FLDS Children's Scriptures Taken
Copies of the Book of Mormon Taken Away by Texas CPS
The Texas Department of Child Protective Services has a rough job in the wake of the raid on the Yearning for Zion Ranch in El Dorado Texas. The court systems are taxed trying to track down the fathers of the children who have been uncooperative in the investigation efforts made by law enforcement.
While the Texas authorities may have a difficult situation on their hands, there are some things that could have been handled better. According to the May 20, 2008, edition of The Salt Lake Tribune, one FLDS child had his Book of Mormon taken away from him and the book has not yet been returned.
An editorial that ran in the Lone Star Times on the same date carries the same story and quotes and attorney Steve Pickell stating that copies of the Book of Mormon being taken away from the FLDS children being held by Texas Child Protective Services is a common complaint.
Why Were the Books of Mormon Taken Away from the FLDS Children?
The large volume of people that the Texas authorities have in custody makes handling them difficult. It also makes individual hearings for each defendant unlikely as such treatment would bog down Texas's court system for years. According to the Lone Star Times, a spokesman for Texas CPS said that the books had pictures and quotes from Warren Jeffs, the former leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
If the scriptures of the FLDS Children were taken away for something that these books contained that was not part of the standard text, the books can be replaced at no cost by simply ordering more copies from the mainstream Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Texas CPS workers may dislike the Book of Mormon based on their own religious views, but the children and the mothers currently being held by the state should be free to practice their religion, provided that they do not violate the law by doing so.
Taking Away the Book of Mormon Violates First Amendment Rights
Mainstream Mormons and Fundamentalist Mormons use the same version of the Book of Mormon as scripture, and the Texas state authorities could order new copies from the official LDS web site at no cost to the the taxpayer. The FLDS organization does not accept the 1890 manifesto banning the practice of plural marriage that is followed by mainstream Mormons.
There may have been pictures of Warren Jeffs in the children's copies of their scriptures, but the delay in replacing the copies of the Book of Mormon that were taken away from the children seized during the raid as the Yearning for Zion ranch suggests a disagreement with the religious views. No one condones the actions of the FLDS leadership at the Yearning for Zion ranch, but taking away copies of the Book of Mormon from the children violates the freedom of religion of the children and the mothers.
The Texas authorities, even less familiar with life in polygamous communities than the author of this article is, are treating the women and children as criminals, rather than as victims of an abusive polygamist sect.
Resources:
“Texas Hearings: Few Answers for FLDS Parents.” Brooke Adams. The Salt Lake Tribune. May 20, 2008. Salt Lake City, Utah.
“FLDS Child Seizure. Texas Sized Calamity.” Big Jolly. Lone Star Times. May 20, 2008.
