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Warren Jeffs' influence evident in FLDS hearings

Why isn't the LDS church helping these families? Polygamy is practiced around the world and most if not all of our current church leaders are the descendent's of polygamy. None of us think that 14 year old girls should be married but that used to be common as well.

Even though the LDS church no longer practices Polygamy it is for purely political reasons and the doctrine is that there will be polygamy in the next life. So the failure of the LDS church to stand up and offer foster homes and legal assistance is purely to position Mitt Romney for future political positions.

THIS FLDS CUSTODY CASE IS BASED ON:
(:) [POLYGAMY "SLIPPERY-SLOPE ARGUMENT"] AS A FALLACY," AND
(:) [RELIGIOUS FREEDOM "SLIPPERY-SLOPE"] ARGUMENT AS FALLACY.

FIND THE DEFINITION OF (48) OR MORE TYPES OF FALLACIES. (WITH OR WITHOUT A PRIORI PROBABILITY)

SIGNED: RECKIPS

Split them up, cast their children to the winds. Force the parents to drive hundreds of miles to see them, force them to get a job they cannot keep if they visit them, but if they don�t visit them, they cannot get them back. If they lose their job, they cannot them back. Hold the parents to unstated and �evolving� requirements; force them into poverty. Take away their bibles, arrest their prophet. No cost is too great, no legal action too farcical. No constitution or common decency can stop Texas justice.

The day these parents permanently lose their kids, having done nothing wrong personally other than reside at the YFZ ranch, if that day comes, will be a dark day for this country.

the plan of the cps is starting to unravel. you can see the attitude of the cps from the answers given in court. when service plans are vague then they are impossible to be complied with. i agree with the post above the LDS church needs to get involved in this. they help everybody and their dog when problems come up. but these poor people are left to the mad dogs of texas. having to travel all over the state of texas to see their kids is also a burden that makes it impossible to comblie. taking of the BofM from the boys because it has a picture of warren jeffs is a bad sign. take the picture, leave the book.

The marriage of 14 year old was not common, unless you are considering cave people from thousands of years ago. You might want to look up the ages of Joseph Smith, Emma Hale, Brigham Young and others at marriage to clear that misinformation. I have been doing genealogy for some time now and the records I have looked at from over 150 years ago have yet to show ANY 14 or even 15 year olds as married.

The issue has nothing to do with Romney. The only reason the LDS church and other churches should be involved is because the Book of Mormon was removed from children. Had it been a Koran, Bible, or even Watchtower there would have been a national uproar.

Agnostic mother of 3

As far as LDS doctrine is concerned, the FLDS are apostates. Period. The LDS Church isn't and shouldn't be responsible for what they do after they leave the church. Most of these people have never seen the inside of an LDS chapel.

It's the duty of everyone to stand up for the oppressed. What kind of political motive does the Catholic or Baptist churches have for not helping their fellow Christians? Come on!

These people are as LDS as Lutherans are Catholics.

Dear Seattle LDS Mom,
With due respect for your personal opinion, you are more than a little shortsighted. First, you presume that the LDS are doing nothing to help. On a local level, I am certain that there are more than a few offers to assist where possible. On an administrative level, the church's position is clear. We sustain the law of the land. Polygamy is illegal. If, at some point that changes, the LDS position will follow apprepriately. Why do you seek to direct the affairs of the church in general which are the stewardship of the First Presidency?

where are the so called wonderful fathers of these children?

Most of the mothers have been thrown into the light of day, but most of the fathers are no where to be found... (except Warren Jeffs, and we all know where he is, and a few other fathers we've seen or heard from).

What kind of a family unit is that... MOM is the one in court, being on public display, and being told what 'she' must do to get 'her' children back....Not what THEY must do to get THEIR children back...

This should tell us something about the situation there on the ranch.

WHERE ARE THE 'FATHERS'?

further more... there are those who won't even admit which children are theres.

How these people claim to be law abiding citizens is beyond me.

Where is the support for the FLDS? Texas CPS is far beyond their jurisdiction. This story must touch a tender note with all mothers. Give the children back and do it quickly.

The greatest good that may come from this debacle is that the public may have their eyes opened to the abuse that goes on stemming from the power "we" have given to CPS. This is not just a Texas problem, though I feel like it makes the problems in Utah seem small by comparison. In the name of protection, CPS is allowed carte blanche for doing damage to people and causing mental stress at least as great as any they are trying to repair. The "innocent" are assumed to heal after they finally pay enough money in attorney fees and suffer emotional trauma, and they catch a few abusers along the way, actually saving some children, so they are forgiven for the wrongs they do. There is nobody protecting good parents accused of neglect or worse by "well-meaning neighbors".

People feel it is their duty to report everything they see as different from their own view of parenting and then the parents are guilty until they can prove their innocence (assuming they have the money, language and emotional stamina for it). The well-meaning reporters ignorantly assume that "professionals" will investigate fairly. Unfortunately this is not always the case.

Removal of the Quran from a terrorist gets a Presidential apology. Removal of the Book of Mormon get you Nothing.
LDS wake up!!! your next.

Where is the leader of the YFZ Ranch, Merrill Jessop, hiding? Along with most of the other fathers of these 450+ kids.

As always, they've left their women to do all of the work in taking care of the kids, while the men are off playing (hiding)?

Go texas. Somewhere before these young girls thought it would be acceptable to become the sex slaves of muc older relatives, a lot more than simply residing at the ranch had to have gone wrong.
A lot more went wrong after that. These people have had their own individuality denied them, and they don't yet even know it.

There is a lot of wonderful news here. The state of Texas is going to make sure that the parents have proper parenting classes and vocational skills and provide safe environments to take care of their children properly before allowing them to be back with their parents. My guess is there are tens of thousands of children accross the state who could really benefit from this type of program. Wouldn't it be great if the state could just go neighborhood by neighborhood and help all of the unfortunate children being brought up in poor envronments with uncaring parents? I can't wait to see who will be next to receive such benevolence. Go Texas!!

To prove parentage, one only needs a mother. In our current society, many children only have a mother. Why should FLDS be held to a different standard, even if it wets your appetite for gossip. Since no crimes have been committed or even alleged, why should the men, any of them be forced a DNA test? My attorney husband suggests that not submitting is just VERY GOOD counsel.

My 16 year old son has a birth defect. I have been begging the school for specialized training so that he can be a productive member of society, but they think he is too bright based on his I.Q. score though he functions 40 points below the test. Perhaps if I converted to the FLDS my son would actually get the training he needs.

From the repeated spamming of Joel=Berklee=Eric, it appears that at least one FLDS father is holed up with his computer surfing the web, rather than being with his wives in the court hearings.

Just give the kids back, with no questions asked, no conditions met, just give the kids back so I can continue to abuse them without Texas or anybody else interferring.

I thought out of five judges that at least one would have the guts and compassion to return the children to the parents.
What a bunch idiots that set on the bench hearing the cases.
These people are treat like cattle their rights have been taken from them.
Please RETURN THE CHILDREN TO THEIR PARENTS

California Supreme Court rules that freedom to choose marriage partners is guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment. Their ruling is appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court and following their Lawrence ruling it supports California and polygamy ultimately becomes a Constitutional right--which it was in the first place (for over one hundred years before Reynolds).

Finally in this country burning witches is abolished, slavery is abolished, people can choose to associate with whom they wish and religious freedom really is a Constitutional right.

Or, we can continue the police state mentality that Texas has embraced in the name of Baptist imperialism--I'm sure orthodox Mormons wonder if they will ever get to sit at the front of the bus with Rosa Parks?