The Secret Lives of Saints
Apr 20th, 2008 at 9:10 am by Susie
Via Natasha, this very interesting post by Sara Robinson at Orcinus. She examines the complex issues behind the recent high-profile arrests in the FLDS camp in Eldorado, Texas.
In choosing Eldorado, Jeffs may have, at long last, picked the wrong place to hide. Texas doesn’t harbor the ghosts of Mormon pioneers or FLDS martyrs. Any liberal Texan will tell you that the Lone Star State is not cursed, as BC is, with an overbroad sense of religious freedom. What does lurk in its memetic closet is the memory of Waco — another closed, secretive, sexually abusive cult that was left to fester unattended too long, with horrific consequences. Many of the people who are dealing with the FLDS had enough of an up-close-and-personal view of the 1993 disaster with the Branch Davidians to know what they’re dealing with here.
There’s no shortage of people in the media trying to make this a debate about religious freedom, which is fair enough. But the question they’re not asking — and the one that is central to that debate, in my mind — is how we can reasonably and justly incorporate America’s historical ideas about religious freedom with what we know now about how to identify and chart the prognosis of dangerous cults. As I’ve written before, governments in both Canada and the US are well aware of the signs that indicate a community headed toward violence. The FLDS exhibits almost all of those signs. As a society, it’s time to figure out where the line gets crossed, and when government intervention becomes justified.
I became interested in the FLDS movement a few years ago, when I first read Jon Krakauer’s 2003 bestseller, Under the Banner of Heaven. Through the story of the murder of a young mother and her baby, he explores the dark side of the fundamentalist Mormon movement.
The problem is, how - in America, in the 21st century - do you reconcile the illegal practices of a religious sect that is following its own religious teachings? The answer, as Krakauer makes clear, is: You don’t.
But of course it’s not as easy as it sounds. After all, mainstream Mormons are powerful political and business constituencies, and religious freedom is a basic tenet of our country. That’s why this book is a fascinating read, and that’s why I’m always recommending it to people. The examples in this book present the most compelling arguments I’ve seen for a strict separation of church and state. Since the problem isn’t going to go away, it’s a book everyone should read.
Don’t you agree there should be a better way to deal with supposedly sexually abusive cults than to trample upon the Constitution?
I have seen the video exposing the drug-infested, horribly abusive Texas Foster Care system at the dayofpraise blog.
I have also read almost a thousand thoughtful comments from citizens outraged about Texas bureaucrats blatant violation of Constitutional rights at thepetitionsite free-the-innocent-flds petition.
There has to be a better way.
“supposedly” sexually abusive?
They’re assigning 12- and 13-year-old girls to be raped and impregnated by 50-year-old men.
Calling it “marriage” doesn’t make it any less abusive. Certainly no less abusive than Catholic priests raping altar boys.
Sometimes it seems like this country is more willing to go after religious cults that abuse animals in their rites than those that abuse pre-and adolescent girls. And far more worried about the constitutional rights of these “religious” perverts than wholesale round-ups of U.S. residents and citizens on immigration raids.
sister; it’s the “Eww” factor. “Doing” a goat is way more icky than doing a 13 year old girl.
This is a spooky subject, but one would think that protecting young people from things that are going to profoundly mess them up should be a no-brainer. I think the state should intercede on the behalf of the children of Christian Scientists, also. But then what of parents who want to take their children off chemotherapy, when it is highly unlikely to produce a good result? There must be some line of thought to answer these questions.
Petition asks for thorough investigation of FLDS cult.
Sign a petition asking investigators and the courts to continue to do a thorough job of investigating this cult’s criminal actions and coming up with a safe solution for each of these children. They deserve a promising, hopeful future just like all of us Americans are entitled to!