The Texas Department of Health and Family Services removed over 100 children from a Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS) sect in San Angelo, Texas and is placing them into foster care. Abuse and arranged marriages for girls as young as 13 were supposedly taking place at the Yearning for Zion (YFZ) Ranch, although the allegations of abuse were denied by members of the sect. The older men of the sect who had sexual relations with the females under the age of 17 are in violation of Texan law banning sex with a minor and also the bigamy law (entering into one marriage before a current marriage is dissolved). Due to the nterrelations between sex partners, the family trees within the sect were intertwined; DNA is being taken from the children and the adults to try to match relatives. Historically, polygamy was accepted among Christianity and Judaism along with Islam and Muslims. However, present-day Christians and Jews frown upon and have prohibited it, while Islam and Muslims still continue with the practice, though they do not encourage it.
Personally, I believe polygamy should be outlawed. Marriage is defined as “a union between one man and one woman”. What the FLDS did at the YFZ Ranch was wrong. They went against the views of the majority of various religions, and also violated U.S. law. What bothers me the most, however, is that they were forcing adolescent
girls into marriages with men who were sometimes twice their age. If people are not viewed as being capable to vote before the age of 18, how can they be viewed as being able to commit to a life long union with a person they didn’t have the choice to be with in the first place?
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