QUOTE
Law enforcement officials remain in Eldorado after raiding the compound of convicted Polygamist Leader Warren Jeffs on Friday.
Officers from Midland, the Texas Rangers, and Child Protective Services descended on the compound Friday morning after allegations of abuse surfaced.
They later stormed the facility just before noon.
52 girls were removed and 18 are in CPS custody.
Child Protective Services says the girls, range in age from infants to 17 years old.
source
Officers from Midland, the Texas Rangers, and Child Protective Services descended on the compound Friday morning after allegations of abuse surfaced.
They later stormed the facility just before noon.
52 girls were removed and 18 are in CPS custody.
Child Protective Services says the girls, range in age from infants to 17 years old.
source
Somehow, the allgations from one girl led to an entire community being torn apart because of alleged "mistreatment of children." The 52 children said to have been taken intially quickly ballooned.
QUOTE
Authorities said Monday they have taken legal custody of 401 children who lived on an isolated West Texas polygamist retreat built by imprisoned "prophet" Warren Jeffs.
The children are being kept at a temporary shelter at historic Fort Concho in nearby San Angelo while authorities investigate whether a child bride gave birth on the ranch at age 15.
source
The children are being kept at a temporary shelter at historic Fort Concho in nearby San Angelo while authorities investigate whether a child bride gave birth on the ranch at age 15.
source
I'm not a polygamist, have never actually known a polygamist and have, admittedly, been just as quick to laugh at their strangeness whne I've seen them in a Southern Utah's Costco (they love the Costco). But something about this whole thing smells fishy.
Even though there's no doubt that polygamy is illegal and...well, a little freaky, are these women really only sticking around because they've been brainwashed?
QUOTE
"Keep sweet, it's exactly that. No matter what, it's a matter of life and death. You don't ask why. You don't do anything except do what you're told," said former member Pam Black, who was married as a teenager while she was in the sect.
Even with those rules, many women remain loyal to Jeffs.
"I have a right to worship any damn thing I want; wear any damn clothes I want," said one female follower.
source
Even with those rules, many women remain loyal to Jeffs.
"I have a right to worship any damn thing I want; wear any damn clothes I want," said one female follower.
source
It does sound a little Stepford Wife-ish and sad, but a lot of people are sheep and couldn't get by without someone telling them what to do. Maybe those are the people who have chosen this lifestyle. Who am I to judge?
So where do my allegations of Baptist involvement come from?
Check out this ABC News video.
I could be way off base, but it seems strange that all these kids were usehered away in Baptist busses when the state is making this raid. Maybe there's a perfectly reasonable explanation, but I can't think of one.
QUOTE
A Baptist congregation housed about 80 women and children April 4-6 after a raid on the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (FLDS) near Eldorado, Texas.
Members of First Baptist Church in Eldorado embraced the opportunity to minister in Christ's name, pastor Andy Anderson said.
First Baptist also loaned the state of Texas the use of two 25-seat church buses to help transport more than 180 women and children from the 1,619-acre polygamist compound.
source
Members of First Baptist Church in Eldorado embraced the opportunity to minister in Christ's name, pastor Andy Anderson said.
First Baptist also loaned the state of Texas the use of two 25-seat church buses to help transport more than 180 women and children from the 1,619-acre polygamist compound.
source
Sounds more like a recruitment drive to me.
It sure seems like facts are being misrepresented in story after story, which just fuels my conspiracy suspicions.
QUOTE
While the nightmare of confinement within a restrictive sect in West Texas may be over for more than 400 children in Texas, the outside world may present them with unique health threats.
"I don't know what they've been told about us, but it's not good," Barbara Arendt, a volunteer who helped receive the children at the Baptist Church at El Dorado, told ABC News. "My understanding is that they are told we are from the devil."
source
"I don't know what they've been told about us, but it's not good," Barbara Arendt, a volunteer who helped receive the children at the Baptist Church at El Dorado, told ABC News. "My understanding is that they are told we are from the devil."
source
Nightmare? Where in the hell did that come from? Other than the single unconfirmed allegation of abuse, there have been no reports of anything other than an idyllic, if a bit weird, life in a closed community.
But don't let the facts stand in your way, Texas.
QUOTE
Gary Banks, a lawyer representing Child Protective Services, told the judge the state believes "there is a systematic process at the ranch near Eldorado at which children were exploited and sexually abused."
source
source
I just don't see where these "accusations" are coming from. Other than the caller (who has not yet been found) and the guy she fingered as her abuser (a guy who hasn't bee in in Texas for 30 years), they have nothing.
QUOTE
The state is accusing the sect of physically and sexually abusing the youngsters and wants to strip their parents of custody and place the children in foster care or put them up for adoption. The sheer size of the case was an obstacle.
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iIdMpRH...4DDo4QD902AIAO0
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iIdMpRH...4DDo4QD902AIAO0
Great, that's just what these kids need - throw them into the notorisioulsy abused and corrupt foster care system where they can learn all about being sexually abused.
So...what about that 16 year-old girl who reported being raped?
QUOTE
Authorities have not located or identified the 16-year-old caller, who identified herself as Sarah, and women at the compound said Monday that no such person exists.
"That person does not exist on this land," a woman who identified herself as Joy said. "This is a huge mistake."
source
"That person does not exist on this land," a woman who identified herself as Joy said. "This is a huge mistake."
source
Oh, it's no mistake. I think everything that has happened was carefully calculated.
I'm not the only one who thing something strange is going on.
QUOTE
Stephen Smith, an internal medicine physician in San Angelo, is part of the medical team at Fort Concho. He is wrestling with the judgments being made about the FLDS, given what he has seen - and considering abuse remains widespread in the world outside the ranch.
"In my opinion, we had to go do something about them so we didn't have to keep looking at our own behavior," he said, pointing out that "We didn't round up all the Catholic schools when we found out about their abuse." He said most of the women and children are in good health - healthier than most people. The women he has met at the compound are "quite content with their own culture.
"Even though I don't agree with their lifestyle, I got the impression that in their own little world it made sense," he said. The children seem happy, laughing and playing like children everywhere.
http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_8908638?source=rss
"In my opinion, we had to go do something about them so we didn't have to keep looking at our own behavior," he said, pointing out that "We didn't round up all the Catholic schools when we found out about their abuse." He said most of the women and children are in good health - healthier than most people. The women he has met at the compound are "quite content with their own culture.
"Even though I don't agree with their lifestyle, I got the impression that in their own little world it made sense," he said. The children seem happy, laughing and playing like children everywhere.
http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_8908638?source=rss
But, but...what about the "nightmare of confinement?" This doesn't sound like it was much of a nightmare for these kids to me.
And you can say what you want about the polygimists, but I'll bet this never happens on one of their compounds:
QUOTE
A gunman drove up and opened fire at a child's birthday party, killing a woman and 5-year-old girl and wounding four others, authorities said.
Annette Stevenson, 48, died at the scene Sunday night and Queshawn Stevenson, 5, who had been shot in the neck and stomach, died early Monday at a hospital, according to the Tarrant County Medical Examiner's Office.
Four other people were wounded — a woman and three children, including the birthday girl, who turned 9 on Monday, authorities said.
source
Annette Stevenson, 48, died at the scene Sunday night and Queshawn Stevenson, 5, who had been shot in the neck and stomach, died early Monday at a hospital, according to the Tarrant County Medical Examiner's Office.
Four other people were wounded — a woman and three children, including the birthday girl, who turned 9 on Monday, authorities said.
source
I'll bet the shooter and victims were members of a local Baptist church.
Maybe I'm seeing things that aren't really there, but I don't trust any of you religious bastards. I'll look after my own soul, thank you very much.
