Monday, July 21, 2008

Texas v. FLDS

Texas Child Protective Services took a lot of criticism for the wholesale removal of more than 400 children from the FLDS Yearning For Zion Ranch near Eldorado, Texas. And I will admit that I had my own concerns about the way they handled the situation. But this gives me pause.

There was no evidence, at the time, of abuse or neglect. But given the tight-knit nature of this organization, could it be that the evidence doesn't exist BECAUSE of the abuse? Perhaps children are brainwashed into thinking they are receiving acceptable treatment? Perhaps they are taught to lie to cover up for the adults in their lives (which, at the risk of over-generalizing, is pretty typical of abused and neglected children).