http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/04/11/yfz.search.ap/index.html

But uhhgg...

This whole thing really does.

Discuss.

This specifically is causing me a considerable amount of rage;

"they learned the sect was marrying off underage girls at the compound and had a bed in its soaring limestone temple where the girls were required to immediately consummate their marriages. A number of teenage girls are pregnant, investigators said."

Reminds me of Waco, but with less.
Oh i missed that sentence firstoff, thats just...

More proof that fundamentalist is a synonym for evil.

Child molesting isn't unique to Christian fundamentalists. For example, the Arch bisdom in Dublin. There have been several scandals like this in RC bisdoms the past few years. We're talking hundreds of victims in Dublin alone.

In Missouri, it was legal to hang mormons until 20 years ago.

I imagine it's still legal in Texass

But seriously...

I think the fact that they're 17 is less important than the rape breeding farm to be honest.

pedosmile

This isn't Christian fundamentalism anymore than Mormonism or Islam is Christian fundamentalism.

But seriously, how did it take this long to figure out this was happening?

I'm a terrible person for laughing quite a lot at that, and you're a terrible person for making me.

I gotta say.. this is the worst written article that I've read in a long time.

But that said, it sucks. people are sick and disgusting. Move on.

I would like to point out that mainstream Mormons do not practice polygamy or support Warren Jeffs.

But if polygamy was never illegal, they would be doing the same thing.

Paperwork gets in the way. You can't go in willy-nilly busting a cult without solid, solid evidence of what is going on in an isolated property in the middle of the desert. Not to mention you are dealing with crazy people who will be all over you claiming it was "religion" and blaming you for being "oppressive."

So basically bureaucracy is more important than eliminating mini-pedophilia kingdoms?

The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.

If they just rush in it'll be easier for the defending lawyers to get them off.

The United States Constitution..specifically the Fourth Amendment..

I really think they could have established probable cause a lot faster in this case.

Here, I'll help you out.

Make the exact same argument. Only replace paperwork with "getting a search warrant" and replace mini-pedophilia with "drug."

Sounds like a pretty dumb argument, right?


I'll also say again, this isn't pedophilia - it's ephebophilia. Technically it's not even that: I doubt it has much to do with the fact that these girls are teenagers as the fact that they're at a convenient age to be married off and started on birthing children. The age of consent in Texas is 17. In Alberta, Canada it's 14. There are no standards for this. So some of these men aren't guilty of anything, depending on whether or not the 17-year-old wives in question choose to press charges.

I'll also say that there is a legal and actual difference between child molestation and statutory rape. The difference is that, in one case, the child is prepubescent and in the other case the young man and/or woman has gone through puberty. The men who 'married' 14-year-old girls are guilty of statutory (and otherwise) rape, not child molestation.

I know you (and the media) are intentionally misusing these terms to summon up more righteous indignation about what's going on in Texas, but all you're doing is weakening it.

Statutory rape = yes.
Aggrivated sexual assault = yes.

Child molestation = no.
Pedophilia = no.

Jon's terms are correct, and his frustration with people using the wrong ones is warranted.

Also, in before the stupid freedom-of-religion argument.

omg it's teh religions and teh governments are stompiong on our freedoms

it's just not right

It's easy to start rumors about small isolated communities in the middle of nowhere and difficult for an outsider to determine the truth. And even if you know there's something going on, a raid can turn out badly.

That said, this stuff sounds pretty nasty, and I hope they're able to prove it in court so this guy can be put away.

I understand the need for due process, but I think it could have happened faster.


I read another article about there being 12 year olds in there, but it was Daily Mail, so take it with several grains of salt. I was thinking I read that in this article though.

I do agree that sex with post pubescent girls is not pedophilia.

Yes, we should be bland and lukewarm in all our convictions.

my response is pending your looking up fundamentalism in the dictionary

Fundamentalism has several different meanings and is usually misused.

Well in this case it is used properly.

Well, kinda, according to one definition, but so could, say, Buddhism.

If this was rushed at all they wouldn't get the convictions they need, and then the perpetrators would go to ground and make it much harder to catch them. Better to cut them all out in one go and stop it permanently.

The first thing it reminded me of was the movie "The Village" but with sick twisted marriages. It really looks like they were being kept in the colonial days, but I guess no outside contact can do that.

I can understand people's desire to live in simpler times when not as much seemed corrupted as today, but even in peoples best attempts (clearly not this one) to obtain a better life through seclusion, it rarely works. I'd be willing to bet even the Amish folks have their scandals... they just handle it their own way.