Today, I think out loud.As far as politics go I lean way towards Libertarian. I believe that if you are not hurting anyone, then you should be left alone. Drugs should be legalized. If I want to do drugs all day then I should be allowed to as long as no one else gets hurt. As soon as my actions hurt someone else then it's a crime.
Having said that, I also believe that religions brainwash folks. There are probably a rare few that don't, but the majority do. If I raise a child and from the time the child is born I teach them about a supreme being that will send them to Hell for an eternity of suffering if they don't do his wishes. Then, I am committing a crime. I am hurting that child. You are brainwashing a child by saying something is factual when it's not.
If I raise a child to believe that murder is okay and it's important to kill people and get away with it. Then I should be locked up. That's not right. It's brainwashing.
Raising a kid to be a Christian is different to some degree. Normal Christian doctrine doesn't involve hurting anyone. But these folks crossed the line. They've raised their little girls to believe it's okay to be married to old men and pregnant when they are 13. They've raised their little boys to believe it's okay to have more than one wife and that their wives should do what they say no matter what. It's part of God's plan. They have to do it or they'll burn in Hell forever. It's hard to get my mind around it.
Today, several (30 or so I think) mothers of these children won in a trial versus Texas saying that it was illegal for Texas to take away their children. I believe that they are right. The way Texas law enforcement handled this whole charade was and still is a mess.
I also believe that the parents at FLDS are wrong. But how can you criminalize brainwashing? At what point does it become brainwashing?
Kids are getting into trouble all the time and I reckon 99% of the time it can be traced back to bad parenting. If your parents do crack then their children will do it also. Children take after their parents.
Morally and logically it offends me. Any kind of brainwashing is offensive and this FLDS stuff has brainwashing written all over it. Go read "The Door to December" sometime. Somehow we have to let all children be free to choose.
You may want to look at
ReplyDeleteOut of polygamy for more information of what the children have been through. They run a safe house for those wishing to leave polygamy.
Thanks for the links. This is interesting stuff. Normal people getting caught up in a manipulative situation. It violates basic human rights.
ReplyDeleteBut I still wonder how it can be fixed or if it needs fixing. Maybe to certain societies, it's just the way it is. It just seems bad because it's goes against what I think is normal.