What Did The FLDS Kids Do To Deserve This?

Ben Stein Says Texas Authorities Are Acting Like The Gestapo By Taking Away The Children Of A Mormon Sect

(CBS)  Contributor Ben Stein has polygamy on his mind this morning … and children.

---

May I ask a question? What the heck is going on in Texas with the kids caught up in the polygamy ranch disaster?

Look, I am not a fan of polygamy. For one thing, it's all any man can do keeping up with one wife. For another, it's against the law in this country.

But the polygamists that have been in the news have been operating for decades. The authorities knew about it, and them. They didn't do a thing about it for all those years!

Then, on a totally unsubstantiated telephone call about sex abuse - which apparently did not come from anyone even connected to the polygamist compound - the state closed down the compound, and (what is totally incomprehensible) took the small children of the settlement away from their mothers and fathers.

Why? What crime had the kids committed? Why are they being dealt the most drastic punishment imaginable - separation from their mothers and fathers - for no known reason?

The state of Texas has not found one single crime against these children yet. Even if they do find one or two, how can that be a reason for taking dozens, maybe hundreds of children away from their mothers?

The kids are the victims here - not of the parents, but of the incredible, unbelievable cruelty of the state of Texas authorities. If there is evidence of cruelty by the families to these kids, where is it?

Look, I am a huge fan of Texas. I have many friends there and love being there. But what is the attorney general of Texas doing? This is an Orwellian nightmare. For no reason except what looks like a crank call, the lives of these children have been turned upside down and into a screaming horror movie.

Can't someone say the obvious here? That in this case, it's not the Mormons who are the criminals, it's the government of Texas.

Governor Perry, wake up and give those kids back to their mothers until you have some compelling, proven reason to do otherwise. What your state is doing here is Gestapo tactics pure and simple.

[athiestinthesouth]

all the comments that say "thank you ben" are from the men who are responsible for the child abuse!

[chrisnu7]

Ben Stein - I wont discuss hedge funds and muni bonds if you dont talk about pedophilia and patterns of child abuse. WARREN JEFFS, a CONVICTED RAPIST,is their PROPHET - STILL!.
Many religious and ethnic enclaves are functioning without the pestering of local law enforcement...Amish people do not have their children snatched by police and CPS, the Somalians and Ethiopians in my area are respeceted and left alone just fine, even though they choose to not assimilate. Their parenting, food, clothing, even language, remains their own...yet, we resepct the difference just fine. Reason being, they are not hiding behaind a brick wall of sexual abuse and domination for those without resources to escape. A similar "religious" sect was The Children of God. They operated in the US for years. The thrust of their "religion" was young children showering, fondling, pleasing, adult males. Finally, they were driven from the US. The last stronghold of their cult was based in Louisiana...where the poorest child protective laws exist. They now operate quite openly in third world countries....I work with the survivors. Ben, sad, sad, sad.

[athiestinthesouth]

are they still in louisiana? cuz if they are, I know where to get a lot of Napalm, really fast.

[zeb1313]

"As a pediatrician, I am amazed and disappointed at Ben Stein''''s comments of 4/27/08. Fully 31 of the under-age girls taken from the compound are found to have already given birth or to be pregnant." - lrobtex52


--

So when is a female mature enough for you to have a baby? when she reaches some number of revolutions of the earth around the sun? THIS is intelligence and should be the defining factor? What if a 14 year old young lady who was physically mature enough to get pregnant and have a baby took a written test and had a higher IQ than a female of 21 years of age? who then say you is the more mature and more of a so-called ''adult?''

I don''t know if you know this or not, but the age of consent and ability to marry varies from one state to another. Does this then mean in your eyes that the maturity of a female varies on the location of the real estate in which she is abiding in, and would you call THIS intelligent?

And how many times do people have to mention in here that the age to marry in Texas is currently 16, and just a short time ago was 14, and in lieu of this has anyone proven that any of these teenage young ladies were impregnated and married earlier than that?

I guess FACTS don''t matter in this discussion, only BIGOTRY and HYSTERIA.

[zeb1313]

"Ben Stein''''s comments might not be surprising considering that he recently released a movie (not related to this issue) called "Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed" where he demonstrates his support for Intelligent Design. This perhaps shows, or confirms, that Mr. Stein lacks judgement or the ability for critical thinking. When women (girls) are allowed to be married or statutorily raped under legal age (and probably their mothers before them), there can not be any moral justification." - PAK55

--

If mankind is not "Intelligently Designed," then morality is relative, not absolute, and then who are you to force your morality on these religious people, and who are you to say what is right and what is wrong? Would you allow them to force their morality on you, and ban your fornications, sodomies, abortions, etc? Would you think of going into some foreign country and imposing your morals on such a country that allowed marriages at a younger age? What standard would you use to argue your case? That it is just what YOU think is right?

Talk about a "lack of judgment or the ability for critical thinking." Your morality is nothing but entirely chaotic.

[athiestinthesouth]

you are one of the pedos from the place arent you?

[lrobtex52]

As a pediatrician, I am amazed and disappointed at Ben Stein''s comments of 4/27/08. Fully 31 of the under-age girls taken from the compound are found to have already given birth or to be pregnant. A disproportionate number of the younger children are found to have old fractures. In my professional life, I am bound by law to report suspected abuse of any child. Does Mr. Stein''s distorted sense of personal freedom truly include allowing these puppy-farms for pedophiles to continue unimpeded? Shame on you, sir. I for one am proud of the state of Texas for having the integrity and courage not to sweep this situation under the rug, even in spite of criticism from people like Mr. Stein.

[jcf68]

Lets just assume the men abused these women (if they did they should be prosecuted). Yet that doesn''t give CPS the right to abuse the women and children. The state has kidnapped these children and refuses to return them. Please return the children to their mothers.

[joyous88]

What did America do to deserve this criminal cabal

of Neo Cons that are so completely Un-American that

they think freedom of religion means you can rape

little

girls and boys

Are all rpublicons becoming Un American greed driven pigs?

[pak55]

Ben Stein''s comments might not be surprising considering that he recently released a movie (not related to this issue) called "Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed" where he demonstrates his support for Intelligent Design. This perhaps shows, or confirms, that Mr. Stein lacks judgement or the ability for critical thinking. When women (girls) are allowed to be married or statutorily raped under legal age (and probably their mothers before them), there can not be any moral justification. That the state of Texas has allowed this cult to practice this lifestyle all these years is unconscionable. Mr. Stein''s comments meanwhile, are ludicrous.

[prg100740]

Ben, Have you been living in a cave? These people beat their babies, old men have *** wtih teen age girls. These children have no toys, not even crayons. These are some very sick people. Ben, it is obvious you need surgery to remove your head from *** in the lower part of your body!

[jlnat]

I am not a religious person, my faith is knowing right from wrong. If you know what is right then faith will follow in whatever path you lead. I am not here to preach what is right and what is wrong that is not my place. BUT what I do know is the Child Protective Services have over stepped their ground in this case. I would be very afraid of what CPS can and will do to your families at any cost!

Go to You Tube Video''s google "Free Chris White" that is what happen to us when CPS took our family.

[jlnat]

I am not a religious person, my faith is knowing right from wrong. If you know what is right then faith will follow in whatever path you lead. I am not here to preach what is right and what is wrong that is not my place. BUT what I do know is the Child Protective Services have over stepped their ground in this case. I would be very afraid of what CPS can and will do to your families at any cost!

Go to You Tube Video''s google "Free Chris White" that is what happen to us when CPS took our family.

[jlnat]

I am not a religious person, my faith is knowing right from wrong. If you know what is right then faith will follow in whatever path you lead. I am not here to preach what is right and what is wrong that is not my place. BUT what I do know is the Child Protective Services have over stepped their ground in this case. I would be very afraid of what CPS can and will do to your families at any cost!

Here is a link to read what CPS did to our family:

http://web.mac.com/jlnatalie1/iWeb/FreeChrisWhite/The%20Deception.html

[zeb1313]

If having a baby at 15 is such a "crime," then show me in the Bible, or in the Koran, or any other leading religious book that says it is.

If not, then it''s only a "crime" to some HUMAN-created law; and in this case, a law created by the same humans in this country who have also decided that it''s NOT a crime to murder the unborn through abortion.

Quite frankly, I trust God and the "nature''s God" mentioned in our Declaration of Independence as to when a female is a woman or not, and in this case, it''s obvious that if this "nature''s God" has females being able to bear and have children at 15 or whatever, then they''re not children anymore, but young ladies, young women.

Therefore to say that they having something as beautiful as a HUMAN child is a "crime," is sickening, to say the least, just as sickening from the same mindset of people who say abortion is perfectly okay.

The most glorious thing a woman can do is give birth to another human being, and I hardly think that such a thing is a "crime," and that the government should be kidnapping away a mother''s child from her.

And that''s my opinion and I''m sticking to it.

Ben Stein is right.

[Contumacious]

Texas Rule of Evidence - Art. 38.07 -Requires that allegations of sexual abuse be corroborated - by a victim outcry statement. So DNA evidence by itself will not be sufficient to convict anyone UNLESS there is person willing and able to testify that the alleged victim complained to her.

http://www.cca.courts.state.tx.us/OPINIONS/HTMLOPINIONINFO.ASP?OPINIONID=13287

Enter CASA - the folks there are used by CPS to "interview" the mothers. These inquisitions are not videotaped. I guarantee that the CPS-CASA duo will claim that they extracted "victims outcry statements"

And so it goes.

[chrisnu7]

Ben Stein...what happened to your keen smarts? I applaud the state of texas and knew it was inevitable that BEn''s position would make it to the media. I am worried that texas will back-peddle with this illogical pressure. Use your common sense...those poor robotic brainwashed depressed hostages (women) even supplied you the language - all at the same time, by the way; that wasn''t an accident. They are parrots, speaking in flat monotones - like STepford Wives, reading lines. The FDLS attorney''s fed the media the religious/church/state propaganda and Ben picked it up. SAD SAD SAD

[honestly4]

PEDOPHILLES RAPE CHILDREN IN THE NAME OF GOD AND
BEN STEIN THINKS THIS CULT SHOULD GET AWAY WITH IT!
HOW CAN SOMEONE SO SMART BE SO F...ING STUPID?

I am Disgusted and thoroughly Appalled at the warped and Grotesque point of view coming from Ben Stein and other idiots on this board! How Dare him suggest that we as a society or country should allow PEDOPHILLES to RAPE CHILDREN under the pretense of being a "religion".
It''''s a CULT Ben! They have a ritualistic RAPE BED in their "Sanctuary"!
They kick out onto the street, the unprepared, uneducated and all alone, male children to remove competition for the 50 year old Pedophille men!
When the blood tests reveal the truth you should eat your words! You are UGLY on the outside and the inside! I can''''t help but think that you might secretly be turned on by PEDOPHILLES RAPING CHILDREN!Makes a lot of sense because I can''''t begin to imagine a Real Woman who would ever want you!
The Majority of those glassy eyed, monotoned, brainwashed Stepford women are crying croccodile tears and posing! Those children were in a cult like jail, work camp and never allowed to play or have any human contact from the outside world!
What are they hiding? What are they afraid of?
Their leader, Warren Jeffes is hopefully rotting in jail for RAPING a 13 year old!

Who PROTECTS the Children?????????????????

They are better off being PROTECTED by the State than being allowed to be VICTIMIZED by their own mothers!

[honestly4]

RAPING CHILDREN IS AGAINST THE LAW!
IF YOU ARE NOT FOR CHILDREN YOU ARE AGAINST THEM!
IF YOU ARE AGAINST CHILDREN YOU ARE AGAINST GOD!
IF YOU THINK THAT LOVING YOUR CHILDREN MEANS ALLOWING A 50 YEAR OLD MAN TO F... THEM, YOU ARE SICK!
SICK MINDED PEOPLE''S OPINIONS MEAN NOTHING!
ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!
I CAN ONLY IMAGINE THAT THE PEOPLE WHO THINK BEING A PEDOPHILLE OR ENABLEING A PEDOPHILLE IS A OK BY THEM,
MUST HAVE A LOT OF CHILD PORN ON THEIR COMPUTERS!

[jcf68]

What crime have these women committed?
Is having a child a crime?
When the man engages in the reproductive act it may be done in a way that it destroys the dignity of the woman. This is a crime. Yet the state has done nothing to any man. Why not?

Seperating mothers from their children the way the State of Texas has is a crime.
I completely agree that 15 year olds either in the compound or on the streets of Dallas should not be engaging in the reproductive act.
Yet giving birth having a child is not a crime in any society religious or non religious.

We all are entitled to a fair trial. Remember these women commited no crimes are accused of nothing, yet they have had there very children kidnapped right out of their arms.
The birth of a child is always viewed with excitement because by the very words of creation a human is born in the image and likness of God. This child is pure has not been subjected to evils you and I have been subjected to.
Yet on the other hand the act of intercourse that helped create this child may have been done and broke laws and then this man may be subject to punishment by the law. This should not be covered up. Yet this article is not about when these children were concieved and how. This article is about the criminal acts against women and children by the state of Texas. The act that brought about conception may become a whole new court case.

[maxeqn]

I think Ben Stein''s usual logic went out the window last Sunday in his opinion piece on the FLDS. Just because the authorities turned a blind eye to what was going on in the compound for many years doesn''t make it any less revolting or illegal. How can he imply that removing children from that environment is a more "drastic punishment" than leaving them there to be sexually molested? In general I have not been a great fan of some actions by the state of Texas, but this time I think they were right on. We know now that half the teenage girls from the compound are either pregnant now or have already had kids. It is becoming more clear by the day that these kids have been brainwashed since they were born to believe it is somehow the religious duty of the underage girls to submit to the sexual fantasies of middle age pedophiles. To call the Texas authorities "criminal" or "Gestapo" for trying to protect these kids is just plain stupid Ben!

[joyous88]

you right wingers will sit your lazy butts on this

blog and deny the truth until you pass out and die,

and I say good riddence,

our country is tired and sick of people like you,

get back to your church and lock the doors,

leave us "normal" people alone