collectively find the FLDS to be weird, strange or freakish. Are they a cult? Most likely, but so are the strange folks living on communes growing organic food and raising organic sheep; and what about those airport loving, pastel sheet wearers who shave their heads and bang their tambourines while passing out brownies.

Many religions oppose one another to the point of war. The fundamentalist Muslims want to convert us Christians, or allow us to die. Sounds pretty freakish to me, yet we allow them to practice their religion in America, even when it is inconvenient to our 21st Century lifestyle. Take the Somali cab drivers in Minnesota. They don't want to transport passengers who have been drinking, or who might be carrying alcohol (so much for the 'don't drink and drive' slogans). The first thing the government tried was compromise.

"It is expressly stated," said Kahlid Elmasry of the Muslim American Society.
"Transportation of alcohol for Muslims is against the Islamic faith, and
therefore forbidden."

Last September, airport officials sought a compromise, and suggested that
distinctive lights could be put on the roofs of cabs operated by drivers who
will not transport alcohol. That way, taxi starters -- airport staff who direct
people into cabs -- could send passengers with alcohol to those drivers who have
no objection.

While that issue still has yet to be resolved, why is the government, in the case of the FLDS, first move designed to destroy the group's fundamental beliefs at their core, with the children. It will be interesting to see how the children are corrupted in foster care. Will they be exposed to all the glory that America has to offer? McDonald's, MTV, Jamie Lynn Spears?

All of which begs the question: don't we all have the right to practice our religion, no matter how weird, in peace?