534 women and children

[lerxstcat]

It is allowed. Do you see the govt rading the catholic diocese?? Do you see the govt investigating satanist organizations?? Sorry but the govt overstepped there bounds on this one. Like I said I dont support the compound behavior but its still a constituional issue for me.

Polygamy and statutory rape are illegal and although the Catholic church had a problem with molestation, it's not the official policy of the churh to promote it, unlike the case of the FLDS compounds.

When the OFFICIAL policy of your religion is to allow 50-year-old men to rape 14-year-old girls to impregnate them, and justify it by calling it a "spiritual marriage", that goes beyond the bounds of religious freedom and is basically rape, incest and slavery for the young girls involved.

[Bengal]

Polygamy and statutory rape are illegal and although the Catholic church had a problem with molestation, it's not the official policy of the churh to promote it, unlike the case of the FLDS compounds.

When the OFFICIAL policy of your religion is to allow 50-year-old men to rape 14-year-old girls to impregnate them, and justify it by calling it a "spiritual marriage", that goes beyond the bounds of religious freedom and is basically rape, incest and slavery for the young girls involved.

You have to prove that the girls were held against their will. So far, none have said that. Statutory rape maybe, but we'll have to wait on that one. Incest? Have no proof of that either. Slavery? Seriously? What is a slave? A person held against their will? We have no proof that anyone was held against their will.

I have yet to hear a girl speak out against this cult. I know the next thing that will be said is that these girls are brainwashed, too young to make these kinds of decisions, ect. No proof of that either.

Eveyone gets caught up in the sexual nature of this story. I know I saw a lot of older women in these videos too. So one facet of this story gets everyones blood pumping.

And while I'm not a fan of yard dawg, he does have a point. If the Pope was a CEO of a string of daycares and the same shit went down, he'd be in jail. Pure and simple.

Let me ad that I have no idea what the "answer" is in this story. I'm just saying we need to let all the facts come out before damning everyone. We don't know how rampant that 50 on 14 year old sex was.

[yard dawg]

Polygamy and statutory rape are illegal and although the Catholic church had a problem with molestation, it's not the official policy of the churh to promote it, unlike the case of the FLDS compounds.

When the OFFICIAL policy of your religion is to allow 50-year-old men to rape 14-year-old girls to impregnate them, and justify it by calling it a "spiritual marriage", that goes beyond the bounds of religious freedom and is basically rape, incest and slavery for the young girls involved.

The anti polygamy laws are unconstituional. PERIOD!! If a religous book teaches it then its protected by the 1st amendment PERIOD.. Mormons have always believed in it until the PC age. Its a protected practice IMHO. Not one Id do but I support peoples right to do it. As far as the statatory rape goes. There have been NO charges filed yet. Alot of nations we deal with on a regular basis have young uns marrying. Its the norm. You dont see people running there mouths about it do ya? China,India,Mexico etc all have this occuring on a daily basis. Its the NORM for these people. This stuff goes on in the projects and trailer parks of the US all day and NOT ONE kid is being removed. They dont get married but there is still the older man and younger girls making bastards all day long...I also mentioned that the so called phone call wasnt from a 16 yr old and I was right. I dont support a 50 yr old with a 13 yr old but I havent seen any proof of it and I doubt I will.

This is a society where women get married at a younger age than our society deems moral. This practice has been going on in humankind for thousands of years. CONGRESS SHALL MAKE NO LAWS RESTRICTING THE FREE EXERCISE THEREOF. One day these same people will go after your kids because you spank them. They already call it abuse. One day they will go after your kids because you teach them something thats considered politically incorrect. Sorry but this is a blatant abuse of power by the govt. They have to prove guilt 1st right?? The call was a nut job woman not an abuse victim. The whole search was based on false evidence. Sorry but if this was a NAMBLA compound the ACLU would already be calling for the supreme court to step in.

[hippietim]

Alot of nations we deal with on a regular basis have young uns marrying. Its the norm. You dont see people running there mouths about it do ya? China,India,Mexico etc all have this occuring on a daily basis. Its the NORM for these people.

Another weak argument. There are countries in the world that we deal with that consider stoning a woman to death for adultery to be appropriate. Children in China work for pennies a day (effectively slaves) with only a couple days off a month. Etc.

You don't get their NORMs without everything that comes with it. Do you really want to see the US become like China?

This stuff goes on in the projects and trailer parks of the US all day and NOT ONE kid is being removed. They dont get married but there is still the older man and younger girls making bastards all day long.

That sort of thing (old man w/underage girls) is really and truly the exception and it sure as hell isn't limited to the projects and trailer parks. Are you really this ignorant? My experience with humanity is that the worst of all people are not actually segregated so conveniently.

This is a society where women get married at a younger age than our society deems moral. This practice has been going on in humankind for thousands of years.

Oh man, you are really struggling here. Society has evolved beyond many things. Men used to drag women around by their hair when they were cavemen. Women didn't used to have the right to vote. We used to hang people for stealing horses. The Constitution originally stated that black people only count as 3/5 of a person for the purposes of the census.


We have ammended the Constitution many times because as it turns out the folks in the latter half of the 1700's weren't not quite prepared to write a single document that scales to changing times for all eternity. To quote Thomas Jefferson:

I am not an advocate for frequent changes in laws and constitutions. But laws and institutions must go hand in hand with the progress of the human mind. As that becomes more developed, more enlightened, as new discoveries are made, new truths discovered and manners and opinions change, with the change of circumstances, institutions must advance also to keep pace with the times. We might as well require a man to wear still the coat which fitted him when a boy as civilized society to remain ever under the regimen of their barbarous ancestors.

CONGRESS SHALL MAKE NO LAWS RESTRICTING THE FREE EXERCISE THEREOF. One day these same people will go after your kids because you spank them. They already call it abuse. One day they will go after your kids because you teach them something thats considered politically incorrect. Sorry but this is a blatant abuse of power by the govt.

http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=tangent #7 under Idiom

They have to prove guilt 1st right?? The call was a nut job woman not an abuse victim. The whole search was based on false evidence.

If there is any chance that leaving the children where they were puts them in harms way you have to take them into protective custody. This is pretty standard. As for a search based on false evidence, there was no evidence at all. The authorities were presented with a complaint and they acted on it. If they ignored it and people found out 6 months from now that children were being raped I think you'd probably have a different opinion

Sorry but if this was a NAMBLA compound the ACLU would already be calling for the supreme court to step in.

Bullshit. Or do you have some experience with NAMBLA? You seem to defend their kind.

[hippietim]

As for protections of religions, we have evolved beyond that nonsense. Religious organizations should be taxed and treated just like any other business.

[yard dawg]

As for protections of religions, we have evolved beyond that nonsense. Religious organizations should be taxed and treated just like any other business.

Oh please.. You base your whole arguements on your anti religion philosphies and it shows. The nambla reference was to show that the ACLU types who claim all this so called freedom in the constitution are hypocrites. They defend those child abusers, but not the alleged "religious" ones. There still hasnt been any proof of abuse has there?

We have evolved beyond peoples deeply held spiritual beliefs??? What a bigoted statement. Typical from the GOD hater crowd though. I wouldnt expect anything less. Our country was founded by people seeking freedom to worship GOD.

Our country has evolved beyond the total freedom of the press too but I dont see anyone going after the lying news papers and poparazzi types do I? Its all protected or none of it IMHO.. When and if they find proof of real abuse I will be the 1st to say prosecute the people.

[marcus]

The supreme court has ruled that laws of general applicability do not violate the free exercise clause of the first amendment. In other words, if laws are not specifically targeted at restricting religion they are constitutional.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Employment_Division_v._Smith

If you really believe that the first amendment allows people to do whatever they want if it has some kind of religious justification, then for all intents and purposes just about any behavior can be justified. Should men be allowed to stone their wives for committing adultery? Its in the bible. The terrorists who flew planes into the world trade center thought that they were compelled to do so by their religion - do you believe that they should get a pass for that?

[hippietim]

Oh please.. You base your whole arguements on your anti religion philosphies and it shows.

Your reading comprehension is poor. My arguments were based on the fact that we are a society of laws and those laws and human rights trump so called religious beliefs. I have no issue with polygamy or people worshipping anything they want, I do take issue with people abusing children.

The nambla reference was to show that the ACLU types who claim all this so called freedom in the constitution are hypocrites. They defend those child abusers, but not the alleged "religious" ones.

Now you just sound insane.

There still hasnt been any proof of abuse has there?

I'm not aware of all the details. I'm assuming that with hundreds of children involved they probably want to do a thorough job. Do you seriously expect the authorities to give you real time updates? I'd prefer that they get to the bottom of this.

We have evolved beyond peoples deeply held spiritual beliefs??? What a bigoted statement.

If that's what I had said then I could see your point. Maybe. But I grew up going to church and spent a great deal of time around a variety of religions and the common theme was to spread their own unique form of intolerance. I can do without that.

Typical from the GOD hater crowd though. I wouldnt expect anything less.

Nowhere did I say I hate god. It's funny that you fall back on that when a bunch of those other nations and religions you cited sure as hell do not share your belief of what god is.

Our country was founded by people seeking freedom to worship GOD.

That's certainly what they liked to tell you in those little dens of intolerance on Sunday. But there were more than a few other reasons to detach ourselves from our European founders.

Our country has evolved beyond the total freedom of the press too but I dont see anyone going after the lying news papers and poparazzi types do I?

I firmly believe that the paparazzi should be used as speed bumps. They'd be more environmentally friendly than tar. They'd be very cheap too - there are lots of them available.

Its all protected or none of it IMHO.

Nothing is ever that simple. There are no absolutes. (I love the irony of that statement)

When and if they find proof of real abuse I will be the 1st to say prosecute the people.

I doubt you'll be the first but it's cute that you think so.

[toejam]

Hippie Tim for president!

[necrotechno]

The anti polygamy laws are unconstituional. PERIOD!!

Marriage is unconstitutional. The legal recognition of a domestic partnership as a sovereign entity is not a constitutional right. It is a privilege. The law defines that privilege as requiring One Man + One Woman. You're free to live your life in any other configuration, of course. But [unless you live in Massachusetts] only that configuration is a legally recognized partnership.

[necrotechno]

Our country was founded by people seeking freedom to worship GOD.

Yeah, but which one?

...or was that freedom *FROM* worshipping a god? Hmmm?

[GodOfRhythm]

“ Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof


This is my issue with all this. I dont think a 14 yr old and a 51 yr old dude are cool but like ive said before in alot of cultures this is the norm. The govt took a call from a nut job black woman and turned it into this crap. They are exercising there freedom of religion right.. If you dont agree with then thats your right but to deny them the rights in unconstitutional IMHO..

This is, bar none, the most ridiculous and stupid statement I have EVER read on this board.

[SEEGERMANY]

BIG RED!

[shobet]

I'm with Dawkins on this god thing...

[hippietim]

Yeah, but which one?

...or was that freedom *FROM* worshipping a god? Hmmm?

Nope, it is freedom OF religion.