Sometime around April 3, 2008, Texas police entered the Fundamentalist Ladder Day Saints compound in Eldorado, Texas. (Some of you may remember that the FLDS compound had gained some notoriety several years ago, when the news outlets covered the sect’s exalted leader Warren Jeffs’ run from the law for polygamy charges.) The Texas police had conducted its raid on the compound due to evidence supporting allegations of child abuse and a phone call (the smoking gun,) from within the compound, from a 16-year-old named “Sarah,” who called for help.

This story is intriguing on many different levels, but I feel that the most pertinent aspect of this whole incident is its ultimate affect on the 1^st Amendment of the US Constitution and the State’s responsibility to remain neutral in regards to religion. Ultimately, polygamy is illegal. However, from my understanding, the FLDS practice is for there to be one legal marriage between one man and one woman and any additional marriages entered into by that sole man are not legally recognized. In other words, according to their sincerely held beliefs, the sole husband has one wife recognized by the state and several other wives that are recognized by their creator and not the law. I’m far from a legal expert, but it would seem to me that the FLDS sect has found a loop hole that would allow them to live their lives according to their beliefs. 

Of course, the whole situation grows even more difficult when the sect’s children are thrown into the equation. Obviously, I do not agree that polygamy is part of God’s plan for our lives, but as far as I can see they are not breaking any laws legislated by man. However, if the child abuse allegations are true, the parents responsible for the abuse should lose their children. The problem is whether it’s appropriate to take the children from parents that have not been accused of abuse. It would be a grievous tragedy if my neighbor was facing child abuse allegations and the State stepped in and took MY children into protective custody. Therefore, is it really appropriate for all the parents in the compound to be separated from all of the children in the compound? In this nation are we not entitled to individual rights, even if we are part of an unpopular group?

Another serious question lingering about this story is whether the 16-year-old girl, Sarah, actually exists. It has been several days since the raid on the FLDS compound, and the police have yet to actually identify the girl, and the FLDS community denies the girls existence. It would seem to me that if the evidence gained from the supposed call from this underage girl was a primary part of getting the warrant to conduct this raid and this girl doesn’t exist, the grounds for the warrant were manufactured and any evidence gained from the illegal raid could not be used. 

Bottom line, regardless of whether some of these parents are guilty of abuse, surely not all of them are, and surely not all of the children are victims of the abuse. Therefore, it is important that the State of Texas and thereby other states are careful to be sure of abuse before they seize all the children from a religious “situation” where only some may be guilty. It is not the State’s job to regulate religious belief, even if they are undesirable beliefs! If some of the parents haven’t broken any laws and if there is no accusations toward some of those parents, they and their children should not be separated. I feel that the State may have overstepped its obligation to uphold the Constitution when it assumed that all members of an unpopular group are guilty by association.   

In the end, it is imperative that the State of Texas had verifiable evidence to get the warrant to enter the compound.    If not, the tragedy could result is one of two outcomes.  One, if there was child abuse happening, there will be no justice and the children will continue to suffer simply because the State bungled the whole operation. Two, if there was no abuse and the evidence was manufactured it would mean that the State participated in the persecution of a religious group that had not broken any laws legislated by man. 

My wishes are not to defend a group of people that adhere to a belief that is forbidden by the Father. However, it is not up to the State to decide which tenants of any faith are acceptable to God, and if the latter tragedy I suggested turns out to be true, God help other groups that adhere to deeply held religious beliefs misunderstood by the rest of the country! The FLDS sect in Texas will answer to God for their actions and if they did break any laws they should be held accountable on a CASE BY CASE basis, but if they did not break any laws they should not suffer persecution from the State.