Duty to my country (specifically the Army) has caused me to spend the next three months away from my family. I'm only on the first week of that separation. The good news is that I'm never further away from my family than the moment that they drop me off at the airport - which means that we're drawing nearer to our reunion all the time...
I miss my family like crazy. This is by no means the first time that we've spent time apart, nor is it the longest period of separation, but "family sep" really never gets any easier.
I've written before some of my thoughts about the forced separation of families that has occurred in Texas. I believe the State of Texas was way out of line to declare itself more fit to care for those FLDS children than their own biological parents. I applaud the Texas Supreme Court's decision to order Texas and the CPS to reunite those poor broken families.
To be clear, I think the FLDS church may in fact have some serious flaws, but I'm not going to get into that in this piece, as I wish only to address the serious trespasses against the FLDS community.
I find it incredibly ironic that just as one form of alternative marriage seems to be gaining ground (see recent decisions in California and New York), polygamy once again finds itself under attack. Yet civil rights activists have been slow to notice...
I find it incredibly hypocritical that so many Americans seem so eager to attack the institution of plural marriage, in an age where premarital sexual relations are not only accepted but in many cases celebrated, and where the value of sexual monogamy continues to decline. This behavior is a tacit approval of sexual promiscuity, and of bearing and raising children out of wedlock; and an explicit disapproval of anything nearly resembling a commitment. Heaven forbid we actually make any commitments in this modern era...
I am offended by my own church's refusal to make a stand in defense of religious freedom as another church with whom we have a great deal in common (official LDS statements to the contrary notwithstanding) faces intense persecution.
And I am heartbroken for the separation that has been forced upon those families, and for the mental and emotional harm that has been inflicted upon them. They have been the victims of a malicious state government that robbed them of their rights as Americans. Their reunion cannot happen soon enough.
2 comments:
I clicked over to your blog from the RSL blog. Your discussion of the trespasses on the FLDS is quite appropriate. Two things to think about: 1. There have always been double standards even in civil rights (the paradox of open and close-mindedness which is prevalent in this case). 2. The Mormon church would put themselves in a lose-lose situation by openly defending the FLDS church. They also don't criticize the group, but they are consistent in their neutrality by staying out of the lime light.
Anonymous, I'd like to hear more of what you mean about double standards in civil rights cases. I think that would be an interesting idea to explore.
I'm not sure that I agree with your assertion that a defense of religious freedom by the LDS church would be a lose-lose situation. The church has consistently touted its dissimilarities to the FLDS, but I'm not ready to call that taking a position of neutrality.
Don't we often hear in the church that there is no neutrality? That we're either progressing or regressing? And the book of Revelations says, "I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm... I will spue thee out."
I think there is always something to be gained by defending liberty.
Thanks for the comment!
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