I am sure that, as the headlines blasted the news of the latest religious compound bust-up, flashes of David Koresh and the flames that engulfed that compound crept into readers’ minds.
News of a raid on the YFZ Ranch in Eldorado, Texas broke Saturday afternoon. CNN’s headline reported that more than 100 children were removed from a polygamist colony “in Texas”, causing the hairs on my arms and neck to stand at attention. It wasn’t until later (when I had an opportunity to read CNN’s article via Blackberry) that I was momentarily comforted.
“I was fearful that it would be another Waco…and with a town this small, a Waco would be devastating,”-Eldorado resident, Jimalee Dutton.
As I read on and found that the members of this colony are from the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, I find myself, once again, questioning religion and its many variations and doctrines. How is it that Christ can be a part of their beliefs, yet horrific things like arranged marriages between 50-year-old men and 16-year-old girls are regular practices. This, then, led me to question our morals and heroic role as many other religions worldwide encourage similar behavior.
Unfortunately, these queries are matters for one with infinite wisdom. However, one thing is for certain, the activities going on beyond the gates and guards of Warren Jeffs’s compound are illegal and should be stopped. One can be thankful that the rescue of those many women and children took place before we witnessed another Waco.
219 Children, women taken from sect’s ranch-CNN (April 5, 2008)
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