This http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24014376/?GT1=43001 is a link to a story about 416 children who were removed from a polygamist colony in Texas because there was a girl who called authorities to report she was being abused.
I just wanted to voice my opinion on the subject: do I think that there is probably more than just the one case of abuse? No. But does that justify taking 416 children away from their families and everything familiar to them? No. I think that taking all of those kids was very much unconstitutional and wrong.
My sister-in-law (who grew up in a polygamist colony) told me about when something similar happened in the late 70's in her group. She told me about some of the people who suffered permanent psychological damage after being torn away from their parents, forced to live in foster care, and then returned to the colony years later. She told me about he trauma it caused the community. I do not agree with polygamy, but I don't believe that families should be ripped apart like that unless there is solid evidence of abuse in THAT particular family. Anyway, I'm now stepping down from the soapbox.
Comments
I don't know. It's tough. You don't want to take 10 years to figure it all out while kids are being abused, but you don't want to unjustly separate kids from their families. I don't blame them for going in to get the kids. But I think that any kid who doesn't say anything is wrong within a couple of weeks should go back .
I heard that the moms voluntarily left. Whether that was to leave their husbands, or to be with their kids, I don't know.