Don't mess with Texas

This whole ordeal in Texas just has never sat well with me. I really can't see how every child at the YFZ ranch was in "significant risk of harm" or "victims of abuse and neglect." That's just a statistical impossibility.

A few days ago a Texas state representative, speaking at a news conference said the following:

"We have a saying here: 'Don't mess with Texas.' I'm going to change it up and say, 'Don't mess with the children of Texas.'"

I have a real problem with this statement. These children are not property of the state of Texas.

I think the representative’s statement is actually quite telling. He draws a clear distinction between the state of Texas, and the YFZ ranch. His words mark the FLDS as outsiders - newcomers in need of a little Texas-style orientation. His bravado is repugnant. “Don’t mess with Texas,” he says, and pretends that this is about the children. The reality is that Texas wants nothing to do with this strange polygamist sect that occupies a sprawling ranch outside of Eldorado. Texas is embarrassed by the YFZ ranch, and feels threatened by the religion that calls it home.

My sympathies toward the FLDS cause extend only so far as I believe they are entitled to their First Amendment right to freely practice their religion. I don’t agree with the practice of polygamy, but frankly I have a hard time simply discounting it as an illegal activity. Judeo-Christian theology supports the practice of plural marriage, with many examples of the custom recorded in holy writ. Westerners may be uncomfortable with the practice, but other cultures around the world still follow this custom, and there are even examples of similar behavior in the animal kingdom. Hell, gay marriage isn’t exactly legal in the state of Texas, but I don’t see government and law enforcement officials doing the same thing to that community as they’ve done to the FLDS - nor should they.

Underage marriage, sexual or physical abuse - these are all crimes worthy of prosecution, but I do not believe that the practice of polygamy itself poses a “significant risk of harm” to children, nor do I believe the practice makes children in such families “victims of abuse or neglect” by default. I believe that each criminal case or allegation of criminal behavior must be investigated separately, and prosecuted on its own merits. I believe the “guilty by association” approach that has resulted in the confiscation and relocation of these 400 plus children - now property of the state of Texas - is in opposition to the rights guaranteed by the US constitution, and flies in the face of the freedoms that our country champions to the world.

I cannot accept the implication that there are no children living in the state of Texas in greater need of state intervention than these children. This operation is a tremendous waste of state resources, an injustice to the displaced children, an affront to the good families in the FLDS community, and an attack on religious freedom.