More Polygamy Sect Mothers Choosing Not to Return to Ranch
Monday April 28, 2008
The Houston Chronicle reported last Friday that 40 women in the polygamy sect chose to go to a family violence shelter instead of returning to the ranch in West Texas where the Yearning for Zion Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints group makes its home. Seventeen of those women have babies under the age of 1, and they will be housed together at a facility in San Antonio separate from the other residents. In the previous week, only six women opted to stay while 51 others returned to the compound.
Also in that day's Chronicle - an article detailing how the foster care system is trying very hard to be culturally sensitive to the unique needs of these children. One of the steps they've taken is to create not just one but two primers for those working with and caring for the FLDS-raised kids. Two issues that care providers have learned: no internet, TV, movies or even radio for these children, and no clothing or shoes colored red.
Related article: Girls in White Dresses - Polygamy's Child
Comments
Those women did NOT choose to go, the CPS told them that they went or they would not be able to see their children ever again!!!! Why don’t you report accurately!!!!
Gary, you seem a little angry – too angry perhaps to follow the link to the Houston Chronicle article? If you took the time, you’d find the following:
The number of women choosing to go to an undisclosed family violence shelter was a turnaround from last week, when six sought shelter and 51 returned to the isolated compound.
“It was entirely up to them,” said Patrick Crimmins, a spokesman for the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services.
As the women boarded separate buses for their chosen destination, they were given a packet explaining how their children would be cared for in coming weeks.
The state will work with all of the mothers, no matter where they went, to ensure they can visit their children, Crimmins said.
Unless you’re an investigative reporter who has evidence to dispute what the Houston Chronicle has reported, we can only take what the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services says at face value.
I agree that this is not an idea situation, but nearly all the teenage girls removed from the FDLS Yearning for Zion compound are pregnant or have been pregnant and have given birth to children. Does that give you any pause?
I listened to the women on the radio and straight from their mouths is where that comes from.
CPS is notorious for saying one thing and doing another so no I don’t trust anything they say. I follow what CPS does so I know how out of control this agency is and in my state they are under heavy fire from the public.
Out of the number of teenage girls on the compound the number of pregnant ones probably isn’t to far off the number you would find in certain portions of LA, Houston or NY.
Well, Gary, you’ve got me on that, as it sounds like you’re a Texas resident and I am not. I have also heard the women speak, not on the radio but on national TV shows. They seem evasive and rarely answer questions put to them directly. Clearly, there is some influence that keeps them from speaking freely about the entire situation.
Two questions for you:
Why is the Houston Chronicle not covering that angle – that the women are having their hand forced in this matter – if it’s well-known that the CPS is out of control?
And the second question – have you seen the various analyses of the behavior of the FDLS women in the media – that they behave similar to those who are in cults, essentially acting as if brainwashed? Free will appears to be absent from their lives, whether inside the ranch or outside.
As for the number of pregnant teens, the big difference between Yearning For Zion girls and girls in certain portions of LA, Houston, or NY is that phrase again – ‘free will.’ And it’s the difference between teenagers independently trying to negotiate the world and their relationships, and teenagers who are merely vessels for procreation – and who are distributed by leaders like Warren Jeffs to faithful followers as rewards. We are long past the age in which women were treated as material goods.
Also, why is the FLDS group so unwilling to identify who the fathers are or who the family units are? If these are mothers only interested in the well-being of their children – and not in protecting the sect – then they would not withhold the information. They realize, correctly, that such information can and will incriminate these men.
1st question:
I don’t know why the Houston Chronicle isn’t reporting it. Is the Chron. the authority on this? You will see different reports i’m sure in the near future.
And no I don’t live in Texas and it isn’t the only state with CPS or whatever other name they choose to go by, thats out of control.
Question 2:
What is the first thing a lawyer tells a client? Don’t say anything, I will do the talking for you!
Same answer for the last question also.
I believe that what is going to be found is that this community allowed young people to marry at a very early age and that most of the pregnant girls were impregated by males very close to their own age and not middle aged men.
Do you know ANYTHING about this sect? Their leader admits that he arranged “marriages” between middle aged men and teenaged girls! I sincerely DOUBT any males their own age were even allowed to speak with these girls, let alone impregnate them!
Please buy yourself a fool hat if you trust any word from Texas authority on this raid.
Facts:
There were no 16 years old Sarah who made a call for help.
There were no ressitance to the raid and there is evidence of breaking into compound and destroying the property.
There is no evidence of child abuse.
Sorry, the news of broken bones in the past without x-rays are not very beliable.
Texas officals at this time are looking for anything to save their faces. There was no need to take young kids away from parents.
PS Yoiu statement of why father did not claim the children is incorrect. It is state that can not figure out whoi is the parents of minor are, not FDLS folks. CDC requested the DNA test for parenthood identifications. Who to say what is the real parents are: those who give birth or those who care for children? So please assign blame where it belongs — State of Texas.
Well what do you know, I may not be as ignorant and uninformed as you thought I was.