Free the Families

Well, we have had the good and the bad from Texas. Horrible weather, floods, droughts, famine, pestilence. Texas has also produced the beginnings of the beef industry, the reputation of fighters, sloggers, and of people that overcame humongous challenges. Most of the development of the far west came from cattle country in Texas. When no body else would go west for fear of the plains tribes, the Texans did. When the Mexicans fought the Republic of Texas at the Alamo, there were Americans, Mexicans and many others that fought to the death, so that Texas would be free.

Texas is an interesting state. Born not from an English colony, it was originally a part of Mexico, albeit an area that wasn't terribly fond of Mexico City and the Texicans that represented both cultures. Texas, unlike other states, came not from annexation of US territories, but was, after breaking loose form Mexico,an independent state, the Republic of Texas. It is rumored that Texas is the only state in the present union that still carries in it's annexation charter, the right to secede from the union, having not been a part of the U.S in it's infancy.

Comes the present historical period, and U.S. law. As was presented to the "Church of Later Day Saints," or as commonly known, the Mormon Church, back in the 1800's. At that time, the U.S. government told Utah, either drop plural marriage, or don't plan on being a part of the United states. The church folded, finding suddenly that yet another revelation had miraculously occurred.

Now we come to the present. A period that finds for many years, a nod and a wink toward multiple wives. I can't comment intelligently about the religious content, except only to say that it appears the adaptation of plural wives developed on the trek west, where when a breadwinner was killed by Indians or others, the wife was brought into the family of other relatives.

I know it has taken a long time for me to come to the subject of this post, but I felt a need to do background, so as not to appear to be another empty blog post without any merit. My point here is that the debacle in Texas, without apparently any due process of law, resembles other posts that I have featured, regarding abuses of child Protective Services.

Today we learn that all 400 plus children that were seized in the raid on the breakaway Mormon compound in Texas, were taken from their mothers illegally. Something most of us probably figured out already. It becomes obvious that after this all plays out, the children will be back with their moms and siblings. What isn't obvious, is the trauma that was handed down by the authorities to the families involved. Some will probably never emotionally recover from the trauma of being torn from their mother's arms.

In summation, it would seem that one or two accommodations could have been reached. One, Texas authorities could have just laid down the law as to minimum marriage ages. Two, the young participants, none of which have been heard from, could be required to sign a statement saying that they agree to the marriage of their own free will.