Reader comments
A second FLDS mother gives birth in custody

As a teacher I find it very sad that the schedules of these children have no provision for imagination and creativity. There seems to be a dearth of toys. Dolls, blocks, Lego bricks, housekeeping items, trucks, games, doll houses, fire stations, tools and work belts, dressups, in short, the standard preschool type toys that foster imagination and creativity do not seem to be a part of the children's lives. What a shame that pretending is not encouraged. Toys are an important way that a child expresses himself.

Another thing I notice is that there is no interaction mentioned with a father in any of the schedules. Is the father never present? Do any of the children know who their own mother is? The schedules sounded like every child belonged to every mother and they were cared for in a communal way.

I believe that the schedule publishing idea was really to convince the reader that FLDS children are programed every hour of the day in their activities, thinking and associations.

Another one! Crank 'em out.

I see nothing in the scripted life to prepare for the real world. What happens to these people when they mature?

Doodles, what you have wondered and described in your post is the true picture America is veiwing and forming an opinion, that this is merely a child slave breeding compound, for the purpose of sex with minors. Soon, the state of Texas will release evidence that will horrify all of us outside the mormon religion. Defenders of these criminals- take note...as more children have babies, ages are determined, sexual abuse of youg boys, and physical abuse of children(broken bones) are revealed to the public, through court hearings, how will decent mormons continue to defend your fellow member's actions? The FLDS, are trying to fool us with religion, childrens daily schedule,...... but where is the schedule for impregnating young girls, because there seems to be quite alot. WOW, this is bad!!!!

When you are doing something you know to be wrong, there is danger in telling the truth.

If these people are truly followers of Jesus Christ and they have nothing to hide, they would be telling the truth....

Most parents teach their children to tell the truth at a very young age, even if they have to suffer consequences.

Because so many of the women in this sect have given birth when underage, they are told to lie....

hum..... there is something hypocritical about this process.

"We are God's chosen people, however, he doesn't expect us to tell the truth. It is okay for us to lie."

More rabbits for the cause.

Doodles: yes, children need to have time and space for imagination and creativity. It is obvious that the leaders of this cult want the children to be believers, not thinkers. There will be no doctors or scientists out of this crowd. There will be no engineers or researchers from this compound. There will only be children set up for the old men.

You pointed out something very symbolic of the problems of this cult.

If she was pregnant and kinda looks young to the judge, she MUST be 16 despite what her birth certificate says. That is just how the State of Texas handles these cases.

Perhaps you are not aware of it "teacher" but toys HINDER creativity and advertisers everywhere thank you for drinking their kool-aid. It seems the FLDS children sans toys are actually given the opportunity to pretend and not duplicate actions of commercials or the latest t.v. program.

You mentioned that fathers are not on a schedule, so what. Heaven forbid the spontaneity of paternal influence. Visit the school of my children and half do not have ANY paternal influence. And heaven forbid if more than one person acts maternally to a given child. Oh those poor FLDS children are bombarded by too much love. I am personally grateful for the neighbor who my daughter refers to as her other mother.
Just because a schedule is produced does not mean it is followed. I write to be completed tasks on my calendar with only a hope that most can be finished.
I began with the belief that the CPS was a correct and sound one. But, with more information I find that the FLDS are targeted just because they are different. It's a modern day color bar.

"Children who are just learning to walk love to help wash doorknobs, benches, cupboards, etc.," said the guidelines for children ages 0-2 years.

It's sad that they can't let their kids be kids.

Again, why aren't the fathers in this compound held accountable in some way for the brainwashing and the abuse? If there isn't some provision to separate them from the group won't all of this just continue?

In spite of the reasons cited for taking the children away, I remain uncomfortable with the state taking a newborn child away from its mother. It seems this could be a precedent for abuse of a seemingly noble deed in other circumstances where a group of people could think, for one reason or another, that any of us should have our children taken away.

This case isn't as straightforward as Texas law authorities would think.

I am not surprised to have brought home what a restrictive quality of life is programmed into life in an enclosed community.
I compare this with the madrassa in Islamic culture, but there at least there is scope for imagination and creativity.
Whatever the rights and wrongs about teenage pregnancies, I have real concerns about the power and control issues these attempts at PR bring to my mind. Personal freedom and expressions of choice don't seem to figure in this lifestyle.
This one is going to run for months, there seems to be a perception from within this group that what they do daily is not an extreme way of life for children. I beg to differ. I can only imagine what a childhood like this must produce and see very clearly what former members have described as the exercise of power and control by some in this kind of setting.

Children within this sect are raised believing that ALL of the mothers within a household ARE their mothers and all are called "mother" (Mother Sue, mother Ann, etc).
You don`t have to be a genius to conclude that it is a well-thought-out practice developed by the men in the sect to achieve COMPLETE control over the women. IF their own precious children are taught that every "mother" in their home is MOTHER, how very easily the man can rid himself of any disobedient wife and HIS home & children go right on with their other "mothers" and disruption is minimal. Women OBEY their "husbands" not only because they`ve never been allowed an education and any form of financial "ownership", but mostly because they can easily loose their most precious thing in their lives, their CHILDREN........at the whim of the man.
Their screwed-up teachings reduce women to vessles bringing children to earth for the advancement of the father`s life hereafter. Sick.
Not true that these "people" have a right to their beliefs! Not when it enslaves others!!

Creepy.

As a parent I find it very sad that the schedules of most children lean on Hollywood and the video games for thier imagination and creativity. Having children learn something that is useful in life is not a bad thing.

Doodles--what an ethoncentric point of view.

I know these people personally. I am an outsider with business that gets me a pretty good inside look at how they live and interact with their kids. Most of them are model kids--happy, well adjusted, hard-working and diciplined. The children of the FLDS stand head and shoulders above the children being raised in my upscale neighborhood here in St George.

Thank goodness the news is starting to reflect that. If you haven't seen the recent stories about what the mental health professionals who worked with the captive mothers and children are saying, take a look.

It sounds like you want to interpret "well disciplined" to mean brainwashed. My observations of these kids is anything but...

No habeus corpus protection. No Constitutional rights. Anyone can be imprisoned without charges, without trial. If you have a baby in custody, the child will immediately be snatched up and "protected" from you.

Saudi Arabia?

Guantanamo Bay?

No, it is Texas.

THIS is why the Founding Fathers so carefully worded the Second Amendment. Now, the government agents have no one to fear. Now, we should all fear them.

Get that child a birth certificate. Get a DNA sample to go with it.
Start them down the road as an individual, not a possession.

I doubt we can believe anything. Everything reported is likely biased one way or the other to try and convince people CPS and Texas authorities were right in the way they have handled this case. I'm alarmed about any child removed from the mother unless the mother is truly abusive; not just another victim of abuse. There would be no harm in keeping all the children with their mothers. Why in the world would anyone think that group settings and foster care are better than single mothers raising their children?

Yes, it is tragic that the children do not have toys but foster care is likely to expose them to video games and television (huge, addictive time wasters, often with bad messages). I guess this will make them "normal" by someone's standards. Children sitting glued in front of a screen are much better off than children helping with household and farm chores, right?

I've seen "normal" children who are belligerent, disprespectful and lazy. They won't lift a finger to help, contribute to the mess and expect someone else to take care of them, entertain them and buy them the latest electronic gadgets - even cell phones. Think about it.

How many kids in this world get to grow up with "fostered creativity" and the "standard preschool type toys."

It seems like all we have done with Doodle's method is raise a spoiled generation of kids. I wish my own kids were as respectful and disciplined as the FLDS. They argue and complain anytime they are asked to do some small chore. It "interfers" with their creative moment in front of the Xbox.

Get real. We missed the boat when we quit raising our kids their way.