FLDS Raid

For anyone who has turned on the news in the past 24 hours, I'm sure you have heard about the raid on the FLDS compound in ElDorado, Texas. While there may be some shady things going on in secret behind those walls, this abuse of executive police and judicial power is frightening. More than 400 people have been taken from their homes based on a ridiculously broad warrant based on a call from a young girl that the authorities cannot find or even identify. However, the tension here is much deeper than the overreaching police in Texas. There is an interesting tension here between the interests of society and the interests of the family and parents. On this end, we have children who grow up within a society in which they are not given free agency to act and interact with society. I would argue that society has an interest in raising children and helping those children to become responsible adults within society, rather than isolated within a religious compound. However, on the other end, when you take the rights of parents out of the mix, you get a situation like Lexington, Massachusetts where teachers at a public elementary school were teaching children that homosexuality was the norm without any obligation to notify the parents of what was going on. So, while in the case of the FLDS raid, society does have an interest in these children's lives, the right of the parent cannot be totally taken away. Where do you stand? Leave your comments.